Macross Ace

[Gubaba]

Could you post a pic or two of the new VF1J for this salivating 1J geek? Pretty please? (I'll get my copy of Ace #5 in September along with the collected The First tankobon #2, don't be cruel with a poor soul!)

I'd love to, but my scanner is packed up in a storage space in Los Angeles, and I'm in a budget hotel in Tokyo. I'm afraid you'll either have to ask someone else, or wait until I buy a new scanner...which probably won't happen until August or September.

[nexxstrait]

I'd love to, but my scanner is packed up in a storage space in Los Angeles, and I'm in a budget hotel in Tokyo. I'm afraid you'll either have to ask someone else, or wait until I buy a new scanner...which probably won't happen until August or September.

Thanks nonetheless, I'll wait.

EDIT: Preview pics here (too small to notice the different head)

I'm madly curious: how are the colors different from the TV series? Is it now red AND black with skull insigna on the cockpit shield like the DYRL VF1A?

PS: nice, it seems the issue comes with stickers!

Edited June 26, 2010 by nexxstrait

[Roy Focker]

Is that why all those Japanese guys climb into the shower with me.

[MacrossCN]

Macross Plus

The First

Edited June 27, 2010 by kresphy

[Beltane70]

Oh, if anyone needs it, I managed to wind up with a second copy of Macross Ace 4. I forgot to tell my friend that I already bought it online, so he wound up buying the other copy on his recent trip to Japan.

[anime52k8]

oh god...

please say there's more like this in this magazine.

[Strumvogel]

Ahh Mechatronics. It's one of the highlights of the mag, both for Klan and the flat out insane mechs, as evidenced by the last issue duct taped and glue gunned hybrid VF mech.

[azrael]

..., as evidenced by the last issue duct taped and glue gunned hybrid VF mech.

Ahhh duct tape. What can't you be used for...Need more micro missiles? Duct tape!

[Jasonc]

Just ordered 2 copies of #5 from Kinokuniya to be picked up. Can't wait.

[Roy Focker]

What's the ISBN for volume 5?

[Jasonc]

Unfortunately, I don't know it, but they were able to order it for me based on the title alone. They've been pretty good to me, based on the fact that I've ordered many products via email from them, and they've always come through.

[Talos]

Excellent.

My copy of vol 5 and the Great Mechanics GM book just landed in Memphis 90 minutes ago from Narita.

Roy, I'm not sure if it has an ISBN, actually. Amazon.co.jp has it listed with an ASIN (an internal Amazon number), B003RBEKQO, which they only do if it doesn't have an ISBN (the ASIN will always match the ISBN if one's available).

Edited June 29, 2010 by Talos

[sketchley]

GOne and made a summary review of the contents of Vol. 005: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2569.0

Some random notes:

Hate this issues Macross x Mechatronics.

The VF-1J Kai is more than just a new head. It's a new paintjob! Note the horizontal stripe (battroid mode) on the chest. Wings, shoulders and engine nacelle stripes are also all a bit different. I wonder if that Kai is to denote that it's an improvement to be applied to all VF-1J, or just Hikaru's VF-1J?

What's the ISBN for volume 5?

I believe it's: 4910124020807

Under it is: 00514

It also has a magazine number: 12402-08

[Talos]

Got mine earlier today. Was pretty interesting. The VF-1J kai head is very much a Frontier-style of detailing, but it's not as different from the original as I thought it would be, so it's okay. I'd tweak the new paint scheme some, though.

What I find I'm really liking is the new flightsuit like Hikaru wears. It's definitely got a mashup of TV, DYRL, and 2036 elements in there and I think it took the best of all of them. Finally got rid of those horrible shoulders!

[frothymug]

If you're talking about the reflector-striped shoulder pads, I say leave 'em in. I like them a lot! Very functional in case you get ejected from your VF and you need to have high visibility for any rescue crews who might be looking for you. ...but that's just me.

[Talos]

They still are reflective, but instead of having these huge shoulder pads that could get stuck in your seat harness or such, the reflective material is now as you see here.

[sketchley]

Started reading through Macross the First #5, and observed the following:

Ichijo's first flight is a recon flight. Does this mean that either a) the VF-1JKai is recon specialized, or b) that there is no VEFR-1 nor VE-1?

Max makes his first appearance (if I understand it correctly, he's still in training (nuance is that Hikaru went through it very fast, probably from his flight experience), but is noticed by the more experienced pilots).

Minmei's keitai messages to Hikaru are a riot: "about today..." "grrr!" "Reply!" "Look! Look!" "Good morning" "Which one do you think is good?" "Are you sleeping?" "Do you (even) look at your keitai..."

