sketchley

DVD sales of DYRL didn't go so well. Macross 7 is probably being remastered into HD for it's rebroadcasting. If so, it's not too big of a leap to take the work and burn it on a disc. It is interesting that they decided to do Macross Plus. Perhaps a nod to the international audience?

Hmmm... I've come to the conclusion that messiah is not the best term to use. Limiting the Macross world view to that of humans, Anima Spiritia are unknown. Broadening that to include all that we, the observers, know of the Macross universe, one can surmise that Anima Spiritia are expected. Yes, Basara does becomes a saviour, and is expected to deliver feats by the end of the series. However, I am interpreting expected as in anticipated prior to meeting, and not the sense of doing a required action. Though the interpretation of the nuances of the word and it's definition may just be me... That said, IMHO, Bodhisatva would be a better descriptor. For me, the definition is someone who undertakes a personal spiritial journey at their own choosing, and at the completion of it and finding a hidden truth, they share the means of finding the hidden truth to others. Talk of descriptors aside, when looking at things in terms of Asian beliefs, one must keep in mind that philosophy and religion are generally combined, and should not be considered as seperate ideas (as is the case with Western religious and philosophical thinking.)* In other words, it may prove to be impossible to seperate the religious ideas from the philosophical ones in this discussion. *Buddhism is as much a philosophy for living, as it is a religion. Confucianism is as much a religion as it is a philosophy for living. The former has more concepts and ideas that Western observers associate with religion, whereas the later has some concepts and ideas that are both more philosophical, and also completely foreign (in terms of religious ideas) to Western observers. Ancestor Worship comes first and foremostly to mind.

Hmmm, in these terms, it sounds actually very Buddhist. Specifically along the lines of a Bodhisatva (Bodhisatva's being a part of Mahayana Buddhism, the branch of Buddhism in Japan.) Bodhisatva's are quasi-devine, and not necessarily choosen. Bodhisatva's have attained enlightenment, but instead of entering Nirvana, they turn back, to help others to attain enlightenment. The terms being used to describe Basara sound extremely similar. It should be noted that Basara is the Japanized name for Vajra, one of the Juni-Shinsho (12 Generals of Yakushi Nyorai). This page http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/12-generals.shtml gives Basara the following description: Therefore, I am forming the opinion that Macross 7 is a lot more religious than has been given credit. Religious not in the sense of Judeo-Christian beliefs, but in East Asian, Buddhist and Shinto beliefs.

Maybe to clarify the events of the first episode?

Rock is different, and does take a little bit of getting used to, here in Japan. I encourage readers to do some research into the various musical acts, past and present, from Japan. It may help viewers towards the thinking of "it's not just Macross 7". The Protodevlin "twins" (for lack of a better name, I can't remember their actual names; the two with many arms) remind me of Indo-Buddhist gods. There is a rough design in Kazutaka Miyatake's Macross and Orguss Design works that reminds me of a Japanese mask; which are generally based off of Shinto mythological gods and spiritial beings. I'm not sure if that particular design made it into the final anime. Nevertheless, it does go to show that a healthy understanding of Japanese culture (and not pop or entertainment culture) will uncover some of the deeper meanings and intentions of the series. Again, I must stress that I interpret the show as one made for and marketed to teenagers. However, it is not as shallow as some of the Macross "fans" here pigeon-hole it as.

Agreed. In the last couple of pages, the debate has turned interesting and more or less relevant. That is not so much Eastern mysticism, but an actual teaching tool used in the classroom (at least here in Japan.) Teaching manuals* present a problem to the students, and notes for the teacher to give hints to the students to help them overcome the problem. However, by and large, the students are left to their own devices (usually in groups) to figure out not only the solution to the problem, but the means to reach the solution to the problem. It kind of flies in the face of the assumption that Asian students are unquestioning drones, IMHO... * This is mostly applicable to math related subjects (science, physics, etc..) Though with English lessons, we have a tendency to introduce the language, and at the end of the lesson, point out the page numbers with the actual grammatical-linguistic explanations.

Given the above cited blog post, I interpret eps. 4 as damage control, and buying time for the creative team to figure out the story.

VF-X had VFs vs. Zentraedi equippped with VFs and updated Zentraedi mecha VF-X2 had VFs vs. VFs M3 was the one with VFs vs. giant spider bugs PS Macross 7 already had a VF vs. a dinosaur.

