Seto Kaiba

Which part are you asking about? There's more than one project mentioned in that paragraph.

Oh, no kidding... even now, over half a year after getting banned from Robotech.com, I'm still getting a fair few e-mailed questions to the effect of "How does <Macross show> fit into Robotech?". If my time over on Robotech.com taught me one thing, it would be that while common sense is by no means common in the general population, it's a completely foreign concept to many Robotech fans... particularly those in Tommy Yune's corner. The Robotech universe and franchise is such a mess that it's no surprise that the fans are largely clueless. Plans for the addition of a Robotech reference section to my new servers (to which M3 will also be migrating in the near future, along with my ongoing Macross project) proceed apace, but hit a snag when I realized that there's virtually nobody qualified to write for it in the Robotech fandom anymore. Thanks to the concerted efforts of Maverick and MEMO, the few people who aspire to be knowledgeable are mainly concerned with trying to impose their own twisted moon logic on the universe and pretending to be moderators. The people outside RT.com who profess to be experts are even more clueless than the average fan, and spend most of their time talking out of their asses when they're not slandering anyone who looks at them funny. *sigh* Logistics... (Seriously, anyone got recommendations? Know anyone who's part of the exodus who might wanna contribute? I've got two or three, but I'm looking for like... eight) Yep.

On a side note, said fan was extremely offended that I had to ask him several times if he was joking before I believed he was serious about thinking Astro Plan was slated to be the next installment of Robotech. It looks like at least one person has asked the exact same question on Robotech.com's Series & Stories board. To be fair, this is probably an obscenely generous assessment... Given the current state of affairs on Robotech.com and RobotechX.com, it's looking rather like the average Robotech fan active in the fandom today barely knows anything about Robotech... to say nothing of real anime. An alarming number of them can barely be called literate...

Oddly, I got an e-mail about these videos just the other day from some confused mook on Robotech.com who was honestly taken in... he thought that Harmony Gold had (or was planning to) license Astro Plan as the next installment in the animated Robotech continuity.

Yeah, that's a good place to start. Where on Earth did you come up with "60 million"? That certainly isn't what I said, nor is it in the Compendium. The total number of survivors has pretty consistently been identified as being between a few hundred thousand and 1 million, who survived the orbital bombardment in Grand Cannon III, Grand Cannon V, the moon colony, space colonies, and inside the Macross itself.

Eh... more like a fifth of the fleet (~795,122 ships), but the principle is the same and I don't think every ship would have been taking part in the bombardment, just those with heavy anti-battleship armaments and bow-firing converging beam cannons. I get the feeling they'd probably leave the carriers and fleet pickets out of it. As Gubaba said, it's confirmed in plenty of publications on the subject. Contrary to the popular objection, they weren't working with an aggressively limited gene pool either... they had ~1 million people to choose from who survived by the simple expedient of being somewhere other than Earth's surface when it all came down. The implications of mass cloning are discussed as well... proliferation of hereditary diseases was what killed the cloning program in 2030.

Like I said, even if you were just going by the animation you'd find it pretty self-evident that you're only seeing a tiny, artificially-cultivated part of the planet... hell, the most heavily wooded part of the planet we see is Culture Park, and that place couldn't get any more obviously artificial, what with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Great Wall of China, and the Flavian Amphitheatre being within eyeshot of each other. Eh... that might be a bit extreme... the blasted landscape in DYRL was indeed genuine Earth, albeit about twenty-one years after the fact according to Chronicle. The depopulation bit might've been for drama's sake, or Hikaru and Misa didn't know where the other Grand Cannons were, since that's where most of the refugees were. ('course in context, they wouldn't have gone to Alaska since there was a fairly large city there at the time the movie was filmed) ;-) Welcome to light sci-fi... kindly check your real-world physics at the door. Seriously though, since it's exotic energy harvested from another dimension it might not need to play by the same rules things native to our own dimension do. Mr March and I had a discussion on that note, and one of the theories proposed was that the super dimension energy cannons were a sort of focused "eruption" of super dimension space into normal space. Any way you shake it, the big ones occupy the same class of destructive potential as nukes. We can always do the Treknobabble thing and assign it some exotic extradimensional particle too if need be. It's all good so long as we differentiate between them and normal particle beam guns like those of the VF-4, Tomahawk, etc. True... but after a little while Eden was launching colony fleets too, one of which was Macross Galaxy. (While the colonization graphic in the Macross Frontier series might not be entirely accurate, it does list Macross-6, -9, -11, -14, -15, -17, -20, -21, and -23 as being launched from Eden, and according to the Macross Generation drama CD, the Eden-developed Macross-9 was also the pioneer of the bioplant system)

