Seto Kaiba

Ended up fielding a bunch of different questions about the subject of VF generations last night on Discord and Facebook, so I figured I'd update this listing of mine with the latest information since I haven't touched it since December 2021. 😅 For the sake of convenience, the following rant will be color-coded! VFs that officially exist and have appeared in a Macross official setting work VFs that officially exist and have NOT appeared in a Macross official setting work. VFs that exist solely in non-official works like Variable Fighter Master File VFs whose placement is speculative. Last Edited: 11 Feb 2024 - Added VB-4, VB-5, revised Sv-154 Svard placement, added unmanned Neo Glaug, revised naming convention for Neo Glaug bis, revised Generation 5.5 and Generation 6 entirely. Generation 0 - "Prototype Generation" This generation is purely speculative and exists mainly to segregate designs that do not fully comply with the design qualifications for the First Generation Variable Fighter (e.g. thermonuclear reaction turbine engines) and were built principally for evaluation purposes rather than mass produced for actual combat service. YVF-X-0 VF-0 Phoenix (YVF-X-0B) VF-0-NF Sv-50 Sv-51 Sv-51Σ (Unmanned Sv-51) Generation 0.5 - "Upgraded Prototype Generation" This generation contains designs that exist only in Variable Fighter Master File. These VF designs are upgrades of the 0th Generation prototypes that were upgraded with technology from 1st Generation VFs or otherwise modernized to make them viable for long-duration operation. VF-0+ Phoenix Plus Sv-51Ω (Repurposed incomplete Sv-52 with conventional engines) Generation 1 - "First Generation" The defining traits of this generation are the adoption of Overtechnology, including thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, laser weaponry, energy converting armor, etc. in a production variable fighter. Sv-52 VF-1 Valkyrie VF-X-2 Generation 1.5 - "Upgraded First Generation" First Generation designs upgraded with Second Generation hardware drawn from the VF-4. Sv-51 Replica (Macross 30) VF-0 Phoenix Replica (Macross 30) VF-1 Valkyrie Plus (Blocks 6 and later, incl. VF-1X) VF-1P Freyja Valkyrie VF-1X++ Valkyrie Double Plus VF-1C Civilian Valkyrie VF-1EX Valkyrie EX VF-3000S Crusader VF-3000B Bomber Valkyrie Generation 2 - "Specialization for Emigrant Fleets" The hallmarks of the Second Generation designs include the adoption of Zentradi overtechnology, refinements for regime-optimized performance in either atmosphere or space, "lessons learned" from the First Space War, and optionally the adoption of particle beam weaponry. Most were intended for use by emigrant fleets, with low cost, simplified manufacturing, and parts-sharing. VF-X-3 VF-4 Lightning III VF-3000S Crusader VF-3000B Bomber Valkyrie VF-5000 Star Mirage VF-5 VF-6 VF-7 VF-9 Cutlass VF-X-10 V-BR-2 VA-X-3 VB-4 VB-5 Generation 2.5 - "Upgraded Second Generation" Second Generation VFs that were modernized to keep them in service alongside Third Generation VFs. VF-4G Lightning III VF-5000G Star Mirage VF-9E Cutlass Generation 3 - "Project Nova and Diversification" The Third Generation VFs are defined chiefly by the Project Nova design contest that decided the generation's main variable fighter as a true all-purpose successor to the VF-1 Valkyrie, but also by the continuing diversification of variable craft design into dedicated Attacker and Bomber roles. VF-11 Thunderbolt VF-14 Vampire VF-15 VF-17[A-C] Nightmare VA-14 VAB-2 VA-3 Invader VBP-1/VA-110 Variable Glaug VB-6 König Monster Generation 3.5 - "Upgraded Third Generation" Third Generation VFs that've been modernized or upgraded with technology drawn from Fourth Generation VFs to keep them viable or evaluate technologies meant for Fourth Generation implementation. VF-11MAXL Thunderbolt VF-11C Thunderbolt Interceptor VF-16 VF-17[D-T] Nightmare XVF-19 (a modified VF-11) Fz-109 Elgersoln Az-130 Panzersoln FBz-99 Zaubergern Generation 4 - "Project Super Nova: the Advanced Variable Fighter" The Fourth Generation's distinctive design traits are among the best known in Macross. The adoption of the next-gen ARIEL airframe control AI, thermonuclear reaction burst turbine engines, fighter-scale pinpoint barrier systems, and native compatibility for fold boosters. This generation was largely defined by Project Super Nova, the ultimately futile contest between the YF-19 and YF-21 at Eden's New Edwards Test Flight Center. The insurmountable technological and performance complications of the two designs led to a third design, the VF-171, becoming this generation's main variable fighter. VF-19 Excalibur YF-21 VF-22 Sturmvogel II VF-22 Sturmvogel II (SMS Type) VF/B-22 Jagdvogel II VF-171 Nightmare Plus (Blocks I and