sketchley

Who needs power armour when you can make VFs? See -> Pheyos Valkyrie. Arguably the most lethal of the Anti-UN created VFs.

To be honest... I think there are a lot of 'true science fiction' movies out there. They are just overlooked or ignored due to the heavy market saturation and marketing of some of the other films. Solaris and Gattaca are the first to come to mind. Neither had big explosions or flashy special effects (admitadly Solaris had more special effects, but were they eye-candy, or only there to move the story along?) Both were meditating on something, and when the vewier left the theater (or turned off the DVD), they were still thinking about it... there's others out there... somewhere.

Conventional weapons. There's an episode later in the series showing Roy Fokker in his 'original' UN Fighter (McNell Douglar F-203 Dragon II) fighting Anti-UN (Mikolev MiM-31 Karyobin). Ground forces included tanks, and the Siokorvsky Comanchero. (See opening of the TV series.) There's also the possibility that they used Earth Trekkers too. It's pretty easy to come up with technology after someone else has developed and tested it, and you steal it... kind of like how humans get OTEC by reverse engineering the SDF-1. EDIT: forgot to mention: they did have access to reaction bombs. Did they make them or steal them? No idea. However, they did use reaction weapons to blow up one of the Grand Cannons mid-construction. I think they also used them (or was it nukes?) to blow up Saint Petersburg. UN Wars = VERY violent, IMHO.

I agree. Buying authorized licensed copies is a great incentive to people who produce those things. (Looks at the Bandai released DVDs of Macross on my bookshelf. Crosses fingers that Big West will produce more Macross in the near future.) Most of the 'big name' stuff that is endlessly recycled, is done so precisely because it is known to make money. The chance of a risk being taken on an unknown entity, that does NOT do things by the book is very slight. Even though that may result in a much higher quality or better final product... If you need an example: "Deep Impact" vs. "Armaggedon." The later paints by numbers, and sucks. The former is a great movie, but, in a sense, should probably be marketed as a human-drama movie, and less a sci-fi, or science fiction movie. Which one did you watch? Which one do you remember better? Which one do you want more movies to be made like it? Which one made more money at the box office, and has seen more clones made of it?* All rhetorical questions to get your thought-juices flowing. Please don't answer. *"The Core" is the first to come to my beer-muddled mind.

Hmmm... I don't really know what could be the problem then. The only advice I have is to keep the name of the file (and I guess that would include the linking URL address to, if possible) simple. I've had the experience in the past of html files saved in the past not being able to 'register and display' oddly named images, despite all being in the same folder, and saved at the same time. Odd name examples include having a 'space', -, \, and other non-roman alphabet characters that windows computers occasionally use as part of the file ID process. Therefore, I recommend as simple a name as possible. For example, my avatar image is: TrainStation.jpg in .../Sketchley/Locations/ (All "simple" directories.)

Uhm... a lot of the rest of the world likes and appreciates the Star Trek image the way that it is. Are you certain you're not generalizing your specific region/country's opinion and applying it to the rest of the world? So yeah, more SCIENCE FICTION Star Trek would be great, and less SCI-FI Star Trek would be better. Star Trek is a niche-market product, and it's probably best for it to be limited to that niche market.

What type of image are you trying to use? The site is limited to certain types only (.jpeg, etc.) and size limits. Maybe it is rejecting the image due to those sizes? That, or the adress that you are using for the image is for an image other than the one that you want?

It's all speculation... the copying (as in photocopying off of a master) version of cloning* makes more sense, especially in the light of the DYRL version of the Zentraedi: Breetai 7018 Exedol 135 Milla 437 etc. The numbers imply that they are the nth copy of the clone template. The clones are probably copied from an already aged master copy (why clone babies, when you can clone adults in their physical prime?) As far as training goes - the Zentraedi (or the Protocultures who designed the cloning technology) have the ability to transfer both memories and conciousness. They can pretty much do anything that we can come up with, and more... Kind of like the Matrix, but with the restriction of overwriting parts of the brain. Thus, once a clone is 'released', it can't go back to get a skill upgrade, without the risk of losing memories, and/or ones conciousness. Or something like that. (This last part was based on an online conversation somewhere and is entirely speculation...) *Isn't that a closer definition than our present day one - for if you grow cloned, it's environment will change it, and it'll probably become very different - a la the villian in ST: Nemesis who was a clone of Piccard.

Uhm, isn't there stance implying that they know that Big West (or someone else, namely the fans,) would, uhm, sodomize them?

Just curious - for all of those stating that Insurrection, Nemesis, and other ST films are no good, have any of you seen ST 5: The Final Frontier?

