Graham

Why I think Macross Frontier is so great: - 1. The best CG mecha animation of any TV series, OVA or movie ever! 2. Some of the best, if not the best mecha fights ever. 3. Interesting story that keopt me hooked throughout all 25 episodes. 4. Gorgeous mecha designs (Gundam 00 and Code Geass, I laugh at your silly looking mecha). 5. Not clichéd. They avoided most of the typical anime clichés, such as the young untrained boy immediately piloting the hero mecha. Alto was already a trainee pilot and remember he got bitch slapped by Ozma the first time he asked to pilot. Thankfully, we also avoided the cliché of the older sempai dying. Ozma lives and gets Cathy as well! Yay! 6. Not predictable. I genuinely didn’t know what was going to happen during the series and judging by the amount of speculation on this board, neither did many of you. 7. Exciting. Many episodes kept me on the edge of my seat and sent shivers down my spine on many occasions. 8. Fantastic background music – Well, it’s Yoko Kanno, so what do you expect! The Frontier BGM is some of the most listened to tracks on my MP3 player. 9. Great songs. Again, I really love the Sheryl and Ranka songs. Lion is probably my favorite song at the moment. 10. Likeable, interesting characters. Based on his character design, many people expected Alto to be your typical angsty emo teen anime hero, but he wasn’t at all. Surprisingly little angst at all. Most of the time, he just got on and did the job with no whining. A refreshing change. I definitely was able to relate to the characters more than in most other anime and felt hey were more believable as people. 11. Beautiful, highly detailed background animation. 12. An interesting, mysterious and frightening enemy. The only negative I can find about some episodes was the inconsistent quality of the character art. While generally good to excellent in most episodes, there were a couple of episodes that were real stinkers in terms of character art. Graham

There's no official word on Michael's and Luca's yet, but given the success of the Alto version, I'm sure Bandai will release them. Graham

Damn. Well I didn't think Arnie would actually be in it, too busy and all that. But when you mentioned 'Chrome Arnie', I thought maybe there would be a liquid metal terminator in the series rendered in CG to look like Arnie. That would be cool. Graham

Eh? Too much Yoshinol? Graham

I think Bandai stopped using polycaps, because they do get loose too easily. Graham

Still no lucking finding one here in HK. One shop says maybe by the coming Saturday (4 Oct), but we'll see. Anyway, I've given up and asked someone in Japan to find one and post it to me. Also, preordered the Ozma from RainbowTen. First time to try them. Hopefully, it will be a more plesant experience than HLJ. Graham

As much as I love Macross 7, let's not go there. Graham

Thought it was a leg that got damaged? Graham

Compared with other mecha anime, such as Gundam, Evangelion, Code Gayass, etc there is no comparison. Frontier leaves them all standing in the dust. Heck, Frontier is better 120% of everything on TV at the moment, be it animated or live action IMO. Compared with the two other Macross series, SDFM and M7 I'm rating Frontier better than both at the moment. My views may change after repeated views, but for now Frontier is tops. I'd rate Frontier 1st place, M7 second place and SDFM 3rd place. That's not to say that SDFM isn't good, it is, but I just think both M7 are stronger productions. Anyways, I've always preferred DYRL to SDFM. I'm planning a Macross marathon soon, watching all the TV series, OVAs movies in order. Graham

IIRC, the TIAS M7 Animation Materials book has line art of the transformation sequence for Battle 7. I'll check when I get home tonight. Graham

Stay on topic please. Questions about the model kit and model building should be asked in the relevant threads in the model forum. Graham

No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. This is a Frontier kit, not an original SDFM kit. Thus the stickers should be Pinapple cake flavored. (and shouldn't that be scented, noy flavored? You sniff em' not lick em') Graham

Perhaps that should read "There's no way Sheryl will have unprotected sex with Alto". Presumably they still have condoms in 2059, or perhaps by then the technology exists for the more secure 'pin-point-barrier-doms' (PPBD). Graham

Just saw on HMV Japan that there is going to be a Macross Fontier 2009 calendar released on Nov 1st. Macross Frontier 2009 Calendar The last time we got a full size hanging wall calendar was back in 2000! See previous calendars here. Graham

Only had time to watch it 4 times so far, but I gotta say that in my opinion, this is a fantastic ending episode. In fact I rate it as one of the best, if not the best ending episode of an anime TV series ever. Kawamori and crew did an absolutely stellar job. It sends shivers down my spine each time I watch it. Fantastic close to a fantastic series. Gets a 10/10 from me). Graham

It's unlikely that they will ever be produced again. Graham

LOL...."castor wheels"...so cruel, but so true! Nearly made me spit coffee all over my keyboard when I read that. Graham

The strange thing is that most model shops usually stock some of the Macross Hasegawa kits along with some of the older Bandai Macross kits. Many toy or hobby shops stock Yamato Macross toys and some stock teh Bandai reissues. Remembering back to 1995 when the Macross 7 1/144 and 1/100 models came out, there was no delay then. I've seen a few model shops here in HK with fliers in the windows advertising the VF-25F. While Gundam is more popular here, I think the reason for the delay may be the high demand for the VF-25F kit in Japan, rather than lack of interest in HK. Graham

I was also thinking that is really strange. Graham

Damn, still no luck tracking down the elusive VF-25F kit here in HK. I just went back to the model shop that last week had told me they would be getting it in today, only to be told that it has been delayed 1 more week until October 4. Hong Kong is really getting shafted on these kits which is quite unusual. We usually get stuff ultra-fast. I wonder if Bandai is following the licencing agreement and not offivcial exporting the kits to HK, so that only parallel imports will make their way to HK. Or perhaps Bandai HK thinks that HK people only like Guncrap (which is probably true for 99.99%). Graham

Sketchley, both HJ and DH are usually on the hobby store shelves here on the 23rd or 24th of each month. I understand in Japan the release date is supposed to be 25th or 26th, which makes me wonder if they are actually printed in southern China, and not Japan, thus shorter travel time to HK vs. Japan and slightly earlier release date. Graham

That means you probably just haven't figured out how to attach them correctly. Once they are on properly, they ain't falling off. Graham

There are ways to have telescopic gears with a locking mechanism. Graham

For those that have been saying the front landing gear is too long on this kit, take a look at the attached official picture from the booklet that comes with DVD # 2. Long and slender it is. Graham

Note how long and slender the front landing gear is supposed to be, according to the official pics in the booklet that comes with the Frontier DVD # 2. See attached pic. Bandai got it right with the 1/72 scale model. They really need to improve the landing gear for the 1/60. Make it telescopic if necessary, but make it longer! Graham