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Seto Kaiba

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  1. Seto Kaiba
    It's just bloody unnecessary... the VF-11 has more diverse armament, and greater operational versatility on top of being all-regime. The VF-2SS is for space-use only, and in 2035 would be rendered obsolete anyway by the adoption of the VF-17 Nightmare as the elite/special forces fighter.
  2. Seto Kaiba
    The game isn't really obscure... it's one of the few games that have been adopted in the official Macross series chronology, with Macross Digital Mission VF-X, Macross VF-X2, and now apparently Macross 30. Also... given what we know of the main Macross timeline's VF-4, the canon VF-4S would likely not look any different from other VF-4 variants (except the VF-4G). The only real change to occur (externally) is the weapons mounted to the arms. Just as a point of order... the VF-4S does exist. Twice. We just don't know if Milia ever piloted one. As it was a UN Navy plane, she probably never did. The "first" VF-4S was the VF-4S Siren which appeared in the Macross II-verse's canon PC Engine game Macross: Eternal Love Song in '92. It had a different transformation from the main timeline's VF-4, because it predates Kawamori's presentation of the completed VF-4 transformation, and had a head almost identical to that of the VF-1SR Attack Valkyrie that appeared in the first Macross II tie-in game: Macross 2036. It was flown by the player character (Hayato Kiryu) during the UN Spacy's counterattack against the Zentradi Burado main fleet in 2037 and featured a bunch of new tech like a beam rifle (which looks suspiciously like the Zeta Gundam's) and funnels (yes, like in Gundam). The main Macross timeline's VF-4S Lightning III (not Thunderbolt, that's the VF-11!) is one of those "we almost never see this thing" variants that was previously a backstory-only VF. The VF-4S is described as being an atmospheric-service only variant built specifically for the UN Navy. The only time we've actually seen a VF-4S was the even more cut-down VF-4SL Lightning III that had had its weapons removed and been customized for air racing in 2058, appearing in Macross the Ride.
  3. Seto Kaiba
    Oh boy... well, for starters, the Valkyrie II's about the same size as the VF-1, but also slightly heavier. The general trend is "larger and lighter" in the main timeline. Four reaction engines instead of two isn't unprecedented, but the transformation is a bit out there for the main timeline. The Valkyrie II's gun pods - both the regular model and the "Nex Special Use Ver." - are railguns. Not hybrid rifle-railguns like the VF-25's SSL-9, but pure railguns. That's something we just don't see on VFs, excluding the artillery mounted on the Konig Monster, until 2058 with the YF-25 Paladin Prophecy and the Queadluun-Alma. The Super Armed Pack doesn't add any actual engines, it's just a big ol' set of fuel tanks and missile launchers with an anti-capital ship railgun on one side. The Auto-Attacker Bits are a technology that just plain doesn't exist in the main timeline (and the usage of Ghosts in a similar capacity doesn't start cropping up until either the RVF-171 or YF-25. The restraint armature in the cockpit is basically a pseudo-EX-Gear system that would be decades ahead of its time, and I don't believe the magnetic coatings (yes, Gundam ref.) on the Valkyrie II's actuators are a tech that exists in the main timeline either.
  4. Seto Kaiba
    Actually, the VF-2SS's thrust-to-weight ratio is already roughly comparable to the VF-11's... but technologically it's a mismatch in the main timeline. In some respects it would be advanced far above the VF-11 (or, arguably, even the VF-25), while in others it's not up to the level of even the VF-11. Aesthetically, it doesn't fit either. I love the VF-2SS dearly... it's my favorite Valkyrie. It's just not a good fit for the main timeline. It belongs in the timeline that its parent title exists in, where the continuity supports those specific advancements in that timeframe.
  5. Seto Kaiba
    Michael Blanc's heritage is an interesting subject, but various books have mentioned that he's got Human-Zentradi ancestry with a Zolan grandparent thrown in there for good measure. 's kind of ironic that he'd accuse Klan of having clumsy genes, when his are even worse in that respect. All she does is turn into a kid, whereas various sources have asserted that macloning would be either a one-way street or outright lethal for him.
