Vifam7

Post moved to appropriate section

You might want to move your questions to the building and customizing section. Despite being a newbie myself I'll try to help you.

I think licensors (particularly Japanese ones) generally have a certain set of standards. To my knowledge, a licensee generally works hand-in-hand with the licensor. So, if a low quality crap does come out, the blame is equally the licensor's fault as well as the licensee. More likely that Bandai agreed to sponsor the anime rather than outbidding Yamato. I don't know of any anime funded with the backing of Yamato. Probably such an undertaking is beyond Yamato's capabilities. There's more to sponsorship than just making nice toys. Bandai is one of few companies that can support an anime series across a broad spectrum. I can't think of a Japanese anime brand that was treated like low quality crud though. I think Yamato gets the licenses because they agreed to pay the license fees and their product strategy was agreeable on both sides. I don't know. Maybe the price is too high. Maybe it's too low. Maybe it's just right. A smart company will continuously look at all options and weigh it against the needs/health of the company. Those companies that make the right decisions (which includes either doing something or doing nothing) (and at the right times) don't suffer much. Ofcourse it's not so easy and sometimes there's a bit of luck needed as well. In anycase, Yamato has shown they know what they're doing.

Yes, it's a model kit. Not a standard garage resin kit though. Uses a different kind of resin material. According to Yamato, easier to build than the usual resin kit but a bit more difficult than a regular styrene kit. Now, Yamato is calling this a "Prototype Model Kit". According to the text, a model kit based on the prototype they've been working on. Basically they're taking the prototype they've had and releasing a kit version of it. There's still an opening for the completed toy version.

No, it was never an official Japan release. Macross II was always a 6-part OAV series in Japan. I don't recall who hacked it up in the first place. I remember this "movie" version being shown in small independent theaters here in the U.S. I remember seeing it at the Key Theater in Washington DC. It could've been U.S. Renditions as they were the first to release it here (U.S.) on VHS.

I pre-ordered it and paid full price. Wasn't quite impressed by the whole package though. The remastering job was decent but not that great despite the hard work put int. The box was crap and the lenticular card bonus was lame. While I understood this was as good as it was gonna get with the materials they had to work with, I felt some areas could've been done better. What annoyed me was that shortly after getting the set, AnimEigo brought out a significantly cheaper 3 box set. Grrr... That said I am happy that I have the whole SDF Macross TV series.

If this is your first ever try at kit building, you might want to build several cheap kits before you switch over to building that Hasegawa VF-1. When I mean cheap kits, I'm talking about those that cost $15 or less. Trust me, you'll want/need to practice before tackling the Hasegawa VF-1 (which may be easy for a Hasegawa but still quite a kit for a newbie).

As a newbie myself, I suggest starting with Tamiya spraycans, brushes, and some bottles of enamel paint.

I'm actually working on a Hasgawa 1/72 VF-1 right now. This is my first attempt at building a Hasegawa kit. I'm still quite the newbie at building kits. The going is slow but so far I haven't made any bad mistakes (I think). I found out Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is perfect for Hasegawa kits. The real difficulty will be when it comes to the painting stage. Since I don't have an airbrush (nor intend to get one), it'll be spraycan painting or brush painting. I haven't decided which to go for yet. One day I'll finish it. It'll be a shameful build compared to those done by the maestros here at MW, but at least I'll finally have 1/72 Valk with perfect fighter mode shape. Dunno if I'll get this 1/48 kit. I prefer not to get into anything bigger than 1/72. But it might be interesting to build one someday just to put it next to my one lone Yamato 1/48.

Which was also porn. j/k Though... Part 2 did have a sex scene..

Old titles like Gundam and Macross do well because they have an established base of fans thanks to the fact that they were mega-hits back in the day. What's different these days I think is that the classic way of funding robot anime has dwindled. Back in the 80's the anime companies can count on toy companies to back them up (sponsorship). Today, unless the robot anime is backed by Bandai or Takara it won't get made. If you look at the majority of today's anime titles, most of them have a "media tie-in" (manga, novels, or video games). In other words, the anime isn't made unless it's based on a popular manga, novel, or video game. That's why I think a lot of anime these days are sponsored/promoted by media publishers like Kadokawa. And what manga, novels, and video games are popular? It certainly isn't robot stuff. It's all ecchi, romance, and/or comedy stuff.

