Seto Kaiba

Well, at least, the equipment available in the specific location the story focuses on as it appeared... the Block 6 "movie type" VF-1s were already in service elsewhere ("conveniently just offscreen"). Wasn't it more to the tone of "wasn't available as a mass production option until after the First Space War"? As I recall, the book presented a different designation for the production model (RO-2A) and suggested the one we're familiar with was a prototype. Got my copies of the VF-11 Master File today, and so far I'm pretty pleased with them. I haven't dug into the text more than at a superficial level, but it's already answered a couple nagging questions I had about the VF-11.

I swear, online package tracking should be classified as a form of psychological warfare. My and my team's copies of Variable Fighter Master File: VF-11 Thunderbolt rolled in bright and early this morning. We had the opportunity to sit down and review them over lunch, so here are our thoughts on the eleventh volume of the Variable Fighter Master File series (published in-universe in 2066 by the Eden branch of MBS Publishing Inc.): Someone at SoftBank or GAGraphic loves this fighter... and not platonically either. The art is up to the series' usual high standards, but there are several pieces that clearly stand out as exceptional even for Master File. The Max and Milia VF-11s c.2038 on the table of contents page are just gorgeous. That was someone's labor of love. Most of the art on the first few pages is just flat amazing. Oddly, the variant coverage isn't concentrated in one section of this book. The VF-11A, -B, and -C are covered right at the start before the Development section. There's nothing that really stands out as unexpected in the Development section until page 024, where we see a Kawamori Advanced Valkyrie design (VF-X-11) pop up seemingly out of the blue. There is some ink expended talking about the design competition between the YF-11 and YF-14 for the role of the 3rd Generation main fighter, though I'd have been disappointed if they had skipped that rather crucial step. They got the order slightly backwards but they didn't forget that there was a prototype that didn't have canards and a prototype that did. The actual Variations section only has four variants in it: the VF-11D, VT-11, VF-11MAXL, and VF-11MAXL Kai. No separate coverage for the VF-11D Kai "Jamming Birds". The Structure and Systems section is mostly unsurprising but detailed content. The blisters on the VF-11's nose are integrated passive optical sensors that combine the functions of conventional optical cameras and infrared/UV detectors. The odd inset panels just inboard of the wing glove that were labeled only as "sensor" on the VF-11 line art are identified as composite laser sensors and laser guide oscillators for handling laser-guided ordnance. They also didn't forget about the internal ordnance bays in the legs that were not a part of the original design but were included in Macross 7 for Operation Stargazer. Sadly, no engine cutaways, just exterior views of four different models of engine the VF-11 used. There's very little coverage of GERWALK and Battroid modes, and the Super Pack gets a single two-page spread that is mostly showing differences between the version with conventional rocket nozzles (Macross Plus type) and the more streamlined nozzles seen on the Macross 7 type. No real surprises in weapons except the misidentification of the gunpod as the GU-15 and mention of a GU-16, that the VF-11 is still apparently using the UUM-7 micro-missile pod from the VF-1, and that several other pieces of VF-1-specific ordnance are apparently used like the AMM-1. All of the squadrons covered in the back of the book are new ones except the SVF-41 Black Aces, which they copied from This is Animation Macross Plus.

Production chronological order or in-series chronological order? Production Chronological Order Super Dimension Fortress Macross Macross: Do You Remember Love? Macross: Flash Back 2012 Macross II: Lovers Again Macross Plus Macross 7 Macross 7: the Galaxy is Calling Me! Macross Dynamite 7 Macross Zero Macross Frontier Macross Frontier: the False Songstress Macross Frontier: the Wings of Goodbye Macross Delta Macross Delta: Passionate Walkure Macross Delta: <title forthcoming> In-Universe Chronological Order (Main Timeline, movie versions concurrent with TV versions) Super Dimension Fortress Macross (prologue and Claudia flashback episodes) 1999-2007 Macross Zero (2008) Super Dimension Fortress Macross (2009-2012) Macross: Flash Back 2012 (2012) Macross: Do You Remember Love? (2031, as an in-universe movie) Macross Plus (2040) Macross 7 (2045-2046) Macross 7: the Galaxy is Calling Me! (2046, during the series) Macross Dynamite 7 (2047) Macross Frontier (2059) Macross Delta (2067) In-Universe Chronological Order (DYRLverse) Macross: Do You Remember Love? (2009-2010) Macross: Flash Back 2012 (2012) Macross II: Lovers Again (2091-2092)