II) VB-171 Nightmare Plus (Blocks I and II) RVF-171 Nightmare Plus (Blocks I and II) Sv-154 Svard Feios Valkyrie Fz-109G Elgersoln Gustav Neo Glaug (Macross Plus Game Edition unmanned version) VBP-1/VA-110 Neo Glaug bis (Macross R/Macross F novel version) Generation 4.5 - "Upgraded Fourth Generation" The Generation 4.5 designs are few, and consist mostly of VF designs that were either upgraded to evaluate tech for eventual adoption by Generation 5 designs, or ones that were upgraded in extremis to make them more effective in combat against the Vajra. VF-19ACTIVE Nothung VF-19EF Caliburn RVF-19EF Caliburn VF-19EF/A Excalibur ADVANCE VF-22HG Schwalbe Zwei VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Manfred" VF-22 Sturmvogel II "Ushio Todo Custom" VF-171 Nightmare Plus (Block III and IIIF) VF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX VF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX Thrones Custom (Macross E version) RVF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX Queadluun Alma Generation 5 - "Project Evolution and Decentralized Development" The Fifth Generation of Variable Fighters started development as a response to the disastrous first contact with the insectoid alien race known as the Vajra. Existing VF designs proved utterly inadequate to rival the performance of Vajra drones, and new programs were launched to develop countermeasures for the high-g forces and other major problems with the newly finalized Fourth Generation. The design hallmarks of Fifth Generation Variable Fighters include the adoption of Inertia Store Converter technology to insulate the cockpit against high g-forces, Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, contactless Linear Actuator technology for transformation, the ARIEL II airframe control AI, Extender Gear (EX-Gear) user interfaces, Advanced Energy Conversion Armor (ASWAG), and heavy quantum beam weaponry. YF-24 YF-24 Evolution VF-24 YF-25 Prophecy VF-25 Messiah YF-26 YF-27 Shahar VF-27 Lucifer YF-28 VF-31 Kairos Queadluun Alma Generation 5.5 - "Upgraded Fifth Generation" The precise criteria for the Sixth Generation of Variable Fighters are still somewhat unclear in the absence of a true production Sixth Generation Variable Fighter. Materials from Macross Delta and its movie Absolute Live!!!!!! have offered some clues as to the defining features of the Sixth Generation that reframe several Macross Frontier-era designs as experimental or prototype Sixth Gen VF designs and offered some additional clarity for the intermediate Generation 5.5 designs. The foundational feature of the Sixth Generation is fold wave resonance technologies based on fold quartz which are used to boost the performance of systems that use fold waves natively (e.g. thermonuclear reactors, dimensional beam weapons) and to supplement a Variable Fighter's energy supply by extracting energy directly from higher-dimension space. Fifth Generation designs retrofitted with these technologies or scaled-down versions of these technologies are tentatively (or officially) now classified as Generation 5.5 designs. VF-31 Siegfried (Xaos Valkyrie Works custom) VF-31AX Kairos Plus Sv-262 Draken III Sv-300 Sv-301 Sv-302 Sv-303 Vivasvat Generation 6 - "Fold Waves for All" Until recently, there was no concrete information about the Sixth Generation of Variable Fighters other than its hypothetical existence based on one design being officially classified as a 5.5th Gen custom variable fighter. Materials published for the movie Absolute Live!!!!!! have offered more clarity on the matter and reassigned several Frontier-era VF designs that were previously treated as Fifth Generation "super prototypes" as Sixth Generation experimental or prototype Variable Fighters. Their key design feature is the adoption of fold quartz-based fold wave resonance technology that operates synergistically with systems that use fold waves natively like thermonuclear reactors, inertia store converters, dimensional beam weapons and the like to improve performance to a level beyond what is achievable with fold carbon or without fold wave resonance effects. Other new technologies suggested to be a part of the Sixth Generation requirements are the adoption of layered energy conversion armor as a material for the VF's structural frame, Ghost "parasite aircraft" wingmen, and next generation energy conversion armor, active stealth, and communication technology that uses fold waves in place of electromagnetic waves and allows the entire aircraft skin to function as a composite sensor. YF-28 YF-29 Durandal YF-29B Perceval YF-29C (Earth NUNS trial production version) YF-30 Chronos YF-30B Chronos (NUNS Version) VF-31AX Kairos Plus VF-31X (Experimental 6th Generation VF) Sv-303 Vivasvat