I wanted to make a big post stating how close Japan and Korea are in the anime/manga industry, and how, since Korean companies did a lot of the actual animation in Macross shows, they'd have access to the original masters used by the Japanese. Sadly, in my search, I found the following: http://www.mononari.com/tt/index.php?pl=316&ct1=9 There are real, licensed DVDs of these series out there in Korea... somewhere...

If I remember correctly, in Nemesis, they DID try to self-destruct the ship, but due to battle damage, they couldn't. Thus, they rammed the Scimatar. Funny, that when Worf wants to do it with the Defiant, it is considered cool, but when Picard actually does it with the Enterprise, it is not. Double standards? I do think that Nemesis was a good movie, with a great main point. True that I'm not a Star Trek mania-fan, nor do I like pointless no-brainer action movies. Nemesis was a good movie. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. I felt that it recaptured elements of the TV series - mostly the focus on characters, and the lack of big special effects (except for the ramming scene - that is probably as realistic as we are going to get - no "Daedelus Attack" where the attacking ship is undamaged...) Inssurection was also not bad. Neither was it good, but it wasn't that bad - mostly saved by the theme of the movie. The big question is, will the producers of the next movie be able to reverse this trend of releasing not bad (but also not the best) movies, and release something better?

Renato, you're misreading the 'mass cloning to repopulate the human species'. True, they used Zentraedi/OTEC cloning technology, but there hasn't been anything stated that use of micloning facilities is bad for the Zentraedi - except for Exedol's statement that he fears losing his extensive memories if he uses it. JBO - good points about the Zentraedi.

The stuff from Macross Zero and the OTS is pretty clear. What's more interesting, is the post SWI era - we know an Anti-UN exists (see VF-X2), but there are many more things hinted at (Macross Plus - Isamu Dyson's military record.) The big question then is - why is there so much trouble? (Beyond the obvious - conflict makes for good storytelling. ) It is doubtful that it is only the result of meglomania or wanting to put forward a different world view (like the pre-SWI.) In otherwords, the UN Government, post-SWI, must be doing something rotten somewhere, to get so many people stirred up and motivated against them. Makes one think.

The Japanese under the English subtitles is correct, if that's what you're asking.

Yeah, to be honest, although all the battles are great eye-candy to watch, they all blur together in my memory. I'm the first to admit that I'm not a big Star Trek fan (Macross all the way!), but I do enjoy watching ST. Right now, at this moment, the story that sticks out the most in my mind is the DS9 episode where they did the parable of racism, and they had all of the principle actors - without makeup. I wish to say something more about the other episodes and series - but they're all blurring together. Gah! Old age. T.T

I wouldn't pin the defections and the destruction of the Bodol base as a result of the three spies. Even without their mission, the Zentraedi would still have intercepted transmissions (TV) from Earth and become 'culturally polluted,' and thus, 'under Bodolza's guns.' Looking at it from the in-series context of 'they learned about the inner workings of the enemy ship,' it was a success. Until that time, they didn't even know if the enemy had Inspection Army agents with them, nor exactly what the enemy consisted of. EDIT: put some further thought into this. I do 100% agree with you, JBO, from the 'looking back is 20/20' perspective. I fully support that strategically, the spying mission contributed to what 'lost the war' for the Zentraedi. However, tactically, at that point in the timeline/story, it was a very successful mission.

Maybe so. However, it is a cool thought that the Federation was forced to bring really, really, really old ships out of mothballs in their desperation to fight the Dominion.

Garek was very, very interesting. Did you guys catch the ship from Enterprise in one of the final fleet battles of DS9? - I'm not sure if it is the actual Enterprise... sure looked like it though.

Did the two spies screw up? They successfully infilitrated the ship. They successfully gathered information. They successfully escaped the ship, and returned to report. Considering that the Zentraedi had no information whatsoever on human/micronian society, and they had no concept of a non-military class, let alone anything beyond that, there report was an invaluable success. I think this is a case of people not stepping into the shoes of the spies, and only looking at the situation from their own personal situation. The pre-SWI Zentraedi do not, afterall, know anything about anything but their strict, heavily militarized life of fast combat, and even faster death. In terms of this topic/thread - they brought back intelligence that could potentially be used to cause injury or distraction on their foe. It's true that they didn't use any of it until after the war - and even then, it was only Kamjin's taking Minmei as a hostage which could be loosely defined as using the intelligence in a useful manner.

Double interesting that it is entirely in Korean, and not Japanese! It looks like a licensed product, and not a bootleg.

