Mercurial Morpheus

Actually, that's still a by product of it all. I'm merely trying to not show a bias (though is it really a bias to merely state what one has seen if it really is that slanted?). Old habits die hard. I've mostly seen Sheryl shippers, but I know if I merely say Sheryl this and Sheryl that that it would just cause me more pain. Quite simply I'd just get labeled as Ranka biased, because that's apparently a bad thing whereas having a Sheryl bias is perfectly acceptable because she's just so win and awesome. Though to be honest, I can't really say I like Ranka all that much over Sheryl, I just don't think she's the awful character she's made out as (I will NEVER understand the whole traitor moniker, you just can't come to that conclusion out of anything but bias or really stringent loyalty to thinking inside the box), and actually a lot more consistently written that Sheryl was. You have no idea how hard it was to pull out a Ranka-ist example. Not because I was for Ranka, but because I simply rarely saw them as most Ranka fans just retreat into a corner (Sheryl finds have no problem providing examples). Though there were plenty of insults thrown to Sheryl, at least according to her fans (namely the bitch description). Sheryl just seems to attract that kind of person. It's rather telling when at Asuki the Sheryl thread is just full of people going gaga over how good "Sheryl Saotome" sounds, while the Ranka thread is full over people describing her as stagnant and annoying. Thankfully, my main connection to Asuki at this point is that I apparently started the official DYRL thread. Go me. Oh, and how everyone loves her except the non-true macross fans (no really, someone stated that apparently Ranka is more popular out of the fandom and that only we know better). Did you know that the Chinese love Sheryl and despise Ranka? So yeah, I've basically seen Sheryl described as little miss perfect, Kawamori's gift to anime, THE reason to watch Frontier (she makes the show), and Alto's obvious true love (after all he saluted her and showed concern over her health and career, he merely put his life on the line for Ranka. All the signs are there, that touch, that look, that kiss she often forced on him). I've often seen her praised for having qualities that Ranka was derided for. It's all fine to love a character, but it usually included cuts to Ranka to make Sheryl look even more perfect, which is messed up. "Ranka's selfish". So is Sheryl. "Ranka's immature" So is Sheryl. On the flip side, Sheryl's a bitch. So is Ranka in about as many actual times. Personally, I don't hate Sheryl. She's a somewhat fun, if somewhat inconsistent character for me. She's pretty much on par with the rest of the cast and is in no way the great character she's often touted as. She's fairly generic if you ask me, and like TV Alucard, I just don't get why she's so hailed (though she's got him beat in being an actual character). People act like they've never seen a high and mighty character brought down a notch (boy do I remember what happened when I said I wasn't all that moved by her breakdown scene, as byproduct of my early issues with her, I'm sure). On a side note, I sometimes wonder how much chara design plays into things. Of course it should be pointed out that not all Sheryl fans are like this (I shouldn't have to point that out, but I know I should anyway). A lot just like her for some reason, and that's fine by me. Hell, I know one that cosplays as RANKA. Wrap your mind around that one. On a side note, where does one find theories of how Ranka "won"? That line was almost expressly in reference to a blog I'd read where apparently body language counts for more than actual dialogue. Basically the whole screen time argument. I'm mildly curious to hear the reverse. There, you happy Gubaba? I'm probably blackmarked now for being blind to Queen Sheryl's Godliness. I'm sure my Asuki account is being firebombed with hate mail, or being deactivated out right. My opinions have ceased validity because I don't drool over her strawberry-blond, ball-breaking hotness. Happy now?!!! Huh!? HUH!? Maybe I should just join David at the Church of Grace (I like how that sounds actually). I'm technically a charter member anyway, just not as devout.

Install K-lite codec pack. www.codecguide.com. I've never come across that site before, Gubaba. Animesuki.com is a good choice for a torrent site. As for which are good, I recommend L-E or G_P for DYRL, Lunar, Menclave, or THORA for Frontier, and all the living torrents for Zero are good. A lot of high quality groups subbed that one. UTorrent is the best client in my book.

I was mostly referring to his character analysis, which wasn't just influenced by his views on Ohnogi, mostly because I'm inclined to agree with some of them. You also can't fault an opinion for not being objective. There's really no such thing as an objective opinion, as they're bias by default. Oh sure, one can view things from multiple angles, but stated opinions and observations are still innately limited by one's own point of view and experience. As for the last line, I was agreeing with his views on Alto mainly. Last I checked, he was the male lead. Does one have to be part of the production staff to be of the opinion that maybe he didn't play the role the male lead usually does at the end? I could see you waving that argument if he were discussing Klan or Michel, but the male lead? Come on. I think you can cut a little slack there. I side with Gubaba on just why shipping can get out of hand. Though might I add the idealizing and villianizing as well. I saw both girls being described as characters that I certainly didn't see on screen. I could not stand the concept of loving a character that didn't actually exist. Not to mention the opus I read on how body language called the victor in a love triangle that is canon stalemated. talk about rose colored glasses. There's nothing inharently wrong with thatr though, as long as it's not stated as fact, which it sadly often is. Your girl can do no wrong in a shippers eyes, criticizing one for flaws the other had as well. It cheapens both characters immensely. Sheryl being aggressive would by Ranka being selfish, Ranka being determined would be Sheryl being a bitch and so on. Hell, I loved how some people changed why they loved Sheryl as she progressed from her strength to being sympathetic. it's one thing to love a character, it's another to idealized her just to win arguments and make the other look stupid for not loving her.

