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sketchley

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Everything posted by sketchley

  1. sketchley
    Good question! It's the modified Hepburn way of writing Japanese long vowels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization#A_+_A As it involves copy-pasting (on my keyboard/computer), it's a bit of a pain in the butt at times... Nevertheless, if you need a handy source to copy-paste from (as well as to see the original Japanese text, etc.), please refer to the Glossary/Disambiguation page I made for my Macross Translation's site: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Glossary.php For example, Mardūk (for Marduk & Mardook).
  2. sketchley
    Not just Zentrādi, but the next unknown threat like the Protodevilun or Vajra.
  3. sketchley
    My answer is "no", because from the available evidence: a) there have been relatively few independent movements or coups, and level-headed pragmatism tends to prevail in the long run, and b) there are far, far, far greater risks to humanity out there in the unknown—so, for the very preservation of the species, (a) happens.
  4. sketchley
    In addition to what Seto said, derivatives of Fold Quartz, such as Fold Carbon and Fold Ore have appeared in such places as the Variable Fighter Master File books—Fold Carbon being used in Fold Drives and weapons like the Macross Cannon. Which essentially retcons how they work (caveat: their inner workings were never really explained before MF). While it hasn't been directly retconned, one can also surmise that the poachers at Zola were hunting the Galactic Whales to retrieve Fold Quartz (or a derivative) from their captured carcasses.
  5. sketchley
    Are you putting them on with tweezers? If so, before you let the decal go, try (gently) rolling a Q-tip over the decals to squish out/suck up the excess water.
  6. sketchley
    Great Mechanics G 2020 Summer no Macross content Great Mechanics G 2020 Spring no Macross content Shoji Kawamori* interview promoting the Small Worlds Tokyo miniature theme park: https://www.smallworlds.jp/en/ The article indicates that he is the chief creative officer, and was apparently heavily involved in the creation of the space centre section—aside from a series of images showing the progression of a futuristic space port from his initial concept artwork to some of the finished miniatures, there is also concept artwork for a transformable shuttle on a Space X "Starship 1" inspired booster along with the finished shuttle model (unclear if the transformable shuttle idea is part of the finished model). This link has most of the images in the article: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000012.000047627.html Additional images: https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1230406.html http://www.edgeline-tokyo.com/entertainment/49095 The transformable "shuttle":
  7. sketchley
    Communications get around Fold Faults by transmitting in real space via satellite relay (if memory serves). So, that means messages can travel at light speed (ships, on the other hand, cannot travel at light speed in real space). That's not saying that communication is near instantaneous, it's just much, much faster. Kawamori-san summed it up when describing the worldview in Macross F as "the Great Age of Exploration*, with e-mail". It ought to be stressed that there are significant transmission delays, otherwise the whole plot in MF (Macross Galaxy Fleet attempting to take control of the Vajra's real-time communication network) becomes meaningless... As for the delay in hearing about the revolt on Gaul 4: that's probably due to the delay from using a satellite relay... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery
  8. sketchley
    This and what DYRL VF-1S said. The sad fact is that it will most likely be years before things get back to something close to the pre-Covid-19 normal. The only precedents we have are 9/11 and the Lehman Shock—air travel took a year or two to recover. However, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are more than a couple of orders of magnitude greater...
  9. sketchley
    If memory serves, Fold Travel time was described as something like the Macross Frontier Fleet taking 10 years to reach the neighbourhood of the centre of the galaxy, and it taking half that time to get back to Earth (or 5 years). So, going by that, using regular Fold Travel to the Brisingr Globular Cluster (located at the edge of the opposite side of the galaxy, right?) it will take up to 10 years. Of course, if they use the Super Fold Booster (introduced in Macross Frontier), it will be reduced to 1 year (or 1/10 of regular Fold Travel). Some ships are described as being able to Fold for longer distances and reFold quicker with less time spent recharging (E.g.: the High-Speed Raiding Cruiser), however, I don't think anything has been mentioned about certain types of ships being able to travel faster in a Fold—speed seems to be more down to single-Fold ranges and recharge rate between Folds.