It's also probably not a real option under the global distribution agreement they struck a couple years ago. Apparently one of the concessions they made was that future Macross titles meant for the global market would refrain from using the original series characters.

Hard to say... it does show up on Macross Chronicle's Variable Fighter design lineage diagram (Technology Sheet 01Q), but it's not connected to anything on either side. Macross Chronicle Technology Sheet 01L mentions a VB-4 and a VB-5 that we know nothing about, so they may be unrelated or there may be some unknown models in the middle there somewhere.

To be honest, that's more or less how I'd describe Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. My feeling on Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn was that its story was a jumbled excuse plot that was mostly built on fanservice. The main conflict between Banagher and Full Frontal was a repeat-by-proxy of Amuro and Char's final conflict in Char's Counterattack, and everything leading up to it was a meandering and largely unnecessary sightseeing tour that'd be unnecessary if anyone in the story had a functioning brain (Laplace's box is "hidden" in plain sight on Laplace station FFS) and was liberally infested with MSV designs that did not have official gunpla yet. The whole affair felt like it was written by the marketing department, even if I knew in advance it was adapted from a light novel. I have to admit, I do see where you're coming from on Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative though. It's Unicorn again, but worse in every way and they're not even putting in the effort to pretend otherwise. It's REALLY blatant on the Neo Zeon side thanks to... It just takes the worst aspect of Unicorn and makes that the whole plot. Namely, psycoframes are just straight-up magic. The Axis Shock was one thing, since that was supposedly the collective will of humanity acting on the psycoframe. Unicorn and Narrative have just made Newtypes into wizards. It's not surprising the ending has Mineva saying that it's her life's work to put the genie back in the bottle because these developments don't fit with any of the works set after UC 100. Banagher's cameo is also completely unnecessary. This movie really doesn't contribute anything meaningful or interesting to the story of Gundam Unicorn or to Gundam's Universal Century as a whole. More than anything, where Unicorn felt to me like a toy commercial... Narrative feels like a fanfic.

In some capacity, though they shared the role with the Valkyries stationed around Earth's fledgling cities until the New UN Government finally got sick of dealing with giant Zentradi violence and banned Zentradi from living as giants on Earth's surface in 2030. Most emigrant fleets don't permit giant Zentradi for resource reasons, with Macross Frontier being one of the few exceptions (presumably at the behest of its Zentradi financial backer Richard Bilra), so the problem doesn't seem to have popped up in many other places. There was some rioting on Uroboros, but that was apparently induced rather than a natural occurrance, and Master File suggests the aggression problem that led to rioting was first mitigated with medication and then cured with gene therapy.

That bad?

