Dynaman

My wife doesn't look anything like her, but shares many of her mental traits. Brusque at work, shy and retiring away from work, a stickler for doing things by the book... I may not have come off correctly, going on the Animeigo release it seems they are handling it well. My only idea in raising the point is that from my own experience EVERY show from that time (US, Europe, Japan) seemed to be handling it in too heavy handed a fashion. The whole thing can be a real pain for a translator, because if it is done wrong the dialog is stilted (a DYRL translation is a good example, when Hikaru ignores Misa's order and flies into the ship in the first battle Misa gave some line about why he doesn't follow her orders because she is a woman, a different version had her say something more along the lines of "How dare he disobey my orders!". For all I know the first version is the more exact translation, but it is not the way an english speaker would say the line. "Male Chauvinist!" might even be a good way to say it too. (and as a tacked on bit, I have no idea what things were like in Japan at this time) Well, I tend to ramble and I see I'm starting to do so here, and taking things off topic... My last 3 disc Macross set arrived yesterday, so I'll be plowing through the remainder of the series in the next few days (once I plop in a DVD I pretty much watch all four episodes straight through). Even though I've seen the show before, these characters grabbed my attention, I don't know if it was a happy accident or a plan that made them come to life the way they do, but I'm happy for it.

Ah, but to be chauvinstic or racist is to believe that one group of people can and should be allowed to do certain jobs while another group should not. I realize the time frame of Macross, and the world view that goes along with it, and I have to shake my head and realize they just don't know any better. My wife wouldn't even give him a second look - and mentally she is a lot like Misa (strange, looking back now I realize the girl I dated before that was raven haired and very vivacious. She dumped me of course, but a month before my wedding she called up wanting to get back together - that is a strange parellel).

That, and Misa's reply of "I can do those things too", which she says pretty impishly, with her inability to discuss her feelings later on she may be trying to show how she feels by doing the "womanly" stuff for Hikaru. (then again I may be reading WAY too much into this) (for the below, no offense taken or meant) In my family, my mother was ALWAYS the primary breadwinner, and never ever needed a man to save her. Since she was born in the depression and first got married in the fifties that made her something of an oddity. This colors my perception of any attempt at showing equality in fiction. usually I find it laughable at best. The problem for me is I'm ahead of the curve due to the examples in my own life. Before it sounds like I'm going totally off the deep end, HI does eventually accept that women are equal to men, and his attitude was a microcosm of how the western world's attitudes were changing at the time (and still are changing, Japan's as well). As for Misa looking pretty, she looks pretty no matter she is doing - even when she is ragging on people.

Back on topic. Just watched episode 12, and low and behold my kids decided to watch the show (subtitles and all)... Anyone know how accurate the translation is on the Animeigo release? If so this episode explains the dishwashing and cleaning bit in episode 28 a good bit. That and Mr Ichijo is a bit of a male chauvanist (ack - spelling), but growing out of it is part of his charm...

And just think. IF the Robotech movie gets released, and IF it is a hit then RT may be far MORE popular in the US then Macross... (two big IF's and a scary thought in that sentence to be sure - I'm still hoping it does get released, it at least has a chance at being a good Space Opera movie, we have not had all that many of them in the US - due to Anime Japan gets tons of it)

I have hope for the movie, Tobey Maguire is a fan of the series, coming off of the Spiderman success. I believe that HE - if no one else - wants to make a good adaption of the show. The last time something along this line happened a little film called "Forest Gump" was created. (Tom Hanks wanted to make the movie, and was given the go ahead simply because he was Tom Hanks - AKA Mr. Film Studio Paydirt). Please note that Hope is not the same thing as blind faith...

I'm thinking that in the end it will be revealed that everyone is a Cylon.

I gave the show a break for that - although I didn't like the idea it's not what ruined it. What ruined it for me was that not much actually happened, unlike SDFM the characters we had at the start of the show were pretty much the exact same as the end, I could watch regular TV for that kind of character development. As for the Robotech announcer - if they could get rid of him and a certain singing voice it would have been much better, two of the main reasons the RT novels are so much better. On a seperate note, I've just watched up to episode 8 with the Animeigo subtitled episodes, and it was great to go back and see the character development that takes place right from the start. It had been awhile and I had it in my head that the first few episodes were more about setting up the plot then the characters, I'm looking forward to going through the whole series again.

The art is great, I'm still thinking of ordering a copy - anyone know if I'll still be able to get it for a decent price in a couple weeks?

I watch and enjoy both. Back when Robotech was originally on I had given up on anime, I had seen Star Blazers and loved it, but I also thought it was just a fluke... When a friend recommended Robotech - saying it was as good as SB I gave it a try, even though I was not expecting much... Even with the rough edges I saw that it was something different, a mix of action and character growth - which we have to remember was pretty much unheard of on prime time televison at the time (looking back I can't think of any examples at all till Babylon 5) From there I looked for and found an Anime group, and saw the original Yamato movies (Farewell got me hooked on that franchise all over again), Vampire Hunter D, and others. So I give RT it's due, it was what opened the floodgates (and videotape) to Anime in the US. Generally I'll take Macross over RT, but Macross 7 is right out - I'd rather watch the original RT over that any day, so each franchise has it's clunkers. The RT books on the other hand are excellent (although End of the Circle gets too wierd for my taste). I better quit rambling before I really go off kilter...

For me it's Misa, from the first time I saw the character (First I saw was RT's version of Global's report, I kinda got lucky just randomly starting to watch the series with that episode - luckier would have been seeing it from the first episode of course). PS - but don't tell my wife...

Hi Pete: Can't argue with you, you could be right. It's just that later dialog does not seem to add up - the trip to the forest / woods being an example, it sounds more like a first date rather then getting back together. The bridge bunnies especially, they are happy Misa has a date rather then saying they are happy she and Hikaru are getting back together. Be that as it may, here I am still dying to know what happened to these two characters 25 years later - the show certainly did something right! (just got my first and second set of the Animego DVDs, 3rd is on the way - so I'll be watching it all again)

OOps - double post

Were they supposed to have been romantically involved? Maybe it was bad translation (I've recently watched the ADV version, still didn't seem like they were more then just friends at that point - but I don't know of female friends that clean up the house...) Thanks! PS - I'd put DYRL as my favorite, strictly for the scene where Hikaru chooses Misa after Minmey runs off (he was obviously about to tell Minmey that when Misa walked in). The reason is the emotion Misa's Voice Actress put into it - she really sounded like someone trying to hold it all together, but just couldn't... (but the movie needs the TV series as a reference or it just doesn't fill in enough details)

Agreed - I always wondered if the last few episodes would have worked better if Misa and Hikaru had some kind of falling out in episode 28, rather then Hikaru not having made up his mind yet. The last few episodes could have been the two of them remembering what it is attracted them to each other in the first place. (Yup, I'm a new guy just coming out of Lurker mode)