Renato

None of the songs seem to load for me. Shame, I wanted to see if there was a full version of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.

Ugh, what the hell is going on with the 19's legs? Has Bandai even seen the show?? Nnnng. I want to have a VF-19 toy, but 5000 yen for partsforming and now inaccuracies is asking a bit too much. I hope I find it cheap after release.

Great! Thanks! You just taught me and my Japanese wife a new word! So it's read "kokuu". Hmm. I hate kanji. I really, really do.

Yeah, it seems we actually have three "official" titles, the English one: "The False Diva" the Katakana one: 「イツワリノウタヒメ」 and the Kanji (Chinese??) one: 「虚空歌姫」 If we translate the Katakana one, we do actually get "the FALSE Diva", but, as Jonias said, the kanji in the third title mean "empty" rather than false, though there is still a nuance of falsehood within them (e.g. think of "empty promises"). However, that does not mean anything once you actually realize that 虚空 is not even a word in Japanese. At least I do not think so. If anyone can find a Japanese person who has actually heard of this word (or at least, even give an official reading -- I think it's "kyokuu", but it's just a guess) then please ask them to post here and provide a definition. That's not even a joke, by the way.

When I first read the "official" English title a few days ago, I immediately thought that BigWest/Satelight/Kawamori had been looking at these forums. You should not only feel vindicated, you should feel like you were the inspiration for this!

She did sing. Here: http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%B6%85%E6%99%82...0021&sr=8-1 I think those songs are also available in the "Macross the Complete" OST CD box. And yes, the songs are exactly how you describe, melancholic ballads.

Quoted for laughs.

Yeah, the VF-1D has a new head. You can see it on the cover, although it's a bit small. I am not exactly sure who redesigned it, though. Both Mikimoto and Tenjin have drawn it that way in this issue (though the change is never explicitly pointed out nor explained).

Argh, sorry. I linked to the wrong thread. I was supposed to be referring to the thread linked in the first post of that thread I actually did link to. If you get me. Anyway, it should be this one, the Gunbuster / Ghostbuster issue: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?show...c=20764&hl=

I like the way that the Ichiroh Itano interview starts off with him basically insulting the entire Macross Ace magazine, its readership, and to a slightly lesser extent Macross Frontier and Macross 7 in general (ie, the ones he didn't work on ).

Yeah, as Gubaba said, you just need to overlay a hiragana/katakana grid over that. It's basically a i u e o, ka ki ku ke ko, sa shi su se so, etc. Where did you find that, though?? I don't think I've seen that before. Good find. Are there any more hidden treasures lying around?

Excellent find. I was reminded of this thread: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...hl=ghostbusters .... And as if to add a cherry on the cake of coincidences, Wolfx had actually included an image of the Madagascar Penguins in that thread!! Is he some kind of clairvoyant???

I know what you mean. Yeah, it all depends on how people define "culture". I do not rank the Japanese behaviour towards foreigners nor their general lack of international consciousness among aspects of "culture", but hey, there's not much they can do. I don't count myself among the apologists because God knows I complain about Japan every other hour, but the situation is not going to change any time soon. Why is there so much "English"? Because it's "cool", yeah. But heaven forbid they make any type of effort to make sense of what they write, because after all it is just for show, there is not supposed to be any meaning in what they have written on their T-shirts, for example. I have a Led Zeppelin T-shirt with a reproduction of the poster used for their Japan tour in the 70's, and some Japanese friends told me they think it looks "uncool" because it has katakana on it. But they do not know who "Led Zeppelin" is! They see レッド and they think "oh, Red Hot Chilli Peppers!" Technically, they have had little interaction with the outside world for until 150 years ago. They're still like a very small community despite everything and yeah, they will judge outsiders and have little interest in knowing much about the outside since they're far too preoccupied trying to stay alive in their own, overly bureaucratic society. In this global age, the Japanese are becoming even more domestic. For me, yes that is a cause of great frustration, but I do realise that it will not change any time soon. As far as the Japanese people who have no concept of the outside world are concerned, better just to leave them be in their tiny little world.

I should point out one thing. Despite being released 19th June, the earliest in the world (along with the UK and Ireland), as far as I can tell this movie has NOT reached the No.1 spot in Japan, and it is already falling. It entered the chart at No.2, behind "Rookies" which had dominated the top spot for 4 or 5 weeks already (except for a brief instant when "Terminator's Salivation" entered at number 1). I dunno, but that doesn't sound too good. BTW, "Rookies" was knocked off the top spot recently to be replaced by the new "Evangelion" movie. Thus, I'm guessing the Japanese are more excited by the continuing adventures of that whinging brat Shinji, non-transforming robots, and.. er... baseball, rather than "Toransufoma Ribenji", as they entitled it over here.

Thanks. From the Q&A: This is my point from a few pages back. Nice to see there are a few more people who thought that was odd.

Wait, you actually got some human interaction... and it annoyed you? I greet people all the time over here and more often than not, they just ignore me. Pisses me off.

Hang on, I missed the corner of the picture, ignore this, sorry!!

Wow.. That was.. pretty stupid of them. Anyway, it's fixed now: http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%AF...641&sr=8-10

Yeah, as I said, the Mac-1st pages ought to be enjoyed full-size. The books might be a let-down. Plus they likely won't have the colour sections of the story. I will keep buying this just for that.