  10. sketchley
    Thanks for posting those! It's always really refreshing to see things like whiteout and eraser smudge marks on these sorts of things. If anything it reminds me that these excellent artists are using the exact same techniques as you and I. But at the same time, it highlights their skill—in the sense of getting it right the first time (most of the whiteout is being used to add detail to the picture. I can only see one spot where it looks like it was used to cover a "mistake"!)
  11. sketchley
    Keep in mind that what we see in print reproductions are size-reduced from the original drawings (E.g. the picture immediately before your post looks like it's been reduced from the A4 to the B5 paper size [84% for those who don't]... perhaps even smaller), and that tends to mitigate any jitters in the lines. Also, if you look closely (again at the above image) you can see some less than straight lines in the chest front/side images. I guess what I'm trying to say is that professional artists have learned how to "hide" those kinds of mistakes.
  12. sketchley
    Apparently the book has been pushed back about 2/3 of a month. Amazon.jp now lists its release date as Aug. 12, 2020. Publisher's reliability aside, there's a strong possibility that it's due to the effects of Covid-19 (Tokyo's undergoing something akin to a "2nd wave" currently, among other things).
  13. sketchley
    第二回落下作戦標準デザイン（第1話） I understand that to be: "The second descent operation standard design (1st episode)." Maybe it's a design that was ultimately rejected or not used for cost reasons? (or, as Jenius said, was intended for later episodes as a throwaway design, but was shelved when the direction of the series changed)
  14. sketchley
    I think Jammer (of Jammer's reviews) touched on the main problem in almost every single episode review: the show seemed to bend over backwards to have some kind of plot twist to set up a cliffhanger—no matter how crazy or at what cost (E.g. characterization or jumping over plot points). How much of the blame for that falls on Secret Hideout? How much on CBS? How much on the binge-watching audiences with short attention spans that the streaming services are supposedly marketed at?
  15. sketchley
    Very good points. There's another visual design aesthetic going on in the OT and PT. In short, the OT has an industrial, mass produced, sharp angels thing. As you've touched on the visual design aesthetic for the PT, I'll mention the imagery: art deco, 1920's design. George Lucas is also a car man. So, there's that influence going on, too (if the OT is the boxy 70's and 80's cars, then the PT is referencing the sleeker and rounder shaps of the 50's and 60's cars). The visual aesthetic is also going on in "Solo". In "The Art of Solo" they mention how Eps.IV has a 70's look and feel, so they tried to give Solo a 60's look and feel. I think that hits the nail on the head. The only thing I can add is that the majority of the neat new (old) stuff was introduced in Eps VII. Nothing really stands out in VIII or IX...
  16. sketchley
    You're referring to surface mail, right? No issues per se, but it's best to have a healthy awareness of the time involved: When I was sending stuff to/from Japan to Vancouver (or vice-versa), it took about a month to cross the Pacific. There appeared to be about 1 boat per month, as shipping time would vary between 30 to 60 days. During busy times (Christmas), that 30 to 60 day time frame could balloon up to 4 months, depending on how bad your luck is. Now that scenario is sending from point of entry to point of entry (Osaka to Vancouver). If you're in the USA, the points of entry on the Pacific Coast probably have similar time frames (E.g. Seattle, LA). However, if you're not near one of those port cities, then it's going to take even longer. I suspect that there are more freighters plying between Japan and the USA than Japan and Canada, however with the Covid-19 thing happening, I'm tempted to say that the aforementioned busy time is currently the "best case" scenario...
