VFTF1

Personally - I would not buy them, because I am not actually as much into jets as I'm into variable Mecha and robots. Also - I actually prefer the Macross fighter plane designs and other "thought up" "make believe" designs to real world jets. VFTF1

I want to know what that spiffy mobile phone creature is It's really a great touch. Can't....wait...to see it subbed! I am not bothering with the raw VFTF1

Well - it is quite obvious that Ranka's hair serves as sort of dog ears - she is aware of when the Vajra are being called back - she can hear the same signals they can hear- and then in the opening there's the "Spirit of Ranka" floating white light bit... So clearly she is destined to be important. But as soon as she becomes Destiny's Child - I'll be crying because I love her as the simple Nyan-Nyan-Nyan-Nyan girl VFTF1

I wouldn't call it awesome... I guess I was just reminded of the fact that wonderful girl-next-door Minmey also started off as a great chick who happened to hum some notes on occasion.... and whamo - look where she ended up. And truth be told...I've never seen Desperately Seeking Susan... what's that about? VFTF1

I agree that Alto's passion is more reminiscent of Isamu and less of Hikaru - Hikaru just liked flying, but he didn't really fall in love with being a Valkyrie fighter pilot... in that, he was a lot more like Roy - he just did it to protect the women he loved... VFTF1

It is tightly argued and well written, so I do. It is especially rewarding insofar as DeGaulle focuses very heavily on the weakness of the German civilian government in resisting the military, and generally paints a picture of - as the title suggests - a house divided against itself... As to the notion of prosecution equaling conviction - I think what you mean is the idea that the accused must prove his innocence rather than the accuser proving someone guilty. I agree with your chategorization of this as out of a "police state" - and in continental Europe it's pretty much the same and it totally sucks. In theory, it allows the state to accuse anyone of anything - and then the burden is on YOU to prove your innocence. In theory, you could be walking down the street and get arrested and hear that "you're under arrest for murder!" and when you ask "where's the proof?" they say "you prove to us that you didn't do it!" But strangely enough - most of the world seems to function on this totally upsidedown system. Thankfully - I think that the ethos of Basara and Minmey are a much stronger "common law" amongst the Macross universe than any military fiat or dictate. In fact, one of the strengths of the show is that in spite of constant war and regimentation - the civilians and the civilian way of life and culture and individuality are the greatest "weapons" mankind has. Misa Hayase makes this point to Hikaru in SDF M TV overa cup of tea - and it is a very wise point that th Macross saga makes to us VFTF1

I didn't look at the image - but I take it from your reaction that Alto and Mikhael do kiss, yes? VFTF1

Yeah - that would be a real lady killer at the bar VFTF1

I really enjoy reading all of these black lines! It's like being back under Communism again :) VFTF1

Grumble grumble... here's to me watching this 3 frickin' days from now 'cause that's probably how long it'll take my slow butt mobile internet connection in the middle of the forrest to download it VFTF1

Well - you bring up an interesting point. I am not surprised about the Prussian Officer being sacked due to following orders rather than showing initiative. Prussian Military culture was built around the fact that a famous Prussian General was victorious precisely by not following orders, taking the initiative based on his own view of the situation. However, remember that General DeGaulle faulted this very military culture - initiative over discipline - for the Germans' utter failur in World War I. DeGaulle (writing in his "The Enemies' House Divided" while a prisoner of war), noted that German officers were vying for big, romantic victories mirroring the "initiative" shown by their precursor - and that it was so ingrained in their military culture that it made the officers take unnecessary risks in vein attempts to conform to the traditions of Prussiam Military innovation over discipline. The point here is that Chuui is not completely to be faulted for being a bitch here. Crap - the fact that I'm making this argument means I'm probably going to start falling in love with her too VFTF1

This is available for download already with subs? Do they come out like once a day?? VFTF1

You know - that picture looks like Alto is carrying Sheryl - like he's rescuing her - I'll take another look at it later tonight, but I don't recall Alto rescuing Sheryl so what gives with that picture? VFTF1

