azrael

Footnote 2: That can be said about a lot of series, not just Macross in general. Some people are already calling Gundam Seed Destiny a disappointment. The series isn't even at the half-way point and people are labelling it bad. At one point on the wayback machine, I thought Evangelion was boring and not worth it. That was from only watching episode 1 and 2. Was my opinion really justifible if I haven't actually finished the series? No, cuz I haven't finished the damn series. How do I know it won't be better or worst later in the series? I don't. So the arguement doesn't just apply to M7/M2 or any Macross.

Not like we haven't known what's going to happen for about what...20 years? All Episode 3 will do is provide the details.

Unfortuantely Graham, we live in a world that has a slight pack mentality. If one person doesn't like it, then another gets influenced by that opinion and follows the leader. Think of the person who passes judgement on certain food yet has never actually eaten that food. The same applies. As my mom told me growing up, if you don't try it, how do you know it doesn't taste good? The best thing to do is mark the opinion as incomplete. Funny...the valk designs never bothered me when I watched it 10 years ago. That was actually my first problem. Although having never watched a long-running animated TV series, I thought it was moving too slow. Then I watched Maison Ikoku (Maison is 95/96 episodes long for you kids who've never seen it and it virtually repeats itself every episode) Marmalade Boy (76 episodes). That certainly changed my opinion of M7 's pacing. There are days when Fire Bomber sounds soooo much better than idol pop (Minmay).

The only ones who would know that are the clones. Any since all those clones are wearing practically the same thing, it's kinda hard to tell if one's out on a hot date since the squad mates can stand in for the missing clone. Heck, a new clone can replace the one making babies and no one would notice.

A clone wouldn't necessarily be as strong with the force, and even if they were, there'd be all that time taken to educate, train, & hope they turn out as angry & prone to evil. It's a lot faster to just fix up the bust'd Vader And Vader was already full of rage. Use it, mold it, make it work for you. Or the clothes burnt away from the heat. It looks like he's only got his pants. In that state, he probably doesn't feel much. Might as well put on some limbs if he doesn't feel anything.

For those of us who have been here long enough, we have done this debate of transforming vs. single-state mechs and we have thought it out long and hard and transforming mechs are more expensive than single-state mechs. Common sense tells us that. A transforming mech is more complex. The more complex, the more expensive it gets. Yet ORB goes ahead builds it. That means that ORB found it to be economically feasible. ORB doesn't need a multi-role mech. EA needed lots of mechs. They can't keep buliding individual role mechs so they build a multi-role mech and add mission variable armaments. Cheap, easy to build, easy to maintain. ORB, on the other hand, is small, needs full functionality over multi-role so they don't need a single mech they can customize the hell out of. ORB, overall, isn't a warring nation. They never wanted to be. For ORB's size, their manufacturing abilities are perfect. ORB never had the need to produce cheap toys like the Daggers. Quality, not quantity. You are basing your conclusion on the fact that ORB is like EA. They are not. They never were. But for ORB's size, they have shown to be quite impressive in manufacturing and using lots of new technology. That's the key. The Murasame is only 1/one/uno/ichi example. The Murasame works for ORB because that is what they need. They don't need to produce them like the EA produces Daggers/Windams. If they did, we would be calling them EA. There are more examples but we listed most of them. We can continue this all you want but if we have to repeat ourselves and explain in detail since you can't connect the dots, then this becomes pointless. You can go ahead and continue this, but frankly I'm tired of conversation. I wanna see more Luna pics.

It is official. At least for the DYRL? version of the SDF-1. But the city is still arranged the same in SDFM....more or less (i.e. the city isn't arranged upside down in certain spots IIRC).

Not really. The ZAFT underwater MS use this: http://www.gundamofficial.com/worlds/ce/ba...tml#phononmaser EA and ORB still hold the title for first to have beam weaponry in standard mass production. The Phonon Maser isn't quite beam weapon technology.... Now where did I say the Murasame was more advanced than the ZAKUs or Windams? I said, the Murasames must be economically feasible otherwise ORB won't have them. EA and ZAFT don't have mass-produced transformable MSs, so that must mean something about the Murasame. (Thank you DarkPhoenix, nice to know some else is paying attention) Even with Freedom, Archangel, Strike, Buster and Justice....they can only do so much. In the 2nd wave, all of them were there and ORB still lost.

Unofficial but definitely possible. From AICN ( http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=19747 ), the villian for the 3rd movie is Sandman.

