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Macross Ace


Ganbare

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  • 3 weeks later...
Is this manga going to be the definitive macross?? The good parts of the TV series with the better designs of DYRL??

It looks like, but it's hard to tell. There's only been one issue so far. About 80 pages of "Macross the First," and we get to not quite the end of Booby Trap.

Some of the designs are TV-based (The ARMDs and the VF-1D look like the TV versions), a lot are DYRL-based (Skull Squadron doesn't seem to have any brownies, it's all Skull-1 lookalikes), and a lot are completely new (pretty much all of the characters, some more radically than the others).

I mean, just look at the bridge bunnies:

post-939-1239771430_thumb.jpg post-939-1239771513_thumb.jpg post-939-1239771551_thumb.jpg

As for how the story will turn out, it's anybody's guess at this point. The first chapters follow the TV script quite closely, with some added scenes and a few others cut or rearranged. He'll probably start veering off after a while...most of these kinds of adaptations do (cf. Evangelion or Gundam the Origin).

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Vanessa looks like Kim Saintlaurent.

About Macross 7th Chord Gubaba does Mio's family stated?

I'm not sure how you mean...she has a fuddy-duddy father who used to be in a death metal band, and a butler (or something like that) named Sebastian. That's it, so far.

Just vanessa doesn't resemble the old character design...

Exactly. As I said, some are more radically redesigned than others.

Of course, as VFTF1 pointed out, anime Vanessa looks like a librarian circa 1982, comic Vanessa looks like a librarian circa 2009.

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It doesn't really say anything very interesting. Just that Misa's "atmosphere of womanly feeling" is left pretty much the same as it was in the anime.

That Hikaru's flight suit was designed specially for the comic, with some assistance from Kawamori.

That Minmay is the "Legendary Songstress," and that her Nyan Nyan bag should be recognized by fans of Macross F.

And that Mikimoto is a character designer who has also done comics, including "Ecole du Ciel."

Not very enlightening, is it?

The new flight suit looks really good. So the old flight suit is now totally off the canon???

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The new flight suit looks really good. So the old flight suit is now totally off the canon???

That depends on if you take Macross the First as canonical or not. ;)

Personally, I think trying to decide what's "canonical" and what isn't in Macross is a pretty useless debate. Although the powers that be PRETEND that the TV series is "what happened," they certainly don't act like it. Even Macross Chronicle, which has jst finished retelling the TV series storyline in its Timeline, still treats DYRL mecha and characters as "real," rather than just a movie.

So my advice is to enjoy Macross the First for what it is, and not try to treat it like the answer to our prayers for "fixing" the Macross timeline.

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Even Macross Chronicle, which has jst finished retelling the TV series storyline in its Timeline, still treats DYRL mecha and characters as "real," rather than just a movie.

But that makes sense. after 2012, VF1 was upgraded (see hands, new cockpit) and the Zentradi, as seen in frontier, have different uniforms and probably mechas. By 2030 they used the upgraded mechas to shoot the movie because that's what they had at the time. It's as simple as that! B))

I guess we have to wait for issue 21+ to find out how they are going to address the discrepancy.

Edited by Nexx Stalker
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But that makes sense. after 2012, VF1 was upgraded (see hands, new cockpit) and the Zentradi, as seen in frontier, have different uniforms and probably mechas. By 2030 they used the upgraded mechas to shoot the movie because that's what they had at the time. It's as simple as that! B))

I guess we have to wait for issue 21+ to find out how they are going to address the discrepancy.

So in 2030, the SDF-1 was ungraded to become a former Meltrandi Gunship...? :D

Nifty trick...

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I'm not sure how you mean...she has a fuddy-duddy father who used to be in a death metal band, and a butler (or something like that) named Sebastian. That's it, so far.

Exactly. As I said, some are more radically redesigned than others.

Of course, as VFTF1 pointed out, anime Vanessa looks like a librarian circa 1982, comic Vanessa looks like a librarian circa 2009.

Yeah, Vanessa's about the only design I'm not really liking. Her hair's way too short now for my tastes.

It'll be nice if they use a balance of the designs. DYRL's aren't automatically superior in my book.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wow, I was looking for this thread for a few minutes, and then find that I couldn't find it because it was literally bumped by you mere moments after I click over from ANN telling you to look here.

That's just too damn hilarious. :lol:

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Wow, I was looking for this thread for a few minutes, and then find that I couldn't find it because it was literally bumped by you mere moments after I click over from ANN telling you to look here.

That's just too damn hilarious. :lol:

What can I say? I'm determined to find this damn magazine (and I've turn Google upside down to no avail looking for a place to buy) I actually found this thread and bumped it BEFORE I read your post telling me to ask here. LOL

I found a copy on E-Bay, going for 59 bucks (plus 12 s/h), is that remotely close to what the book actually cost?

EDIT: I really should post here anyway get some use out of this account*, I love Macross.

*I made it a while back, then never posted

Edited by The Adventurer
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Not even the slightest. The book costs about 6 bucks. I paid about 8 at Kinokuniya. It is nowhere near worth 71 dollars unless you're loaded and don't give a damn. Especially when you can't read it.

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Got my copy form San Francisco Kinokuniya Bookstore about a month or so ago. They still have a good bunch back then, like at least 5-6 extra copies if not more. While its cool to read Macross The First (2 chapters instead of one), the rest are quite weak. Mostly filler joke comics and some toys ads, and a couple short interview articles and a couple color illustrations. So while its nice to have (at least for the first issue), I wouldn't go out of the way to get it for more than $10, now that I know what its inside. I'll probably just save my money to get the Macross The First's stand alone comics releases later, since that is really the meat of the Macross Ace.

