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Seto Kaiba

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  1. Seto Kaiba
    Oh, that's an easy one... blame the villain decay caused by Aliens and Predator 2. Both the Predator and the Xenomorph derived most of their ability to frighten and intimidate from being unseen and unstoppable killers that were clearly in no hurry to finish off their prey. There was nothing the crew of the Nostromo could do to prevent the xenomorph from killing them all with impunity. Likewise, the Predator was able to slaughter a team of elite commandos with impunity and show off how tough it was by beating up a character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger without breaking a sweat. The threat level for both of them dropped significantly when sequels revealed they weren't actually all that tough. The Predator in Predator 2 was killed off by an ordinary cop in the Los Angeles of 1997, and the xenomorphs in Aliens were killed in droves by inept and overconfident colonial marines in 2179. The scary monster is much less scary when it's revealed that you can just shoot it dead. That's why they have to keep setting these movies in the present day... because that keeps the protagonists from having the kind of technology and firepower that levels the playing field too much for the monsters to be a credible threat.
  2. Seto Kaiba
    ... "Not at all" would be the politest way to put it. Palladium Books claimed that they brought in someone to research Macross II: Lovers Again in order to get accurate information for the RPG, but that person either didn't exist or they got conned bad because they somehow managed to get almost every single detail of the OVA's setting and story wrong. They didn't even list the right year for the events of the OVA. The list of details they actually got right is painfully short (we're talking single-digits). Funny story, the top of the slippery slope that led me to translating was realizing there were inaccurate bits in the RPG and looking to Japanese publications to try and houserule fix 'em. I didn't realize how deep the rabbit hole of inaccuracy went at the time. It may only be "simple" compared to other Mardook-built mecha too, given that the Mardook are indicated by Macross II's creators to have overtechnology superior to that of the Zentradi or Meltrandi. (I'm undecided as to whether or not the battle suits would have it, since they're not shown to hover without an engine providing thrust the way the battle pods are.) I wouldn't even say "flaky" given that it's mass-produced for the Mardook's most common mecha... it's probably just basic (by their standards) because it's something intended for use by the rank-and-file Zentradi grunts who've been subjected to mind control.
  3. Seto Kaiba
    Right now, there are eleven volumes of Variable Fighter Master File. In order, they are: Variable Fighter Master File: VF-1 Valkyrie (Vol.1) Variable Fighter Master File: VF-19 Excalibur Variable Fighter Master File: VF-1 Valkyrie (Vol.2) Variable Fighter Master File: VF-25 Messiah Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix Variable Fighter Master File: SDF-1 Macross VF-1 Squadrons Variable Fighter Master File: VF-22 Sturmvogel II Variable Fighter Master File: VF-4 Lightning III Variable Fighter Master File: VF-31 Siegfried Variable Fighter Master File: VF-1 Battroid Valkyrie Variable Fighter Master File: VF-11 Thunderbolt There is also a Red Herring of sorts... an in-universe volume that is mentioned (with an image of its cover) in VF-1 Valkyrie Vol.2 that doesn't exist in reality, which focuses on the VF-4, VF-3000, and VF-5000.
  4. Seto Kaiba
    Not at this time.
  5. Seto Kaiba
    Yeah, they do work better when they're inside the ship. It occurred to me that there's one other high-profile case of reactionless drives being used for flight in-series... http://www.macross2.net/m3/macross2/battlepod/battlepod.gif The Mardook's version of the Regult battle pod... which on several occasions is shown hovering or flying at very slow speeds without using the thrust from its thrust-vectoring engine pods to do so.
  6. Seto Kaiba
    Well, at least it's ignoring The Predator... that's an automatic point in its favor. Still, I have a hard time imagining they'll be able to put a new and interesting spin on the idea that more clicky bois are coming to Earth to hunt The Most Dangerous Game. The Predators suffered too much villain decay in previous sequels to ever be properly scary or intimidating again, now they're just fishnet-wearing serial killers with bad teeth and no compelling motive. Like Alien Isolation, they need to go back to Predator's roots to have any hope of making this one worth a damn.
  7. Seto Kaiba
    Yup... reactionless flight using gravity manipulation is pretty useful.