Having watched a lot of shows as they air or at least with gaps in between episodes, i can definitely say that it changes things. It gives time to reflect on things, ponder where they're going, and even lose interest for a time. As I've said elsewhere, I'm sure the people that watch certain things in rapid succession never knew the torment a cliffhanger ending with a 4 month conclusion wait can do to stir things up. In a way, it's better to watch in one go, and it's better not to in others. One seems to develop a more intrinsic relationship with a series watched over a few months and discussed with other people. Though I'm sort of sure some problems I have with Frontier wouldn't exist had I not had a week or more to contemplate them and hear fans describe characters that actually didn't exist. Though I rarely get to marathon much, and even then I usually only watch a few at a time, so I guess I'm a "watch in real time" sort of person. It's all a crap shoot really, highly dependant on what you do with the time and who you talk to. I'm not that huge on Frontier now as when airing, but talking in these threads, seeing cosplay, and listening to the occasional song keeps it going. Doing those things while the series was airing, learning a little more each go probably attached me more to the show than simply marathoning it and moving on might have.

Oh yeah, it usually is like that. As I've said, I enjoyed R2 a lot more because of the insights I read. There were pros to watching it week by week, but there were definitely cons too, and I didn't really hang around for every episode either. It's sort of a luck of the draw thing.

Oh, i understand what drives these up. I'm merely saying they look around the quality of figures I've paid no more than 35 dollars for. So seeing auctions reach over 100 dollars for them makes me happily let them go. Nice to hear the Klan is usually cheaper than the rest.

The Klan is definitely my favorite of the group. Ranka's not bad. Sheryl's good, but I can't stand the face from the pics I'm seeing here, and the gloss paint don't work much. Raffle or no, those aren't $80+ figures in my book. Half that maybe.

Oh, of course it would, it just wouldn't be as focused. My own week by week watch through had it's own questions. I remember wondering a bit about Sheryl and Alto's relationship early on. It seemed like they softened her a bit. I don't think having three versions of the pilot helped much either. As for Sheryl's impending demise, I was hearing of that long before her actual disease. There's also several points where she could've easily exited the show, at least for a while. Heck, we even have an early episode entitled "Bye-Bye Sheryl." It's mostly conjecture sure, but who knows. You echo my own experience here, though I can't say I was ever big on Sheryl (nor did I like Ranka much early on either, so it was always balanced there). I often wonder how my POV would be had I just marathoned the show or never bothered to read any threads here. The shipping really got out of hand, and it is a little silly to blame it, but one can't help it. What really affected it was having to reiterate stuff. I remember making a half serious statement. Being called on it brought about having to better explain the comment. In the course of things, a throwaway comment has me suddenly thinking there's a much more serious misgiving on my part. It just had me thinking harder about something I might've just thrown away. Though what rather peeved me was one fandom criticizing the other girl for faults their own had and vice versa. It is a bit ridiculous to be so impacted by it, but it's hard not to if you expect to grant others opinions themselves. Though I'd like to think I never got to the point where I was against a SherylxAlto ending just to spite the fans. In the end, I thought it ended as it should have too. Oh, and while no girl had to "die for our ship", I certainly saw the cries for it. It is rather premature to heap blame on someone without much known. The criticism may have disingenuous origins, but a lot of keen observations can still be culled from it. I also wouldn't write some of FV's "mary sue" bits as simply being bitter at how some characters wound up. It might not be to that level, but a lot of characters wound up having far less impact than they should've, particularly Alto. Heck, Michel sort of got reduced to a mere plot device in the end.

Great read, Taksraven. Thanks.

Well, the real problem with the VHS rips wasn't the VHS part (though the generations didn't help) but rather the primitive compression methods. Come to think of it, the disc I had them on might've been lost. If anyone has any VHS fansubs they don't want, I'll gladly take them. I've got 4 VCRs in active service.

JTAF3? Nice meeting you then. I have my HG box signed by her, Hiroyuki Yamaga, and Ishiguro.

It is.

Oh a little honest criticism never hurt none. I much prefer a more cynacal take on things than rampent "they can do no wrong" fanboyism where people theorize which random gestures prove the ending wrong.

You might want to comb the news thread. It's one the making, and will take months.

Naw, it's about par for the course... Besides, it's too long for those that care about that (which seems not to be many). It's a nice one though. Here's one shot I took at Cherry Blossom courtesy my acquaintances Facebook. I was taking shots of them, and some parent wanted their kid to pose with them. I decided to snap it as well. I like how it came out.

Thanks for the link, Kresphy. Anyone have log-in info for that Firefox hating website? I once gave Reba West directions to the computer room at Fanime once.