They also had their own mass driver. So it's not just weapons. Yes. That statement can be made reasonably. Considering ORB's goals/ideals, they really don't have a need for Gundam. The Astrays and Murasames serve their roles. None that we know of. We haven't seen EA's cards. Back in GS, ORB's need was to have mobile suits. They got 'em with the M1s. Those things did quite well for a mass-produced MS in GS. Back in GS, Cagalli really didn't have a problem with it as long as they were use for defense. Unfortunately in GSD, they are being used for offensive manuevers, which Cagalli has a problem with. The Murasame, for sure, is not the best they could come up with but for their principals and overall needs, the Murasame is an ideal interceptor. One thing to note about the Murasame, ORB mass produced a transformable MS. Those types of MS are not cheap since they can switch modes. So ORB must have found a way to make it economically feasible. It's all about potential. That's iffy. Why? Because PLANT didn't implement beam technology in their first generation suits. EA and ORB did.

They could have attacked Carpentaria but Carpentaria doesn't have a mass driver, which is essential to the EA. So there is no strategic advantage to taking Carpentaria except to deal a blow to ZAFT. The major spaceports are Kaohsiung, Panama, Habilis at Victoria, and Kaguya at ORB. Those 4 mass drivers are the only ones that exist (that is, until they were all destroyed except for Victoria). Strategically, Carpentaria is not as important as Victoria. While true that ZAFT did offered support, and ORB refused, that means forces would have been pulled from other zones that were probably sent to reinforce Victoria. ZAFT didn't have the resources at that point to be at 2 strategic locations at once. Whatever forces ZAFT could have pulled, it won't have made a difference. ORB would still have fallen. The large force at Victoria was always there. They never left the area. And if ORB did request assistance from ZAFT, that would have invited a larger EA presence at ORB. Either way, ORB would have fallen.

In M0, "Protoculture" was a theory and one that wasn't widely accepted or widely spread. This is why, by SDFM, many people have not heard the term or are somewhat puzzled by it.

First off, you're mixing GS and GSD. You are looking at now and applying it to then. Different time, different circumstances. ZAFT regulars won because they had the EMP. There is no way to show whether EA or ZAFT was winning because as soon as ZAFT secured certain spots, they deployed the EMP. Plain and simple. So don't think ZAFT would have won or EA would have won. As soon as ZAFT deployed the EMP, the game was over in the 2nd inning. And Panama was attacked with a small ZAFT force. Alaska dealt a serious blow to ZAFT. Back in GS, ORB was a major technological country. In terms of mobility, Astrays performed better than the Strike Daggers and outclassed GINNs. It also had the Izumo-class ships. These ships outclassed any EA ship in technology. Most EA ships used conventional weaponry. Most the Archangel's design stems from ORB, as I said earlier. Even ZAFT didn't integrate some of the weapons found in the Izumo and Archangel-classes until GSD. Two years later in GSD, these problems leveled themselves out. So the board is even. ZAFT can help those refugees in in the Suez in GSD because they have help from local governments. The world changed in GSD. Eurasia no longer wanted to stand with the Atlantic Federation. In GS, ZAFT suffered a good lost of troops at Alaska. They could have offered ORB assistance but it would not have done any good. With the lost at Alaska, the order came down to pull forces back to space where they could regroup. Panama was a parting shot. ZAFT also had a decent force holding Victoria and they still were defeated there. ORB would have fallen with or without ZAFT's help.

Yep. As I said, designed for the game, not for canon. Meh.

Remember, Uzumi had the support of the Emiritus (sp). Cagalli did not. And that is because they remembered what happened the first time around. I doubt anybody would want to repeat that. They walked all over her because she was alone this time. No one would side with her. It's hard to get people to side with you when you're all alone in the corner. If ORB asked for help from ZAFT, it would have taken time to redeploy troops to ORB. The battle was over in 2 days. It would have taken ZAFT at least that much time to have ZAFT redeploy to ORB. Plus, ZAFT would have to deal with an EA blockade of ORB. Well they were devastated by EA last time. Astrays are 2 years old already. EA came out with the Dagger L and then the Windams, which are much better for multi-role thanks to the Striker-pack systems. ORB is in much less need of multi-role and have a much better chance with mobility. This is where the Murasame shines. It's lighter, and more manueverable than a Windam/Dagger L with a Jet striker pack. In GSD, the playing field is leveled so there's not distinct line. As mentioned, Morgenroete, an ORB company, designed the Izumo-class and the Archangel-class ships (through the AA-class was made by EA, their design stems from the same group). These are quite powerful ships for their time. ZAFT didn't design an equivalent ship until after the war.