Thus far, the only case that's mentioned after the First Space War era in official publications is the defense of the interior of (very large) later-generation emigrant ships like the 5th Generation Island Cluster-class. Official publications for the Macross Frontier series and movies point to that as the main reason for the Macross Frontier fleet's use of the Cheyenne II Destroid. Its relatively small size and its ability to switch between walking and rolling on the wheels built into its feet allowed it to be highly mobile (for a Destroid) and go almost anywhere inside of the Islands without much difficulty without damaging infrastructure like the road system. Even then, Macross Chronicle suggests the main role of Destroids stationed inside emigrant ships is delaying tactics so the ship's Valkyries can return and mop up the intruders. (Their use on the exterior of ships like the Macross Quarter as anti-air defenses is noted to be support of the ship's fixed anti-aircraft defenses.) The Macross 7 fleet had something vaguely similar in the form of the Patroid, an armored car that could turn into a vaguely Zaku Tank-like robot form. The area where Destroids seem to really shine after the First Space War isn't in combat, but as larger versions of heavy machinery. In Macross 7, we see many old Series 04 units owned by City 7 residents that have been converted with things like cement mixers and trowels, cranes, and drills. Macross Frontier materials note that the civilian market version of the Cheyenne II (the "Destroid Work") was very popular as a piece of highly versatile construction equipment and for things like asteroid mining. Macross Delta shows us more of same (though it calls them "Workroids") with the Shahal City spaceport on Al Shahal making liberal use of Workroids for freight handling. The settings of those stories are very different. Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross never really explains why military robots are a thing in its setting. They seem to have them just because it's the spacefuture and because the show's premise demands them. The war is mostly fought on the ground because the Zor's objective is on Glorie's surface and because their more advanced technology gave them a decisive edge over Glorie and Liberte's fleets despite the inexperience in war that allows the Southern Cross Army to hold them off for a time planetside. Genesis Climber MOSPEADA had something vaguely akin to a Destroid in the form of the (backstory only) Armo-Soldiers... early robotic weapons that were used by the 1st Earth Descent Operation. There are a bunch of different types in the concept art, but the only model to actually appear (in a still shot) was the Condor. Like the more advanced robotic weapons in the 2nd Earth Descent Operation at the start of the series proper, they were wiped out by the Invit's superior numbers and their own lack of awareness that the Invit's energy sensors could track them as long as their powerplants were running. The fighting there is on the ground because it's the story of a small number of survivors waging the best little guerilla war they can on their way to the Invit's central hive and because the Invit don't really have space forces in the conventional sense and not even really being that interested in fighting except in their own defense. In both cases, humanity's tech level is a fair bit lower than it is in Macross since they had to come by it honestly instead of being able to copy the Protoculture's homework. The level of technological advancement is much closer to that of Gundam's Universal Century.

For anyone who missed it while it was on YouTube, Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative is now available on Crunchyroll both dubbed and subbed.

Gotta love the classics. 😁👍 I'm probably headed back in that direction myself... HiDive has Armored Trooper VOTOMS and Aura Battler Dunbine in its catalog, and I've never actually seen all of either so that's a treat I'm looking forward to. My watch group also veered backwards a bit, we're doing Kaguya-sama: Love is War. It's every bit as manic and madcap as I remember it being, with the warped perceptions of the main characters and the excessively dramatic narrator. Today's new episodes of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer and The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic were pretty unremarkable. Nothing really interesting going on in either series right now. (Though I'll admit I almost feel bad for the demons in the latter case... imagine trying to build a bridge in the middle of a storm and someone just starts throwing whole trees at you out of spite.)

The animation is from a SANKYO pachinko cabinet called CR Fever Super Dimension Fortress Macross that debuted in late 2009. The new animation made for it was subsequently released as an extra feature on the JDM Super Dimension Fortress Macross Blu-ray Complete Edition. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/超時空要塞マクロス#パチンコ・パチスロ As @Jeff J said, some wishful thinker saw it and replaced the original Japanese audio from the clip with the Robotech theme. It's been doing the rounds falsely labeled as a "remastered Robotech opening" ever since. Here's a re-upload of Sankyo's promotional video for the CR Fever Super Dimension Fortress Macross pachinko machine that the animation in question was made for. and someone operating one of the cabinets: That is almost certainly never going to happen. About the most you can reasonably expect is an updated Blu-ray re-release with AI tool-based cleanup and enhancement like what's been done for the soon-to-release Macross Zero "Premium Remastered Edition" that comes in Japan at the end of this month.

That's not from Robotech... that's animation made for a Macross-themed pachinko machine.