It partly depends on how willing the staff of any given Macross project are to pay heed to that particular view. Yup! Though that's not a new development by any means. It was first established in B-Club 79's VF History article for Macross II: Lovers Again and This is Animation Macross Plus doubled down on it a few years later. Macross II's explanation is that the VF-1D's reduced capabilities made it unsuitable for space use, and the Macross Plus and beyond version is that the VF-1D was an improvised trainer that was discontinued at Block 6 when the VT-1 was introduced to replace it. A common misconception... the official line tends to be that both versions exist, and usually that one or the other was just offscreen at the time. (This is applied to some of the later titles too, like Sayonara no Tsubasa.) For instance, the movie VF-1s are just supposed to be the Block 6+ VF-1 where the TV version is Blocks 1-5. Exsedol's TV appearance is what he looks like as a miclone, but his DYRL appearance is his correct giant form. The post-repair SDF-1 Macross from the TV series and DYRL version look identical. So on and so forth. (Macross the Ride does this to Sayonara no Tsubasa too, establishing as it does that the YF-29 was totally a thing in Frontier's TV timeline and that the VF-27 was completed based on its stolen development data.)

Given the sheer amount of forethought and ink expended on figuring out how all the tech actually works, I think Bellisario's Maxim is probably not applicable here regardless. We don't know that they necessarily can't... the VF-1s in DYRL? seemed to have a rather owl-like range of motion in the neck themselves.

Well, maybe if you didn't want to actually read the book... otherwise they just sort of scream "we ran out of material, so here's some fanart our intern did". I guess I have something to look forward to on Monday... figuring out why we have two different tandem cockpit variants now. Strikes me as a bit redundant, to be honest. The reason the VF-1 Valkyrie had the VF-1D and then the VT-1 was they needed a model conversion training variant yesterday so they hastily hacked one together while they waited for a proper one to be delivered. That problem really shouldn't have repeated itself for the VF-11, which had the benefit of Shinsei's experience and factory satellite manufacturing. They got the numbering wrong, but this looks to be that Macross M3 reference that was all but inevitable... the canard version was supposed to be the -2.

