sketchley

I don't belief Kawamori did the tank. It doesn't have his signature drawing style. I believe the same guy who did the designs for the vehicles in GitS did the Think-tank - Takeuchi Atsushi. I'm guessing, but I believe he also did the handguns and briefcase machine gun too (but innitial design inspiration goes to Masamune Shirow, as it's first seen in his manga, and Mamoru Oshii for including the scene in the movie.) All of the vehicles from GitS can be found on this page: http://www.serenadawn.com/GITS-Vehicles.htm Kawamori Shoji's two helicopters are (fanfic?) named as: AWACS helicopter and Megatech Hekatoncheires Sniping Helicopter, whereas the tank in question is referred to as the Kenbishi Standard Light Weight Tank – Multi-Ped. All of those names are fan-fic, as it's the first and last time that I have heard or read them.

You'll have to do your own research on pricing and availability (and I suspect currency conversion), nevertheless, imports are by their very nature, expensive. Here's a simple breakdown of why: distributor cost (sometimes retailer cost) + overseas transport + brokerage fee + customs fee + tariff + transport to retailer + (currency conversion & small buffer in case exchange rates change) + retailer mark-up = 2 to 10 times the retail cost in Japan. Even direct-mail purchases are more expensive: retail cost + shipping + currency conversion fee + wire-transfer fee. Of course, coming to Japan intails costs of their own, but that's something which can be balanced by the experience of travelling in Japan and looking at the merchandise before spending any money. Hope this helps.

Most trains have an overhead rack in which you can put big stuff. It is also highly advised to NOT travel during rush hour - both when arriving/leaving, AND during daily travelling. Space is at a premium and it may be well beyond your comfort limits. Limousine Bus service is another option, as mentioned. Leaving your baggage in your hotel suite should be ok - though yes, what little space is available will be eaten up by them. It all depends on the type of hotel that you stay at. Some do offer large rooms - you just have to pay more for them. Shinkansen (Bullet) Trains have both reserved, and unreserved seats. Unreserved is basically first-come, first-served. During this most recent holiday rush, some news shows were reporting that some of the Shinkansen trips were reporting between 150 and 200% capacity. Another reminder of why you don't want to be traveling during rush hour or one of the major holidays here in Japan...

Eh? It has to be something more than that... differing lens focal point shouldn't be what's causing this format war. Though, in a way, it does explain the 'ease' in which a multi-player can be made... I stand corrected.

Uh... different wavelengths. It's the main reason that different formats exist, and different amounts of data can be stored on the two variations. Blue-ray has a smaller wavelength, so it is able to read/write in a smaller amount of space than the HD-DVD. I've also heard that the beams read at different depths, which is the main reason why these multi-players are an option. DVD, HD-DVD and Blue-Ray are at 3 different depths, readable via three different wavelengths, thus they can cohabit the same disc. If you are talking about HD-DVD and DVD, then yes, they are similar enough that factories don't have to retool very much before switching between them. I'm not a technical expert, but it appears that that is one of the main selling points of HD-DVD (to the manufacturing sector, not the consumer.) http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/19/blu-ray...ion-s-division/ A nice image: And more info can be found here: http://www.google.ca/search?hl=ja&q=HD...ser+wavelengths

You can ask them: http://www.sofmap.com/tenpo/shop/nanba_1.htm My guess is that it is such a niche release that the price never got knocked down because there were too few copies to begin with, and it was forgotten about/not eating up enough shelf space to be a concern. But, that's just IMHO. Just to check: http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%B6%85%E6%99%82...=UTF8&s=dvd amazon.co.jp knocked off 22% of the price, but it is still in the 'stratospheric' price range for DVDs.

He's been pushing film technology since his 4th movie (Aliens.) I do hope that his directorial skills have been modified from the streak he was on before - bloated budget movies are the leading cause of the increase of movie ticket prices.

I'm tempted to agree with you that when it comes to anime that was released in 1998 on DVD being expensive, HOWEVER: Ghost in the Shell 1998 ￥3,800 GiTS, being releases in the same year, for about 1/2 the price, doesn't support that assertation. Neither do the highly varied costs of the other DVDs released in the same year support the assertation. Also, considering that I can currently get DVDs like Innocence (イノセンス) for ￥3,121, The Indian Jones Triology Box set for ￥5,000, and oodles of Hollywood movies for beteen ￥500 and ￥1,200, DYRL? is expensive. The fact that I purchased a new 1998 pressing of DYRL? (BCBA-0238*) also attests to its lack of popularity - as in it never flew off the shelves; instead sitting their, gathering dust for 7+ years. Yes, it gets credit for having 2 repressing after the original release - but that could also indicate that it had low print-runs; something indicated by the high cost per unit. Market forces at work, my friend. Small print run = high cost per unit. * Pressing 1998 July 25

It's already on DVD... and by the looks of things, it wasn't a big seller (expensive sticker price - almost as much as one of the the 4 disc LOTR extended edition box sets! And I still spot them in the new (well, previously unowned) sections of DVD stores.)

