Zinjo

I don't subscribe to that idea of "testing" as much as a device left behind to "protect" the human population against agressors (possibly from space). If a society is truly altruistic it would not leave a doomsday device behind on a developing world in case it became aggressive but rather a guardian against a known alien force and possilby an archival device to teach the story of the ultimate demise of the PC as a lesson to the world. One could speculate that if the AFOS was a guardian device and remained deactivated until the Zentreadi arrived, Space War 1, could have turned out much differently. Possibly with the destruction of both space fleets or just the Zents.

The optical tracking sensor in Mac Zero actually gave the original aesthetic design of the visor in SDFM a purpose. I agree that the clear visors used by Isamu and Gamlin made much more sense, however the CF uniform's helmet is consistent with how the helmets were changed for the VF-X2 game.

Well if they actually re-animate SDFM to get around current legal issues and reintroduce the original show to this generation, that would be even bigger for BigWest. However there is no hard evidence to support such a speculation.

Because SDFM was such a hit everyone got on the bandwagon, initially it had only a few sponsors and one in particular was responsible for the name of the SDF-1. Star Wars was the same way, it was only AFTER it became a hit that the licensing really took off, to the point that Mattel didn't make enough figures to keep up with the demand in '77. The money generated by SDFM's success was so much that it was able to fund a movie 2 years later and that only fueled an already white hot market that lasted for at least another 2 - 3 years after. When Mac II was announced in '91 the anticipation from the fan base was pretty intense, after having no new Macross productions coming from BigWest for nearly a decade. I never said Mac 7 was "successfully" merchandised, just the most blatantly merchandised. In the 90's there were quite a few resin and model kits, but the biggest seller was the music, since that is what the focus of the show was... The old Otaku still love the VF-1 and Minmay, but the younger generation loved Firebomber more than the fighters. That's why the "Firebomber meets Minmay" concert will likely be one of the biggest concerts of the summer.

Why? or better yet... Why Bother?

A good position at this point... Actually, unless sponsorship practices in Japan have drastically changed in the last 10 years, BW and the sponsors have a LOT to do with the property. Often insisting on changes that will benefit their merchandise lines. Which is why I consider M7 to be the most merchandised series to date. It was all about selling music and toys and much less about the hardcore story. However, as sketchly pointed out the translation could be flawed or just an unsubstantiated rumor.

If that is indeed the case then it's yet another reason why it was best that the PC were wiped out. Arrogance like that will always be balanced with annhilliation... "We are so godlike that we can presume to 'test' instead of 'teach' sentient beings"...bye bye...

Or it may be BigWest's attempt to make the Macross II universe canon and develop more stories in that timeline... The possibilities of such a statement are pretty huge!

I for one have no issues with waiting for quality goods and if NS is in the midst of quality issues, then I'd rather wait than get crap. The interweb is full of scammers and it's nice to find those willing to provide "custom" services in their spare time to benefit us all. NS please keep helping the community. Updates on the issues will shut the most of us up and the ones who refuse to shut up, just report them and the bosses around here will take care of the rest. Thanks again man, all your efforts are truly appreciated!

Or you could just send them a message directly: https://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/usa/

Umm WOW! Nice work man!

Possibly, however if HG cries wolf, it may scare away potential licensers and thus leave BigWest with a whole lot of nothing in terms of international markets. This may attribute to the lack of interest in Mac Zero by Western distributors, that the potential legal costs might leech any profits the show could make... If it is a direct import from Japan, the law allows for such side stepping of any copyright claims made by US license holders, hence why Yamato valks can be sold here along side Toynami valks. It also gives BigWest direct profits from the DVD sales as opposed to a one time fee. Since Big West has no love for HG and it appears that Manga Ent. may have let their licenses lapse, they would not be hurting any business partnerships by such moves.

- Megazone 32 Pt II - My Neighbour Totoro (the Fox Family American version audio track-whether they recorded the track or not isn't generally known) - Castle in the Sky Laputa (probably from the very limited theatrical release of the movie in America in the late 80's) All had English audio tracks that were commissioned to help teach English to Japanese audiences (at least that was the explanation back in the day). Many of the voice actors from RT worked on those projects. The Region 2-Limited Edition of Robot Carnival DVD has the Streamline Pictures English audio track included as part of the optional audio set up (there is also a Korean subtitle track along with the English one).

Cool bit of Trivia, thanks Sketchley!

Gugava was from a race of sentient hair pieces created by the PC too...

