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sketchley

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  1. sketchley
    Quick note: a couple of things to keep in mind about the postal situation in Japan: there is direct competition for mail (Yamato Takyubin, etc.) that tends to keep prices down, and Japanese investors tend to play the long game (long story short: they're generally more interested in long-term viability than making a quick-buck in the short term).
  2. sketchley
    For starters, if one thinks that all Japanese words are uncountable (ie: no plural forms) would make the differences easiest to understand. They also count things differently. One would have to use the correct "counting word" for the thing being counted. So, two cars would be something like "kuruma 2-dai", but 2 houses would be "ie 2-ken", and 2 sheets of paper is "kami 2-mai". Paper is a good example for why they use different counting words. Consider the difference in English between: 2 pieces of paper vs. 2 sheets of paper vs. 2 reams of paper. So, going back to the OP, it would be "Legioss 2-ki" (counter for aircraft) in Japanese. However, in English it's merely "2 Legioss".
  3. sketchley
    Talk about Flashback 2012 2021! Here's the MW writeup (with moar pictures) of my Christmasy version of the 1/144 Nujadera Ga:
  4. sketchley
    As I use the light layout, thank you for explaining what happened. Reverted to Light, and so far it's business as usual (E.g. my custom search still works)—no bugs.
  5. sketchley
    Exactly what happened to mine. At the time, I suspected it was (bad) old glue. However, it looks like it's a manufacturing error—the way that the shoulder peg is assembled makes it inherently weak. Something like 1/2 the peg's base is molded on one half of the shoulder box, and one has to rely on plastic cement to "weld" the rest of the peg to the other half of the shoulder box.
  6. sketchley
    Nah, they're just too into air-blade racing: text translation: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/OTother/Macross7trashVol01.php Macross 7 Trash pictures: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/PowerSuitM7Trash/PowerSuitM7Trash.php
  7. sketchley
    Well, they fit into the leg controls on the Regult... kind of like the high heels European men used to wear to help with horseback riding*. * "why did men stop wearing high heels?" - https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21151350
  8. sketchley
    I totally agree with you—on the hand-drawn mecha. I think the Valkyrie designs in Macross 7 are the best, only because of the economy of line in them (one can sense the genius of the artist as so much is visually conveyed with so few lines). The designs from Zero and onward are just too visually complex. Kawamori-san has also said that there is less "cheating" with the CG designs. However, I think that part of the charm of SDFM and so on is the "anime magic" inherent to the designs.
  9. sketchley
    double post
  10. sketchley
    This highlights a culture gap between English speaking countries and Japan. In short, education is mandatory only until the end of junior high school (grade 9). Thereafter, people tend to go into either private high school, public high school, or something akin to a technical college (somewhere between high school and a trade school).12 In-universe, Macross has been treating Valkyries like they are cars since Macross 7. While it's ridiculous to assume that people would be trained in tactics and weapons just to get a basic 'driving licence', it's plausible that these characters are well versed in how to drive the family car (the Valkyrie) by the time they graduate from junior high school. That said, I agree that what is depicted in Macross is pushing the limits of plausibility, but it is plausible—especially if one keeps in mind that everything in-universe is fundamentally different after the surface of the Earth was annihilated and priorities changed (E.g. Valkyries becoming the equivalent to the car). 1 case in point: one of my students graduated junior high school, and went to a technical college to learn about aircraft mechanics/maintenance (grade 10 and onward) at a school that is basically a glorified airport (possibly the basis for Mihoshi Academy in MF?) 2 the Japan Self-Defence Force has its own junior/senior high school. So, in-universe it's plausible for people to attend the equivalent and having been learning how to pilot Valkyries (and have essentially been in the armed forces) since grade 7.