The Witch and the Beast had a new episode drop today that closes out the necromancy story arc. Despite its emphasis on action as a dark fantasy series, they managed a spot of thought-provoking drama as well. I may end up looking up the source material for this one if it keeps bringing interesting takes like that one to the table. Metallic Rouge also has a new episode out, and it's kind of a mess. I didn't realize this was Studio BONES's 25th anniversary celebration title. Feels as bad when Tatsunoko Pro did The Price of Smiles as their 55th. An original anime to commemorate your studio's anniversary is a fine idea... but at least think the plot all the way out? Considering that this latest episode focuses on someone digging through Rouge's memories, there's surprisingly little actual exposition and it does nothing to clear up either of the show's halfhearted plot lines. It just sort of intensifies the feeling that this is a "if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullsh*t" moment from the writers. Bang Brave Bang Bravern still refuses to pick a lane. Trying to use an alien invasion that's explicitly carrying out global genocide as the framing device for a super robot comedy's not the best idea anyone's ever had, and as a result it's not doing the parody/comedy side of the series or the serious super robot side of things justice. It just feels inconsistent and leaves the humor frequently verring into "Dude, not funny" territory. Finished Tokyo-style Elf earlier today. It remained a cute, funny, and well-executed slice of life comedy 'til the very end. I ended up enjoying it immensely. The animation team made Elda so expressive that it's almost impossible to dislike her even when she's being a brat or a coward. The occasional historical infodumps related to her hobbies end up being an unexpected bonus too. All in all, from Crunchyroll's line up The Witch and the Beast and A Sign of Affection definitely feel like this season's standouts. HiDive's simulcast lineup is so unremarkable I kind of glanced at it once and just "eech... I'll go to the back catalog". Even there, they don't have a lot... but at least they've got VOTOMS and Dunbine. FYI, this is still a violation of the forum rules... While the old ADV Films Genesis Climber MOSPEADA box set is out of print in the wake of ADV Films's bankruptcy and the transfer of a fair amount of its assets to successor firm Sentai Filmworks, it's not difficult to find copies of the legitimate and licensed home video release w/ English subtitles. As much as I love the attention to detail that went into the design of the titular mecha, I have to admit I've always found Genesis Climber MOSPEADA to be a bit uninspired. It had an interesting premise but it definitely suffered more than a little at the hands of its sponsors and their desire for a Macross copycat series. The Legioss armo-fighter and TLEAD feel so much more generic than the more aesthetically pleasing Valkyrie, and they lack of the attention to detail that Arimaki put into the VR-052 MOSPEADA and other ride armor systems because of his passion for motorcycles.

Okay, a few episodes into The Witch and the Beast... and it's actually pretty darn good. I was right that it's doing kind of a Witch Hunter Robin-esque sort of story concept, but it has much more of an emphasis on action than on slow-paced character drama. That's not to say it doesn't do character drama reasonably well too. It's rather gory and violent when all is said and done, but there's some fascinating worldbuilding going on here underneath the "witch of the week" sort of dark fantasy detective story. The Witch and the Beast has grabbed my attention like no other title this season has.

To be fair, it's not that there was absolutely no place for Destroids in the postwar New UN Forces. What ultimately killed the Destroid as a military concept was cost. The realities of space war stripped the Destroids of their main operating role and their remaining niche of anti-aircraft defense was largely eroded by more cost-effective alternatives like beam CIWS turrets and fixed anti-aircraft missile batteries. Macross Frontier's Cheyenne II operates in an incredibly specific niche as an air defense platform specifically meant to operate inside an emigrant ship so massive that the possibility of fighting enemy aircraft inside of the ship exists. As seen in Macross R, at least one emigrant government (Macross Galaxy) has tried to modernize the Series 04 destroids as of 2058. The problem is that, for all the expensive tech advancements incorporated into designs like the Super Defender, they don't seem to have achieved significantly better performance than the conventional alternatives. There are, as previously noted, cases where more specialized or exotic Destroid-like mobile weapons did give Valkyries a run for their money in specific circumstances that catered directly to their strengths in the 2050s... but that performance was highly situational. In the Cheyenne's defense, it was an earlier and less advanced Series 03 model using much less overtechnology than the Series 04 models that were considered the UN Forces first viable Destroid platform. It was built for war against other Humans more than against something like the Zentradi, and like the VF-0 it did pretty well for what was basically a developmental model being thrown into combat service on short notice. (Also, let's dial it back a wee bit... the aim is polite discourse.) In hindsight, it's funny how what they described as a potential upgrade for the Tomahawk and Defender is basically the Tomahawk II and Defender EX from Macross II.

Out of sheer bloody-minded frustration with the rather unsatisfying fare that I've found so far in this season, I picked up another new title in simulcast... The Witch and the Beast. Going in completely blind on this one... and it's off to a wild start if nothing else. Barely four minutes in and the not-even-properly-introduced protagonists have asked about the presence of a witch in... did they ever say where? Then all the train station windows blow out because of a 6+ story tall shark monster that's walking down the street that gets exploded by a witch who they then try to beat up before running away? There's a lot to unpack here. FWIW, the animation is simply gorgeous. Ooooooooookay... that escalated quickly. If you're averse to blood, gore, and grievous bodily harm in your fiction this is definitely not a show for you. It's rapidly approaching the Hellsing Ultimate level of bloody and gory by the time the first episode is over with things like amputations, impalements, and incinerations.