Playing catch-up with the week's offerings... Gyakuten Saiban continues to be an entertaining series to follow as it plows headlong into the home stretch of adapting Gyakuten Saiban 3. I doubt they'll be able to stretch the remaining part of the final trial for another five episodes, so I'm betting we'll wind up with either another flashback episode or another filler story. As fun as the ham-to-ham courtroom combat has been, I'm hoping to see a third season adapting Gyakuten Saiban 4 and 5. (Come to think of it, a second season finale setting a third season through showing Naruhodo getting disbarred for introducing forged evidence would be a good way to cap it instead of devoting an entire episode flashing back to it later.) Kaguya-sama: Love and War is still absolutely crushing it. Definitely the best show the season has to offer. There hasn't been a single dull episode so far, and this week's is no exception. The excessively dramatic narration only serves to make everything in the series even funnier. That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime continued to be an exercise in boredom. I have no idea how a light novel that's every bit as entertaining as the help documentation for Microsoft Excel got approved for a twenty-six episode series. It's like listening to paint dry, and eighty percent of it is just random acquisition of skills and resources. It's like the series was penned by an EVE Online fan or someone with a fetish for certified public accountancy, and remains a shining example of how to do an isekai story badly. The Rising of the Shield Hero remains an occasionally entertaining series. Less focus on the MMORPG aspects of the world has definitely improved it overall vs. the light novel which, like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, was mostly an exercise in the protagonist's personal stat spreadsheet hell. It's definitely shaping up like they intend to end the series with the Queen returning and deposing the king after Naofumi kills the pope of the Church of the Three Heroes. That should make for a nice, tight ending regardless of whether it gets picked up for another season or not. I kind of hope they leave it there, because there's only the one arc after that which is actually enjoyable and one after that is frankly tedious in the extreme. The Price of Smiles, which showed so much promise at the beginning, has devolved into a dumpster fire. As of its eighth episode, the series has yet to really evolve any sense of purpose or meaning. Things just sort of happen with no sense that there's an end or reason behind it. There are no likeable characters on either side of the conflict, and many of them are complete monsters like Stella "I'd kill children with a smile on my face" Shining. With nobody to get invested in and no semblance of an actual plot, there really isn't anything to enjoy in the series. The mecha combat devolved from exciting low altitude, almost jousting-like combat to static formation firing and all that's really changed is the Kingdom of Soleil's Lawful Stupid chivalric orders now have someone in charge whose grasp of strategy goes beyond "charge" and "hold your ground". The Empire of Grandiga's troops are working more or less exclusively on Zerg Rush tactics, which makes for very boring viewing... especially since the Kingdom of Soleil still seems utterly unable to think of any way to cope with an enemy that outnumbers them. Any time it looks like Soleil will gain any ground, they're IMMEDIATELY surprised by the Grandigan forces again and lose. Episode eight goes so far as to accidentally lampshade that bad writing habit. If I have enough time, I'm going to get back to Lupin III Part V, The Morose Mononokean, Hajimete no Gyaru, and Conception.

Hope your bookshelves are sturdy... that's not a light collection there.

A renewed outcry is likely... I wonder if Disney will let themselves be so easily moved again, or if they'll push back this time and risk some public relations damage.

Possibly inspired by the similar treatment given to the VFs in the This is Animation Macross Plus book. Frankly, I would vastly prefer these larger layouts be used for future books. If one wanted to be ruthlessly precise, Milia's didn't either. Milia's VF-11 was only seen in the home video extra feature Macross 7 Plus "TOP GAMRIN" (sic). Max was never shown in one as part of the Macross-7 fleet. The first time he got behind the stick there was in a VF-22S. IIRC the only time Max's VF-11 shows up is in Macross M3. VF-11 technical info is a bit thin on the ground, and I greatly prefer this method of pagecount-filling to the one employed in the VF-4, VF-22, and VF-31 books. There's a similar tendency towards an abundance of full-page art prints in other recent SoftBank Master File or Master Archive books, like Master File Arm Slave M9 Gernsback and Master Archive Mobile Suit MSV Pilot Log.

Between what I've seen courtesy of @jvmacross and heard from @sketchley's brief review of the book, it sounds like it's going to be at least good. Perhaps not as great as VF-1 Vol.2, VF-19, or VF-25, but light years ahead of VF-4, VF-22, and VF-31. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this one, even if the book's obi is entertainingly enthusiastic about having done the VF-11 for the 11th book. It was nice to see that they covered the Kawamori-designed VF-X-11 from Advanced Valkyrie in there. Lots of Max and Milia love too.

The Price of Smiles just WILL NOT give up on trying to force the audience to sympathize with the Imperial Army. Yeah, I get that some of them have had tough childhoods because Grandiga is an impoverished nation but that doesn't really go a long way when we're watching them loot the ruins of Soleil's capital city and herd its population into military transports that pretty clearly are destined for a prison camp somewhere and they've already told us they have no problems with killing children. It's like Zeta Gundam... the show clearly wants you to feel bad for Jared, but he's kind of a prick and he's fighting on the side of the mass-murdering baddies.

Sadly, HLJ dithered a little too long on unpacking their shipment, so the two copies I ordered won't be here until Monday. Tracking shows my package is still in Memphis.