Actually that seems to be a female trait. Lap Lamiz and Viffidas both looked very human with pale skin and the like. Though the Meltran may have been a race developed after the Zentran, possibly with a greater amount of human or protoculture DNA... After all they did seem smarter, more skilled as fighters, etc...

Hmm, you may have something there.... Or the academy squadron aboard a Begin Hill colony fleet ship that makes contact with a mysterious "alien" fleet that turns out to be the long lost Megaroad 01 fleet...

And repalce it with what? "News"? Oh wait, there isn't any.... No debate, just information... Final word on the subject, as there IS another thread dedicated to licensing... The Japanese court decision gives Tatsunoko rights to the "animation" only as part of their payment for producing the show back in 1982, nothing else is specified. Because HG sided with Tatsunoko during the legal dispute they have alienated themselves from BigWest and will most likely never see any partnerships with that company. As for HG getting SDFM, that is like giving 20th Century Fox "StarWars" because Lucas is now working on newer stuff. SDFM is what established the Macross universe and is the greatest success of the franchise, to simply walk away from it is not an option.

They still are. I was at a Panel run by Kevin McKever the Ops Manager of HG at Anime Evolution in Vancouver last year and he was still making claims to DYRL and such. Whether they are making public claims or private ones to whom they believe are the RT faithful, they still are making claims. They no longer lay any claims to Plus or II, but still try to extend their "rights" to DYRL, eventhough, no one really knows anymore how many license holders are still out there for that movie. If such an order did exist, then the Toynami DYRL toy lines would have pulled by now, and so far they are still on the market. I suspect HG is keeping quiet about things because they know the court decisions in Japan have seriously weakened their position on the subject. McKever would not comment on any of the Japanese decisions, hiding behind the claim that there were still other cases pending on the subject. I have no doubt if pushed into a decision, the courts would have to recognize the Japanese rulings in limiting the depth of copyrights that HG/Tatsunoko hold. Since they award the intellectual properties of the series to Studio Nue and Big West, something becoming quite the hot topic in the West these days. As for SC and the Mospeada references, that is very true, to the point that they abandoned Macek's original design of the SDF-3, for a more "Mospeada" like version. It is a way for HG to be able to claim uncontested ownership of SC, because it is based on a property that HG has uncontested co-ownership of. They can't afford to have a new series that they are trying to launch be stymied by a ownership battle of the Macross property. Macek's "Sentinels" borrowed heavily from Macross and thus was too "dangerous" to continue with, considering the pending court cases in Japan.

That would be sweet, but doubtful. BigWest has always retained sole ownership of their titles post SDFM, however if I remember correctly after the decision about the line art, there were still a few more copyright cases peninding on the matter of SDFM. I suspect it may have to do with who owns the story of SDFM and possibly who owns DYRL (although these are only speculations on un-named cases still pending). Even if the legal issues in Japan were finally resolved, the ones over here would just be beginning. Someone would have to be willing to bankroll a court challenge based on the Japanese decisions to challenge HG's claim of franchise ownership. Ironically, NOW is the best time for that, considering they have a lot of resources tied up in their new RT show and may be less likely to put up an all out fight for a 25 year old piece of animation that they no longer reference.

With passionate fans comes passionate views. Anytime anyone disses M7, invariably a fan of that show will jump to it's defence no matter how slight the mention. So it's bound to happen when speculations about the new show are considered. It doesn't need to take over, but it will happen... This is what sparked the comment, "half a century from start of television broadcasting"

Oh dude I'd be thrilled to grab that beauty at 300dpi, if you are willing? Please send me the link in a PM and it would make my weekend!!!

Did I read that right? It takes place 50 years after SDFM? I'd be very satisfied if it were on the same story telling level as Eureka 7!!

That was my point. I lean toward the notion that the Varuata equipment were largely converted as opposed to built from scratch. Now some equipment may well have been acratch built to for a specific purpose, but it is most probable that most were converted. To speculate on the SA's tech is speculating on a speculation, since all we know about them is what's been revealed second hand and that has been fairly sparse. Studio Nue has kept that enigamtic army out of sight for 25 years (so far).

That may be true, but why then did all the fighters look remarkably like the fighters they were "based" upon if scratch built? With the PD's exposure to PC technology would it not make more sense to build fighters in the same vein as they were used to as opposed to copying inferior designs? Why not use the materials to build Q-Raus or PC variants of the Q-Raus or better? We don't even know how many of the capital ships were built from scratch or converted, since we have no idea what the Megaroad 13 fleet looked like.