Wasn't he a janitor? (Boothby?) Didn't he show up in Voyager as the mentor of Janey (the episode where they came across Species ###'s secret Starfleet training satellite)? (Wasn't he the mentor of virtually all the captains?)

I thought V-Gundam had newtypes in it - wasn't the colony/satellite weapon thingy at the end of the series powered by newtypes? Re: Macross 7 - I teach students here in Japan that are the age that the show targets/ed. It's given me a better understanding of a lot of the context of Macross 7. Though, I will admit that I am disgusted with Mylene's behavior in Macross 7, I can understand it, and the behaviour of the others. The show is actually, very, very Japanese and I do recommend it as a way to learn about Japanese culture (though without reference it may be difficult to determine what exactly is Japanese, and what is fictional.) There's no direct evidence for or against the VF-0 having that ability. What is known is that the VF-1 CAN fly to low orbit (first or second episode of the original series), and that Sara's and the birdman's combined powers were 'flying' his damaged jet. My guess is that Shin had a soft landing somewhere. The ending is bittersweet - sweet in that everyone (well, almost everyone) lives, and the irradiation of Mayan Island is prevented. Bitter in that both the leading men loose their loves. Hey, that sounds like an Ang Lee movie!!! What's there to argue? That humans didn't know about it for 50 years? Ok, but that's entirely IN universe. Obviously the creators are going to feel that their audience is smart enough to know what is happening, as there was enough exposition on the concept in a TV series that ran 5+ years beforehand. Too much exposition is actually a bad thing... (Lord of the Rings (the book) - need I say more about exposition getting in the way of the plot?) I fail to see the point. It was done in Macross II... DYRL... the original series... heck, you could even claim Sharon Apple did it in Macross Plus (turning everyone into zombies so you can steal the Macross... said zombies also go out and 'hunt' people... an incredible weapon all brought about by... singing.) Re: environmentalism - IMHO it didn't hog the show. Sure, it showed up a few times, but I saw it more as rounding out Sara's character more than anything else - which was contrasted with Shin's city ways... Didn't Emerald Force change their ways due to Basara? Anyhow - let me stress: Macross 7's demographic (and it's applicable to kids the world over) NEEDS constant reinforcing messages. Believe me, I know - teaching kids who forget the lesson the moment they walk out of class/the episode ends. Those kids grew up, and they are probably the people who purchased the most Macross Zero DVDs here in Japan. Those kids/young adults are entering a world where a few, to many of them will end up as freeters and NEETs. These same kids are used to entertainment being a certain way, and being 'educated' by entertainment in certain, shall I say repetitive, ways. So, to be fair, I don't think any discussion about the pros or cons of anything produced in Japan can be accurate without having an understanding of the Japanese, and the demographic that the production is aimed at.

I'm just guessing, but it might be the VF-1B. Aka: the 'half-S upgrage' to the VF-1A. It has 4 head-lasers like the VF-1S. http://macross.anime.net//mecha/united_nat.../vf1/index.html Scroll down to the variants for further details.

I take it works like "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Neon Genesis Evangalion (TV series)," and others with ambiguous endings aren't your cup of tea either? In the case of Shin's damaged VF - it's him riding out into the sunset. Was he dead? No. Would what happens next be interesting? No. (Rescue, probably court martial, and imprissonment, along with being endlessly questioned by intelligence officers - stuff that is outside of the point of the series.) I hope that the smilie means that you are saying it in jest. Kawamori gave them their proverbial ride into the sunset with Flashback 2012. They weren't killed off. It's not magic, it's called spiritia. See Macross 7 for further info. I also fail to see the difference between SES technology and the "black boxes" of full-metal panic. If I remember correctly, the "powers" in Macross 7 came about precisely because of SES technology. As for Gundam - there are quite a few Gundam series that have nothing to do with newtypes or anything metaphysical. Gundam 0083 is the first that comes to mind... A couple of things to consider: in most every anime, does the hero get hurt or damaged very often? Usually it's only when a plot point wants to be made... and Basara did get hit a few times. If it weren't for Emerald Force, he'd probably have been creamed a few times. Nevertheless, the point with Basara isn't so much that his singing makes him unbeatable, but that your enemy isn't necessarily what you initially think your enemy is. But you're right, Macross 7 isn't Macross plus for a very good reason - it was aimed primarily at, and marketed to a younger audience. An audience probably very prone to violence and in need of the positive message that 'violence doesn't solve problems.' With that last thought in mind - back to Macross Zero: it was produced for and marketed pretty much exclusively for the Japanese market. Environmentalism is still only just starting. IMHO, I don't think that you've seen the last of it in anime.