That was a design from Shoji Kawamori's non-Macross concept series "Advanced Valkyrie" from ~85. Kawamori did a bunch of Macross-esque designs for Bandai as part of this Advanced Valkyrie concept, but Bandai never went to production with it. The backstory for Advanced Valkyrie eventually became Macross Plus's story, and the designs were given further development as part of Kawamori's Air Cavalry Chronicles concept, which itself split in two with its plot becoming The Vision of Escaflowne and the mechanical designs for the ZaiBach Empire's fighters becoming the Varauta mecha from Macross 7. That VF-X-11, sometimes identified as VF-T-11, was one of the two rival prototypes under test by an American organization called NOVA that evaluated variable aircraft. Its rival design, the VF-X-10, would later become Macross's VF-9 Cutlass after the design had been polished some for Air Cavalry Chronicles as a Fanelian fighter. The VF-3000 is also originally an Advanced Valkyrie concept design.

Ugh... carrying on with The Price of Smiles, and I'm being forcibly reminded why I stopped watching the first time. It's a cliche storm presided over by a character who is basically a whinier, even more immature, spoiled, and arrogant version of the whiny pacifist girl archetype embodied by Relina Peacecraft and Marina Ismail. She's so impulsively useless as a leader that she's arguably the best thing to happen to Grandiga's army. She throws away her own troops in a failed bid to rescue a literally suicidal group of civilians, does everything in her power to hamper her own forces, and then tries to surrender. By episode six she's made her own court so sick of it that they revolt against her order to surrender.

... granted, though it's been modified so much it's almost a VF-11 in name only. Literally a double-custom, since the VF-11MAXL is itself a built-to-order ace custom valkyrie and Mylene's MAXL Kai is one of those that's been subjected to even more customization using a mix of custom-fabricated parts, parts copied from the VF-19 Kai, and the enigines from the VF-16. Toy collectors certainly do! Likewise. The VF-11 is a personal favorite of mine, so I'm hoping we get more high-quality coverage.

Lovely though it is, the VF-11 Thunderbolt was only ever a background mecha in its two televised appearances. In Macross Plus, it was a background mecha that Isamu flew in the first episode before getting replaced by the YF-19. In Macross 7, it was a resident cannon fodder unit that mostly existed to get blown up outside of two brief moments of awesome where ace pilots who normally used better fighters used them in a pinch (Kinryu's blaze of glory and Gamlin's one brief outing.) It's only in the video games and light novels that it got its due. Macross the Ride gave it lots of love, albeit after its service life in New UN Forces hands had basically ended, and Macross 30 finally made it a proper main character mecha for the resident idol singer no less.

Watching this week's episode... Christopher Pike just will NOT stop giving The Reason You Suck speeches about Season One, and I love him for it. EDIT: SPOCK just deconstructed Burnham's entire character in two minutes flat. Is the real theme for season two taking the piss out of season one? If so, I can't bring myself to object! EDIT 2: So... apparently the United Federation of Planets created Skynet. Congratulations, you're watching a Terminator crossover fic now.

HLJ's entire first shipment went to fill existing preorders... it literally jumped right from Waiting for Stock to Backordered. CDJapan seems to have either ordered more copies than HLJ or had fewer preorders (they were one of the last to post a preorder) so they're showing as still having seven copies in stock.

Outside of the anime industry, getting a direct-to-video release is usually concrete assurance of poor quality in and of itself. Doubly so if it's a direct-to-video horror movie, which usually entails SyFy Original Feature-grade suck. Doom: Annihilation is a direct-to-video horror movie rebooting a box office flop AND based loosely on a video game that was itself rather poorly received. Also, trailers are where you're supposed to wow your audience with the quality of your workmanship and try to convince them the film is worth seeing. This trailer makes the film look exactly like what it is... a low-budget direct-to-video horror movie hovering somewhere between Starship Troopers 3: Marauder and an episode of Red Dwarf in terms of the level of the visual effects.

Not a legitimate one... you can find it on a few of the usual suspects when it comes to fan translated manga. Most of Gundam's manga releases are like that, since manga's a limited market in the west and Gundam has so damned many of them.