  8. Seto Kaiba
    Also, many MANY cases of inexplicable floating rocks e.g. Macross Zero and like... 2/3 of the local geology on Uroboros. It's also probably how the Protoculture-created insectoid bioweapons known as the Dyaus get around. Pretty much every ship built using overtechnology is capable of reactionless flight using gravity control too so there's that as well.
  9. Seto Kaiba
    Size, I would assume... the Vajra's bio-gravitational field propellers are almost 2/3 as long as a VF in fighter mode.
  10. Seto Kaiba
    There are some that are similar, though they're almost exclusively a fixture of VF models and variants that are optimized for service in space and are mounted farther back around the engine nozzle to take best advantage of the peak turbine pressure south of the thrust production stage. Mostly they come in the form of the "vernier ring" feature that was first seen on the VF-14 and carried over onto the VF-17, VF-11MAXL, VF-19, and VF-171. That is essentially a thrust reverser on steroids, a 360 degree collar of verniers around the engine nozzle that draw engine exhaust for propellant. Then there are more traditional examples like the VF-19A/B/C/D type's LHE-10B verniers which are designed like other high-thrust verniers but which similarly divert engine exhaust for propellant.
  11. Seto Kaiba
    So... first things first, "nuclear energy" isn't a separate and distinct form of energy. The term refers to the heat and particle radiation produced by the fission or fusion of atomic nuclei. Only a small amount (~0.645%) of the fuel's mass is converted into kinetic energy as alpha particles and so on. The rest of the fuel mass is converted into heavier elemental nuclei like helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc., though in the plasma state at a VERY high temperature due to the massive amount of kinetic energy released. The heat from that plasma is the energy harnessed by the VF's thermoelectric generators to produce electricity to power its systems. In an atmosphere, trace amounts of that extremely hot plasma are used to flash-heat the air passing through the engine in lieu of burning jet fuel in order to produce thrust. In space, the plasma produced in the reactor is used as propellant to generate thrust. The VF's fuel consumption increases exponentially in space in order to have the reactors create enough plasma to produce the required amount of thrust. This exponential increase in fuel consumption is the reason for things like FAST Packs, which contain rocket motors to take more of the burden of acceleration off the main engines and additional fuel tanks to extend the maximum operating time of the engines.
  12. Seto Kaiba
    Accidents like that are the reason behind the well-traveled engineer's aphorism "the safety regs are written in blood". Every one of those seemingly obvious safety rules in any field or work site exists because it wasn't obvious to some idiot and they got hurt or killed. Not very... that's why Arad cautions Hayate to keep a sharp eye on his propellant levels when he's about to set out on his first space sortie early in Macross Delta. One way space-optimized VFs tried to mitigate this was with the vernier ring that General Galaxy pioneered on the VF-14 and which later made its way onto the VF-17, VF-171, and VF-19 space types, which diverts main engine exhaust into a sort of sectored-off thrust-vectoring thrust reverser. Pretty sure that only has one setting: well done. Smoking is generally inadvisable these days.
  13. Seto Kaiba
    Well... if they work anything like their description in Variable Fighter Master File, then probably not. Both the high-thrust verniers used for braking and roll control and the low thrust verniers used for minor attitude control are described by Master File as thermal rockets. They rely on power from the compact thermonuclear reactors and the high-energy capacitors elsewhere in the airframe to power lasers or high-voltage electrical arcs that heat propellant to produce thrust. Without that power, the propellant is inert and comes out at much lower pressure. It might knock you on your butt or frost your eyebrows, but it's unlikely to toss you across the room unless you're foolish enough to be standing in front of a vernier that's being tested under power. Someone unwise enough to be standing directly in front of one of those verniers being tested under power will have more immediate concerns like being hot exhaust gas akin to a blowtorch setting them on fire. (While fire retardant coveralls are almost certainly standard issue, nobody really wants to be the one to test just how fireproof they really are.) Given that automotive diagnostic tools can do everything from clear fault codes to manually actuate everything capable of moving without direct connection to the engine... it'd be something more or less guaranteed to exist. Luckily, it's not hydrazine. Survey says it's probably gaseous hydrogen.
