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Seto Kaiba

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  1. Seto Kaiba
    It's been a long and depressing week full of news of rampant disease, death, corruption, and congenital idiocy... and to put the cherry on that sundae of suck, there's the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard, a series that has boldly gone where no Star Trek has gone before. Straight to the bottom. "Et in Arcadia, Ego" Part 1. The Good... it's such a relative term, isn't it? The Bad... there's just so much of it. The Ugly... it's omnipresent. Long story short, it turns out the Romulans were right all along... sentient artificial intelligence is evil and prone to hold organic life in contempt. If Picard had stayed on Earth and left well enough alone, he'd have prevented the means for galactic genocide from falling into the hands of deranged killer robots.
  2. Seto Kaiba
    Well... CBS initially promised that Star Trek: Picard was going to focus on new characters and that returning Star Trek cast members would be used sparingly and limited to small guest roles. Nine episodes in, the content of the show has determined that was a lie. If we're charitable, it might constitute a massive course correction instead in the face of audiences finding the new cast to be underdeveloped, cliched, and generic enough to blend into the background better than a Jem'Hadar. They literally don't matter to the plot at all, except as vehicles for dialog Picard can't deliver to himself. Soji is literally the only original character who has any real relevance to the plot.
  3. Seto Kaiba
    I just want to say in advance... I am so very sorry for what you're about to go through.
  4. Seto Kaiba
    Definitely not the brightest moment for our heroes... freeing the abused racing animals while leaving the children tending them in slavery. Is PETA a branch of the Resistance these days?
  5. Seto Kaiba
    A fair point... it does seem far more likely that Titan Comics cancelled Robotech Remix in the face of slipping sales and opted for a trade paperback as a way to wring a few more dollars from the material they'd already made. What's odd is that Titan Comics moved the release date for Remix #5 out a month from its intended street date and then mysteriously went dead silent about it. No news posts on the Titan Comics official website. No announcements about it on the company's social media. No responses to reader questions about the publication's status on social media. No actual news to be had from the minor hobby news sites Titan uses to publish promotional materials for new issues. It's Titan's abrupt and total silence about Robotech Remix that's cause for speculation that something might be up. Normally when a comic gets cancelled there's some kind of warning, usually in the form of a letter from the editor in the final issue or a news post on the publisher's website, unless sales are so apocalyptically bad the publisher has to replace the toilet paper in their bathrooms with returned-unsold inventory. The sales of the last issue of Remix weren't THAT bad, so Titan's abrupt silence about the missing issue and the series as a whole is enough to make you think something else might be going on... like a threat of a lawsuit for copyright infringement from Macross's owners.
  6. Seto Kaiba
    ... woah, now that level of negativity is just uncalled-for. I did see a fun little video on YouTube earlier today about how Jean-Luc Picard has become an incredibly manipulative old man in Star Trek: Picard. He's a classic toxic senior citizen.
  7. Seto Kaiba
    So... I wonder how long Titan Comics will continue to avoid mentioning that Robotech Remix is cancelled? Moreover, I wonder why it seemingly stopped development and publication so abruptly and without notice? Was it just further slipping of their already low sales, or has Big West taken notice of Titan's copyright infringement and filed a lawsuit against them in England? Titan's headquartered in Bankside, London... and the Macross trademarks belong to Big West in the UK these days.
  8. Seto Kaiba
    Well, at least the folks in Venice confirmed the dolphins are still here. Just make sure you know where your towel is.
  9. Seto Kaiba
    Like, the water-in-the-sky kind (sorta weird) or the server-on-a-network kind (pretty understandable)? Most of the fanbase... some of us are unhappy with the last series, but we've got plenty to enjoy in the form of tech manuals, toys, model kits, etc. The only one who seems truly unhappy here is you. This world was already doomed... it's been doomed from the moment it started to clot together out of interstellar dust.