Needless to say, paying $71 for it is down right crazy.

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Good to know.

Do you think Macross licensing is so borked that there's no chance of the Manga ever getting translated offically and brought over here? I'm not sure if Harmony Gold has any sway over the comics side of Macross.

EDIT: Granted, at 80 pages an issue, and each issue coming out maybe twice a year, it'll be an AGE until there's enough material to release here anyway. But still.

Edited by The Adventurer
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  • 2 weeks later...
Some of the designs are TV-based (The ARMDs and the VF-1D look like the TV versions), a lot are DYRL-based (Skull Squadron doesn't seem to have any brownies, it's all Skull-1 lookalikes), and a lot are completely new (pretty much all of the characters, some more radically than the others).

This is just my personal opinion - very well possible that it has zero merit - but I get the distinct impression that above all, when looking at the designs in Macross First, particularly the character designs - one needs to see the from the perspective of Macross: Frontier. That is - it seems that the characters are designed in such a way that they could "fit in" with the characters from Macross Frontier. To get an idea of what I'm talking about - compare how the characters are designed in Macross: Plus to DYRL or Macross:Frontier and you'll see (I think) that there's a bit of a gulf. Macross: Plus steps away from "anime" faces in favor of more "realism" while DYRL manages an amazing balance that nevertheless favor anime (I always called it "brining realism to anime" rather than "realism instead of anime"). SDFM TV sort of does this although there is more "pure" anime design in it than in DYRL. Macross Frontier strikes a wonderful balance insofar as we sometimes get "goofy" manga-like faces from Alto, Sheryl, Luca and others.

I get the impression that Macross:Ace mainly exists to show Macross:Frontier fans who might not have been around to love DYRL and SDFM:TV where it all began and what it was all about. And as such - the designs - mainly the character designs - need to be reminiscent of what Macross: Frontier fans already know and like - because then it will seem like there is a linear connection between the world of SDFM:TV and MF. If the designs were not reared with a view to making them "fit" with MF then the designs could be a barrier for MF fans to enjoy SDFM:TV and DYRL. Naturally - the design changes are subtle (IMO) - subtle enough to not become a problem (it's not like Bayformers vs. G1) - but they do exist.

As for mecha - I would think that this is partially a nod towards DYRL but more than anything a nod to the popularity of Yamato's VF-1. It is the premiere VF-1 on the market. It is also based on DYRL. And finally - unless I'm mistaken - but Kawamori's rendition of the VF-1 in MF was also DYRL based, was it not?

And as an aside: was Myria's 1J in M7 DYRL based?

Pete

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I would guess that the difference between Macross Ace and SDFM is mainly the personal development of Haruhiko Mikimoto's artstyle. I doubt he would imitate the later Macross shows. They all are pretty lacking in character design. Frontier being the worst of the bunch.

Mikimoto did the character designs for SDFM, DYRL, and M7. Together with Akemi Takada and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko he dominated character design in the 80s and early 90s. These three have pretty much created the looks for every major character in mecha anime from UC Gundam to Macross to Patlabor and Gunbuster.

Plus uses the edgy sharp style of the 90s. Not sure who started that. First time I noticed it was on Fatal Fury by Masami Obari.

Edited by Bri
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And as an aside: was Myria's 1J in M7 DYRL based?

Pete

If you mean that it sported DYRL hands, no. It was based on the Mirya 1J from the TV series, albeit with slightly different colors. On a side note, in 7, during the famous "revival" episode with destroids and many VF1, the latter apper with TV hands but in the ad about the gathering they appear with DYRL hands.

The DYRL valks do appear in ENCORE (Fleet of the strongest women).

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I get the impression that Macross:Ace mainly exists to show Macross:Frontier fans who might not have been around to love DYRL and SDFM:TV where it all began and what it was all about.

I think I would agree with this observation, although it seems like the Macross franchise could run the risk of getting caught in a kind of feedback loop (given that MF is to a large extent an homage to what has come before). While this means that MF and current titles get the best from what came before I worry that this also limits what can be achieved.

As for the reuse of the VF-1 in later series, I always look at the cockpit controls as much as is allowed - DYRL introduced the concept of the throttle's angle relating to the mode the VF assumes; horizontal=fighter, vertical=battroid, 45 degrees=gerwalk. Of course there are other ways of telling, but that is my own little visual cue.

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I think I would agree with this observation, although it seems like the Macross franchise could run the risk of getting caught in a kind of feedback loop (given that MF is to a large extent an homage to what has come before). While this means that MF and current titles get the best from what came before I worry that this also limits what can be achieved.

As for the reuse of the VF-1 in later series, I always look at the cockpit controls as much as is allowed - DYRL introduced the concept of the throttle's angle relating to the mode the VF assumes; horizontal=fighter, vertical=battroid, 45 degrees=gerwalk. Of course there are other ways of telling, but that is my own little visual cue.

Yeah...when doing the translation for Macross the First, I couldn't figure out a good word for Misa to describe to Hikaru what he should do to turn the fighter into a Battroid. I think I ended up with "tilt the lever up."

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Yeah...when doing the translation for Macross the First, I couldn't figure out a good word for Misa to describe to Hikaru what he should do to turn the fighter into a Battroid. I think I ended up with "tilt the lever up."

Well if the cockpit is Block 6 this might help.

vf-1-dyrl-cockpitcontrols.gif

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Well if the cockpit is Block 6 this might help.

Thanks for assuming I don't know what a Valkyrie cockpit looks like! <_<

What I meant was that I didn't know what WORDS to use...lift the control lever? flip it up? Turn it upright?

"Tilt it up" was about the best I could come up with.

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