He's also got two messages from Fokker "Re: ", and one from the UN Forces "UN Forces Correspondance [Communication] vol. 24".

Edited July 1, 2010 by sketchley

[frothymug]

The shoulders don't look too shabby. I don't know why, though, but I still like the old ones better. To each their own, I suppose...

[Vepariga]

after going thru all the pages on this thread howcome there isnt any new Misa scans? T^T

[Renato]

For those who have the latest issue: what did you think of the Macross Plus comic? I thought it was pretty bad, to be honest, in many ways. On top of the bad art and simplistic narrative, one minor thing which really bugged me more than it probably should have was that the two fighters are now referred to as "Alpha One" and "Alpha Two".

[Gubaba]

For those who have the latest issue: what did you think of the Macross Plus comic? I thought it was pretty bad, to be honest, in many ways. On top of the bad art and simplistic narrative, one minor thing which really bugged me more than it probably should have was that the two fighters are now referred to as "Alpha One" and "Alpha Two".

I haven't read it too closely, but yeah...not much to get excited about there.

[sketchley]

Like Gubaba, I haven't read it. But my thoughts on it are:

"Macross Plus" manga adaptation. Sharon apple with 2 new costumes! I'm a bit disappointed that the artist is using a CG model for the fighter mode planes, but otherwise, interesting stuff.

And I'll add: the CG modeling, though not bad in itself, makes the hand-drawn fighters that much more galaringly less-well drawn.

[Strumvogel]

Finally picked up my copy (my local shop only just got them in) and it's a lot of fun.

While I do have to agree with sketchley that the Mechatronics isn't all that great(a submersible that size? the thing would have such a huge signature just sitting in the water that the Hawaii underwater listening posts would probably detect it while it's in the Indian Ocean...) but Klan as per usual is fun as always. Just the pic of Klan hunched over due to the heavy deep diving helmet she had on had me cracking up, especially the one where she's looking at the reader while standing next to the transformed sub as if to say "WTF?".

And in Macross the First, you can really see why Hikaru is that infatuated with Minmei. But enough of that, as a Misa fan I'm eagerly awaiting for her turn to turn on de sexy. Unfortunately it's probably not something we'll see until she got captured in the Zentran ship. You know, when her hair got straighten out by the water she fell into with Hikaru. Come on Mikimoto don't fail us now....

And yep, I agree that the Macross Plus manga is pretty pointless as well. No point when it doesn't really bring anything new to the story.

[Vepariga]

And in Macross the First, you can really see why Hikaru is that infatuated with Minmei. But enough of that, as a Misa fan I'm eagerly awaiting for her turn to turn on de sexy. Unfortunately it's probably not something we'll see until she got captured in the Zentran ship. You know, when her hair got straighten out by the water she fell into with Hikaru. Come on Mikimoto don't fail us now....

This,Alas it wont be till later on,but good things come to those who wait. I really hope it'll be something,after seeing Klan all wet on the front of Mechatronics I can only imagine what Misa will look like.

[sketchley]

More Macross The First #5 fun:

Minmei is a high school student (the Across The Macross Universe even says "Rin Minmei, from Female High School Student to Songstress"!)

She wears her high school uniform on the date with Hikaru.

Hikaru eventually stops listening to her during the date, and the date becomes a virtuoso sequence where you have the highlights of the date through Hikaru's eyes (which are pretty pure, until he starts spacing out ), overlayed with an internal monologue which reads like a flashback, and a mantra of Hikaru looking only at her smiling face.

Yocchan makes an appearance - he's a kid from the neighbourhood, who apparently works harder than Minmei at Nyan-nyan! (He's shown as the dishwasher).

The space combat/Deadalus Attack takes place in the region of Saturn's Cassini. (not sure if it's been mentioned before or not, but I don't remember it being mentioned in either SDFM nor DYRL).

There are 4 Tomahawk destroids on the top of the opening front hatch of the Deadalus!

Next issue looks like it'll be taking place at Mars. Expect more Misa action (#5 has mostly Misa recognizing Hikaru and a talk with the bridge bunnies that he was found, and hadn't died during the fold, and her in full kick-butt mode, ordering and organizing the Deadalus Attack.)

Macross 7th Code:

I'm a bit disappointed by this issue. In short, it's all action and no character. What I found most interesting about the previous three issues are the characterization, and how the plot stayed in the background (or was an outgrowth of the character's actions). This issue it feels forced...