Well... that was faster than I anticipated. I know I wasn't the only one who figured it was only a matter of time before HG tried to exploit Macek's death to cover their ineptitude or promote the brand, but I didn't think that even they would stoop that low that quickly. For pity's sake, the man wasn't even dead a week before Harmony Gold started exploiting his death to promote their crappy movie. That whole "memorial" is just in appallingly bad taste... the plug for the movie is more than twice the length of Carl's "accomplishments".

Actually, the terminology used would seem to suggest that, like the U.N. Spacy's shipboard beam turrets, the Zentradi's shipboard turrets are scaled-down versions of the heavy converging beam cannon (AKA a super dimension energy cannon, like the Macross's main gun). If this is the case, they're shooting beams of super dimension energy rather than charged particles. The result is the same insofar as leaving behind radiation. I do agree that, given what Bodolza says when he shows that video of an orbital bombardment to Hikaru and company, that the intent was probably to sterilize the entire planet in short order, and they just didn't get that far.

Eh... it's possible the Earth's environment could eventually recover from the damage caused by the orbital bombardment during Space War 1. If left to its own devices it could hundreds of thousands, or millions, of years to sort itself out, but as humanity is giving it a helping hand, it could whittle that down to mere centuries. I don't think the radiation is a big issue, since they don't play it up as though it's at a harmful level in DYRL. Sterilization of the soil by the heat and radiation was probably a bigger issue for the reclamation effort. If the planet was completely unrecoverable, the U.N. would probably have ordered the ~1,000,000 survivors of the war to evacuate offworld to Apollo Base and the space colony clusters. So, in short... your "evidence" that the Earth's environment has recovered by the events of Macross II is that the OVA doesn't depict any of the blasted wasteland seen in DYRL? I hate to break it to you, but true to form your assertion is nothing more than speculation with no basis in fact. In both Macross 2036 and Macross: Eternal Love Song, those areas of the planet seen in the game fall into two categories: "city" and "blasted wasteland". The city is shown as having plenty of artificially-cultivated plant life, but outside of that the planet seems to be no better off than it was back around 2010. Barring the few seconds of dogfight over the ocean, all of Macross II's Earth-side events occur in an area barely 100km in diameter. You never see any other part of the planet except that tiny area containing the city, the artificial island housing U.N. Spacy headquarters, and Culture Park. To put it in perspective for you, that little parcel of land you're claiming is proof that the planet's environment recovered is less than 10,000 square kilometers... less than 0.002% of the Earth's total surface area. No, the problem here is that you present your theories as though they were facts, and don't bother to check to see if the conclusions you've arrived at are accurate. The published material and animation are two sides of the same coin, and I don't ignore either one. In this case, you're jumping to a conclusion that isn't supported by the animation or the printed materials.

Now, if memory serves (and Sketchley, correct me if I'm misremembering here) Chronicle suggested that the Earth seen during DYRL was what Earth looked like circa 2031, so it seems that the planet wasn't exactly recovering swiftly. It jives with the landscapes we see in Macross Plus... a barren, cratered desert. Of course, we don't really get a full picture of the postwar landscape in any of the Macross shows, so we don't know whether or not the planet is entirely barren, or whether, as in the TV series, there were areas of forest and such that were largely undamaged. Um... your basis for this assertion is what? Just as in the main continuity, we only see a narrow slice of Earth's surface in Macross II... just the city, which was built from salvaged Zentradi warships, the artificial island serving as U.N. Forces HQ, and Culture Park... all artificially cultivated areas.

Rather a different kettle of particularly stupid fish. It'd be particularly unwise to lump them in with the ordinary fan rabble and convention-goers, as their particular ailment isn't simple ignorance... it's an unthinking faith in Tommy Yune and the belief that lying to their fellow fans, threatening fans who question the lies, harassing the fans who criticize their jackass behavior, and slandering people who out them as liars are all justified in the name of defending Tommy Yune, Harmony Gold, and Robotech from anyone who doesn't think they're wonderful. Because Harmony Gold holds the trademark on the Super Dimension Fortress Macross name and logo in the US and a few other places. Bandai Visual would have to obtain permission from, and presumably pay royalties to, Harmony Gold for use of the trademarked name and logo if they were to release Macross: Do You Remember Love? in any region where Harmony Gold's trademarks are enforceable.

