Renato

Does any of the members here in Japan watch the "Tokudane" wide-show on weekday mornings? Today, I was watching its coverage of yesterday's election results, and most of the BGM used on the footage was from Macross Frontier! It was funny to hear Obama's "Yes we can!" speech along to Yoko Kanno's triumphant orchestrations, and during the footage of Obama's family they played some of the softer melodies. I can't remember any of the track titles, but I know which ones they were so when I look them up I'll let you all know. It was pretty funny though.

It seems they sold out on the day of release, according to the article.

Clearly, the United Earth Government is in charge of vast space emigration fleets, many of which speak totally different languages and are like different countries in our world. Here is a scan taken from the transcript of Macross 7 Galaxy Song Battle 1: To basically summarise, there are so many languages and cultures across space in the world of Macross 7 that for the audience to understand it, they had to make a "Japanese dubbed edition". However, it notes that it is impossible to fully translate everything exactly, so it is important to be aware of this. Actually, this reminds me of some interview or something regarding the world of Cowboy Bebop, and I believe that Watanabe or somebody said that it should be thought of as the Japanese-dubbed version, because they are actually speaking Chinese and English. Another point I wanted to make is that in the original Macross, it is rare to see signs and things in Japanese, so I was under the impression that whatever these people are actually speaking, the official language would be English. The same seems to apply in Mac 7 and Plus. However, in Frontier, for the first time we see lots and lots of Japanese being used everywhere, (even when firing the main Quarter gun!) and note that mobile phone texting is all done in Japanese. So, at the very least Alto and his family belong to the Japanese speakers of the group, which are hardly few because they basically have a copy of Shibuya right there in the fleet, so it's to be expected that there are plenty of Japanese onboard. What I'm basically saying is that the official language is usually English, but depending on the cultures being transported within each fleet the actual languages used vary vastly, often within the same fleet. Edited for (a bit) more clarity.

Don't forget in the episode with Alto's training mission, when the bridge girls are looking at the monitor, the information on that Sakura-hime kabuki play was all copy-pasted from an existing site that somebody on here found afterwards. I'm sure the screen grab is there in the Miss Macross episode thread.

I agree. The Green Bird scene is my favourite scene in all of Bebop, and maybe in all of anime. I remember Shinichiro Watanabe said that often he would basically hear the songs Kanno had composed and then storyboard the scenes to match them, almost like a music video. Also, the ending credits freeze-frames in Macross Plus oozed style like nothing else, and the steel guitar BGM with Isamu waving his hand around like a plane was iconic both visually and aurally. Surely he and Kanno were the best combination for a medium such as anime. As far as this poll is conerned.... no votes for Aimo??? I know many people are sick of it, but although I do listen to the Service Medley the most, Aimo - Torino Hito version is really beautiful and fits perfectly with the Macross Zero ending, even better, dare I say, than the original Arkan. Though, that's great too (not Kanno though). So it gets my vote. Seriously, there are a lot of good songs here, but my favourite Kanno song ever might just be "Pulse" from MacPlus. I dunno why, but I NEVER get tired of hearing that, it's so atmospheric, yet trance-like... VFTF1 -- You know that Angel Voice is also a Yoko Kanno song, right? Shame they didn't use it here too. DWN013 -- Great avatar. Love seeing valks outdoors.

Thanks! While searching for more info on Macross Ace, I found this: http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%AF...868&sr=8-14 Apparently we are due for a Macross Ace Frontier PSP Player's Guide in a couple of weeks!

Thanks, Vifam7. That's actually one of the articles I was thinking of referencing here.

Yeah, it's big in Japan. And Audrey Hepburn herself is eternally popular here, most likely because her physical attributes incorporate all of the "cute, petite" features that Japanese women (and many men) adore.

Oops, you're right, where are my manners. Macross 7 is gay, Robotech sucks, and Vader has small hands. There. (Seriously, though, I do think it's just the situation in China -- half of the distributors have closed shop and lab tests for lead and such have gotten much tougher very recently.)

You are forgetting Sunwards -- the overseas venture of Yamato, which made a big deal about getting their distribution license directly from BW. And they still got blown off anyway by HG. That's why I was really annoyed at this Bandai/Tamashii BS. Yeah, I'm all for valks going international, but it's all a dirty power struggle. The whole world deserves to experience a 1/48. Good riddance. They never made very many anyway, and the ones they did look awful. If they give up the franchises they're currently sitting on (MacF, Mac7), they may give a company who's willing to try a chance to make a proper VF-17 or Fire Valkyrie with Sound Boosters. Having said all of this, I think the current industry problems in toy manufacturing within China may have more to do with the delays than anything else.