Macross Plus: TAC Name

Started reading it. Mistake #1: Eden is 17 light years from Earth. This manga states that it's 117 light years!

Mistake #2: Alpha 1 referred to as Omega 1 (2?). I'm not quite convinced that it's a mistake at this point. The reason being is that in some air forces, the second person in a flight takes the first person's callsign. Therefore, if Omega 1 is the flight leader, than Alpha 1 being renamed to Omega 2 makes sense. That said, I'm not completely convinced that it's ultra realism - as the reason why they had different names in the OVA is to make it easier for the casual viewer. Therefore, I'm waiting until a time when we see the YF-19 on it's own, and see if it's referred to as an Alpha or an Omega.

PS: Strumvogel: it's a battleship, not a submarine (didn't read the review I linked to, eh)

[frothymug]

I thought Eden was 11.7 or 11.8 light years from Earth. I think they just didn't put a decimal point in "117"... or maybe its there, but too small to notice? Just trying to help

[sketchley]

Indeed. It is 11.7 light years (I was trying to find a source, but Macross Chronicle only has "dozens of light years away".)

Fun fact: Macross Chronicle says that eden takes one or two folds from Earth, which takes 18 to 24 hours. So... 2 hours per light year?

[frothymug]

Macross Compendium: Eden

I'd say that's pretty official

Edited July 4, 2010 by frothymug

[Strumvogel]

PS: Strumvogel: it's a battleship, not a submarine (didn't read the review I linked to, eh)

Sorry, the machine I was reading the forums from at the time(and currently) are a bit fiddly with links of all sorts. Some sort of security precaution or something.

As a battleship it's not that much better. At least if it's submersible it has a small amount of security to be able to hide from surface radar and visual searches.

[sketchley]

As a battleship it's not that much better. At least if it's submersible it has a small amount of security to be able to hide from surface radar and visual searches.

I agree. Aside from the first mechatronics, I'm finding them silly. (Not that a biplane attached to a VF-25 isn't silly. But it was intriguing, and restrained, compared to the next two).

[David Hingtgen]

Ack, missed this until just now. That's an amazingly on-model Grace. (seriously, I think she's off-model most of the time in Frontier--and the movie, too from what little I've seen)

[Renato]

Indeed. It is 11.7 light years (I was trying to find a source, but Macross Chronicle only has "dozens of light years away".)

Fun fact: Macross Chronicle says that eden takes one or two folds from Earth, which takes 18 to 24 hours. So... 2 hours per light year?

So Isamu, Yan and Guld were in their Valkyries for 20 hours, after which they could still do battle for a further... what, four or five hours on Earth? I doubt that very much...

The liner notes from the Macross Plus vol.2 DVD say that the Fold Booster-equipped YF-19 can make a single maximum fold trip of 20 light years.

[sketchley]

So Isamu, Yan and Guld were in their Valkyries for 20 hours, after which they could still do battle for a further... what, four or five hours on Earth? I doubt that very much...

The liner notes from the Macross Plus vol.2 DVD say that the Fold Booster-equipped YF-19 can make a single maximum fold trip of 20 light years.

It sounds unlikely, but lengthy periods of time in the cockpit are more common than one thinks in the real world*. So, it's not much of a stretch if the same holds true in a ficticious world (TBH, I was expecting the "time seen on screen = time spent in fold", but ah well.)

* B-2 bombing missions over Kosovon: Whiteman AFB, Missouri to Kosovo and back again (or a 28 to 32 hour trip).

[nexxstrait]

Finally got my hand on issue #4 (I'm slightly late on shedule) and I have a couple of questions for you japanese-reading guys:

why do the mechanics show the destroid hangar to Fokker?

why is Hikaru dressed like an idiot??? (reminds me of Video Girl Ai)

why does Misa faints on the bridge after the main cannon blast?

who's the long haired spectacled guy with Minmay near the end of the episode?

why does Shammy bring flowers on the bridge?

Edited July 5, 2010 by nexxstrait

[Talos]

Finally got my hand on issue #4 (I'm slightly late on shedule) and I have a couple of questions for you japanese-reading guys:

why do the mechanics show the destroid hangar to Fokker?

I don't have my copy on me at the moment, so I'm going by memory. Weren't they showing him the wreckage of Hikaru's fanracer that they pulled in from outside? It got crushed by debris after the SDF-1 tried to take off.

why is Hikaru dressed like an idiot??? (reminds me of Video Girl Ai)

He was borrowing them (from Roy maybe, or at least one of his pilots. I don't remember off-hand), thus the Skull Team-branded stuff.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Talos