VFTF1

I just got my first ever Soul of Chogokin toy - GX-06 Getter Robo! I decided to start with this one, as Getter Robo is probably my favorite 'Giant Robot' from Japanese anime (aside from Macross stuff). So it was only natural to start my SOC collection from this wonderful piece. First impression: I LOVE the use of magnets here. It is so obvious, such a glaringly GOOD IDEA - that and the ratchet joints on the knees of Getter 1... I'm generally impressed by the quality of the entire set. It's also proof that Die-Cast figures CAN work when done properly. I recall the utter tosh hasbo put out with their Titanium line - where the die cast metal parts were putting too much stress on the plastic components and the toy felt flimsy... Here everything is truly perfect. The poseability is also perfect - Getter 2's arms are actually more poseable than Revoltech Shin Getter 2. I can't wait to add God Mars, Zambot 3, Volts V and Dancouga to my collection (those are the ones I'm after next!) Daimos is a definite "I want!" as well. All in all - Soul of Chogokin are by far the best robot toys I've ever had. The only thing which comes close to them, in my mind, are the Takara Masterpiece Transformers. Very pleased with these guys. VFTF1 EDIT: As for EVA-0whatever ... I too give a big MEH to this. I'm not "sick" of Evangelon - but I just don't find the mecha THAT appealing to begin with. Also, the sleek design just doesn't lend itself to SOC - SOC is meant to take impossible anime magic robots and make them real, die-cast figures. It's always a fun surprise when SOC does this with old anime mecha that seemed impossible to put into "real life form" - but EVA suffers from coming out of the "more real robot than real!" 1990s - and since it's so well designed - it doesn't really give you that much of a "shock" when you see it in figure form. You're like "yeah - that's what it looks like."

Ok - finally finished downloading and watched this! (now downloading episode 4)... First thoughts: I have the feeling that this episode is weak standing on its' own - but if taken as the conclusion to a three-episode "Introductory Ark" then it really stands very strong. Basically - this episode manages to cram what SDF Macross does over the span of 8 episodes into three: 1. Introduce the main characters - by which I mean not only let us see them and hear their names but also get a feel for their personalities. 2. Introduce the general situation (historical matters, location, etc etc) 3. Develop the main character from a boy who likes to fly and dreams of flying a Valkyrie into a boy who is caught up in a war and flies a Valkyrie into a boy who despite some skills must earn the respect of the Valkyrie senior pilots in order to be accepted into their ranks - and must humble his ego ("You will be my senior" he says to Luca, who in episode 1 called him "Alto Sempai") 4. Develop the main girl character from a cutey who dreams of fame and recognition but is stuck being yelled at by a cook to serve the pork before it becomes cold into a girl who gets caught up in a war and finally into a girl who is given a major confidence boost by her idol - who encourages the girl to be ambitious and not belittle herself in her thoughts. I think that basically sums up the opening ark of the story line - and now things can "really begin." Like I said - if I had ONLY seen this episode, I would have thought it kind of week - Ranka has one too many emotional moments and comes across as a "screaming woman" character - like in the old movies where the broad just shrieked every time the plot called for the audience to be scared "AHHHH!!! THIS IS THE SCARY MOMENT AAAHH!!") The only interesting - as in interesting standing on its' own and not as part of the three-episode intro - part of this episode was the minor scuffle between Alto and Sheryl. "Pervert!" "Skank!" And I LOVE Alto saying Sheryl shows herself off in public anyways. Speaking of Sheryl - I have become softer on her now compared to the beginning for three reasons: 1. I like her song "Long Long Goodbye" - very touching work. 2. She is nice to Ranka, and I love Ranka - so anyone who is nice to Ranka is a-ok. 3. ...Hmm....nope - can't find any more reasons Sheryl is still a concieted bitch though - she hunted down Alto to threaten him and bully him into not publishing a certain picture... sheesh - although I THINK she must like him. After all - she would sooner just buy a new set of ear-rings than "discover" another reason to go track him down again... As for the funeral of Gilium - it was very touching - more so than the military one it contrasted with. Also - am I misunderstanding or did Giliam's body literally become recycled into some kind of natural materials with which to fertilize the ground and make the air more breathable? I guess it's a poetic tribute insofar as fertile ground and air are truly miraculous comodities to have in space - so it would make sense to use dead bodies as a natural resource - and it probably would not be viewed as "low" and "merely utilitarian" because - as Ozma noted in his eulogy - Giliam continues to be of service in death as he was in life - there is suddenly a poetry to the economical usage of dead bodies - one that seems to over-ride any misgivings we might have of this kind of practice being somehow abhorent and immoral. Or I completely misunderstood the scene Ranka and Alto's meeting on the mountain reminded me of Guld and Miung's meeting in a similar setting. Albeit the content of the meetings was very different. Well - all in all there is little more to say about this episode. It does an excellent job of rounding out the opening three -episode ark. Michael is established as a great sniper. Alto goes from dreamy kid to SMS recruit. Ranka goes from Idol worshiping chick to "I'm going to make something of myself" contender... Oh - the only surprising thing for me is Leon and Cathy Glass!! Cometely didn't see that one coming! And here I was thinking Leon a bit asexual. For some reason Leon makes me think he should be in Gundam, not in Macross. I think it's the hair do and his general demeanor. It's as though he was a reject from a Gundam series who was taken aboard for Macross Frontier. A pity for Glass - she resembles Misa Hayese very superficially - from her looks to her behavior - but ultimately as the first three episodes have shown she is completely not like Hayese... oh well... VFTF1