Beat me to it. I've met and seen her perform several times, she's autographed just about every Macross related item I have, and she remembers me if not yet my name. She was also the first Japanese guest I ever got the autograph of back in 2001, before I'd even heard of the original Macross. So I'm not as cool as Gubaba, but I'm still in second. We already know what happened to the Megaroad - they're exploring the inner details of a black hole.

Yeah, I see it as the RCA logo too. I should tape a printout to the side of my 9" mono 1983 TV (most reliable TV I'll ever own as it's older than me, and still perfect).

Indeed. I thought that there was a lot of depth to Ranka and Alto as well, it was just not as pronounced as Sheryls. For that matter, I really don't think Sheryl's arc "evolved" her all that much. It really just revealed her hidden nature better and she became more easily influenced. There's hardly anything too deep about Sheryl's fall in terms of character development compared to the broader arcs of Ranka and Alto when you think about it. It's the compactness and 180 personality shift that just made it more obvious. Though it was one of the more interesting moments for her, and would've worked a lot better had one cared more for her beforehand. Alto maybe didn't "grow" very much, but when did learn more about him as it progressed and half the interest was working out his thoughts and motives. To act like Sheryl was the only character worth elevating the series is a gross injustice. Though I'll agree that compelling character's tend to make a series, and it's probably why Frontier is always on the borderline of my interest. I just never connected to them like I did in SDFM. Don't sell the thread short just yet, Mr. March. It's a lot more honest than some out there.

Yeah, Vanessa's about the only design I'm not really liking. Her hair's way too short now for my tastes. It'll be nice if they use a balance of the designs. DYRL's aren't automatically superior in my book.

My math sucks at this hour, so I assumed 9 would be divided by 3. That's more on par with trends. " Don't get your hopes too high, the main time difference is because the credits no longer run during the epilogue" That sounds about right.

And the damn things removable with interchangable hands. Happy now, fellas? It also looks A LOT better than the first pic in the face department. Damn, I might actually buy a Sheryl figure now, assuming it's within my range and reach.

Dear Lord, I love it. I'm surprised I've never seen that parody before. Is it Alto's voice on the record?

So this is box 3 of 3? Wow.

I agree that we don't really know anything for sure, and my arguments are more subjective possibilities to illustrate the points being made. For example, I could've easily seen Sheryl dying on Galia IV. It might not have been ever planned, but I could imagine a scenario where it could work. Her death motivating Alto, Ranka and Frontier into the war even further like Grace planned. I also never said MF was delayed, Code Geass was, and it's been well documented. Gottwald was meant to be a pompous ass comic relief whose main purpose was ton die as the first victim of Kallen's Knightmare. People liked him, so they had him eject (rather convenient considering the first sap she uses it on it fries all their systems instantly). In fact, this was to be a production injoke, as he's voiced by Ken Narita, and he would've died at the Battle of Narita. There's even info on how the change to a later timeslot shifted the concept from a more rigid military drama to the science fantasy it became, as well as the switch in R2's timeslot causing them to flush a lot of the first episodes to reintroduce the characters. That, and the BGC incident does show how shows do change for various reasons. So I'm merely agreeing with the theory that changes were made to MF's story as it progressed to fan reaction, second guesses and so on. If it's one thing that's certain, if a character slated to die becomes popular on Sheryl's inexplicable level, naturally they aren't going to pull the trigger if they have the option. I still don't get why Star Date is considered the high water mark myself... ; Gubaba, I never said you were slagging him. You're one of the fairest members on this board when it comes to differing opinion, and I do agree with you on some of the conclusions. This is essentially a wild goose chase until further materials are released that paint a better picture as to the early production of MF. I totally agree that when you look at entertainment like this from too many angles, it tends to fall apart. I've learned that the hard way, especially in trying to nail down my own thoughts of Sheryl in light of her rabid fandom. I'd probably enjoy her a lot more if I'd taken thing at or just below face value. Though analysing can help. Deep discussions of character motivation elevated the near trainwreck R2 as it allowed better focus on what worked and why we loved it in the first place. It was an interesting contrast given that they were airing concurrently. So it really depends on how you look at it. If you go looking for flaws, you'll find them, and vice versa. It really is a manner of deluding one's self to a non-obvious conclusion. It's how some see Sheryl as Kawamori's gift to anime, while other see her as merely average or downright terrible. Same for Ranka. My favorite example of this was the theory that the entire second half of Star Trek: The Next Generation was a figment of Data's guilt filled mind and the Enterprise is eternally stuck in orbit after the computer didn't record his code properly as an excuse to justify the production error. Though that was a joke. I'd like to think no one is THAT delusional, though some blogs make me fear otherwise, especially in shipping. Of course the movie isn't going to be a fix all. They almost never are sadly. DYRL is a downright fluke in terms of its quality as a retelling. Though even it is flawed and it characterization pales in comparison to the TV series due to the constraints of the medium (namely time). I do think that if done properly, a Frontier movie can at least better balance the numerous parts of the story, particularly the triangle.