... none of that has anything to do with the topic, though. A lot of it is also not accurate. For instance, the acknowledged inspiration for the Defender is West Germany's Flakpanzer Gepard, not the Shilka or M42. Granted, Destroids were a thing in Macross Plus and Macross 7... but only decommissioned units that had either been repurposed as targets for live fire exercises (Plus) or sold off to civilians and veterans for use as heavy industrial equipment (7). Macross Zero did introduce new Destroid designs in the form of the Prototype Monster (Mk.IP), the ADR-03 Cheyenne, and the Octos. But that was period-appropriate for the story, since it's set in 2008 before the First Space War revealed that the Earth UN Forces completely misread how a space war would work and the idea was quietly abandoned. Macross Frontier reused the Cheyenne art assets from Zero for an anti-air unit that once again proved to be ineffective and whose main virtue was (no joke) that its wheels didn't tear up the pavement and the Konig Monster's not a Destroid. The Cheyenne II shows up again in Macross Delta where it's outclassed by even the humble Regult. The main roadblock to upgrading destroids isn't that it's not technically feasible... it's that the entire concept underpinning the Destroid design is wrong-headed. They were designed around the expectation that a war with aliens would be a classic "alien invasion" scenario. That's just not how space warfare works in the setting. Zentradi main fleets glass enemy planets from orbit and have no interest in capturing territory for the meagre resources of a single planet. They were hastily repurposed as anti-aircraft defenses aboard the Macross, but that only worked because the ship was HUGE and the situation was dire. Ships built later are much smaller, and the same job can be done far more cheaply by the conventional anti-aircraft emplacements that replaced Destroids in that capacity. TBH, that's only really reflective of the fact that the Tomahawk was designed exclusively for land warfare while the Valkyrie is an aircraft. Being slightly faster on the ground while walking won't do the Tomahawk any good if the enemy's bombarding the planet's surface from orbit. That was the whole problem with the Destroid concept in-story, they were designed and built for a land war that was literally never going to come.

That's not exactly a typical reaction in sci-fi. Your usual sci-fi viewer will generally assume some kind of sci-fi shenanigans are in play when something like that happens... and/or that they're only seeing a portion of what's going on when you're dealing with a spaceship the size of a small town. (It helps that, in Macross, the process of rebuilding the city took a solid month not a few days.) That's not really unique to younger viewers... that's a pretty normal viewer's reaction to sci-fi. The genre comes with the implicit understanding that implausible shenanigans will in fact ensue in the name of entertainment, and audiences generally roll with that unless the story is so badly executed that moon logic is required to join up the dots. This is actually a great example. Everyone sitting down to watch a superhero move takes it as read from the outset that implausible things can and will happen because superhero stories are inherently about implausible things. Whether the hero's power comes from literal magic, super-advanced technology, or just being a space alien that can do things the garden variety human can't, the audience takes it in stride because that's an underlying expectation of the genre as a whole. Warner Bros and DC's Superman movies don't struggle because people can't or won't suspend disbelief for Superman doing Superman things. That's more a fundamental issue of Superman being the quintessential boring invincible hero and consequently an unrelatable flat character. Indeed... and that's part of what makes them relatable to the audience. Macross was made for an older teenage audience, so the main cast is three teenagers who are simultaneously grappling with transitioning from youthful innocence to the world of adult responsibility and with hapless, fumbling, teenage romance. We might look at it and say "wow, they're making unhealthy life choices" but... well... teenagers do that. I'm sure most of us have done at some point. Of course, they're also running on Japan's cultural standards from forty years ago which may seem odd or unhealthy to an audience that was not raised with those cultural standards. It's a product of the time and place where it was made, and almost anyone going to watch is going to understand that fact and likely not be that put off by anything that goes on in the series. Especially if they're familiar with anime in general and understand the basic premise that Japan's cultural standards are not the same as American, or British, or wherever we may happen to be from. (Now if you want to see an anime where a character is ACTUALLY simping for their love interest, I can name a few... but it's terribly undignified and I can't honestly recommend any of them as enjoyable.) Now that I understand... though it is at least justified by the official materials that explain what was going on during the timeskip. Their relationship seems like it was in a holding pattern because it basically was while they were assigned to different places. Hikaru spent a good chunk of that time up on the moon flying patrols of near-Earth space. Never felt off to me, but then I've had the foreknowledge that she probably started looking after his place while he was away on assignment as a favor. (It's also an old cliche in a lot of Japanese romance stories... a real popular schtick in love triangles and harem titles where one participant is the childhood friend/girl next door.) That's... not atypical relationship behavior for the unmarried at any age. The regrettable attempt to reconnect with the ex is a proudly undignified tradition that predates the written word and knows no boundaries of gender, nationality, creed, or anything else.