Of course... if Harmony Gold actually had the distribution rights to Macross: Do You Remember Love? they would've gotten it out there ASAP as both a slam dunk sales-wise and a means of appeasing the Macross fans who were busy verbally tearing them several new orifices of indeterminate purpose and usefulness. The whole "we can release X as a product" business is a skillful way of muddying the waters by picking a vague way of saying "we can make toys, comic books, and other merchandise based on X" that sounds like "we have control of, and can release, X in any way we see fit".

For Tommy Yune, it's a thoroughly typical convention panel Q&A response... it doesn't actually answer the question being asked and the vague, awkward wording makes it easy for die-hard Robotech fans and imbecilic panel attendees to interpret it to mean something other than what he literally said. The die-hard Robotech fans are so easy to mislead and so willing to be misled that deflecting questions of licensing in derivative works by talking about merchandising rights has become Tommy's standard tactic for dealing with any questions about their inability to use Macross.

You definitely should have gone with "But I don't want any pineapple salad" for your original #1. It would have been funnier. I'm sure some people found it offensive, but these days it's a virtual guarantee that if you're going to speak you'll offend someone... no matter what you say. Carl was a public figure, and as a public figure you're not exempt from parody, no matter what your circumstances are. I thought it was a spectacular dig at Harmony Gold as a whole, their endorsement of fanatical hate in the Robotech fanbase, and Carl's own refusal to admit that the practices which created Robotech didn't stand the test of time. To be fair... considering the things you've done in the name of antagonizing dougbendo, I think you've long since forfeited the right to complain about anyone else's off-color humor.

Hmmm... so you can't just walk into Mordor, but you can get a nice connecting flight to there?

Eh... to be fair, Genesis Climber Mospeada probably would've been a much more interesting show if they hadn't fallen victim to executive meddling at the behest of their toy partner and put more emphasis on transforming fighter jets. Fear not... I have preserved taksraven's epic trollage for posterity. http://www.macross2.net/temp/ForTheLulz.png

Odds are they decided not to go with it for the same reason they only produced a single wrap-up OVA... despite the small but loyal fanbase the original Mospeada had, the merchandise just didn't sell. Robotech's New Generation saga suffered almost exactly the same fate. Among Robotech fans, it's a distant second to Macross, with a small but loyal following, and merchandise that just doesn't sell. Look at the Robotech.com store... the Macross Saga MPCs sold out frighteningly fast, while some of the Alphas have been in the store for YEARS without selling out. Okay... lol. I was trying to be kind to Mospeada, since even it compares favorably to Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles.

While I'm no expert on aerodynamics, the way the Macross Chronicle sheet presents those numbers makes it look like a transposition error that they then went back and tried to justify, rather than something they'd initially intended to do. The original numbers are much more consistent with what we've come to expect from "leader" models in Macross. Only one digit actually changed between the two models... the VF-19F took the VF-19S's atmospheric thrust limitation and then stuck a 7 where the 6 should be, while the VF-19S's took its normal thrust rating, omitted the atmospheric limitation, and replaced the leading 7 in the normal thrust rating with a 6.

It looks like it's a proper noun. I've been looking around for around 20 minutes and haven't been able to find anything it translates to. Sketchley's using the straight-up romanization on his stats site.

Realistically, since Carl Macek's return to the franchise was in an advisory capacity rather than taking over as creative director, responsibility for developing Robotech's future was never lifted from Tommy's shoulders. I can't picture them actually interpreting this as a bad omen for Robotech's future... I wouldn't be surprised if they justified keeping the franchise lurching towards oblivion by saying Carl would've wanted them to keep going. I must admit that despite my feelings of antipathy for the man, I thought Carl Macek would be a better creative director than Tommy Yune... if only because, his 100% failure rate aside, he was at least trying to do new and original things with the Robotech story instead of just making Genesis Climber Mospeada II: the Search for More Money. I definitely agree with your assessment of their motives though. It would definitely explain the way they've handled the franchise over the last few years if they put the kibosh on any kind of development-related spending to make the pre-transfer audit go that much faster. I doubt that Warner will actually buy Robotech from Harmony Gold though... or even show interest in doing so. If they thought Robotech was going to be a big earner, they would be talking to first-tier directors, not Sylvain White. Oh, now THAT would just be public relations suicide... even the die-hards would poo out a kidney in sheer rage if they did that. Even I would find that extremely sleazy and offensive. 's why one of the derisive nicknames I address RTSC by is Mospeada II: the Search for More Money. It picks up right where Mospeada left off, but the budget's half-assed, quality control is nonexistent, and the dialogue's like something cut and pasted from a bad Star Trek-Robotech crossover fiction. Essentially, yes... but that doesn't mean they couldn't try to introduce something new apart from the uglier redesigned uniforms and the spandex underoos everybody wears. True, they can't do anything with Macross because of licensing issues, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to Macross-ize Mospeada by giving the AFC-01 Legioss (Alpha) a set of super parts similar to those of the VF-1, and dragging in all kinds of other small, non-infringing references to Macross. There's no denying that Robotech fans largely hate the Masters Saga/Southern Cross, but there may also be a licensing issue there since that too is a Big West-funded series.

