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Well, this kind of stuff is of course hard to gauge. We all have our particular sensitivies. One man's love is another's "huh? her? doood you're kidding!"... The way I see it: 1. She didn't so much as "command" her wingman, as shriek her name in utter surprise when rookie Alto glued himself to her and then tagged her not once, but twice. Some "helpful" commander. She was as dubt-founded as her subordinate - so she clearly did not know how to deal with a situation that was unexpected - aka the rookie being an ace. 2. "When she attacked the Vajra, she was competent." This sounds like a politician talking. When she attacked the Vajra she was stunned that it survived her missile attack (but the Vajra showed in episode 1 that it was impervious to these kinds of attacks when NUNS tried it - do NUNS not swap battle assesment info with SMS? Does SMS not have its' own battle assesment?) In any case - Klan Klan might as well have fired paint balls at ol' Lobster - to little effect. Sure, she didn't get herself killed - which is of course competent... but competent is not ace and superior - like Alto - who demonstrated the same knack for not getting himself killed as Klan Klan - but also was able to arm himself without anyone's help - good job Alto. Alto 3. When did Klan Klan "stroll" into the mall? She was standing around when Michael noticed her while riding up the stairs with Ranka... Speaking of which - she was dressed terribly! That brownish uniform looked like something a Cannon Fodder VF-1A was wearing and loaned to Klan Klan. The sweat-band - or whatever it was on her head - just didn't sit right. But generally that flavor of brown is totally not fitting for her. Plus - I would say the "puny flokkers" had far more confidence than Klan Klan since you need to be pretty confident to stroll around with giants all over the place than the other way around 4. We don't know for sure that she knew what made people tick. She said it was "obvious" - but only Sheryl managed to put it into words - and Klan Klan was admiringly acknowledging that SHERYL "got things right." I'm not saying I don't like Klan Klan - I do. She's fun. The Micylone bit is really entertaining and fun - and of course she's competent and probably an ace flier and a great commander and a fun girl... It's just we haven't really seen that much of her or learned much about her. She's not "silent" - I think - I think she's underdeveloped VFTF1

What? You use brute strength? The come apart just fine. Click and they come apart. I don't understand the trouble. VFTF1

To be fair - the old Pluss stuff wasn't that bad on the whole. The VF-11B was sweet - just its' legs kept falling off The YF-21 also was pretty flawless - but it just couldn't really stand very well on its' own - and it was too bad you had to go and remove the shoulder pads... the 1/60s were very nice - IMO - and it great to have a battroid without the swing bars - an attempt at making it perfect... I am clinging to my ELINT 1/60 and don't plan on letting it go. Generally - the initial stuff was what got me interested in Yamato as a company - that they were actually making this effort to make really beautiful figures without cutting any corners. Now their biggest problem is QC... If they can finally get the QC problem under control - they will be the best company out there making this stuff bar none Studio Half Eye is nice too though VFTF1

I guess it's all a matter of expectations. Jenus clearly expected or desires a Macross series that is riddled with new ideas. I think though that we need to keep in mind the "anniversary" nature of this series - it has to be expected. Besides - there's plenty of Macross stuff that is a total radical departure from SDFM... namely Macross 7 (which I also like very much) Als- we're just five (or six) episodes in to the series - I dunno - it's just that some genres it's hard for people to accept new instalments... VFTF1