  6. Seto Kaiba
    That's in-game mechanics though... in terms of the objectively stated performance information, the YF-29's actually got a fair few areas of superiority over the YF-30. Engine power and thrust-to-weight ratio, for one. Armament, for two. Armor is debatable, as nothing is actually said WRT the YF-30's armor, but they both have variations on the fold wave system that enhances all their OTM systems.
  7. Seto Kaiba
    Your guess is as good as mine... though the word I've seen used for them is "balancers", and some remarks that they aid the craft in targeting. If I had to hazard a guess, and I want to stress that this is just me shooting in the dark, I'd say it sounds like something inside the balancers (maybe something like hydraulic fluid or compressed gas) is being used AMBAC-style to zero out minor variances in aim due to posture. I'm not aware of anything that describes the function of those balancers though.
  8. Seto Kaiba
    Nah, it's when those Vajra ships start firing on Island-1... the Battle Frontier's CO orders maximum power to the repulsion field, and we see some kinda green energy shield spread across the ship. The dome breaches were sealed physically, some kinda smart material.
  9. Seto Kaiba
    Well, you don't really need to picture it... both pinpoint barriers and the "repulsion field" (looks to be a conformal barrier system) show up in Frontier. Well, WRT #1 and #2, Milia was trying to arrange a marriage between Mylene and Gamlin for a good chunk of the series, ('cept one of the Encore episodes, where she tries to fix Gamlin up with Miho).
  10. Seto Kaiba
    Not sure how much utility the shell would have for defending the ship from natural phenomena unless it were down... and they do like to leave it up. I'd guess the repulsion field (or whatever low-level energy shield that was which we saw arcing underneath the big red Vajra that shot the dome open in the first episode of Macross Frontier) might offer enough protection for the navigational hazards like micro-debris. Between that shield and the dome's surface, it's pretty tough stuff even without the shell. I suppose it might be useful to put the shell down for high-radiation locales and stuff like that, since it's proof against reentry and supposedly either is, or operates like, energy conversion armor. Got anything on the sky projection thing?
  11. Seto Kaiba
    Actually, it turns out the black-and-white version of that art also has clouds and stuff drawn on the inside of the shell... maybe some art reference? I recall also that there are a few scenes that show starfields on the inside of the Island-1 shell as well. (One translation I've found while checking on this does state the artificial sky is projected onto the inside of the shell... though that doesn't account for the all-around visibility of the sky most of the time when the shell is shown to be up.) I'll check into this when I get home in a few hours. Well, I can't speak to the ultimate utility of the shell itself... beyond its defensive purposes, it's involved in the projection of the "sky" effects (sometimes), and if memory serves is also lowered when the time comes to finally land the colony sections. The Island modules in the Frontier fleet had armored shutters that roll up either side towards the centerline. We see them on one or two occasions in the series. I'd assume the Akusho block in Macross 7 had something similar, though I honestly don't recall if it ever used it.
  12. Seto Kaiba
    Have we heard anything WRT the actual release date for the VF-22 book? I preordered it on HLJ when it went up, but the release date keeps sliding.
  13. Seto Kaiba
    Yeah, I have no idea why that art is like that... the Macross 7 series itself showed the sky projected onto the inside of the dome like it was in Macross Frontier. Admittedly, I don't recall the hologram on the dome ever failing in Macross Frontier the way it did in at a few points in Macross 7, where you'd see sort of rectangular "pixels" of the sky start to drop out while the shell is up. Like Macross Frontier, they didn't often lower the shell in Macross 7. EDIT: They'd have to project the sky onto the dome instead of the shell... the colony ships belonging to the Macross-1 fleet seen in the series had no shell.