Wiki tells me that "hot air" also means "enthusiasm" in Japanese - and in fact enthusiasm and hot air could be two sides of the same coin. As to Basara being ridiculous because of taking his philosophy to an extreme... ok... don't anybody get mad at me or take offense - these are just some thoughts/opinions - all open to debate.... But think for a minute about Jesus Christ and the relation of Jesus' philosophy to Basara and Basara's philosophy. Jesus said people should turn the other cheek when they are being attacked; the reason Jesus said people should do this is because everyone is God's child, everyone is potentially good - it is the fallen nature of people that makes them wicked, and Jesus was arguing that to conquer this fallen nature only love (manifested in practice by turning the other cheek) could move people to the point where they would recall their higher called and turn their back on their fallen nature. This view is radical. It is utterly "ridiculous." It is extremist. It does not "work" (and it did not "work" for Jesus or his followers who effectively disarmed themselves and got themselves crucified/eaten by lions). But Jesus did not say that the most important thing was to have a philosophy that didn't sound ridiculous, he didn't say the most important thing was to not be looked at as extreme - and he certainly didn't seem to care whether his philosophy "worked" in practice - whether it ended up converting the people of earth to his cause, or whether it just ended up getting him and his followers killed. Now here we are 2000 years later, and Christianity is a major force - for good or ill - in the world - but the point is it survived and is widely practiced (for better or worse, in a way that is more principled or less). Now - Basara, in my view - is identical to Jesus in this respect. It really doesn't matter if his philosophy is ridiculous, or extremist, or annoying - all that matters is whether or not he's right or wrong - whether his path is the true path or not. Basara feels that his path is the true path - and I guess he just happens to have a better singing voice than Jesus, which really helps when the going gets tough. My point here is not to be blasphemous (so don't want to offend any religious folk) or sermonize (so no, don't treat this like a plug for Christianity) - but merely to make a comparison and some inferences. Like it or not, most people react to Basara just like most people react to Jesus. This is because until most of us are very close to death, we tend not to want to think about "ultimate" quetions - we like to sampel life, we might even expect some bad things out of it, and we tend to think that there are no "absolutes" outside of their contexts (for instance- turning the other cheek is a great lesson for kids to learn, when the bully wants to provoke them, or in certain other circumstances where being too gung ho could get people in trouble - but in some circumstances it's better to have a gun or a knife or your fist nearby just in case someone decides to tag the cheek you're showing them) - Jesus and Basara don't accept this "worldly" way of thinking. Basara believes so much in the power of his songs and Jesus believes so much in the power of God the Father that the both of them "force" people - not in the sense of actual coercion but more in the sense of psychological pressure - their very presence either annoys people or moves people to give up their lives and radically change and adopt and Jesus/Basara like posture. So - I don't think it's fair to judge Basara as if he were a run of the mill tactician - that's like saying "dag - Jesus was a fool for getting his butt crucified - he could have accomplished more by being more diplomatic" - well - depends on what you want to accomplish. Jesus and Basara have very precise goals and are very determined - and both of them are polarizing figures - some people find them the best others can't stand them. VFTF1

And last 5: VFTF1

Next five: VFTF1

Here is my humble brood, in 15 pictures...which is...err...more than I'm allowed to..apparently...so gonna have to divide this up into 3 posts...: VFTF1

As usual - I'm completely incapable of being non-biased and objective. I voted for Ranka because Alto SHOULD be with Ranka... Although - I just had a terrible thought...Ranka can sing...Ranka says she wants to be like Sheryl...what if Sheryl takes this beautiful wonderful cool girl and transforms her into a disco slurm!? NNNNOooooooo!!! And yeah - the Looootenant is for Ranka's Brother - very obvious they like eachother. But for now - I'm going with Ranka - I can't imagine her turning into a dreadful person... but it's early in the show... VFTF1