  11. sketchley
    It's the Boat of the Arusu. Here's the Macross Chronicle glossary entry for it: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRglossary/Glossary02a.php
  12. sketchley
    Two things to keep in mind about "retirement" in Japan: 1) many people continue working well after retirement age (if they were employed at a big company, that generally means they lose that job and work somewhere else: https://www.jeed.go.jp/english/elderly/index.html) 2) Kawamori-san can be classified as both a freelance worker and the boss of his own company. "Normal" retirement rules don't apply.
  13. sketchley
    Well, the "Meltrandi Assault Landing Ship" appears in VF-X2 as the "Embaterion Transport". It's not expressly described as a Meltrandi Ship. Just a fleet of transports being attacked by the enemy. A couple of "Medium Gunships" (Miria's Ship) also show up at various stages in the game, but just like the Embaterion, they're not clearly identified as Meltrandi (one is over an enemy base—said enemy uses Destroids and the VB-6), and another is part of an allied Valkyrie-using fleet (one led by one of the Jiinasu daughters, no less!) So, there's that to muddy the waters. A couple of equally valid explanations are that they're: 1) Meltrandi (as depicted in DYRL) exist, 2) Zentradi ships with different designs than the classic ones, 3) human-made ships, or 4) Inspection Forces' ships. Pick your poison, but I'm semi-partial to 4 (the Inspection Forces are apparently a mix of human-sized Protoculture and giant-sized Zentradi [thus hardly any conversion for different sized crew], we don't see very many of them, and it explains why they're depicted as the "enemy" in DYRL.)
  14. sketchley
    You are basically disagreeing just to agree with him, you know. However, some context: there were numerous non-anime productions developed between the release of DYRL and MII. They include but aren't limited to publications and video games. ... and this is, of course, ignoring the existence of Flashback 2012, which is more-or-less a sequel. Back to the original topic: Macross II is officially part of Macross. How it fits in is anyone's guess. As Kawamori-san has described each and every Macross production as an in-universe interpretation of historical fact (like "Saving Private Ryan" is to WWII), we can assume that something like what we saw in MII occurred in the "real" Macross universe. However, it's accuracy is up for debate (like how Bodoruza's 'cactus' flagship was actually a Beginhill class ship draped in holograms).
  15. sketchley
    Even in the game version (for the PS1 and Sega Saturn) the creators deemed it "expensive", and reserved it for unit leaders—creating the lower-spec Quadoran-Nona for the lower-ranked personnel. Specifically a "simplified, mass-produced version for the average soldier", as apparently only the elite of the better-built pilots could handle the Quadoran-Ro! http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/ZentraadiAerospace/Queadluun-Nona.php
  16. sketchley
    There's an easy fix to that: just call them all "VF" (as in Variable Fighter, their technical name. Valkyrie is their nickname.) I understand. However, look at it from a story telling point of view: the Zentraadi have defected, and most of them don't want to use the Rigaado anymore (and why should they? They've defected and have access to much stronger, and—more importantly—more comfortable war machines.) What about a Mardook fleet attacking a Zentraadi Main Fleet that hasn't come into contact with humans yet? That could be the pre-credits sequence that establishes how powerful the Mardook are, in addition to vilifying them as they brainwash captured Zentraadi soldiers and turn them into cannon fodder troops.
  17. sketchley
    That NX-01 is turning out quite nice. I'm envious that you can add it to your bookshelf!
  18. sketchley
    Funny you should mention that... as I just (re)translated a Macross Chronicle Glossary section describing just that! " Transformation [M, 7, F, Ai] The Transformation is one of the distinctive features of the combat vessel part of the Emigrant Ships. It refers to the ability to transform from a military vessel to the Storming Attack form, and vice versa. The SDF-1 was not designed to be transformed at the start of its construction. The transformation originally came about due to the disappearance of the SDF-1's energy circuit, and the block structure of the ship was rearranged in order to connect the main gun directly to the reactor. However, after the effectiveness of this ability was confirmed, it was actively introduced into subsequent ships, and used to strengthen the Emigrant Ships' combat capabilities. Caption: [Transformation] With a total length of 1,200 m, the SDF-1 Macross requires more than three minutes to transform. In addition, the transformation caused catastrophic damage to the urban areas inside the ship. However, those problems were resolved in the subsequent ships, and proactive transformations have been carried out in combat. " From Macross Chronicle Glossary Sheet #16: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRglossary/MCRglossary.php (above quote is from the revised translation that I'm currently working on and have yet to upload at the time of writing this)
  19. sketchley
    You're missing a lot. For example the Quadoran-Nona, the Zentradi APC, and the mecha that appeared in the VF-X games and Macross Delta.