Manga history: the manga was created in an attempt to break into the North American comic industry. It was sent to Academy Comics, at exactly the time that they lost the Robotech license. As the manga was written for inclusion into the Robotech comic universe, there are some aspects of that universe that are reflected in the story. As this is a “quick and dirty†scan & post, I’m not modifying it in any way aside from adding my e-mail address to it. It was drawn during November and December of 1996. At the time, I only had access to Macross line art from the Robotech Art books, the Palladium RPG books, and the TIA:DYRL? book. I'm somewhat amused that despite the manga being created for the Robotech universe, the mecha designs that were used fit extremely well into the image that Shouji Kawamori has stated about the post SWI era of Macross (DYRL designs, SDF:M story.) Specs: Various sized Rotring Isograph pens loaded with Rapid Graph Ultradraw (Black India) ink Letter sized laser printer paper* *Not the best stuff in the world to be doing inking on. Nevertheless, there were few to no smudges from the ink on it. After a decade of not having looked at it, I quite like the character developments in the first few pages. The last half becomes a bit choppy, and uneven. If I were to redraw it, I’d give more page space per panel in the action scenes, and there wouldn’t be as many close-ups of the enemy mecha. Nevertheless, I feel that it captures some of the energy of the combat scenes in Macross. Excuse my bad printing. One nice thing about doing manga digitally is not having to print and hand draw word balloons on the manga. Alas, this was created before the digital age. EDIT: Where did the manga go? Here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54317980/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54318157/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54318303/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54318453/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54318548/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54318766/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54318920/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/54319175/

All of the above is good advice. As I have done something similar (recently retreved the originals from an overseas trip back to my original country), I may be posting them on the web (and here) in the near future (no promises.) My advice is: do it for yourself, and the love of doing it. Don't do it for other people nor what you think they expect of you (or a Macross manga produced by you.) Your love for the material will shine through, and make it much better. If and when you post the finished manga on these boards - be warned that the majority of posters (not necessarily members) are 13, or have the attitude of 13 year-olds. It may be best to show the finished work to your friends first, and ignore the more vicious/inane commentary that may result from showing the work in this forum.

I believe that this is a Japanese drawing from the creators of Macross. As I have yet to see it in any of the lineart books that I've purchased here, I suspect that it was published in either a magazine, hobby book, or a model kit.

Agreed.

Some fun facts: 1) the characters in Macross are designed with their target audience in mind. SDF:M characters are slightly older, because that's what the target demographic was. M7 characters are younger because the times have changed. 2) Japan has different laws than your country. What constitutes a crime in one country, doesn't necessarily translate into a similar crime (sometimes isn't even considered a crime!) in another country. The law: http://www.ageofconsent.com/japan.htm 3) Haruhiko Mikimoto, especially when it comes to Macross, should be considered a freelancer, doing a contract job. Therefore, the people ultimately responsible for the results being discussed herein are the creators and producers of Macross. Its their perogative to want characters whom are a child in a woman's body, and a teenaged rock-star wannabe so as to discuss the issue of prearranged marrage.

The VF-1 has them - the two "bumbs" on the sides of the cockpit, below the canopy (they become part of the hips, in battroid mode.) If I'm not mistaken, they are IR cameras, though I'm only 50% confident about this statement.

wwwmwww: scary!!! I'm actually quite speachless; aside from the nagging image of a late night talk show that went about attempting to show the "dark side" of the Mickey Mouse corporation. Sad that they stoop so low.

Lessee... in Macross 7, Sound Force has all of three different mecha. Of that: VF-19 Kai: based off of the VF-19, and apparently has less total weapons, but includes speakers and flashy lights. VF-19 varients also include the VF-19A (atmosphere optimized), VF-19F (space optimize), VF-19S (F version squadron leader), and VF-19P (Zolan.) VF-17T Kai: basically a modified two seater VF-17T. VF-11 MAXL Kai: probably the most extreme of the Sound Force VFs. However, it is a (heavily?) modified VF-11 MAXL, which in turn is a modified VF-11 that includes parts from the VF-16 in a delta-winged fuselage. In two of the 3 VFs, by not seeing more of the other varients that exist works against them; however that may have been the intention of the producers of the show.

For some reason, I was under the impression that travelling in space fold was rigourous. Therefore, my perception was that the airframes of the VFs capable of mounting the fold booster where somehow hardened to better protect the pilot/vehicle whilst in Super Dimension Space. This is not to say that the other arguements are not valid - they are; and they are quite interesting - along tangents that I hadn't mentally explored. Also, aparently the prototype of the VF-11 can mount a fold booster, but the production model cannot. From what little information can be gleaned from sources like the Compendium, a VF sized fold booster was developed and deployed at the, or prior to the development of the VF-11. I'm of the opinion that the first VF scale fold boosters looked nothing like the one introduced with the YF-19 and YF-21 in Macross Plus. The Shinnakasu Industry/OTEC FBF-1000A External Fighter Fold Booster prototype of Macross Plus is also "Not certified for performing a one-way trip of 20 light years." Which leads me to suspect that the preceeding VF sized fold boosters had smaller ranges.