Answer my own silly question... no, it doesn't. God alone knows where that information came from then... best to assume its not reliable until we can find a reliable source for that. I'm not the best translator out there, but after a quick once-over it looks to me like they're saying that the filming model of the SV-51 used in the movie was equipped with reaction engines. It's not saying anything about mass-production of reaction engine-equipped SV-51s. If it's accurate (and it's not sourced, so there's no way to confirm) then it was probably done out of convenience and necessity... convert a set of existing engines for the airframe and let the filming model gently sip fuel in atmospheric flight rather than have it thirstily guzzling combustible hydrocarbons.

Pretty much nothing, actually... I'm sure the Robotech fandom will work themselves into a furor proclaiming how he was the great visionary he spent all those years lying and exaggerating to paint himself as, but in reality nothing is really going to change for Robotech. He was only recently brought back on board the franchise in an advisory capacity, so the only thing he really accomplished was to tag along on the convention tour as Tommy Yune's sidekick. The next major installment in the animated Robotech franchise, Robotech: Shadow Rising, is still on indefinite hiatus while they wait for Warner Brothers to restore the investor confidence that was lost by Carl Macek's of failed sequel attempts. By the same token, the live-action Robotech movie is mired in development hell while they wait for a script and try in vain to stir up some interest by talking to poo-tier directors. Eh... even though your posts in the RIP Carl Macek thread have been deleted, I can kind of see where you were coming from when you said what you did. While I do feel some degree of sympathy for the loss recently suffered by Mr. Macek's family, I find myself unwilling to suddenly write him a pardon for all of the dishonest, sleazy, and borderline racist things he said and did over the years. I will admit it does feel a little petty, but such is the price of bad karma. There's no doubt in my mind that Harmony Gold will keep Carl's magnum opus alive... if only by stringing the die-hard Robotech fans along for eternity by never offering any closure for the story of "Rick Hunter". Wait, wut? You mean Admiral Rick Hunter ISN'T lost in space? When last I checked, the REF was still launching ships to "find Admiral Hunter"... who may or may not still be falling into a negative space wedgie. The man's been lost in space for longer than Will Robinson, and he doesn't even have the benefit of a robot that goes "Danger Rick Hunter! Danger! Danger!" for plucky comic relief purposes... Makes you wonder, doesn't it? It'll be interesting to see if they fly out to pay their respects or not. You'd think they would, since Toyoharu Yoshida (Ippei Kuri) worked on Robotech II back in the day.

Possible, but unlikely to have a sheet of its own. It'd make sense to include it either as an "Extra Report" or small section on the VE-1 sheet... assuming they don't combine the VE-1 and VT-1 sheets into one four-page spread. For Macross 7? I'd be surprised if they did... after all, they were one-episode antagonists, and their mecha weren't any different from the DYRL models. You'll hear no complaints from me if this one gets a quick and quiet one page front-and-back mechanic sheet and not a four-page spread. It's just to minor to merit it, unless they're aiming to shove all of the transformation details and other gear onto the other two sides of a page. I just hope they get the size right. (That's all I'm asking guys... you can do that much for me, right?) Now this would be a welcome surprise, assuming they get the order of events right. It's not going to be terribly complex, since the Mardook basically just go from an advance fleet to Mars, the main fleet to Jupiter, and then move everything in system to Earth.

Or we could make the safe assumption that they just goofed on the symbol and meant kilograms-force. There's a nice, quick conversion for that to kilonewtons. Just multiply it by 0.00980665. lol, it was still a fun conversation we had about it... just a WEIRD typo. I read that page like eight times before I noticed it too... XD