Macross World
Monday the 24th of December, 2012, marked the end of the “Super Dimension Seminar” series of introductory “lectures” into the Macross universe with its 26th and final episode.
This one featured a look back at 2012 and how it shaped up to be one of the most active years in the brand’s history with special Macross events touring the nation in many forms, often simultaneously.
MW member Vanpang has kindly provided us with an informative interview with Shinichiro Watanabe, director of ice-cool stylish shows such as Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Kids on the Slope.
Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe on 10 November 2012 during Anime Festival Asia(“AFA”) 2012
Shinichiro Watanabe was a guest speaker during AFA 2012 and James Wong and I were given the opportunity to conduct an interview with the legendry director. Shinichiro was the co-director with Shoji Kawamori of Macross Plus and the director for Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop.
The interview was held at Singapore Expo Hall on 10 November 2012 with other people representing other media from Hexishe, Anime Shrine, SG Café and Campus.com. Thus, questions below are a compilation of questions asked by the group collectively.
All his answers were conveyed to the Media in English through a translator and as such some content maybe lost in translation.
A new series of articles on the late Noboru Ishiguro has just begun to be serialized on Japan Cinema.
By the way, I took the above photograph myself and it is probably my favourite photo of Ishiguro-san ever!
You can read part 1, focusing on the life of Ishiguro, here:
http://japancinema.net/2012/09/21/noboru-ishiguro-retrospective-part-i/
The links at the end lead right here to Macross World; my intention is to spread the knowledge of Japanese animation across various platforms. I hope you enjoy the article. More to come!
Friday September 7th, 2012 saw a special gathering of high-profile Japanese animation industry guests to pay their respects for the late Noboru Ishiguro, director of “Super Dimension Fortress Macross”, just one among many, many of his works of anime spanning the entire near-50-year history of the industry.
Here’s a few sample pieces from the “Macross Original Art Exhibition” being held at at the Seibu Ikebukuro Seibu Gallery in Tokyo. The Gallery includes concept artwork from the series when it was being planned to air in 1982 and focuses on Macross Frontier art. It began August 10 and will close on August 22, 2012. Many of our folks in Japan have attended this exhibit and have posted about their hauls and experiences in the forums and on youtube. They site Hollywood.ch.com posted a couple of images from the event which can be seen after the jump.
The third in the series of in-depth explorations into the changing world of Macross music throughout the decades, featuring MW members VF5SS and Gubaba has been put online over at Collection DX. This time our intrepid casters discuss the highs and lows of the Space Age 2000s. Also, I should mention that “Pink Lady & Jeff” and “Laverne & Shirley” are referenced.
Link to “Macross Music in the 1990s” here
Link to “Macross Music in the 1980s” HERE
♪ DAKISHIMETE! GINGA NO HATE MADE!! ♪ (← Wow, look at that. “Ginga, no hate made”. I’m sure that’s some sort of polite retort to some misunderstanding in NED-speak dialect, possibly used in Glasgow suburbs…)
MW member VF5SS has updated his blog on Collection DX with the second in a series investigating the history of Macross music, this time focusing on the 1990s period. Fellow MWer Gubaba once again is co-host, as ever enlightening us as to the exploits of the Onyanko Club et al, to give us the required understanding of the context surrounding this period in time.
Link to the previous instalment, “Macross Music in the 1980s” HERE
♪ POWER TO THE MUSIC! ♪
Thanks to Solscud007 for posting and sending in this hilarious interview with Kawamori sharing his insights about creating anime. The interviewer is kinda hokey, but what’s hilarious is when the famous mech designer plays along .
An oldie but a goodie.
As we await anxiously the release of Macross Do You Remember Love on Blu-Ray — and with all the, er, controversy that surrounds this — let us take the time to recall some words from co-director Shoji Kawamori, which he shared with the editorial of Animage just a few months after the original release of the film in Japan. To fans, the findings may seem a touch interesting…
Note: The title of the feature is “Macross Seminar”. There is one more installment in a later booklet that I may eventually translate also. This should not be confused with the “Super Dimension Seminar” currently airing on Tokyo MX television, there is no relation whatsoever.
As we count down the days to the release of the greatest animated movie ever, “Macross: Do You Remember Love” on Blu-Ray Disc, I thought I would give people a bunch of homework to do in preparation for the big party.
“BS Anime Yawa” (“BS Anime Night Talk”) is a series of TV specials hosted by Gainax/General Products founder Toshio “Otaking” Okada on the NHK BS-2 satellite broadcasting service. The programmes focus on classic and/or famous anime shows and act as retrospectives to contextualize these shows within the bigger picture of the evolution of Japanese animation, as well as providing some insight into the behind-the-scenes goings-on of the productions.
This particular episode, airing on June 29th, 2005, focused on “Macross: Do You Remember Love”, and featured Ichiro Itano, anime director Hiroyuki Kitakubo (keyframe artist on the original “Macross” TV series and movie), movie director Tomoyuki Furumaya and voice actress Rica Fukami (Myung in “Macross Plus”) as guest panelists.
Details and image gallery follows.