Well - it certainly is possible I am mis-interpreting Max Jenius - but it is IMpossible that I am getting him confused with the Robotech version... since I've never watched Robotech - ever I guess it just goes to how we interpret being cocky. I never got the impression Max was cocky - rather that he was a gentleman. Here are some reasons from SDF M: 1. In Shanghai Dandy, Minmey rushes to Kaifun saying "Wow! Kaifun you were great!" after the big brawl at Nyan Nyan. But Hikaru took part in the brawl too - and gets reaaallly jealous that Minmey doesn't rush to him. He's about to say something, manages to blurt out "Minmey" and then gets this LOOK from Max that just says "shut up." Max is so cool and so sauve that all he needs to do is give you a look - a cocky person would grab Hikaru and give him a speech about how you can't pressure women and if you show this kind of jealousy it will only demean you as a man in their eyes etc yaddy yaddy ya - but Max is not cocky - therefore he relies on non-verbal eye contact - he's polite enough to know that while as a friend he can give Hikaru a look - he has no business of giving Hikaru a speech. 2. When Miria asks that Max only disable Zendradi pods - he doesn't say "No problemo baby! Watch how utterly COOL I am!" - he is at first very much against the idea. I interpret his "Miria watch me work!" line not as a cocky "yeah this'll be easy!" but rather as a statement of a husband to his wife saying: "This is really a lot to ask of me, and it is very hard, but I love you - so I will try! Watch!" 3. Max is present at a lot of high level meetings on the Macross; the first being the meeting with Global, Maistroff and the Officers in Blue Wing, after our heroes have escaped Breetai and Boldoza's clutches. I honestly do not recall Max being cocky at ANY of those meetings - even though such a meeting is the perfect place to get all cocky - like some of the characters (particularly the REMFs) do. Max never speaks unless he is asked something, and always his answer is brief and to the point. It's not cockyness but rather humility and a sense of duty that binds him. 4. When Max gets his own command, he is rather surprised and tells Hikaru that he might not be ready. He seems to feel visibly better about it when Hikaru notes that it's because compared to all the newer pilots- they are vets. A cocky person would be like "yeah finally! I mean they took long enough to give me my own squad!" 5. When Hikaru and Kakizake call Max a genius after their virgin sortie - Max acts like a kid in a candy factory that just got a big chocolate bar. 'Me? Really? I never knew..." and he daydreams about how nifty it is. A cocky person would say "hah! I shot down more than you guys! You guys should follow me!" 6. While fighting Miria in the Arcade, Max thinks to himself that she is really very skilled. A cocky person would think "die biatch die! I'm the best!" - after the game he is a gentleman and congratulates her and does not act cocky - of course, part of the reason he does this is because he doesn't want to put down the girl he wants to ask on a date - but if he were cocky and macho he would be like "I'm the best! You should forget about piloting and doing this manly stuff! Lemme take you out babe!" or something like that. 7. When escaping in his VF-1A from the Zendradi in the Boldoza Fleet, and upon entering the elevator - Max wants to close the door - but his VF-1A's arm gets shot in such a way as to make it malfunction. Max doesn't know what to do - and it's Hikaru who braves the bullets to close the elevator door. If Max were cocky, he'd just be like "out'a my way! I'm the best! I'll brave these bullets and do it manualy!" - but he's not cocky - and while a great pilot - he obviously hasn't the faintest clue what to do in a combat situation where he can't rely on his piloting skills. He needs help in this situation. So anyways - there's my impression of Max and the basis in SDF M for it I might be completely wrong, I might not be noticing the cockyness - but I assure you there is no Robotech bias creeping in because I have happily not seen the show VFTF1

I don't mean to be negative ... but... Notice that "because it's Macross" is BELOW "all the above" - therefore by voting "all the above" - you are saying that you DON'T watch it because it's macross, but only because of the reasons - well - above don't hate me :) VFTF1

Heheheeeeh The funny thing is - when I read the first sentence of that...I stopped reading and started going "huh??? Well...okk...Hikaru was a test pilot on the Macross...but it wasn't a 'colony ship"...and then I got to the shake his feminity" part and was thinking "but other than the hair - where's the femininity?"...it was only from jacking a Valkyrie from a dead pilot that I suddenly realized your point And the vision of Kakizake in an ELINT being shy and bashful is wonderful VFTF1