I'm happy to see so many people have warmed to Ranka - she is indeed adorable. However, I too generally don't have a favorite character so far... it's really hard to say... But then again; I don't think I ever had a favorite character in Macross - each of them was well developed and interesting... Macross Frontier seems to be following this trend. If I had to say who has made the best impression on me so far it would obviously be Ranka. VFTF1

Well - yes - I should clarify that by "Young" and "Mature" I mean emotionally Youthful or emotionally Mature - not just age-wise. In this sense, and since Myung explicitly chose Guld, she ended up with the mature one; and she herself was the young one in terms of her emotions (basically, she created a fiction of maturity for herself - she decided that being "grown up" meant not pursuing her dreams- but I think that seeing that Guld was grown up, serious and mature - and yet doing exactly what he dreamed - made her realize that she was being childish)... But I agree with Gubaba that the only way these general "patterns" work is if we insert numerous interpretive devices...like I just did with M Plus In any event - I really like Ranka. VFTF1

Only 40% left to download and I'll know what the heck everyone is talking about By that time I'm sure you'll all have moved on to episode 4:) VFTF1

Three if you factor in what those two will be worth by next month VFTF1

Here's my attempt at the "Macross Love Pattern:" (Note: Boy - means young, Man-means mature, girl - means young, Woman means- Mature) SDF M TV: The basic love triangle. Young boy pilot falls in love with young girl singer but feelings grow for older woman officer. Boy/Girl/Woman-----------> Boy + Woman-------------Abstract: Young + Mature Hikaru/Minmey/Misa M7: The basic love triangle with a twist: Now the young heroine falls in love with young boy singer but feelings grow for older Man pilot. Girl/Boy/Man--------------. Girl + Man------------------Abstract: Young + Mature Melene/Basara/Gamlen M-Plus: The love triangle introduces the basic form we see in M7 (woman and two men) - However, the Man dies even though he is the one "chosen" in the love triangle. Analogously - if Misa Hayese were killed eg while Kamjin made his daring last attack, it is very likely that Hikaru and Minmey would have ended up together. Girl/Boy/Man---------------Girl + Man --------------------Abstract: Young + Mature Miung/Isamu/Guld Macross Zero: The love triangle reverts now to SDF:M form, however adapts from M7/Plus the concept of the "winning" love dying/vanshing Boy/Girl/Woman-------------Boy +Woman -----------Abstract: Young + Mature Shin/Mao/Sara Macross Frontier: If it is to stick to "form" andthe above pattern - it will look like this: Boy/Girl/Woman----------- Boy + Woman-------------Abstract: Young + Mature Alto/Rank/Sheryl How is this possible? Simple. Sheryl - in time - comes to love Alto (since I'm imaging Alto won't really love anybody any time soon) - while Ranka seems to fall for him from the beginning; and will progressively desire him more and more. Alto will, like Hikaru, feel the pressure of this - and due to his experiences with Ranka will be better acquainted with her but that will likely change. The interesting question is - what will make Alto notice Sheryl? What situations will they be thrown in together? Ranka - like Minmey - will go from being the regular cute lovely girl from Nyan Nyan to a singer/Holy Sacred Important Shining Beacon of a Major Plot Point My guess is that Sheryl will somehow stop being as snotty and something will happen that will link her and Alto. This is all IF Macross: Frontier is to conform to the above pattern of Macross Form. I hope Macross Frontier DOESN'T follow the pattern of Young+Old - VFTF1

Given how Yamato likes to surprise us from time to time... I would not be surprised if the next "big announcement" after the 1/60 line was... 1/48 two seeters VFTF1

Kayodo delivers again! What can I say - that's some great stuff VFTF1

As someone has already noted on this thread, the transformation is more complex than one expects. And I must praise the box. Yamato could take a page from Wave insofar as box design goes. It would have been really nice if they'd slapped some DYRL scenes on their boxes or something - but then again, I love Yamato for the perfect transformation valks so won't go too rough on them for stingy boxes. Anyways - yeah - I promised a gallery after complaining that there weren't enough good pictures of this thing - so I will try to deliver on that promise shortly VFTF1