I didn't put any spoilers... At least, nothing I felt was a spoiler.

Yeah, so it was a great plan to sneak up on quiet Decepticons, ambush them, and destroy Shanghai in the process. I must say I feel sorry for that unicycle dude in the beginning. He's just chillin' out, digging holes or whatever in his constructicon mode, then suddenly these gung-ho army types are like "yee-haw, fan out and catch the bastid!! It's good ol' Salem-style, witch-huntin', weasel-stompin' time, boy!" and naturally "Uni-tron" runs amok. It's like... bullying. I think I even remember that robot screaming as he was being chased. Reminded me of Slimer. Anyway, it felt real bizarre watching Prime etc. be like Professor Xavier and his X-Men, if they agreed with the humans in that mutants were a menace to society and must be stopped, so yeah, hunt them all down and murder them, without trial or verdict. Oh, as long as we get shelter though, ok thanks. I wonder what Magneto and his brotherhood of mutants would have to say about that.

Yeah, I know, it was just the first "example" I thought of. Seriously, though, at least the "Give me your face!!" thing, you've got to raise an eyebrow at that. They might as well have gone the whole hog and have Prime actually put the Fallen's face on his own and prance around going "ooh, I'm the Fallen, gonna kill you all! Ooh, ooh, fear me!! Heh, ya f%&$in' p&%%y!" "Heh, you're funny, Prime" "I know, Sam. Now where's that Alice chick? I'm all high on energon and there ain't no time to be wastin', we need some more Prime decendants!"

Yeah, you're right. I had forgotten how Peter Parker ripped out Osborn's skull and spine at the end of the first Spider-Man movie.

So.... Are Save and myself the only ones who thought it bizarre that the Autobots, mainly Prime, are now bloodthirsty brutes, inhumanely slaying sentient beings whilst wisecracking left right and centre? The whole NEST operation thing seems like persecution. Hunting down every remaining punkass Decepticon. Especially seeing as the second half of the movie goes out of its way to make a point that changing sides is a personal decision. Did anyone inform Prime of this? No wonder he wasn't the least bit moved when Jetfire gave his life for him. He's like "Yeah, you better sacrifice yourself for my sins, Decepticon pig." Nobody thought the way Prime killed that thing in Shanghai was reminiscent of Megatron killing Ironhide in the cartoon? I like the idea of Prime in action, but his style should be to always maintain honour even in battle. This Prime is getting high off the fumes, or something. The way he raises his arms after killing the Blackout clone... Jesus. Really? No-one thought that the noble warriors are now out-of-place killing machines? As if telling the robots apart wasn't hard enough in the first place. Oh, and where the hell do lines like "I stand, you fall" and "Give me your FACE!!!!!! AARGH!" come from??! Yeah, they should put that on those talking Prime helmets and stuff, that'll be a good role model for kids.

Got the magazine on Friday. As usual, Macross the First is the only really worthwhile content in the magazine. The "full twenty pages of info on the Frontier Movie, OMG!!" is a total exaggeration. It's not even 20 pages. Hell, it's barely even 8. I don't get it, maybe they're counting ads or something?? And there is NO NEW INFO. Just a couple of interviews with Aya Endo and Megumi Nakajima, where they talk about what THEY THINK THE MOVIE MIGHT BE ABOUT, BECAUSE "ACTUALLY WE STILL DON'T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT THE PLOT". There is more news about this movie in the pinned thread here on MW, than there is in the magazine. For example, it is not mentioned anywhere that the movie will actually be in two parts. Bizarrely, there are also a few interviews with Miss Japan and some other fools who apparently are Macross fans? Seriously, I don't know what the hell happened to this huge inside scoop, exclusive info BS on the new movie, they don't say anything specific about it at all. Apart from the title. Well done, thanks. OK, the rest of the magazine. Although I enjoyed Macross the First the most out of the last issue, I did have a few complaints, mainly, that it followed events pretty much scene by scene and even the frame composition was identical for the most part. Not anymore! I won't give anything away, but this chapter is very, very cool, and there are subtle hints at a very clear-cut difference in the Minmay-Hikaru relationship from the original show. It feels fresh and remixed, and we get much more of an insight into the character of Minmay than we ever did in the first couple of TV episodes. The way these threads are woven is very, very well done, and the pace is kept nice and tight. Although I think Vanessa's surname was written wrong. As for the rest of the mag, I haven't read it all yet, so I will tell you later. The non-MacF columns and interviews are always interesting (mainly because the MacF ones are nearly always nothing but PR fluff), but the manga are usually bleah. Every other picture of Sheryl or Nanase shows panties, so if that's your game, then... yay. Since I would only recommend this magazine for the "Mac-1st" comic, my advice would usually be to wait for the collected volumes to come out. However.... the art is TOO good for that puny format. This ought to be enjoyed on the full-size page. Which brings me to my final, tiny nitpick.... This mag is released once every six months. Seriously, they could raise the price a little bit and do the whole "Macross the First" comic is glorious colour. It seems a waste not to! Look at the beautiful Mikimoto artwork in the first few pages, the poster, the cover... it should ALL be like that! God knows he has enough assistants. So, that's my two cents on Macross Ace of Base. I wouldn't be so hard on it if they hadn't built up a whole load of nothin' as far as news is concerned.