Well... that new multi-player looks tempting. Though, it really depends on what titles are available for which format; because right now, the only titles I am remotely interested in acquiring, are in Blue-Ray, and I am already tempted by the PS3, because it'll play the PS1 and PS2 Macross games that I have. At least for me, I'm going for the Blue-ray (in addition to the above, there's the larger amounts of data storage available on them...) Nevertheless, a new TV comes first and there's no rush...

All (save the last two or three) can be found in the Macross Hobby Handbook, along with alternate designs of the Destroids, the Earth Trekkers, alternate/new/experimental VF FAST and Armoured sets, and the only *official* print of the VEFR-1 Funny Chinese that I have seen (and I have a lot of Macross books...)

Was the box sent air or surface? Surface mail is the far cheaper option, but one will still have to wait about 30 days or longer. And yes - heavy stuff costs more. Japan is also undergoing an interesting phenomenon at the moment - the Koizumi government privatized Japan Post, and there is currently at least one company starting to directly compete with Japan Post in mail delivery. The company - Yamato Transport. It was originally a courier company, and I know that it had offices and delivery trucks in Vancouver and Victoria. You may want to find out if they offer comparible, or better rates. Remember to also write your information (sender, receiver, etc.) in BLOCK LETTERS, as despite many people in Japan knowing English, English, and its associated alphabet are not as well known as the three Japanese alphabets; and I have had mail sent to me with the address written in English, being returned to sender. Usually writing the country in BLOCK LETTERS will suffice (and that's the correct name of the country, not the common. Eg. Republic of Korea, not South Korea.) Don't forget to write 'Air Mail' on the package, lest you pay for it, and someone else in the shipping process puts it into the surface mail bin... And I'm surprised that no one has given any links for transit options in Tokyo. KNOW THEM, they are your friend: http://ktransit.com/transit/Japan/tokyo.htm http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/200...Tokyo%20Transit http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2017.html http://www.google.ca/search?hl=ja&q=tr...tation+in+tokyo Handy googlemap (zoom out to see the extent of the city): http://www.google.ca/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=...p;tab=wl&q=

You mean 'hourly' vs. 'allnight'.

Always ask before taking a picture. It is against the law to take people's pictures without consent (here in Japan.) Re: places to stay/eat/shop The general rule of thumb is that the more convenient/closer to a train station a hotel/restuarant/shop is, the more expensive it will be. The three places listed are going to be mighty expensive. It'll be cheaper to get a hotel somewhere else, and take the train to where you want to go to. Depending on how far you are from the city center, you could also use JR, or one of the many private rail lines. In general, the private rail lines are cheaper then JR. Rail lines are also faster than subways, as they offer express services that don't stop at every station. Even within Tokyo, one could always take the JR Yamatone line from Akihabara to Shinjuku and Shibuya. I stayed at a nice business hotel in Shinbashi. Though, it was on the weekend, so I'm not sure of the availability during the workweek, and if the price increases dramatically or not. To be honest, I'm not even sure if Akihabara and Shibuya have hotels - as they are commerce/business areas. Roppongi - limited to love hotels and capsule hotels, if you ask me; but as I'm a local of Osaka, my knowledge of Tokyo is limited. If you're willing to risk the embarrassment, staying at a love hotel may prove to be a cheap alternative - though don't expect much in the way of services, and don't expect the usual hotel experience (check out every day, etc..) And it cannot be stressed enough that the more convenient a place is, the more expensive it'll be.

I'm just guessing, but maybe he means the bluish highlights along the underside of it? On the nose, missiles, and most of the white parts.

1 and 3 look the most accurate. 2 is from Macross II, if I'm not mistaken.

Agreed. Though it may be only the original visual interpretation by the creators of Macross, as vectored thrust is retroactively added to the VF-1 with the release of the DYRL? game for PS1 and SS in the mid-90's. Also, if I remember correctly, the VF-0 in Macross Zero is seen with the vector plates together in gerwalk and battroid while flying/hovering (eps. 2 & 3). EDIT: though, if they act as heat diffusers, it does make sense. It kindof supports the 'afterburner' setting in the throttle - heat is pumped into those things (when it normally isn't) to add just a little more heat expansion/thrust at the back end of the engine, in addition to providing a little more finely tuned vectoring to the thrust. Or something like that. Anime isn't reality afterall.