It's nice to own the 1/60 Quid Rau and have it show up in the anime Makes me feel significant VFTF1

Nani!?!? I don't think Ranka needs to be "artificially matured" to "an age where she can be portrayed in a romantic way" I can't see a girl getting more romantic than Ranka! She acts veeeerrrryyyy mature for her age! I usually like older, more mature women and I always get annoyed by silly whiny girls... but Ranka, despite being young, is not silly, and not winy. She is very very polite, courteous - a real lady. She is charming and delightful. The only sign of excess youth that I can see is that she is somewhat naive (her idolization of Sheryl) and very much full of spunky energy (but this is a big plus- the fire of youth!) - so I don't really see Ranka as someone who - like Minmey - needed to artificially mature... and of course, Minmey never really matured; she was just going through the "I don't want to sing so I'll be a house wife - until I change my mind again!" phase... I do, however, agree with the point that it would be too bad for Macross F to just rehash the Hikaru/Minmey dynamic. They could save us that by keeping Ranka as a hot waitress in Nyan Nyan - but naturally I get the feeling that's not gonna happen VFTF1

Finally - I am downloading what I hope to be the Gattai subs Sooooon I will have seen the episode and understood it and then! ... then!... as usual I will talk about it at the very tail...end...of...the threat ...when...everyone is preocuppied with...episode 4 VFTF1

The only hope is that Kaiyodo will make a Victory Saber Revoltech - because he didn't sho up in Dreamwave - unless he showed up some Pat Lee inspired universe profile that I'm not aware of? The only reason I posit this is because so far they are going SFC character for character. Prime/Megatron, then Starscream/Hotrod. So now it's time for Victory Saber! And they better combine VFTF1

I like the Bandai VFs for what they are - they fit with my love of chunky G1 Transformers but just completely don't do it for me with Macross... I don't know why but... I prefer my Macross to be perfect transformation aka Yamato I prefer my Transformers to be chunky aka Encore/Reissue/G1 I prefer my Star Wars to be Lego (sadly I only have the ROTJ Droids at Jabba's Door...really need to do something about that)... Why I prefer them this way? I don't know... VFTF1

The more I see of the CF 48, the more I think I can't wait for the 1/60s to come out and I just need to get myself a CF 48... i LOVE the CF scheme for the VF1... in retrospect it just seems so wonderfully grand.... I just like it - always have... VFTF1

Independent of what it says - a few noticable things in the blueprints: 1. The nose is clearly shorter on the 1/60. Look at the point where the nose terminates viz the knees on the 48 and compare it to the 60. Big difference - and the 60 looks better for it. 2. The chest on the 60 does not sag down to the point that the upper legs/vents find themselves under the sagging chest. Again - big plus for the 60. Everything else looks roughly the same (save the obvious double-jointed shoulders). The 60 is great - I'm looking forward to it - just kind of whining anyways VFTF1

I would add something else here: The whole point of the way that the SDF-1 and the Unification Wars were presented in Macross Zero was to have them seen from the perspective of a young boy. Something crashes and lights up the sky, next thing you know people are fighting and dying and then his family gets murdered so he joins the side of the UN - presuming that the Anti-UN murdered his family. The whole point of the story is to show how little KNOWLEDGE it takes to get human beings to start killing one another, and how easy it is to manipulate people's emotions. Roy joined the army because his friend was killed in a bombing raid; Shin joined because his family was killed, Nora joined because she was raped - everyone has a Kadun of strife implanted in them - and no one knows what the fighting is about, they only know that they have suffered pain. This way of approaching the story is far better than a historical documentary about the movers and shakers of the Unification Wars. VFTF1

Nice plug for Gundam there:) I must eventually watch more than just one episode from Turn-A As to the topic - I would personally love to see more fanfiction Macross side stories- only due to the fact that music is such a major part of Macross, it would be really hard to write something rather than animate it Even my writing genius is at a loss for how best to put Macross up on the "written screen" - but I'm sure that eventually some ideas will bud I have also always felt that Macross would do well in theater (as in live normal theater). Granted, the giant mecha would be hard to do, but the human angle of the drama is perfectly suited. VFTF1