  14. Seto Kaiba
    Nah, in Macross 7 they're projecting an artificial daytime sky onto the inner surface of the dome... apparently the same as it is in Macross Frontier. There are a couple occasions in Macross 7 where you see the hologram on the dome start to fail, exposing the "night" sky of space. This answers 2. as well, I think. At "night", they can just turn the artificial sky off and show the stars of space. Save a little juice. Plus I'm sure not being trapped under a big armored bubble all the time does a little to prevent claustrophobia.
  15. Seto Kaiba
    Six out, with a seventh pending whenever SoftBank finally kicks it out the door... there's the two VF-1 Valkyrie Master Files, plus one book each (so far) for the VF-0 Phoenix, VF-19 Excalibur, and VF-25 Messiah, and the one "Squadrons of the SDF-1" book that isn't technically a third VF-1 volume but in practice totally is. Then there's the VF-22 book that's still pending.
  16. Seto Kaiba
    Unless there was a time machine involved, I don't think so... the VF-XS Valkyrie II concept was published in Animage in 1991. The VF-X3/VF-3 design didn't appear until Macross: Remember Me, Skull Leader, and Love Stories, which were published in Autumn 1993 and Summer/Autumn 1994.
  17. Seto Kaiba
    ... and the to-scan queue gets a little longer.
  18. Seto Kaiba
    It's from an old issue of Animage, IIRC, which touted a bunch of promotional art for Macross II when it was still in development. A few of the art pieces were printed in other places as well. I'm pretty sure I have all the publications that covered it. This was the original concept for what became the VF-2SS, back when it was an all-regime fighter with a more traditional Super Pack. The design was polished into the VF-2SS, and the basic concept entered into the lore as the original VF-2, the all-regime fighter whose -S variant was modified for maximum space performance to create the VF-2SS in 2081. It's worth noting that "VF-XS" was also applied to the design that became the VF-2JA after they settled on a name for the VF-2SS.
  19. Seto Kaiba
    Or those of us who have the skills don't have the time to tackle it... or the resources to tackle it alone. Never encountered that bug myself tho... I've only ever found one, where two cutscene portraits briefly overlap for one sentence.
  20. Seto Kaiba
    Meh... it's an ass-covering maneuver. Some management flunky probably realized that if Harmony Gold was officially endorsing a Macross-based Robotech fan film, it could possibly be viewed as an attempt by them to do an end run around Studio Nue and Big West's copyrights, and decided to kill the film project to protect themselves from a possible lawsuit. The only tragedy here is that so many creative people wasted their time, money, and energy on a creatively bankrupt franchise like Robotech because their pattern recognition skills suck. As Radiohead once opined... "You do it to yourself, and that's what really hurts."... and boy did they ever.
  21. Seto Kaiba
    My reaction in two words: "DO WANT".
  22. Seto Kaiba
    Do I even need to say it? No, I probably don't...
  23. Seto Kaiba
    Just curious, and I know there probably isn't an answer (yet)... but has there been any word (yea or nay) that Macross the First will still be released in print by volume?
  24. Seto Kaiba
    I don't put any in the novelizations... but it seemed worth mentioning, as it's the only time I'm aware of that a Macross title made any reference to Ozma having met Grace at all during his service with the 117th Research Fleet. I work in a research center with a staff of 14,000 and let me tell you, keeping track of more than a couple dozen people? Just about impossible. Wasn't there a piece in one of the art books that showed Alto reuniting with Sheryl?
  25. Seto Kaiba
    's it really realistic to expect that Ozma Lee, a relatively young soldier assigned to the fleet's escort/protection detail would know all 10,000+ people living and working in the 117th Research Fleet? Grace was there as Dr. Mao Nome's assistant, while Ozma was just a normal soldier. Even the novelization only has Ozma meet Grace once while serving with the 117th Research Fleet, and that was right before the Vajra attack began... so it's understandable it might not have stuck in his memory considering all the traumatic events he endured that day.
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