Possibly... the main sticking point is going to be that, in normal operation, the pilot is not exerting manual control over any of the VF's limbs. Manual control is somewhat slow and it requires concentration on the part of the pilot, which would tend to make it unsuitable for combat conditions where the VF is going to be doing A LOT of moving. The VF can fight a lot faster and more efficiently with the airframe control AI handling limb control and balance, leaving the pilot to just set directionality, speed, and aim. VFs are, by necessity, heavily automated so the pilot can focus on the business of fighting. It took Alto something like a minute, despite being familiar with both EX-Gear and VF operations, to pick up Ranka with the right hand of Gilliam's VF-25F using manual control. Like most other weapons, the pilot designates the target and the airframe control AI handles everything else short of actually pulling the trigger. All the pilot has to do is decide whose day he wants to ruin and when. Quite possibly. It'd just be a matter of programming the airframe control AI for inputs that would trigger those inhuman maneuvers.

A lot of the minor VF designs get the short shrift like that. The VF-11, Fz-109, Az-130, VA-3, VF-5000, etc. all just have "gunpod", sometimes garnished with a caliber, number of barrels, or both. They're background designs or have such minor appearances that they didn't get detailed coverage. IIRC, the VF-11C's gunpod from Macross 7 is supposed to be a later variant of the same gunpod the VF-11B had in Macross Plus that was reworked for reduced cost (and to make it a bit easier to animate).

Well, apart from the obvious bit about it being way easier on the animators to have the robot limited to a humanlike range of motion... From an in-universe perspective, there shouldn't be anything stopping them from a strictly technical standpoint. The VF's limbs are controlled by its integrated airframe management and control AI1 in normal operation, unless the pilot opts to take direct control of a limb for a precision task like picking up something delicate. I would expect that the reason they're not leveraging that has more to do with mental blocks on the part of the pilot, who would naturally expect a humanoid robot to have similar limits to joint and limb motion to human joints and limbs. Exploiting that inhuman flexibility may require a thought process that is less than intuitive. The human-like range of motion may be more justified starting in Macross Frontier, since EX-Gear aims to make piloting more intuitive with predictive and feedback systems that produce a piloting experience similar to "wearing" the VF. The most obvious area where inhuman flexibility would come into play would be the shoulder joint... which would probably never be leveraged by a VF since windmilling one's arms in a fight is a stereotypical little kid tactic. (Not that we didn't see Glaugs do exactly that late in the original series.) A sentient artificial intelligence in a giant robot body shouldn't have similar mental blocks about using its limbs in ways that would be illogical or counter-intuitive to a flesh-and-blood person. None that leap to mind, outside of transformation-specific motions like the knees switching back-to-front or certain VFs with rear-facing guns in fighter mode having the monitor turret rotate 180 degrees during transformation. The only mecha anime titles I can think of offhand where the capability for mecha to exhibit a greater-than-human range of motion is explicitly acknowledged is Full Metal Panic! and one of the Mobile Police Patlabor shows. Full Metal Panic! chalks it up to the use of a semi-master slave motion trace control system, where with a sufficiently high bilateral factor the pilot could easily produce inhuman ranges of motion without having to do the same to their own body. Patlabor had a few cases where the Ingrams were shown to have 360-degree wrist range of motion for precision tasks, though that required a certain amount of precision control. 1. The ANGIRAS AI suite on the first three generations of Variable Fighter, later replaced by ARIEL on 4th Generation VFs and ARIEL II on 5th Generation VFs.

It's beautifully cleaned up. I bought all six volumes as they were coming out. I got introduced to it by one of the IT guys when I worked at the Henry Ford Museum, and he loaned me the first two volumes and I read them in the breaks between tour groups. Such an amazingly atmospheric series, but since it relied heavily on ontological mystery and "show don't tell" I'd despaired that it would never get an animated adaptation capable of doing it justice. Took years for me to find the rest of the volumes since they were out of print by the time I had the money for it, and didn't get copies in decent shape until Google Play dropped this Kodansha re-release in my recommendations last year. I haven't read Biomega yet, but VIZ Media has all six volumes of that series also on Google Play, at $8.99 a volume, so once I get done with the light novel for The Rising of the Shield Hero I'll probably take a whack at that when it goes on sale.