  10. Seto Kaiba
    It was actually motivated by Battroid mode. One of the program goals of the Earth UN Forces' First Generation Variable Fighter program was to have the Battroid mode be close to the expected size of the alien giants (~10m), in order to fight them effectively in an infantry context and interact with them and/or their equipment. Constraining the size of Battroid mode ultimately constrained the size of the VF-1 Valkyrie and its unsuccessful competitor the VF-X-2 to around the size of the F-16. That, in turn, resulted in the VF's available internal space for fuel being too small for the VF to carry enough fuel for extended operations in space and made the addition of conformal fuel tanks and FAST Packs necessary. Master File explains the larger size, and origins, of the VF-0 as being the OTM-enhanced F-14s being used as a starting point for VF development. That proved to be convenient since that provided enough space for conventional jet fuel storage for short sorties when thermonuclear reaction turbine engine delivery was delayed. Yeah. They only ever built a few dozen VF-0s as technology demonstrators and evaluation airframes, and those were sidelined when production VF-1 Valkyries began to enter service in the UN Forces. Master File alleges that some VF-0s were updated with the FF-2001 to become the VF-0+ Phoenix Plus and were stationed in places like Grand Cannon III, but almost all VF-0 airframes were lost in the orbital bombardment. At least a few VF-0 airframes did survive the First Space War in storage, though. Hakuna Aoba's VF-0改 "Zeak" in the Macross the Ride light novel is a surviving/existing VF-0 airframe that was extensively modified with YF-25 parts by Katori Brown-Robbins. Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix also features an aircraft called "VF-0A The Nostalgia", a remanufactured/restored VF-0 produced by Shinsei Industry for the 25th Anniversary of the First Space War Armistice made using parts from two VF-0A airframes (No.7 and No.13) and fitted with a reproduction VF-0S monitor turret and painted in Roy Focker's iconic colors.
  11. Seto Kaiba
    Rather ironically, the UN Spacy probably had a better/more suitable space fighter in the VF-0+ Phoenix Plus... a VF-0 retrofitted to take the VF-1's FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engine. The VF-1's biggest problem in space operations was insufficient onboard fuel storage, and the much larger VF-0 doesn't have that problem... which was one reason that (in Master File, anyway) it was used for early space testing while equipped with the FF-1999 engines designed for the QF-3000.
  12. Seto Kaiba
    Personally, my suspicion would be that Titan was actually counting on their own "original", heavily Macross-ized ongoing story to be the money maker and Dana's presence was the token effort being made to appease Robotech fans who might've accused the comic of being the glorified Macross fanfic it arguably is. "See, a Robotech character is the story's main character, this is totally still a Robotech story!" I don't think anyone would kid themselves that a story featuring Dana - even this vastly improved Dana who actually seems to possess a functioning brain - would be a draw... except for maybe two or three people who kid themselves about Southern Cross's (un)popularity. Yeah, they're basically trying to re-sell collected editions of the comics that rehash shows since those engaged in little-to-no copyright infringement and are usually the ones that the fans held in reasonably high regard. They're banking on nostalgia, which is a halfway workable strategy considering Comico is almost considered the apex of the pre-reboot Robotech comics. Eh, I wouldn't count on it... it looks like Tatsunoko leveraged Harmony Gold's desperate need for a renewal to get them to drop the debt owed from arbitration. That's pretty much the obvious course of action. The only purpose Robotech serves is cringe comedy... and to remind us how lucky we are that Macross's creators are competent and actually give a damn about the fanbase. ... I think that might say more about you than the design, to be honest. It was a very, VERY blatant ripoff of the Zaku II, even using the same sound effects when it was introduced. Southern Cross's creators didn't really bother to hide how much they were ripping off in the show's development either, like making Seifreit a watered-down Char clone and giving him a high-performance ace Bioroid in bright red that was faster than a usual model. It was basically a "scifi/robot anime by numbers" process, borrowing from Yamato, Gundam, and Macross in equal measure. Wrong generation... "Yeet" is something used by the kids a good decade younger than myself, 2000s kids.