Ok. I have finally watched this - the Gai sub! I assume it's ok to write "spoilers" now... so here I go! Impressions: 1. I'll start with the negative. Episode 1 focused very heavily on Alto, with Ranka as maybe a supporting female role. It was really about the two of them, with other characters making appearances. Even Sheryl was just there to give a concert, the president was just there to answer and make phone calls etc etc. In this episode, all of those supporting characters suddenly start getting fleshed out - but I note with sadness that in the majority of cases it comes across as way too melodramatic. It's as though each of them got a que "ok - your five minutes! make it good!" and tried to use voice intonation to underscore that their particular scene was very important. Overall, this made the episode feel somewhat cluttered, and diluted because while all of the characters got a plot progress bump, none were particularly significant. 2. That said; the good stuff. We'll start with the obvious homage material to SDF Macross TV. First, it was good to see that while obvously an homage to Hikaru and Minmey, the scene where Ranka falls from the Valkyrie into the sky has a completely different dynamic. In fact, I felt it was quite clever because they got you thinking "oh, homage - no he just grabs her hand like Hikaru - how nice..." and suddenly he doesn't grab her hand - and that's unexpected. In general, however, the entire scene was very well done - and it was more fleshed out. Alto having to be very careful scooping up Ranka in order not to crush her... and he's a good pilot too. Does a good job. 3. The Misa Hayes Wanna Be is nowhere as cute as Misa, and seventeen times more stubbornly by the book evil. But maybe for people back in 1982, Misa was equally "demonic" as this lady is for me now in Macross F. In any event, while I fell in love with Misa from day one - this girl is not easy to fall in love with. I think it's obvious though that she'll end up falling for Ranka's brother. The two of them are soldiers at heart - but she is of the Military discipline line (reminds me of the hardheaded Colonol from Macross 7 who decided to form a Military Music Brigade), while he is obviously more of the equivalent of Keyboard Man - dissillusioned with the Military and its' protocol, but determined to use his skills to help people anyways. I think these two will get together eventually. 4. Pilot Arrogance. Come on - Alto did a swell job in his Valkyrie. Those guys criticizing him for being an amateur are just jealous. Also, this is sure a heck of a lot different from how Roy treated Shin and Hikaru. Ranka's brother needs to chill out here and give Alto the benefit of the doubt. I agree with his decision not to let Alto pilot the Valkyrie into battle - but slugging him was stupid. The guy saved your sister dude. And Roy never was that creul to Hikaru or Shin - he was a tough Sempai, but always showed his love. Ranka's brother is kind of a poser. He plays Fire Bomber in his car and drives recklessly, but he also lies to his sister and slugs the guy who saved her life - and the honor of his squad. Looser. 5. Sheryl Nome is alot more likable in this episode. Sure, she's still making demands on the basis of being a pop star, but she's nice to Ranka - the question I have is: why? Why the sudden change? And in my perception it is a change... then again - she's probably got a lot of Minmey's fickle character in her - so maybe my question is as dumb and naive as when Hikaru asks Roy "Can a girl just change her mind - just like that?" Oh - and Sheryl continues the proud SDF M TV tradition of pop singers whose performance costume looks aweful while wearing really great outfits when not on stage. I have nothing particularly against the idea of BDSM military sex suits - but Sheryl just didn't look very appealing in them. I don't know; either I'm turned off by it, or it just looks ridiculous, or Sheryl doesn't have the figure for it... or maybe the get up totally did NOT match the song and the choreography was off. Yeah - that first concert was actually peed poor But now, in episode 2, Sheryl is pleasent to look at. She's cute; she's lady like, she takes a walk and she's nice to Ranka. 6. Ranka - Ranka I fell in love with from the first time I saw her in Nyan Nyan. She's a real hotty, but she's also sweet and sensitive and full of empathy all the while remaining a very polite, bright, well mannered intelligent girl. I love her hair, her cell phone, and her sill little dress. She is all around probably the most lovable Macross girl since Misa Hayes. Probably because she shares Misa's vulnerability and femininity without the inhibition of also dishing out orders all the time. She's a normal down to earth girl...Who just happens to sing better than Sheryl Nome?!?!? Er - yeah - I don't get that part. It just doesn't fly with me - it's nice that Ranka sings. I sing too. But if you pit my voice with Yoshiki's voice, I don't think anybody would be inviting me to join firebomber. It is possible that Ranka just happens to take singing lessons or have a beautiful voice or an inborn talent or something - but well...what a coincidence. Then again, I'm the guy who is always defending Basara - so, I guess I'll shut up... 7. Return Of Gay Tactical Operations Man. No offense to people who are gay; and perhaps Gay Tactical Operations Man is not gay, but I think they blew this guy. I liked the original one from SDF M alot better. Then again - it's another nice homage. And it sure beats those clean cut cardboard cutout characters who would be doing this job in other shows... 8. The Valkyrie. We get to see more of them - and I get the feeling that they're just a little TOO complex. Also, is it me, or does each Valk have its' own special gunpod? Clearly that thing that Mikhael was using was not a standard issue VF gunpod, no? Also, why is Luca a full fledged member of the SMS while Alto gets punched in the face? I'm not denouncing Luca or anything; I mean kid's obviously got talent, and they put him in an ELINT to keep him relatively safe (although, on the other hand, I really wonder whether being in an ELINT in the middle of a war zone is the safest thing), but it just doesn't fit that Luca is part of the gang while Alto gets a black eye. That ain't right. Oh - and my guess: Luca will be killed. He's just too vulnerable. 9. The Military Siezing Alto - well... this was kind of silly. Actually, no - sorry - it was dumb. I sure as heck hope that the "because you made contact with the enemy" line was one big lie. I mean - I'm sure a whole lot of people made contact with the enemy. Does that mean that we need to be rounding them up and taking blood samples from them? Maybe - but it's just a bit far fetched. But I'll give the Misa Hayes Wannabe this much: at least she asked Alto the obvious question - would he like to join the military - instead of giving him a black eye for saving his sister. Oh - speaking of saving people - WHERE did Sheryl get that picture of Alto carrying her in mid flight?! Was that a hologram and part of the show - I don't get it - I'm lost - why did Sheryl suddenly really need to find him? In any case, if I were Alto - I'd say "screw you" to the SMS and join the regular military - and give those SMS guys a run for their money. But I see that the show is somewhat playing with our nostalgia. We expect Ranka's brother to grunt and smile like Roy Fokker would and say "Yoos! Hikaru! HA HA HA!" and give him a helment and say "That's the spirit!" But yeah - I guess it's more realistic that if a circus acrobat asked to pilot a combat fighter during an alien invasion he would probably ge punched in the nose. 10. I have saved the best for last - Fire Bomber!!!! YAAAAAYYY!!!! So - where is Sound Force?! Why doesn't Macross Frontier have a Sound Force squadron to deploy? Why not set up big speakers with Basara - ow! ow! Stop pelting me with eggs guys Ok, ok - I know I know - this isn't Macross 7... but it sure FEELS like Macross 7 in one respect: we know jumble jack jersy about the enemy! SDF Macross TV had Breetai and Exedol bantering with one another from the get go; but Macross Frontier seems to be on track to follow Macross 7 in the "8 episodes of mystery monster attacks" award --- and I don't like that. The Vagina - or whatever they're called - really need to be opened and fleshed out. But overall yeah - this series is great! I got the impressin from this episode that the perfect balance had been struck between a homage to all of the various Macross series and OVAs as well as having a sense that something new and exciting was happening. Congrats to the crew on this one! VFTF1