's definitely a mixed bag, opinion-wise... but I feel like several of these are unduly harsh "hot takes" or simple failures to acknowledge context. TBH, I probably also wouldn't use Super Dimension Fortress Macross to introduce someone to the franchise unless it was something they'd shown a direct interest in. It's showing its age. That said, I think a lot of what you're complaining about is pretty trivial stuff that even casual anime viewers wouldn't really bat an eye at given the age of the series. This is a borderline nonsensical criticism though, IMO. Macross was written for a high school-aged audience. I guess that would make it "young adult" fiction if we were desperate to categorize it. That said, Macross is science fiction... almost anyone watching it is not expecting gritty realism from it. The genre pretty much demands a modicum of suspension of disbelief to facilitate the more fanciful or scientifically-unrealistic aspects of the narrative. Especially given that it's robot anime. That in and of itself demands strained realism. No, he's not. Hikaru Ichijo is a relatively normal 16 year old boy who spends the early parts of the series nursing a crush on the pretty girl (Minmay) he met and got close to during a few days they spent alone together. He and Minmay spend a good chunk of the early series giving each other mixed signals like the awkward teenagers they are before their jobs start to make things difficult for them and rivals emerge in the form of Misa and Kaifun. Pretty typical stuff for a Japanese teenage romance story, y'know? He's not desperate for her attention or putting her on a pedestal... he's just as indecisive and awkward as she is, that's where the tension comes from. She isn't either, to be frank. Misa's also a relatively normal awkward teenager. She's got some emotional baggage the other characters don't because she's the daughter of a prominent family and therefore tries to maintain the family reputation and because her first love died tragically in an infamous massacre during the Unification Wars. She's indecisive and inexperienced in love because, hey, she's spent the last couple years throwing herself into her work to avoid unpacking the love life-adjacent trauma. (This is also a Japanese series, so some of that passivity is simply cultural differences.) Robotech made the characters several years older than they were in the original story, and I feel like that often skews people's expectations of the characters in Macross. Kaifun is such a useful hate-sink, though... and he does serve a useful purpose in that he gives a voice to the civilian population who are, by that point, pretty stressed out after a good few months in space being shot at. He makes the other characters question their role in the war. That's especially important for Misa's development, considering that she's used her duty to hide from her feelings, her repressed emotional trauma, and so on. He's a one-two punch that reminds her of her trauma and makes her question the duty she's used to hide from it. You're 100% meant to hate his guts, but he serves an important purpose in Macross's anti-war narrative. This has some decent perspective, though. A lot - and I mean a LOT - of the hate for Minmay comes from Robotech. Its rewritten dialogue and the fact that her voice actress was a pretty awful singer didn't endear her to the audience, and changes and cuts made to simplify the story removed some of her character development and made her seem selfish, bratty, and stupid. All in all, she's a victim of the budget and of the effort to de-emphasize the romance aspect of Macross in favor of playing up the space war side of things. Never mind the subsequent flanderization she'd suffered at the hands of the Sentinels materials... which frankly could be called "character assassination" with a straight face IMO. Macross's Minmay is a pretty typical teenage girl with big dreams of being a famous idol singer like her aunt. Her portrayal's a lot more positive and nuanced. She's shown to be quite the proficient singer and songwriter, having already landed an audition at a major label at the age of just 15. She maintains a sense of humor even under pressure, and can joke at her own expense. She weathers a near-death experience in wartime and goes on to nevertheless chase and attain her dream and discover the less glamorous sides of being an idol. She's as romantically indecisive as you'd expect from a teenager and she sends Hikaru a lot of mixed messages as a result, but in the end she's still a good person who legitimately cares about Hikaru and is doing her best in trying times even when the burden of morale is unceremoniously dumped on her shoulders.