Yeah! And while you're about it - change the name to Robotech VFTF1

Well, it's Saturday, the sun is shining so I'll happily play Angel's advocate... First; I don't see how squatters would undermine and destroy culture? Perhaps we understand the meaning of the word differently; so just to be clear - I meant to say that Basara is a wanderer and a squatter insofar as he is always constantly seeking out something - he himself does not know what, but his music reflects his emotional changes as the quest is in progress. Perhaps what he seeks is acceptance? He certainly seeks to give the gift of his music to a universe that doesn't seem to want it - so it is a hard task. In this seeking, Basara is never content, and never "grounded" (thus is remains unregistered and lives in a hell hole). I agree that such behavior is destructive of convention; but not of true culture; although perhaps of human culture insofar as human culture is more conventional than truthful, albeit if this is so then it is a creative destruction. True culture grows out of people like Basara who authentically experience their lives rather than wrapping themselves up in the safe trappings of convention. In fact, all people are "wanderers" and "squaters" - especially people in the Macross fleets who wander through the universe itself. But the city-speheres make people feel safe and forget the reality of human groundlessness and alone-ness in the universe. This is all well and good, for to live in constant anxiety would be worthless; but it is equally terrible to live in constant morbid and delusional safety. Basara refuses to allow convention to suck him in and remains anxious - constantly doing things to remind himself and others that humanity is groundless and a race of wanderers. To the extent that in doing so Basara breaks convnetional culture then yes - he is destructive - but he only breaks conventional culture in the same way that Minmey and the citizens of Macross City broke down the conventional culture of the Zendradi - so I think that in doing so Basara saves humanity from the fate of the Zendradi. Remember towards the end of SDF M TV, the debate about human nature, about how the Zendradi and Humanity are not that different, about how war is in our natures. Remember also how sad Global and Hikaru and the others were when they had to capture and activate the Sattelite Factory - it was a major blow to them - because they all realized that producing more warships to protect humanity they were doing what the protoculture did when they produced the Zendradi - and that the weapons they were making might eventually be the ruin of their race. Basara seeks to terminate this circle of hate and violence once and for all - by doing exactly what Sara taught Shin to do: simply say NO to war and violence and to the Kadun of strife. I notice than next to Macross 7, Macross Zero has the most detractors - story wise. I personally think Macross Zero is the best of all of the Macross stories; visually and plotwise. Macross Plus is more realistic, true - but Zero is more moving and more willing to break through the "reality" that, as Sara says, "is a Kadun which makes your people believe only what their eyes show them." Basara is not possesed by this Kadun. Basara recognizes that love and music and joy are the greater realities that he must open up before both his own people and the aliens. His hands are glued to the guitar strings because it is his guitar that is the means by which he "lends out" his hands to other people. We should not say that a heart surgeon who uses his hands to repair peoples' hearts is not helping humanity because on Saturday and Sunday he plays golf and kicks back with a beer instead of sweeping streets or building houses along with Habitat for Humanity. His hands save hearts and lives - his talent is directed best when used for heart surgery. Basara's talent as an artist best serves people when he sings and flies out into battles to sing to people. It is not that far off - the famous story of German and French troops singing together on Christmas eve during World War I illustrates the power of Song. The fact that later they went back to killing eachother illustrates the cultural conventions that need to be over come. The fact that they were all registered before killing eachother does not make them preferable to the unregistered Basara. Power to the Music! VFTF1

If Nigel had attacked the Protodevilin with his guitar solos; they would most certainly have given up and left the fleet alone. VFTF1 EDIT: And naturally, to win them over, he'd just have to turn it up to 11.

I don't think Minmei won Miss Macross because of her figure; nor was she a bombshell - I think what swayed people was her 'girl next door charm' and the fact that she clearly looked and acted like someone unprepared - aka normal, very much like the people of Macross themselves...plus, perhaps being only 16 factored in as well - we have a tendency to be very lenient for those who are younger while being more harsh in our judgment for those who can take it... I'm not saying Minmei's looks had nothing to do with it - of course she's cute - but so were lots of the girls competing; she had a great character to her though - fit the part and moved people. As for Ranka having no figure - I think that's not true - she just wears that semi-baggy dress with the big scarf and boots that don't have heels - but I can't see how anyone could take a look at Ranka in her waitress uniform and say she has no figure As for Basara and how he scrounges a living... Well - clearly he is very aloof and not even interested in promoting his own music. He walks out during sessions and obviously would have no money if not for Ray, Melene and that Manager chick taking care to make sure Fire Bomber sells. But then again - Basara seems to be "Livin' in a Hell Hole!" and as we know "Folks lend a hand in a Hell Hole!!" so Basara knows where he sand in a Hell Hole. What's great about this is Basara doesn't move out of his Hell Hole - he just lives there. The building is clearly dilapidated and condemned. And I'm glad he's not "registered." Why should he "register?" He's a wanderer, a squater, a free spirit - In short - he's everything that the Macross fleets were sent throughout the universe to spread and defend: Basara is Protoculture! VFTF1

Wait...can someone please confirm to me what the YEN price is on these? 10,000 yen? or what? And the fighter comes with SS parts yes? VFTF1

I think I know the one you're talking about - girl with the purple hair from Alto's class? Not my type. ... Unless I'm confused (as usual) VFTF1