I should like to say something about Klan Klan: When she is giant - she has no character. You can call it "the silent type" - I call it the - "I have no character beyond just being a 50 foot woman who pilots a Quud Rau and therefore elicits memories of Milia"... Maybe this will change- but thus far it hasn't. As a Myclone - however- Klan Klan shines because she is good comic relief. What I'm wondering is whether Klan Klan is meant to be a one trick pony - and we've just seen her trick - or whether this character will get developed? Canaria is rather real "silent type" - she's been around and we've actually seen she DOES stuff - just doesn't really talk much... But I'm not being down on Klan Klan - they just haven't developed her yet... VFTF1

Welcome to MACROSS world As the name implies - we are a MACROSS forum dedicated to discussing MACROSS. There is a Genesis Climber Mospedea thread in the Anime section where all such off-topic stuff goes (Yay! I got to say it first!) VFTF1

vote away VFTF1

I voted for Ranka. Misa is great - and I never thought any body, let alone a 15 year old little girl - would top her - but Ranka has done the imposible Naturally I will always love Misa - but I gave my vote to Ranka because I feel more attached to the character since she is still in development. Misa is a closed book. I would, however, note that what is best in Ranka is exactly what comes out of Misa every so often: a vulnerable girl who needs protection and is cute - in this Misa and Ranka are very similar VFTF1

Lots of really good observations there I totally agree about Ranka doing better covers of Sheryl's songs than the original Sheryl version:) And personally I love the engrish in "What 'bout my star" because it's authentic. Lots of foriegn singers use english because they want to market themselves to a broader audience - but in the case of Polish singers (who I happen to hear a lot of because I live in Poland), most of them have SUCH HORRIBLE ACCENTS that their song sounds ridiculous - and forced. This is particularly true if you're not very passionate about your music and all of the emotion of the song is just clearly staged - it comes out contorted and the bad accent makes it sound silly. I imagine there might be similar cases with other foriegn singers who suddenly use english... and this is why many times I like hearing foriegn songs when they are actually foriegn - aka in the original language, be it Japanese, French -whatever... But with Ranka's "What 'bout my star?" I make an acception. I think there was real heart and passion in her singing - and even though there are a few gramatical errors - it just sounds great, has a great beat, and Ranka is obviously happy and in her element - and the voice acting really demonstrates this as well. So - as with everything about Ranka - the grammatical errors just become CUTE Your comments about Micheal are interesting too - I hadn't thought about him as cocky until you made it clear now. I guess his blue Valk and glasses and austere gentlemanliness was giving me visions of Max - and Max's character was overshadowing my viewing of Micheal... But yes - you're right. Max would never have said something like "what did you expect?" after hitting his target...well..ok...that's not true...he did at one point say "like shooting ducks in a barrel" or something of that sort in the episode where Misa takes the Cat's Eye into the asteroid belt... but I think that was his ONE brief show of arrogance... Maybe Micheal is just jealous of Alto? I mean - Alto is a better pilot (worse soldier/gunner, but better pilot), and Alto also has a way with girls that Micheal doesn't ( the fact that Micheal likes older women is - in my opinion - a cover for the fact that he DOESN'T have any women in his life..."oh I just like older girls you know!"....a great rumor to spread so people don't start wondering why NONE of the cute girls in your class are with you).... Finally - I really like your take on Alto - it basically sums up everything to like about the character. I would only add that the best thing about his "rebelion against restraints" is that he is hardest on...himself! Initially, in episode 1 when he was bitterly complaining about how boring his life was - I was afraid that we were getting another Kaifun. Drink-drink-blame other people for your problems- drink drink.... but thankfully, Alto is not blaming others for his problems. He's rather blaming himself and constantly therefore pushing himself to do more. That's a very noble quality. Even the relationship with his dad. Alto doesn't anywhere blame his dad or suggest that his dad is a loser/at fault for the rift. And yet no matter what happened to make Alto run away - I'm sure his pops had something to do with it - anyways if pops really loved him he wouldn't be like "don't know him!" at the concert hall.. But Alto doesn't get bitter - in fact - he blames himself for running away from a tough problem and vows not to run away from the challenge of getting into SMS. He also allows Micheal to "break" his ego - and during training he demonstrates that it's not ego - but skill and ambition that drive him. A real hero all around! Also - he knows JUST WHERE TO PUT HIS CELL PHONE and shows GREAT instinct when he grabs Sheryl and tosses her into the locker VFTF1