The peak of "real robot" anime popularity was the 1980's. "Real robot" anime generally meant that the show featured realistic robots and/or realistic stories. It was a trend that Gundam started. By the late 1980's the boom was over. The robot mecha anime is not as popular today as it was yesterday. The difference is that the demographics, market, and industry has changed since then. Back then, robot anime was mainly targetted at young boys. Nowadays they are targetted at hardcore otaku. This is why you see the moe and why so much of the merchandise is expensive (adult priced ). That said, there's been a slight revival of the genre driven in part by nostalgia. That's why we're seeing toys of some 70s/80s classics being made. When they say "mecha sells", in the past it meant sales of model kits and toys. When toy companies sponsored the anime and kids bought the merchandise. These days it's perhaps more of a mix. Programs sponsored by Bandai and Takara are perhaps the only ones that get a heavy toy merchandising angle. BTW, OAVs are wholly dependent on DVD/Blu-ray sales. OAVs are rarely if ever created in hopes of selling toys.

I often opt for the wait and see approach these days. Wait for a price drop sometime in the future and keeping an eye out for sales. If I miss some limited run version or web special, so be it. Sometimes you get better deals/options if you wait.

Depends on which Area 88 anime series you intend to watch. The 3-part OAV series from the 1980's or the 12 episode 2004 remake? I recommend watching the 1980's OAV series. One of the best war-themed anime series ever. Obviously due to time constraints, not everything from comics is transferred over. However, I think everything important from the comics (esp. certain themes) are carried over well and personally I think the animators made it better than the comics. And I say this as manga reader who almost always prefers the manga version over the anime. Lots of great songs and music. Pretty darn good animation for its time too. Skip the 2004 remake unless you really want to watch it. Lots of liberties taken in this series. Crappy CG airplanes and terrible music too. But it's not wholly bad. I mean, it's not unwatchable. Its just doesn't compare to the 80's version. And btw, which "Tank Police" anime did you watch? The 4-part OAV series from 1988 "Dominion Tank Police"? Or the 6-part OAV series from 1993 "New Dominion Tank Police" (sometimes called Crusher Police Dominion) ?

He was kidding on that last statement. Besides, a key animator doesn't exactly get to choose what he/she works on or the content of the work. Perhaps it was just a job he had to do even though he didn't like the themes. Or perhaps it's a title/work like Plastic Little that formulated his viewpoint. Who knows. I just think he's fully entitled to his viewpoint.

But he wasn't the director or writer of Plastic Little. He was only the key animation guy.

But he does point to Frontier specifically so he does have some beef with it. I believe some of us fans here too had complaints about the moe level and fan servicey-ness of Frontier. Or any other war-themed anime. In anycase, this interview does not bother me in the slightest. Personally I find it fascinating when someone has well known as Itano rips into something, even if I don't fully agree with the viewpoint.

Top Gear is great show but that "challenge" (it was more like horseplay) was pretty much BS. A radar lock wasn't really needed to kill that Lotus Exige.

The gull-wing doors and Giugiaro styling gives the impression of something special. Unfortunately, everything else didn't exactly follow suit. It's perhaps more of an 80's cultural icon thanks to the Back to the Future movies and John DeLorean's escapades. Time Magazine listed it as one of 50 Worst Cars of All Time. I suppose that makes it pretty special.

Here's one that immediately came to mind -

Why not add in Takuya Saito (M0), Katsura Kenichiro (M7), and Masayuki (M+)?

I voted fighter mode. Though to be honest, the Valkyries were only part of the reason why I got into Macross. The mastery of DYRL on all levels (music, animation, character design, story) can make a lots into a Macross fan. That said, I would've taken to Macross even if the Valkyries did not transform to Gerwalk or Battroid modes. I just love military aircraft. Both real and make-believe. To me, the closer make-believe aircraft are to real aircraft, the cooler it is.

It's from Zettai Karen Children (Episode 42). Same episode also had this: From Episode 27 :

Macross parody for sure

Looks a bit like an Aston Martin....