I'll attempt to answer some of the questions: First off (...) Macross is made in Japan, by Japanese, for Japanese. For all we know, they are following Japanese nomenclature, or being confusing just to be confusing (as has been known when it comes to the incorrectly romanized English versions of the names of Zentraedi people and equipment.) 1. Hypothesis sounds good. However, reading the development of the VF-1 will clarify things. VF-X (non-transformable) -> VF-X-1 -> VF-1. In reading just the 'Early 2003' statement, it implies that there were both a VF-X-1, and a VF-X-2. The VF-X-2 being designed to compete against the F-203 fighter, in, what I presume was, a fighter flyoff or competition, a la the F-21 vs. F-23, JSF F-35, Macross Plus, etc., etc.. This is supported by the existance of the VF-X-3, which competed with the VF-X-4; the VF-X-4 becoming the VF-4. http://macross.anime.net//mecha/united_nat...vfx3/index.html 2. The VF-0 only came into existance after the VF-1 had completed the designing process, and manufacturing had begun.* The reason it exists is because the thermonuclear engines of the VF-1 were delayed (design? manufacturing?). The VF-0 carries conventional, albiet overtuned, jet engines - which explains the larger body size: engines require more space, and the fuel they drink needs more space as well. * The reason for this overlap is that the VF-0 was rewritten into the Macross timeline some 20+ years after it was originally written.

Who knows. OTEC armor, OTEC weapons... the arms race continues well into the space age. It may not be that the bullets are *heavier* than current bullets of the same calibre. They may be firing faster (OTEC in the gunpowder? rail gun type magnetic accelerator in the barrels to assist the chemical propellant?) The bullets themselves are probably coated with the OTEC version of teflon, with some type of micro-HEAT or HESH warhead. Though the limitation of SW-AG tech does make sense. The molecular bonds are strengthened so that the material as a whole can perform feats above and beyond what it normally can, however, SW-AG energy conversion has no effect against 'pin pricks' by bullets and energy weapons. That, or all the mecha in Macross have their propellant or reactant stored just under (or even inside of!) the armour, so any AP round that penetrates sets of a catastrophic explosion...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6230925.stm BBC reports that they will both be there. Agreed that HD-TV is here to stay. Almost every TV channel here in Japan is broadcasting in High Vision (the local name of HDTV) and the only TV sets one can by new are HDTV types.

The silhouet of the F-14 would work fairly easily. The Harrier image, though cool, would require a lot of work to make a good image - the problem is the clouds. But that's just my take on it.

Wasn't this originally released on CD-ROM? The copy that I've seen had sound effects, and rudementary animation. I wonder how Dark Horse/Studio Proteus worked a manga out of that...

Not necessarily. How long has the war between Zentraedi and the Supervision army been? It's possible that the Supervision Army did attempt to revive them, possibly wiping out the remaining Protocultures in the process. However, sooner or later the Zentraedi would've erradicated any Supervision Army forces nearby, as the revival of the Protodevlin was too much of a loss of military power on their side. This was either hinted at, or directly stated in DYRL?, that they either attempt to take new war technology, or destroy it, so that none of their rivals can. There also wasn't that many of the Supervision Army left - a huge amount of their forces would have had to be acting defensively to protect the Protodevlyn, and getting destroyed in the process. It's very possible that the Protoculture forces that attacked the Supervision Army fleet could have been composed entirely of Protoculture ships. After defeating the Supervision Army defensive fleet(s), and imprisoning the Protodevlyn, it's very possible that the Zentraedi swept through the system, and destroyed everyone and anything - scortched earth tactics that they seem to love, et al.

Good point on the AFOS. However, I must ask the question: why would the protoculture design and artificially build the galactic whales, when it has been shown that they are (more?) interested in humanoid creations (Zentraedi, humans, Zolans, Protodevlin, etc.)? What if the original planet of the protocultures had something similar to the galactic whales coming every year, and they prompted and allowed the protocultures to develop space fold technology? If this later rhetorical question is true, then the Zolans, or at least the space poachers, are following in the footsteps of the protocultures. Not only that, it puts a new light on Dynamite, as it starts showing a conflict between (technological) progress at the expense of nature vs. conservation of nature at the cost of (technological) progress. IMHO, that conflict is closer to the theme(s) of Macross Zero... perhaps even that of SDF:M & DYRL?, with it's complete destruction of nature due to technological progress.

Protodevlin accident. It's only when the Protodevlin are accidentally released by a human exploration/science team on the planet Varuta, that they establish the Varuta war machine. Otherwise, excellent post SpacyAce2012. Many good points that I agree with. Macross is not "Space: 2001" with it's black monoliths to prompt technological advancement/test humanities level of technological advancement. Yes, AFOS/birdman was a test. But everything else? Leftovers from a fallen empire. I just rechecked Zola on the compendium, and it only appears in the timeline (when Dynamite happens) and in some of the VFs - which are custom/lesser able versions. (For example, in the legs/engine nacelles of the VF-19 the Zolan version only has built in micro-missiles, whereas the UN Spacy version has variable weapon pallet bays covered by micro-missile equipped FAST packs!) I don't see Macross Zero as much of a rewrite. If anything, it follows Kawamori's mentioning that Macross sequels (and prequels) don't necessarily follow continuity 100%...