All right... any more of this and I'll have to put pictures of my collection up.... VFTF1

Listen Gubublabla -you might think you're hot stuff, what with yer fancy pancy vocabulary and words like hermesformadic - but...uh... hmm...actually that is I suppose a valid interpretation of events. I always treated the ending of Macross Zero as a metaphor. In my mind, Shin actually died tragically crashing in to the ocean - but his spiritia was transmited into space to be with Sara forever (and Sara, mind you, also probably died:( )... VFTF1

Well- the part about the bodies being used up is something I thought about ... but here's the problem with that: Where's the justice in that? Are the families of those who were turned into jelly by the Protodevilin supposed to just say "yeah well shmit happens. Power the the Music!" ? I guess in a sense the answer is yes - that's what reconciliation is all about - but my problem is this: In SDFM TV, it was very VERY GOOD that the aftermath of the war was shown - and the PROBLEMS with Zendradi adapting to co-existance. It wasn't just - well we have peace now! Peace out! It showed how fragile and difficult building understanding is... and... in that sense was a more powerful and realistic ending. Macross 7 was - in a way - a terrible ending. A huge battle and well... suddenly we're all hunky doory... I dunno.. .that was the one thing that bothered me and prevented me from getting wrapped up in the moment. Strange how I praise M7 in the 'I hate M7 threads!' while I criticize it in the "I like M7 threads'... VFTF1

A Battle Seven would be great, as would TV Arms... Don't know about TV color though - it probably wouldn't be enough to just recolor it - the mold is some what different if I recall correctly In any case - transformed it today and am fairly impressed at the complexity of the transformation! Have a question: WHERE exactly was Macross City built inside this thing? Was the city centered somewhere? Any schematics? VFTF1

True dat. I am AMAZED by this guys' talent. VFTF1

Well...the more of this thread I read the more I have to admit that I'm not really loving the 1/60... The hands are...optional...so... that really is a downer. I thought they figured some way out to put nice hands on the Battroid mode that could be transformed. Perfect transformation means no optional hands. If that means chicken hands then so be it. If I am inclined to use optional hands - I can use them on my 48s. The fighter mode does look worse; that's for sure; and the head looks wierd in battroid mode. I'm not saying it looks bad - I'm just being nit picky. Engineered for two-seeter is the only good thing I'm hearing that will make me buy the two-seeter versions. Max and Milia color are also an option... But at this point I might just opt for the 48 Max/Millia Super strikes instead. Prices on the 60s are not impressive. Smaller valk.Optional hands. But still very high price VFTF1