No no... They said that "no explanation is needed for those who survived the Vajra attack" 19 years ago. The one they caught is from the most recent battle on Frontier. As for Ranka's "mall concert" - I never doubted for a moment that the musicians were real - I mean; music is a big thing is Zendradi culture (for obvious reasons) and Zendradi are ultra-sensitive to the stuff - so I'm betting there were musicians sitting around that mall jamming the whole time. It didn't seem contrived to have them there. Given what we know about Zendradi history -it makes sense that they'd treat music as something fundamental and music would probably appear everywhere they went in everything they did VFTF1

Well - note that another fellow was playing the key-board like contraption like Ray VFTF1

Yeah Where this really belongs is on Jerry Springer! LISTEN MY SONG!! Springer: Now, Nekki - have you ever considered using the word 'please?' Have you ever thought that maybe some people don't want to listen to your song? Ble-la-la-Saturday Night! Let's Go!-wow-wow-la-bla-la-la-la Springer: Ok - well - here to listen to your song is your long lost love child birthed my Mylene - Ranka!!! Ranka: Ohio!...My name is Ranka Lee...ow! (trips) THAT'S NOT MY CHILD! I HAVE NO CHILD WITH THE SCANK!! Suddenly from offstage: Mylene (enters): The hell ya don't Bassra! You got me knocked up at that party and due to my Zentran genetic I didn't give birth until three years later! Bassra: LIAR! You just couldn't stand the fact that my songs are better than yours so you made up this scandal! Mylene: Maybe if you hadn't been banging that biker trash and paid more attention to me! Bassra: Hoe!! (Proceeds to grab Mylene by the hair - then recoils) LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! AGAIN! Because of you I get violent!! VFTF1

Macross Frontier is the best show I've ever watched I am really impressed by it VFTF1

Simple. Basara and Mylene actually met even earlier than that - only it was at a party where Basara got real drunk and slept with Mylene - and neither of them even remembered the next day - let alone two years later when they met. However, due to genetic inconsistencies in Mylene on account of her being half-Zendradi, Basara's mojo took it's sweet time and so Mylene "suddenly and inexplicably" became pregnant much later - this was, mind you, a big shock to Basara - who of course had a hissy fit and accused Mylene of doing it with Gamlin and left her "once and for all" to be with the biker babe. Gamlin meanwhile knew very well that it couldn't be his child - as did Mylene - and so she was left to tend to Ranka by her lonesome and gave her up for adoption - she was adopted by Zendradi parents who were then killed when the Vajra attacked their colony. Simple VFTF1

That's it! I'm not watching this garbage any more! I mean - Sheryl quoting something in the same TONE that Minmey said in DYRL - enough with the homages already! I mean - what a rip off! Can't they be more original! I'm gonna go watch Transformers: Animated instead! Now THERE'S originality! VFTF1

Maybe we need a poll on when the poll should be renewed? VFTF1

I should like to announce that I have decided to make Gundam OO the first Gundam series I watch and will begin downloading shortly Looking forward to it! VFTF1

I used to be scared about this too - until I thoroughly listened to Graham's review... Are you breaking the neck correctly? If you FIRST only slightly push down to create the crease just behind the cockpit- then the neck just really smoothly slides apart and there is no fear. I used to sit around for hours wondering how the hell to get that neck apart without snapping the two grey tabs... now I know! And knowing is half the battle! But what the hell is the other half? VFTF1