  20. sketchley
    If memory serves, normal international mail uses passenger aircraft. So, that may (or may not) restart when people start flying again (if we're in luck, that'll be for the '2020' Summer Olympics )
  21. sketchley
    The Macross Chronicle article on them: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRtechnology/09aReactionWeapons.php and for those that are interested, the article on Dimension Weapons: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRtechnology/13aDimensionWeapons.php
  22. sketchley
    Short answer: no. Long answer: What we can infer is the size of the Bodoru fleet (x number of ships) by his fleet's number (x number of fleets). What we don't know is a) are all the fleets the same size, b) the attrition rate of ships in an individual fleet, c) the attrition rate of fleets, d) the production rate of ships, and e) the production rate of fleets. This is further complicated by the vague "height of their power". Before the Protodevilun wiped out the Protoculture, the Zentradi were used for proxy warfare—implying that portions were being lost while also being newly created. After the Protodevilun were sealed away, the automated machines kept pumping out the Zentradi war machine. As the years progressed, and there were less and less of the Supervision Forces for the Zentradi to fight (and suffer devastating losses from), one can presume that the "height of their power" is the current Macross timeline... and that's despite production lines having broken down, and having lost whole categories of weapons!
  23. sketchley
    See, there's a problem with your 'logic'. Everyone who uses metric on a daily basis (and that's like all of the world except for 3 countries) doesn't use it like that. It's also confusing because, for example, a megabyte is 1,024 bytes, which is a different scale. Perhaps you should be writing "1.4 Mm" and "3 Mm"? Not only is it faster to type, you get to keep your 'grand thing'. However, 0.0014 Gm and 0.003 Gm roll off the tongue much better—and you can channel Doc Brown, too!
  24. sketchley
    Well, let's break that down a little bit: VF-4: has 6 engines—2 thermonuclear, 2 scramjet, 2 rocket boosters. VB-6: has 6 engines—2 thermonuclear, 4 plasma rocket engines VF-27 and YF-29: 2 main thermonuclear engines, 2 sub-thermonuclear engines FBz-99: 4 thermonuclear engines Of those, the VF-4 and VB-6 don't count—the development era or the sheer bulk that has to be moved. The VF-27 uses those sub-thermonuclear engines to help power its big, honking energy gun. I can't remember the specifics for the YF-29, but I presume there are similar reasons. The FBz-99 is the odd one out simply because it has 4 engines of equal performance. Are they used for powering its extensive beam weapons (like the VF-27)? When I get around to translating the Macross Chronicle sheet for it I'll have that answer. Going back to your question: if those 4 pods on the drone are indeed thermonuclear engines, perhaps they're for the same reasons as the VF-27—to power multiple beam guns, or a single really big beam guns. However, it's rare for Kawamori-san to equip a Valkyrie with an externally mounted thermonuclear engine. So, it's more like they are additional mission-related equipment (multi-missile pods, reaction bombs, ECM gear, drop tanks, or merely cargo pods).
  25. sketchley
    There's another way to do it: just read it. As you know the basic story, it's more a question of how they said it rather than what exactly they said. At the very least, you'll be picking up the grammar (yes, there are rules to be learned, but a lot of syntax, etc. comes from repeated exposure to patterns). Re: looking up words For beginners, it's a bit of an overload looking up so many. Therefore focus on the words that are repeated about 3 times or more. Those are important to the topic, and are the ones worth spending energy on to learn right away.
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