How much was it? And just in case, could we please have scans or photos (legible) of the interview pages?

Yeah, that's a great track. It's almost like a Macross II BGM track, but with added accompaniment, which I guess is why you like it. "Protoculture" is really amazing, too... Makes me feel like I can actually picture a truly alien world.

Well, I doubt I'm gonna bother with this if it's just a compilation, I don't care too much about the "special unreleased vesions" they're willing to add, either.. I do want all the BGM from the show, though. Wonder if there will be a 2 CD set of that? Kresphy: Thanks for the info, as usual! Though, I really don't understand what the point of re-drawing those scenes are. It's not like they're fixing mistakes anymore... they're just adding stuff for the hell of it? Get to work on the movie, already!

Exactly. I've said this many times, but it is very important to be able to establish an acceptance of anime across various demographics. Stuff marketed only towards otaku just makes me sad and stimulates neither the arts nor the public as a whole. They're REALLY out of sync. As for SAC, well, I have my reservations on that one concerning Motoko's insinstence on always wearing a bikini to work. Besides that, I see your point, but here I must stress that the Japanese audiences are very much segregated so while you can say it was a critical and commercial success in the sense that it had a good fan following and high ratings and DVD sales which spawned a second season, that means nothing to the mainstream (or what can be called mainstream) Japanese society, since any otaku-oriented property has low-level recognition in the general sphere. Gundam and Evangelion are notable exceptions, but even then, it's like, people may recognize the drawings. Doesn't mean they watch the show. In order for this to change and to promote this media to a higher status the things which turn people off (stupid maid costumes, jiggly breast jokes, squeaky voices, etc) must be toned down. Only then people will open their eyes to anime's true potential, and we might get something like, I dunno, Wings of Honneamise being enjoyed by a wide audience. Personally, I don't want to dicscuss this stuff with just otaku.

I blindly hope one of the two discs is a DVD of the concert. Fat chance, I know....

The listing for the (supposedly) OST3 album has been removed from the page. Hmm...

I'm probably getting the Ozma kit when it comes out. Then I'll either just get a 1/100 VF-25 or maybe the Michel DX, since it will come with FAST packs, sniper rifle and stand. It will be around March or even later (cos of the delays in China) by then, so I will have saved up a bit more money by then.

That kinda talk will get you blown up by the Birdman next month! (Or is it this month..?)

Hear, hear. I would love this show so much if it had Mikimoto characters instead of these.... drawings.

Well, the Protoculture were much more advanced than the humans ever were, despite what Grace thinks. The humans were beginning to mess around with cybernetics onboard the Galaxy, after all, so give them a few more years. Plus, it would be nice to think that they learned a lesson from the destruction of the Protoculture not to play around too much with that which cannot be controlled. EDIT -- And the humans did make one more Evil series being, see my last post.

Thanks for this news! I really like the music that you hear before the opening sequence in the episode after the Dimension Eater goes off, where Alto is floating around the remaining two-thirds of the planet. It's got some kind of cello thing going on with an interesting beat. Was that on the second soundtrack? If not, I'd like to see it pop up in a future OST release.

Did anyone else think that the Dimension Eater from Mac F was reminiscent of Gigil's destruction of Planet Lux? I remember hearing some bridge operatr or somebody say that "the space in front of us is disappearing", so it's possible that since the Protodeviln have the ability to fold themselves across the galaxy, they have the ability to fold other stuff too (like that reaction bomb in the cave inside the ice planet). Maybe ILA reverse-engineered some Evil Series technology? (It wouldn't be the first time: In "Mylene Beat", Col. Barton and that pedo-lesbian manager person team up to make their own Evil series, or something... I'd like to think that's not really canon, though).

OBJECTION!! Yeah, MacF looked better, had better pacing, and perhaps a more intriguing plot, but for me, it's the characters that make the show, and Mac7 made up for that in spades. I never cared one bit about the "problems" facing Alto, Brera, Ranka, Sheryl and everyone else, I just saw them as whiny kids all the way through. Canaria and Ozma should've been the main characters!

Nah, that's the green repaint of the Destroid Tomahawk. I guess 'cos it OD'd on LSD, or something.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. What exactly was so special about Alto that Birler had to call him and have a chat? And what did they talk about, except his vague "dream"? I don't get that whole plot point at all, and it seemed to have no bearing on anything else anyway.