  13. Seto Kaiba
    I've been poking at the engine section in Battroid Valkyrie a bit between meetings. It's interesting to see how radically the Master File writers assert the VF-1's engines changed during production. Most VFs are lucky to get one engine upgrade in their entire service lives. Master File asserts the VF-1 had AT LEAST FOUR. The initial type FF-2001 engine on Blocks 1-5, FF-2006 on Blocks 6-8, FF-2008 on Blocks 9-17, and two more engine upgrades after mass production ended (FF-2012 for VF-1X, and FF-2079 for VF-1X+, and then whatever they put into the VF-1X++ stock model). Anyone out there a network engineer looking for work? I need two, possibly three.
  14. Seto Kaiba
    As the youth say... "Yeet". Are we counting the number of people likely to actually buy this steaming turd, or are we guessing that issue five has been pushed back a full calendar year? It IS interesting to note that Robotech Remix currently has no further scheduled new issues releases on Titan Comics' posted publication schedule. The only Robotech publications they have on the docket are the April release of the Robotech Remix trade paperback collecting the four issues published thus far and a July release for a reprint of the first part of Comico's adaptation of Robotech's Masters Saga. There are no new issues of Remix on the schedule clear through the end of August 2020 and #5 is over a month late. It really looks like it's been cancelled.
  15. Seto Kaiba
    It's literally just a cheap knockoff of the MS-06 Zaku II.
  16. Seto Kaiba
    To be honest, 1,400 is a gargantuan number considering the Robotech fandom mostly considers the Masters Saga to be an unlovely and unlovable red-headed stepchild of a story that boasts the franchise's worst... well... everything. Worst writing, worst characters, worst mechanical designs, you name it. 14 or so actual members sounds much more reasonable. The hate for the Masters Saga was, and is, very real and VERY commonplace. The last time HG held a poll about whether the fans considered the Southern Cross Army competent the fans overwhelmingly responded "No". Let's just hope Titan finally decided to mercy kill this turd. Surely SOMEONE will let Robotech die with some remaining vague semblance of dignity.
  17. Seto Kaiba
    Cleaning up around my study during isolation... I'd call my filing system pretty masterful in this case. (This is just the shelf of doubles for Master Files...)
  18. Seto Kaiba
    Yeah, they're using uprated versions of the same TO21 ISC used by the VF-25. The original model provided with the VF-25 was rated for 27.5G (for 120sec). The VF-31A Kairos's version is rated for 28.0G, and the VF-31 Custom Siegfried's is rated for 29.5G, both presumably for 120 seconds.
  19. Seto Kaiba
    Granted, but we're not bombing naval ships that are only moving in two dimensions... this duty involves striking ships moving in three, which makes them more like really big, really slow enemy fighters than boats. All told, I think a big part of this has to do with the prevalence of powerful warship-based ECM, active stealth, and the use of laser and beam weaponry for point defense. The farther away you launch your missile from, the greater your chances that your missile will either lose the target as ECM and/or active stealth interfere with its guidance systems or that it'll be identified and shot down by a point defense turret armed with lasers or beam weaponry. Your best bet is to conceal your presence and get as close as possible before you launch to minimize the probability of intercept. That's mostly the domain of Strike Packs or the Konig Monster, then.
  20. Seto Kaiba
    Current projections are that it's supposed to burn itself out before Autumn.
  21. Seto Kaiba
    Finished rewatching Nagasarete Airantou... it's just as much fun as I remember, being a rather self-aware harem anime that constantly pokes fun at the indecisive male protagonist who can't cope with a little skin. When folks with Meiji-era values are telling you you're a ridiculous prude, it's time to reevaluate your life choices.
  22. Seto Kaiba
    People love Mobile Fighter G Gundam... I suspect Macross 7 would get a similar reception, given that it's exactly the same over-the-top retro-camp hamstravaganza from the same era. Macross Delta might be a harder sell, but only because of the barely-there plot that is so transparently copying Macross Frontier's homework... the waifu crowd will eat it up, though, so no worries there. Speak for yourself... I'm all about the objective data.