Hai hai. Although I would word the opening statement as as small military power, large technological and scientific know-how. If ORB allied with ZAFT, they would have been attacked by EA. ORB didn't win the last time they fought EA. What makes you think they would win this time? ORB now has allied itself with EA. They are open to attack from ZAFT. And ZAFT is pounding on EA in the European region (i.e EA is losing territory).

The RPGs from Palladium are what....more than 10 years old...RPGs have somewhat evolved from that time. Also RPG specs are, of course, inaccurate. Why? Because they are designed for the game, not to be taken as canon. This is why they are off. And this is why we don't cite them as a valid source. Those specs are there for your gaming pleasure, not to be debated. Of course they're inaccurate, but come on...it's just for a game.

Forgot about Canard. Sorry I kinda skipped the Astray mangas. No it doesn't, IIRC. But considering he was a "failed experiment", then you can come to the conclusion that Canard did not come out as planned, unlike Kira. Well when someone dashes up to you, cuts off your arm and runs away...you'd be wondering what the heck is going on. Neo shamed Yuna in a sense by taunting him (that's how I saw it, I'll watch the sub later). (I'll probably edit this later with a better statement on what happened.) Either Athrun couldn't reach him (serves the plot) or Kira didn't receive/wasn't listening. Milly is probably the one feeding Archangel info about other nations and their link to what else is going on. In fact, it looks like Milly is the one who arranges the meeting between Kira & Cagalli with Athrun. And you have to wonder why she's showing up in some unusual places.

Cuz Star Wars really doesn't need to go that far. Don't know if James Earl Jones is doing the voice. It would be hard to not have him, but since the mechanical version of Vader doesn't come till the last 5 minutes of the movie, Mr. Jones doesn't have much to say in this movie. Expect no more than a 30 seconds of dialog, total (That equates to a few lines). Edit: Word from the grapevine was, JEJ recorded his lines as soon as Lucas wrote what lines he had in mind. IIRC, that was during pre-production. So JEJ was done after a what would be a 1-hour session at the recording studio. Yes Mon Mothma will be in Episode 3. Genevieve O'Reilly will be playing the young senator. http://www.theforce.net/episode3/characters/index.asp

Being the Ultimate Coordinator has nothing to do with being a Newtype. What the Ultimate Coordinator means is that as a Coordinator, he came out perfect, no genetic anomalies of any kind. Re-watch ep. 45 of SEED. In it, they explain that the biggest problem with Coordinators is the mother's womb. To fix that, Dr. Hibiki created the artificial womb. No interference from the mother. Everything the embryo receives is pure and un-tampered. To that, Kira came out as the perfect Coordinator. No deviations from the original plan. His eye color, hair, and every other part of his biological make-up came out exactly as planned. In addition to that, Kira was the only one to survive the artificial womb. Kira's "Newtype" senses are manifesting from his SEED factor, not his Coordinator status. Naturals and Coordinators have the potential, but many have yet to reach that point that few have (Cagalli, Athrun, Lacus, Shinn. Kira is probably a bit more advanced that the previous mentioned). Given time, Kira's "Newtype" abilities would probably match that of Mu or Le Crueset.

Probably not. Most of the songs are re-releases except for the last track which is a new track. It doesn't look like she's been doing much lately: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycloped...ple.php?id=2410

Agreed, it was a no-win situation. Cagalli has now, tried everything she could to not involve ORB in the war, but everything she's tried has failed. Cagalli is not so much trying to stop a war but, trying to keep ORB out of the mess. That is the reason why she went out. ORB is her home country. First and foremost, Cagalli is doing what she should as a leader, protecting her country. She already tried to stop the war and it didn't work. Now she tried to stop her own people from getting involved. That has now failed. She doesn't have many options left but to do things the hard way...again.

IIRC, according to Lucas, we won't see much of the Jedi slaughter. We'll hear more and see the aftermath but the purge will be short and mostly off screen. Seriously though, who would want to see a 10-year-old get blasted to bits. Heck, there was a school shooting incident this week.

*tap tap* http://www.anime.net/macross/production/au...l#fukuyama_fire

Yes, Kira did sense something (Newtype!). No newtype ping or flash, however. Heine was just in the wrong place/wrong time. Just as everybody else in Freedom's path, Heine was wondering what was going on. Stellar was too concerned with going after Freedom. Archangel did have to fall back. Cagalli's message didn't go through. They had no choice but to go to plan B, disable everybody on the way out.