  14. Seto Kaiba
    Yeah, it wouldn't take much to just detach the entire section you need to work on and leave the rest of the aircraft in place. We've seen a few cases, esp. in Macross Frontier, where aircraft in hangars were shown missing parts as if in the middle of a service visit or overhaul. They do rotate... but not for that reason. Put simply, they're thrust-vectoring nozzles for the verniers. I'd lay odds there are probably specific commands that can be sent to a VF's transformation system using a diagnostic test stand tool to only move a particular set of transformation joints for easier maintenance access. Yeah, we do have a few scenes in Macross Plus and Macross Frontier of them being serviced while in Battroid mode instead of just in Fighter mode.
  15. Seto Kaiba
    It probably helps that VFs are made from materials much more durable than anything available today thanks to the reverse-engineered OTM advancements in material science. From the sound of it, a lot of the articulations outside of the hands are fairly simple stuff that doesn't require a lot of attention.
  16. Seto Kaiba
    ... and then there's me just going "WANT!" at the prospect. Assuming the date doesn't get pushed back, two weeks until the book drops... I'm glad I got my preorders in in the first wave. I'm surprised and slightly gratified to know it has English text. It'll save me some time.
  17. Seto Kaiba
    Wait, we need a reason to get multiple copies?
  18. Seto Kaiba
    Depends on which version of Plus you're watching... in the movie, the YF-21 is badly damaged but still technically intact in what looks to be a low orbit. Hopefully Guld's flight suit contained the consequences of his ultra-high-g maneuvering.
  19. Seto Kaiba
    Well, it hardly matters now... it's in the past, as much as a war fought entirely via time travel can be said to be in the past without it becoming a snarky play on words. As quickly as Discovery's writers dismissed the entire Temporal Cold War, it seems unlikely that they'll pin the blame for "the burn" on one of the factions of temporal bad actors from previous shows like the Vorgons, Devidians, Krenim, Na'khul, or the Sphere Builders. Pretty much everything about "the burn" as a plot device ends up being more of a gargantuan plot hole on examination in the broader context of Star Trek, so I don't expect the explanation for "the burn" to make any sense in context either.
  20. Seto Kaiba
    Yeah, I'd hope that Star Trek: Discovery's third season will avoid the mid-season plot snarl in the name of serial escalation that made the previous two seasons such a bear to watch. It feels like the series already has way too much on its plate while it juggles all the different secondary plot holes caused by the massive setting-breaking primary plot hole that is "the Burn", the Discovery's crew doing the "fish out of temporal water" thing, that seemingly irrelevant bit about Booker and the couriers, and wandering around what's left of the Federation to show us how far it had to fall to make an all-around horrible person like Michael Burnham into its hope for a brighter future. "Forget Me Not" has a line from Xi that I sincerely hope is a major Did-Not-Do-Research moment for the writers... because the alternative is incredibly dark and depressing. This is my most fervent hope for season three... that, for once, Michael Burnham will not be written as a Mary Sue around whom the fate of the galaxy revolves. Given the antipathy most fans and the production staff had for the Temporal Cold War story arc of Star Trek: Enterprise, I'm somewhat relieved to that that seems unlikely. The Sphere Builders were just one faction in the Temporal Cold War tho, it's never indicated who actually instigated it all. There was the Federation and the other Temporal Accords signatories, the Na'khul (the baddies from "Storm Front", whose defeat ended the Temporal Cold War), the Sphere Builders, and the unknown Suliban benefactor "Future Guy" (whose identity was never set by the production staff... some concepts had him as a Romulan, others as a future Admiral Archer, still others had him being an augment from a second Eugenics War in the future, etc.).
  21. Seto Kaiba
    Ugh... no thank you.
  22. Seto Kaiba
    ... in Warhammer 40,000, it's more or less a rule of the setting that any relic of a bygone era that shows up unexpectedly is going to cause Very Bad Things to happen in the very near future. Especially if it's an ancient starship. Mind you, what I was getting at was more that Star Trek: Discovery's writers have yet to let optimism stand. Episode 6 in last season was about the point where they jettisoned the show's brief experiment with acting like real Star Trek to set up that nonsensical Control story arc with the genocidal AI that wants to exterminate all life for no reason. Various fanservice nods like the Voyager-J, the Nog, and so on aside, 32nd century Starfleet has made it clear they see Discovery's very existence as a criminal act given that they illegally time-traveled into the future. It feels like there's an imminent betrayal coming, otherwise there's no real way to raise the stakes like the Kurtzman-Trek writers insist on doing in the most ridiculous ways halfway into any season. (5'll get you 20 it's somehow Burnham's fault that The Burn happened too, because the writers are convinced the entire universe has to revolve around her.)