  23. Seto Kaiba
    Most VFs are, by their very nature, multirole strike fighter aircraft... but I'm not aware of any that are specifically intended for anti-warship use. The VF-17 Nightmare is noted in one or two sources to have been intended for long-range attack missions, and we know it's a space-optimized variable fighter, so it may technically fit the bill even if it would just be a stealthy method of deploying thermonuclear reaction missiles since it lacks any heavy offensive options besides its gunpod's beam adapter. Outside of the obvious point that thermonuclear reaction munitions allow pretty much any VF to take the fight to enemy capital ships, any VF with heavy beam weaponry more or less fits the bill. The VF-4 and VF-14, for instance, or anything with a FAST Pack that mounts heavy beam weaponry like the VF-1's Strike Pack, VF-1R's Attack Pack, VF-25's Strike Pack and Tornado Pack, VF-31's Super Pack, or the heavy quantum beam gunpods that have a "beam grenade" mode used by the YF-27, VF-27, YF-29, YF-30, and Sv-262. Define "large". There were standard gunpods up to 60mm, but most of the really big guns on VFs are beam weapons. The VB-6 Konig Monster obviously tops the charts with the biggest variable unit-mounted solid ammo cannon... but it's a bomber, not a fighter. We've seen beam weapons with bores of anywhere from 11mm up to 180mm.
  24. Seto Kaiba
    So... this came out early. I got notified yesterday that my girlfriend's preorder for Rise of Skywalker was filled on Google Play and it's showing as an unwatched playable title in our library. We're embarking on a rewatch of all the Star Wars movies to remind ourselves to keep our expectations painfully low thanks to there being only three good Star Wars movies.
  25. Seto Kaiba
    So... our key takeaway here is that Robotech zombies see by radar instead of with their eyes? Well, he's not wrong... in Robotech, Dana did get pretty much everyone killed when she f*cked up hard enough that she caused a third alien invasion of Earth that got the entire rest of Earth's military massacred and cost the lives of like 2/3 of the offworld forces. Let's be honest, for most anyone who actually watched Robotech's Masters Saga or Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, having Dana/Jeanne strangled to death by a much less stupid character would be the best thing that ever happened in connection with that unlamented waste of a story. As ever, you're probably reading too much into it. Titan is taking the same approach to Robotech as previous publishers, and just blindly copying anything and everything they think is popular in the hopes that some combination of ripoffs will strike a chord with their readers. A fourth wall-breaking recap gatefold has been a staple of several different comics for ages... most iconically for Deadpool. So Rick is Wesley Crusher now? ... it is a comic book. A badly written, badly drawn comic book. They're basically just ripping off Deadpool's framing device by giving a character contextual medium-awareness. You are putting WAY more thought into this crap than the people who make it did. ... that's just sad. And rather atypical for a Robotech fan too. Most of the Robotech lifers hate Harmony Gold almost as much as fans of Macross, Transformers, or BattleTech do, as the result of their efforts to reboot Robotech or simply that they've dismissed their personal fan theory or their favorite badly-written comic. I'd have expected it to be a photo of Macek, since Robotech fans believe he was a genius despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary in the same way Scientologists believe L. Ron Hubbard wasn't a drooling simpleton. Yup... but that's nothing new. Robotech comic book writers have been doing that almost from the very beginning, with Comico being the only real exception. Each new licensee was progressively more creatively bankrupt than the last and relied increasingly on ripping off other series and franchises to fill page count. We've gotten to watch this happening in an incredibly compressed timescale at Titan, with them having essentially gone from Eternity/Malibu levels of incompetent to Antarctic Press levels of incompetent in the space of less than a year. Like everything Robotech does, Robotech Remix is simply decades behind the curve. This kind of meta commentary on the medium and source material was really popular, funny, and innovative... in the late 1990s when Marvel's Deadpool and DC's Joker were doing it. It aged like milk, for the most part. It's pretty clear that the people working on Robotech Remix either prefer Macross or recognize that even Robotech fans don't like Southern Cross and have very little interest in MOSPEADA. They probably think what they're doing is a homage or a thinly disguised meta-complaint about Macross features not being available in the west via legitimate channels.... possibly even another stealth critique of Robotech's various bad habits like when they had Dana take cheap shots at the idea that the Legioss would be a replacement for the Valkyrie. Some Robotech fans would probably read it as attempted cheap shots at Macross, but then they've been desperately battling an inferiority complex on that front for decades.
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