I don't recall if I asked this one before... but now that it's on the brink of production, this thought keeps nagging at me. You guys probably remember this reveal from about a year ago of the MY24 Dodge Charger Daytona SRT BEV. It's the first of a whole new platform (and series of platforms) from the post-merger FCA and Groupe PSA. One of the most divisive features among the design team was, well, this... In a bid to appeal to more traditional muscle car enthusiasts, the electric Dodge Charger's going to have a simulated engine sound. I know there's definitely a lot of resistance ot the idea of EVs as potential muscle cars, even if 900hp is within reach for the higher-end systems like the Banshee variant. Would the simulated engine noise and potentially simulated automatic/manual shift behavior make an electric muscle car more appealing? (NGL, I'm personally in the camp that thinks the simulated engine noise is a bit silly...)

If they do this right, it could be the first real definitive artbook that Macross II has ever had. 😁 So much of the art was scattered in random magazine articles in Animage, Newtype, and B-Club. The print quality of the Bandai Entertainment Bible books always left a bit to be desired, and This is Animation Special 5 kind of crammed a lot of the minor designs into a page or two at the very end. Even if they don't get the more obscure stuff, I've still got a good feeling about this one.

Not just French, her character started out as literal Joan of Arc.

While I was looking at a question about printing, I had another thought about something that may or may not wind up in the artbook. I'm very curious to see if the artbook will have anything for Macross II: Lovers Again's two video game tie-ins: Macross 2036 and Macross: Eternal Love Song. The games are often overlooked despite being canon to Macross II: Lovers Again's parallel world timeline because they were for a console that never took off in the west (NEC's PC Engine) and they're only really referenced in one artbook (Entertainment Bible 51) and official magazine coverage of the OVA. The games had original Haruhiko Mikimoto character art and a number of original mechanical designs that never got decent prints in artbooks. If they have access to that content as well, the Alus Edition Kickstarter's artbook could be the first book to actually print much of that art.

Has anyone here given Amazon Prime's Hazbin Hotel a whirl? Slightly greedy ad-free markup aside, I just finished watching the eight episode first season and found it to be surprisingly engaging. The premise was unusual enough to get my attention from the word "go", and the songs are surprisingly well written. If it weren't for all the profanity and occasional cartoon gore or the fact that it's set in literal Hell, you could almost mistake it for a standard Disney musical.

Just finished catching the latest episode of Metallic Rouge. It's flip-flopped back to not really giving a damn about its "Are Neans people?" schtick again. It's animated in a very stylish way, but I can't help but feel that the writing really doesn't sell the package. Rouge is still hunting these random rogue Neans for some random macguffin that seems to be stored in their chests and there's no real buildup to the fights. It's just a lot of pointless wandering around and shallow drama before one of fifteen random background characters reveals that they're the hidden robot master and a five minute long fight scene ensues. It's no fun guessing which one it'll be because there's no apparent connection between their screentime and who it turns out to be. I'm guessing the robot clown man is the next big fight there, since the robot circus is in town and where's the best place to hide a tree but the forest? Still a bit baffled by Bang Brave Bang Bravern. It doesn't really seem to have a plot. Or any semblance of direction. I'm not even sure why I'm watching it, to be honest. It's... not really fun, I'm just sort of waiting for it to pick a lane and either decide it's going all-in on parody, all-in on serious super robot nonsense, or try to pivot back to real robot. It's like someone is trying to hit every single super robot cliche by jackknifing wildly from trope to trope at breakneck speed. One thing I'll say is that this latest episode is painful for the viewer in a more direct sense... the new mysterious girl "Lulu" is limited to saying just her name, Smith's name, and that ear-piercing screech small children do. It actually gave me a bit of a headache. It is rather nice to see its protagonist actually get a moment of peace and quiet after basically being hazed by Bravern nonstop for the last two episodes.

It'll be interesting to see what makes it into the artbook. I'd assume they have access to all of the production line art that's been published in B-Club, Entertainment Bible, This is Animation Special, and the like... but IIRC they were also trying to get ahold of art from western-only products like the Palladium Books RPG and possibly the non-canon Macross II: the Micron Conspiracy comic. I hope they were successful there. Say what you will about the game system (or the publisher), but those old Palladium Books RPGs did have some lovely cover art.