  23. Seto Kaiba
    Back to getting caught up on this season's offerings. Jujutsu Kaisen is increasingly my #1 pick for this season, if only because it's the series that feels the best-developed of the lot. It'd be a fairly standard shonen anime if it weren't for how surprisingly dark it is. Given how casually the series handles violent dismemberment and creepy monsters, it feels like Bleach by way of Gantz. Yuji gets hurt A LOT, and some of those injuries are rather grisly. The cursed spirits they're fighting get their fair share of the gore too in unlovely ways... like the most recent episode where the jovial and genial teacher responsible for Yuji and his two classmates oh-so-casually decapitates one of the show's principal antagonists then interrogates him. (Even the show's occasional moments of levity are colored by this, like the omake after the last episode where the battered but still-living decapitated head of the cursed spirit from the episode is used as an improvised soccer ball by his own side and ends up having most of his teeth kicked out in the process.) Tonikaku Kawaii is, unfortunately, still wallowing in that one joke it seems to have. It'd be a cute and entertaining, if fairly generic, romcom if it had more diversity in its humor. So far, the only joke it really has it that its protagonist Nasa overreacts to absolutely anything involving his new wife because he's literally never had any interaction with a girl before. It's had a few nice charming moments, mostly involving Tsukasa revealing she's just as much of a nerd as Nasa but better at hiding it, but it doesn't really impress. Iwakakeru - Sport Climbing Girls is still gratifyingly free of the kind of blatant fanservice that I and everyone I'd spoken to about it was expecting from the outset, but it feels like its writers were kind of counting on having that kind of fanservice to fill time or add interest. What I know about rock climbing could fit comfortably on a napkin with enough room to pen a dirty limerick or two, but this feels like the showrunners are committed to an authentic depiction of the sport of rock climbing... except in their decision to depict it as being highly competitive and wildly popular like soccer or baseball. I'm sure it's very accurate, but it's not really doing a good job as an ambassador for the sport because it makes the whole affair seem rather boring (esp. when the best comparison they can seem to draw is to a cell phone puzzle game similar to Bust a Move or Magical Drop). I'm Standing on a Million Lives is probably one of the most disorganized-feeling shows I've seen in a good while. There's no real sense of a coherent plot thread. Things just sort of happen and the protagonists seem just as lost as the audience is 99% of the time. It's just that meme where Moon Knight is throwing things and yelling "RANDOM BULLSHIT! GO!", as a story.
  24. Seto Kaiba
    Discovery did seem to be headed in that grimdark direction for two entire seasons and as of the last episode I am increasingly struck with a foreboding feeling that they're about to make it three.
  25. Seto Kaiba
    Well, the VF-19 is noted to have had both a high initial cost and a high average cost of operation... though it's not clear how much of that was the cost of replacement parts for the high-spec hardware and how much was the frequency of its required maintenance. It's not something most crew chiefs ever had to worry about, though. A combination of factors including rising tensions between the central New UN Government and its emigrant governments, Isamu's little stunt in Macross Plus, and the unacceptably high rate of training accidents early in its rollout that were directly attributed to its high performance led the New UN Government and New UN Forces to pull the plug on plans for its widespread adoption AND slap various export restrictions on the design and its technology that prevented emigrant governments from fielding them in significant numbers and reduced their performance. (This led to the development and adoption of the VF-171 as the 4th Gen main VF of the New UN Forces in the mid-2040s.) The few crews who had to deal with them were either those early crews who spent a fair amount of their time cleaning up the crashed aircraft after loss of control accidents during that initial problematic period of model conversion training and the crews servicing Special Forces aircraft who were used to the greater maintenance demands from their previous experience with Special Forces VFs like the VF-17.
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