I think it means: the ability to handle a space fold when using the VF fold booster.

For starters - Shouji Kawamori is a Gundam fan first. Any similarities can be traced to his love of Gundam. Coming out of the Golden Age of Anime were 3 super shows with anime first: Space Cruiser Yamato: realistic looking space ships Mobile Suit Gundam: semi-mass production, and true 3-D space combat Super Dimension Fortress Macross: realistic looking transforming mecha, and mass production to the mind boggling scale. All shows built on the firsts established by their predecessors. And all shows are still known, with the occasional sequel being produced every few years or so. Mangledmess - it's funny you mention production, resources and speeds. Gundam obviously doesn't have the capabilities, yet they have the most variety. Macross has the capabilities, but over the course of the timeline, they have produced a far smaller quantity of different vehicles. Yes, Macross 7 has a lot, but on the other hand, it's a series that takes place about 45 years since the development of the first VF. Therefore, I don't see the show as introducing a lot of different VFs from the same time, but rather showcasing the results of years and decades of VF development. Even then, all the "rock star" VFs are growths out of existing VFs.

To be honest, I think it goes well beyond what style people are trained in. Sure, that training does influence the look of the finished designs, but lets examine one core philosophical difference in culture: Robots and their perception. Japan - robots are your friends. They are more often then not tools for people to complete tasks with (wether that be construction, or firing a nuclear missile at close range into an enemy fleet.) Western Countries*: robots will go mad, try to kill you, and then take over the world. With these two fundementally opposing views, there is not only a difference in the result of designs (anime stylized robots,) but also in everyday practical applications of robots (come to Japan. See the robot caretaker of the elderly. The one who plays soccer. The company receptionist. Etc..) Even amongst anime fans, we tend to refer to anime robots as mecha, and do not refer to non-anime robots as mecha. Maybe droids, but definitely not mecha. Are the robots in the Matrix mecha? By the Japanese definition they are. (Mecha = mechanical, as in anything mechanical created for a production.) * I'm having a bit of trouble defining this culture. I'm using it in terms of English and of Western European decent, possibly including the non-English countries of Western Europe, but possibly not; I'm not as familiar with the science fiction and sci-fi productions from the non-English speaking European countries, but suspect it is true as all Europeans have a history of interactions with their neighbours in times yore.)

English. Language of the UN in the early 1980s, when Macross was made. In addition, there is numerous signs, symbols and words in English Roman letters in all of the Macross productions, and there is some English heard in things like the introduction animations of some of the video games, etc.. The 2nd language of Macross would be Zentraedi. (Check out some of the signs in the background when Myung leaves Eden in Macross Plus, eps. 3: English Roman letters, and Zentraedi on the signs!)

I don't think it's a case of English speakers not being able to do good mecha. I think it's a case of "they aren't Japanese, so whatever they produce isn't good enough to be called mecha" combined with the perception that if it doesn't look like other, established mecha (ergo copying, and not being original), it doesn't look good (thus, isn't mecha), or originality is added, making it look less like traditional, accepted mecha, and it becomes something that isn't mecha. To further bust your noodles (and preconceptions and stereotypes): how many Japanese mecha designers speak English? Shoji Kawamori appears to have a good command of spoken English, given the amount of English included in his lineart. Thus, by the logic given, he's not a good mecha designer. @.@ (runs away and hides from the ensuing backlash)

Hmmm... he is one of my favourites, simply because he can create some truly beautiful and unique artwork, that can be very simple (ie: very few lines.) I think his eyes, especially in the Macross 7 designs, are the most powerful aspect of his characters. That said, my most favourite character designers are: Hiroyuki Okiura (Ghost in the Shell (1995)) and the Masami Yuuki and Akemi Takada team that resulted in the highly realistic, yet still simply (in terms of the number of lines in them) character designs for Patlabor 2 (1993)

Not trying to split hairs (or argue semantics, or whatever), but from what I have learned on the topic, satellites orbit at varying altitudes, and the use of the term is general, at best; which is my motivation for including a differentiation between the 'altitudes' of orbit - as technically anything that travel's around the Earth without either touching the Earth or escaping it's gravity is in Earth's orbit (yes, English definition, and not necessarily a scientific one.) <- wow! That's one long run-on sentence.

If I'm not mistaken, the VF-4 can also do it, and depending on who you ask, the VF-1 (and thus, all VFs that came after it) CAN do it, but they must immediately refuel after doing so (see the first couple of episodes of SDF:M.) Though the question then becomes which type of orbit: low, medium, high, geo-synchronous? The VF-1, as per what's seen in SDF-1, can probably do only low orbit, at best. The VF-4 with it's rocket thrusters? Something higher. The VF-19 and VF-22? Geo-synchronous and beyond. IMHO.