Renato

I thought that, until I saw episode 14. That and I love Edo culture anyway. It certainly not up to Cowboy Bebop style of awesomeness, but it's getting there. I hope they do a movie later. I doubt they will get round to it in the near future, beacuse Watanabe is going into live-action, apparently...

Check it out. You get a "Flying Momo-san" paper craft with volume 6 of the DVDs. According to the official website, though, there is no guarantee that it will actually "fly". The Japanese STILL don't seem to have a clue about "extras". Plus it looks to me more like one of the Varauta fighters than a squirrel...

Why not do a Monster custom while you're at it?

In one of those photos there is a Koenig Monster precariously balancing before the edge of a precifice... You might wanna do something about that, or it's goodbye Gerwalk/Shuttle connection pegs! Topics like these make me want to get all my stuff out, too (not that I have as much as Godzilla and gang). The problem is that I have most of it in the UK...

Since we are talking about a Japanese author, I think we have to go for its cultural roots... Izanagi and Izanami. FV I really doubt Kawamori had even considered Izanagi and Izanami when planning out Macross Zero. In fact, the whole Adam and Eve situation was all made up in OUR imaginations as none of this is explicitly depicted, so let's not go too far into Japanese mythology and cry "this is it!!", because if you go far enough you can tie it all up with like, the Incas, or something.

That would really kick ass. VF-X2 has it all really , from the VF-1 to the VF-22. I keep wondering how they never continued the line up until the recently released Koenig. I can only dream of a Yamato VF-5000 But the 5000 is in Macross Plus, not VF-X2. Though I think it was due to be in the US release of VF-X2. Well, so much for that.

I've seen those images before, but they weren't credited for Zelda. They were for something else, if I recall.

Kamiya Akira with the shades at tge back. He was on TV recently. Front row l-r: Whoever played Kim; Takeda Eri; Hase Arihiro; Mari; Doi Mika; the voice of Yatchan. Back row, l-r: Global; dunno this guy -- maybe Kakizaki?; Britai; Kamjin?; Hayami Shou maybe; Kamiya Akira; dunno; dunno. Well, that's the best I can do.

Seiichi posted this a couple of days ago, I didn't want this piece of news to go unnoticed. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=12887 Seems the Macross Zero mook is in the can. Great news. I hope it send my regards to the Yamato 1/60 Monster, VF-0 and FAST packed YF-19 while it's in there. Or maybe it will take them four years or so to bring it out, like the Miyatake book. *Sigh*...

I think so- one every year or so is probably sustainable in the market. hopefully takara will put the money made off magnus (who will have cost very little to bring to market) towards engineering a new mould. a hotrod as described would be cool, but i'd personally want a show-accurate skyfire... If they make any money off Magnus, that is. I've yet to hear from anyone willing to buy him, especially if the price is the same as Prime. Also, I think he comes with a black version Megatron. Hmph.

I thought it was "May Hopkins".

There is a streaming video file you can watch of the entire 18th episode on the official homepage www.samuraichamploo.com. Damn good episode, too, I might add. Features my second favourite song, Hiji Zuru Style.

Sorry, I don't know this one (I think it's one of the rarest Macross CDs), but if I come across a track list I can try to translate it for you.

ditto. what one suggests someone else should do, and what one is actually willing to do themselves, are two different things. i'd love to have one but its easier for you and everyone else to just buy a 1/100 kit(more detailed than any cast is going to be) and paint it yourself. it would be kind of ridiculous to make someone do all that work of sculpting and casting so a handful of us can buy a destroid non-conversion kit. the endo-skeleton on the other hand is quite useful and will sell better, since anyone thats got a DCK will by atleast 2, i know i will cause i just got my DCK today and i want 2. I would not buy two skeletons if the shared groin and leg pieces are not included, though.

When I saw the head I immediately thought, Patlabor! But.. Humph. The body is boring. They should have just made a Patlabor in 1/8 scale or something.

I don't know about Melbourne, but over here in Perth they have the HG Macross Boxset. Look for a franchise called JB Hi-Fi. They'll definitely have it at a competative price. I think other places like Electronic Boutique have it for 5-10 AUD more expensive. Thanks, but how much is it?

I really want to know exactly how "well" GITS, Innocence or Appleseed have done. I don't know anyone who has seen them, and I'm here in Japan. Oh, wait, I do know one guy who saw Innocence. But he's from Brazil, not Japanese. I stand by my statement, no animated movie aiming for an "adult market" will be received by the mainstream.

I got a conversion kit recently, and the legs make all the difference. There doesn't seem to be an accurate way to attach any Spartan leg pieces (in particular the feet) to the standard conversion kit endoskeleton. You have to do some serious customizing to the endoskeleton itself for it to work, but then you've lost its universality as it will no longer be compatible with the other three destroids. Therefore, there's no point. Unless you want a modified endoskeleton recast which will fit ONLY the Spartan armour, which you have to make from scratch anyway. At the end of the day, you end up with just a basic Spartan kit anyway, so why not just get the model kit? They do them in 1/100, right? EDIT -- While we're at it, does Takatoys do reproduction decals for the Conversion Kit? 'Cause mine didn't come with any. If not, are you considering doing those, too (since you mentioned you may do leg armours too)?

I'll be over in Melbourne for an event on Japanese popular culture in Monash University, from the 25th of February to the 6th of March. Like my last outing over in Florida, I can't promise I'll have much free time, but if anyone is over there and wants to meet up or knows any interesting Japanese-related place in the area, I'll be glad to hear from you. -- EDIT-- Oh, another thing is that I heard the SDF Macross series box set was released over there too. Is that still available? -Renato

Yeah, so what we need now is a body count. So far, is xtoys the only one who has broken their VB-6? I know some people like to just leave them in one mode and only transform them from time to time, but mine has undergone at least 20 or 30 transformations so far...

From Lebhead's thread, JRock has heard a rumour that ADV is planning to buy out Harmony Gold next year. Anyone else heard this? If not, I guess we can dismiss that.

Get a bigger vaccuum cleaner. But a good thread nonetheless. It's interesting. Did someone call for MEGA-MAID??? "It's..... a TRANSFORMER!!"

Destroid (battroid) mode -- More stress marks around the hole where the wide hinged black tab on the backpack fits in to the rear of the robot. If you get me.

In its intial release, yes, Spirited Away did show in a limited number of theaters. However, once it was nominated for the Academy award, Spirited Away showed up in regular movie theaters. Unlike Appleseed, GiTS and GiTS 2, I didn't have to drive an hour to go to NYC to see it. Spirited Away was lucky in a way, in that it fit Western (and to an extent, Japanese) audience's conceptions of what an animated film should be like. I.e. the content is not far removed from Disney movies, and te whole thing can be interpreted as an Alice in Wonderland update. Movies like DYRL and Innocence have no bearing whatsoever with "animated family movie" trends, and so a mainstream audience is unresponsive.

I don't think Shawn will be too pleased when we decide to chop off his chin for the 1/55 scale sculpt.