  17. sketchley
    Short version: EVERY Variable Fighter can attain orbit unassisted. However, the question shifts to "What is orbit?" and "What can they do after attaining orbit?" With the VF-1, it is portrayed as reaching what amounts to LEO (Low Earth Orbit)—more likely what is now defined as a VLEO (Very Low Earth Orbit). Thereafter, it only has enough fuel to get to a mothership and land. The VF-1 requires an external launch booster to reach higher orbits (perhaps a medium to high LEO up to a low MEO [Medium Earth Orbit]). The YF-19, on the other hand, can not only reach orbit (for the purposes of this discussion, let's define that as all of LEO and the lower part of MEO), AND is able to undertake combat operations—or, in the case of M+, undertake an almost day-long Fold to Earth, penetrate the orbital defences, and then battle in not one, but 2 dog fights. (Note that VFs have basically unlimited range within an atmosphere, so only the YF-19's action in space count toward answering "What can it do after attaining orbit?")
  18. sketchley
    Note that Japan Post is basically a privatized company*. It is also in direct competition with Yamato Shipping for such things as domestic mail. So, those are other things keeping prices down and promoting efficiency in general. * of course the original (non-privatized) Japan Post was also incredibly efficient to begin with.
  19. sketchley
    Near as I can tell, the "face" differs in three places: ① chin line, ② visor shape, and ③ temples. In all three, it looks like the one in Hikaru's colours is more square and with sharper angles (esp. chin/jaw), and the one in Fokker's colours is rounder with softer angles (or curves). As Seito has said, there is no difference in the line art. However, there is a difference in the quality of the animation. Maybe they're just reproducing the differences from that?
  20. sketchley
    Is that the VFMF: VF-1S Roy Fokker book? If so, Amazon Japan has been listing Jul. 22, 2020 for quite a while now. https://www.amazon.co.jp/ヴァリアブルファイター・マスターファイル-VF-1S-ロイ・フォッカー・スペシャル-GA-Graphic/dp/4815605297/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=VF-1&qid=1593182488&s=books&sr=1-1
  21. sketchley
    Well, everyone is clamouring for sequels to their favourite Macross series. In a way, this lets Kawamori-san off the hook, while still being able to creatively do whatever he wants. Also, Macross F was basically designed around callbacks to previous Macross series (E.g. Miss Macross Frontier, Pineapple salad cake). Isamu's 3-second cameo is basically the ultimate version of that. Not to mention that the VF-19 was supposed to be the next fighter, and many fans were surprised (and disappointed?) when it was replaced by the VF-171. So there's also a bit of "and this is what it would've been like" going on, too.
  22. sketchley
    There's always play-by-post. It's nowhere near as fast as in-person, but scheduling a session is no longer a problem. That said, those responsibilities rear their ugly heads even in PBP RPGing...
  23. sketchley
    Apparently (if the VFMF books are to be believed) the VF-1 still does fine against the Zentrādi. So, I'm quite certain that the VF-19 would be flying loops around their Mobile Weapons and doing what it was designed to do: cutting the head off of the snake.
  24. sketchley
    There's no hard and fast numbers available. However, the general description is that even with FAST Packs, the VF-1 is basically only a short range fighter in space. In publications like Variable Fighter Master File we even get a description that the VF-4 was adopted as a long-range interceptor, and the VF-1 is basically a close-in defence craft. There's also something in the VFMF book about the VF-1's basically having to coast part of the way to the target during the battle in Saturn's rings, and they had to wait for the SDF-1 to come to them to land—as they didn't have enough fuel to make the return trip (keep in mind that those VF-1's didn't have FAST packs).
  25. sketchley
    With the thermonuclear turbine reaction engines: yes. Technically it's described as "reactant". Variable Fighter Master File indicates that the booster packs use a hydrogen-oxygen slush for fuel. However, that's not what the thermonuclear engines use—one book in the series indicates that a long duration unmanned test space flight (think decades) uses specially modified engines that can generate plasma with hydrogen. However, its huge fuel tank (lifted from the Space Shuttle) contains separate tanks with hydrogen and "reactant".
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