The copy right laws apply to the designs, and "likeness thereof" as far as I know. That means they can accuse you of copy right violation if you make something that is explicitly Macross, or even if you make something that looks close enough to Macross even if you call it -say - Super Robo Warrior Typhoon!... However - I think it all ultimately depends on the scale of your operation. No one in their right minds would prosecute a garage modeller making a dozen or so things and selling them - particularly if what's being made is a great design of something that no major company is designing. As long as you are not claiming on your "package" or in your "advertising" that YOU designed them and that YOU came up with Macross as a story and concept - then you should be ok. If you are starting a production line company and planning on mass marketing these - then you have a copyright infringement problem (potentially - if the owner decides to act) Finally - if you are selling them "not for profit" - aka you sell them at cost - then you are not infringing - as far as I can tell - since the violation is only on profting from a copyright that isn't yours... For instance- if I write a Fanfiction called "Macross: Hikaru and Misa - the Fate of our Heroes" and publish it on the internet - I am not infringing on copyright as long as I don't charge people 30 bucks a pop to read it If I publish a fanzine called "Macross" and charge - say - 2 dollars pop because that is the price of paper, printing and mailing - that is legit too (it would be a violation if I also charged for my services as a writer for the fanzine). Now - the interesting thing is that you could potentially buy the fanzine "at cost" - and if it were popular - you could sell it on ebay at profit. Same with models. This is not an abstract case - since recently on ebay TMUK fanzines were up for auction and going for clearly more than they were bought for. Someone on another board made the suggestion that an easy way to "get around" the copyright laws then was to build/make something - sell it "at cost" for "no profit" ...to a friend...who then sold it for profit - and he has every right to do it since it's his property (Yamato doesn't lease out Valks, after all - we own the ones we bought and in theory we can sell them for a million bucks if we find a buyer at that price)... Anyways - this would likely fall under conspiracy charges - aka getting around the law on a technicality by conspiring to make things look legit with other parties. But the likelihood that someone would go after you when the turnover on this type of operation is under 100 bucks is very small - the costs of prosecuting would far outweigh any potential benefits - and the entire action could stifle fan-initiative which in the long run provides LOADS of free advertising for the companies with the copy rights... So it's probabkly in the interest of most of these corporations to ignore copyright violations on a small scale - because they benefit from the material getting free advertising - and can step in any time they want to make a legit version of the product. In short: model away and worry not I think VFTF1

I...uhh...didn't...notice that either What quote?? VFTF1

Woo hoo! First vote!! I HAVE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE VOTE!! MUAHAHAAH! ahem... but seriously - I voted something else; and I'd be surprised if people actually voted that they watch MF for one of the more concrete reasons in the poll... Actually - I don't know if the poll is really very sensible - because it seems to presume that the mecha or the CGI or the girls can exist as sufficient reason in and of itself... but I get the feeling that all of the elements blended together in the way that they are - aka the entire "aura" and "sense" of Macross are the real reason... But we'll see how the poll goes VFTF1

Really? My 1/60 ELINT seeker has no such problem. I've transformed him a trillion times and he's very sturdy and the parts all stay on fine. The transformation is a bit "tricky" - but it's not as bad on my mine as you describe it. Anyways - looking forward to this 1/60. Going to take the plunge and get Roy. I like the fact that strike/super parts are included in the sets. Forgive me for asking what has probably been asked a million times - but are the decals tampoo printed? I'm particularling asking about those on the nose cone/under the cockpit. I really want to have those on my VF-1, but I don't feel brave enough to put stickers on my 1/48s - I fear the stickers will eventually fade... Strangely - I don't have the same compunction about reissue G1 Transformers - but that's probably because I am under the impression that the boxes for those are more air tight/secure... Oh - that and I've read terrible things about Yamato stickers being a bit ugly EDIT: Oh - and I feel NO NEED to get rid of my lovely 1/48s. Especially since the vast majority of them are repaints - low viz, stealth and the like. I have Roy and Hick as 1/48 as well- but no strike parts I'll happily collect 1/60 valks now and keep my 1/48s. All of them seem to be beautiful. VFTF1