VFTF1

This Captain Obvious Meme has been doing the rounds, and I always wondered.... if Captain Obvious is the hero...then who is his arche nemesis? Turns out the guy is named, not surprisngly, Dr. Subtlety. Also turns out Captain Obvious has some helpers in the form of Blatancy Boy (who points out the Obvious) and his wise mentor Mr. Literal. Very intricate universe and would make for a supremely good comic book: http://chellon.deviantart.com/art/Captain-...Poster-95528231 In any case - it's more thought out than the Robotech universe Pete

In fairness, the black dress is beautiful. The beedy red eyes, fangs, and proportions make it look like she's going to eat your brains Pete

Haven't heard anything about it. Pete

I agree with you, and the only difference between what we say is our definition of "self doubt" and, conversely, "self-confidence." By self-doubt, all I meant was a recognition of limits. See, there are artificial limits and real limits, and Simon fights the former but bows before the latter. Gurren Lagann is about understanding the distinction between them. Roussieu didn't - which is why he let himself go down the "logical" path of absolute political power corrupting absolutely. Simon's self-doubt can also be identified with a different phrase: he does not lust for power. Kamina didn't either, by the by. Ultimately both sides were using power to fight for something they thought was just. Lord Genome, in a way, behaved like Simon - who gave up Spiral Power. Well - Lord Genome also gave up Spiral Power - he stopepd fighting and accepted a dull existence, accepted what he thought to be the 'natural' and rightful boundaries or limits of the universe - accepted that for humans to survive, they must live in a world as he crafted it - underground, with their evolution stinted, and that beast-men, who did not possess spiral power, were fitting heirs to the surface. This is no different, in a sense, from Simon giving up his Spiral Power and deciding not to bring back Nia. For Simon - that was his limit - that was his boundary. He was not going to use the Spiral Power to re-shape the world as he saw fit. But that is also the essential difference between Simon's limitations and those of Lord Genome (or of the Anti-Spirals and the Village Chief). The Anti-Spirals, the Village Chief and Lord Genome projected their view of the limits or boundaries of Nature onto others. Their theories about what was possible and impossible were foisted onto others. They did so because while they always doubted the capacity of others to handle great power wisely - they never doubted their own ability to do so. The Anti-Spirals questioned the wisdom of the Spiral beings in wielding spiral power - but they never questioned their own wisdom. Lord Genome lorded over the Earth "for its' own good" - but never questioned whether the power he used and the way he used this power were good for him? Whether he too might not be wise enough to use this power justly? This is what Nia questioned when she confronted him - and what Lord Genome ultimately learned at the end, when he thanked Nia "my daughter" while sacrificing himself to defeat the Anti-Spirals - something that he should have done in his first battle with them, but due to his fear - he did not. See - it's a tricky thing... Most characters feel self-confidence and when they acquire more spiral power, their confidence grows - then the Anti-Spirals show them the desperation and senselesseness of their quest and these once self-confident characters cringe in terror and re-assert themselves by using the spiral power in accordance with Anti-Spiral philosophy. They do so precisely because they never experienced self-doubt as Simon had. If they did, then like Simon, they would understand that they have no right, no claim of superior intelligence or purity of motive to use the Spiral power to advance their whims. Simon understood that bringing Nia back to life, or reclaiming his role as "Leader" of humanity or Kamina City or the Universe or whatever - was wrong. No person is by nature born to forever lord over other people and use power to change life and death to suit himself. Simon understood this because as a character, he was always doubting himself - and by doing so, he was doubting his lowest impulses. He made fear an ally insofar as he taught himself to fear his own vices and his own inclinations. Gurren Lagann is indeed about surprassing your fears and going all the way and doing the impossible - but there is also a more subtle layer to the teaching of the anime - and it is revealed it the ending, which people seem to be bothered by as being so "anti climactic." To me - the ending grows out of the entire series - it's a natural finish to the plot because it is the way Simon would act in accordance with all we've seen of his character. Gurren Lagann is not about power, it is not about will to power. That's what, I think, some people get confused about. This show is not Nietzschean. That's what the Anti-Spirals would have you think. Oh - Spiral Beings with their Will To Power will destroy the universe so we must place artificial limits on them and Noble Lies are necessary to keep them at bay otherwise everything will be destroyed etc etc etc. But that's not the teaching of Gurren Lagann - that's the fear of the Anti Spirals - that's one of the view points Gurren Lagann presents. But the anime as a whole, I think, teaches us that this fear of the Anti-Spirals births the destruction that they claim to wish to prevent. They themselves live a life of hollow living death and the universe they construct is one where life is stiffled - just as it "would be" if the Spiral Nemesis came into being. That is to say - to borrow from Neon Genesis Evangelion for a moment - remember when Gendo says "the Ultimate End of Evolution is Death" - and they decide that speeding up the Angel's evolution will lead it to death? Well - that's pretty much the Anti-Spirals in a nutshell. They fear the suffering associated with Death, so they reconstruct the universe to be one giant Euthenasia Factory where death is slow, painless and where no one is allowed to dream of happiness in this life so as to save them from disillusionment. Simon dreams - and Simon goes through disillusionment - and yet he does not regret it, and survives it, and does not destroy the universe in the process. He is able to do this because he always had a sense of his own limits - and I disagree that over the course of the show he shed them. I think that these limits matured along with him. I think you're projecting Kamina onto him with this view that he achieved some "ultimate self-confidence." Remember that after Kamina died, Simon mopped around because he couldn't be like his brother. My favorite episode, episode 11 (IIRC) is when Simon finds himself - he is Simon, the Digger, he is not Kamina. He says so explicitly and it's a powerful powerful scene because Simon accepts himself, with all his short comings - just like beauitful Nia accepts him. And in that scene Simon surpasses Kamina because he shows that it is possible to be confident while also being weak and humble. Simon never develops a Kamina-complex. Anyways - hope that clears up my view on the matter Pete

Are you sure you're talking about Wing Gundam - or maybe you're thinking about one of the mobile suits from Gundam Wing? There were a lot of them, and most of them had alternate modes. Wing Gundam's alternate mode was that of a bird/plane. As for Wing Zero - no. He can't transform Pete

How does the prologue show him to be the Spiral Nemesis? All the prologue shows is him getting ready for Battle on the Arc Gurren Lagann in ship mode (or maybe the Cathedral Terra in Ship mode?...) I don't actually think there is such a thing as the Spiral Nemesis - it was a manifestation of the fears of the Anti-Spirals. Something theoretically possible with Spiral Power, but practically impossible and ironically the closest thing that came to the Spiral Nemesis WERE the Anti-Spirals, who kept destroying worlds in order to stifle the evolution of the Spiral races (thus coming close to being Spiral Nemisis themselves by effectively destroying the Universe rather than let it progress...under the pretext that progress would lead to destruction.) Simon breaks through this theoretical fallacy by showing that it's founded on a lie - and on the Anti-Spiral's fear - nothing more. Simon was never at risk of becoming Spiral Nemisis precisely because of the one thing that makes him Simon: his self-doubt. In the end, this self-doubt, which throughout the series seemed to be his big weakness, turned out to be his biggest strength - because it allowed him to easily give up the Spiral Power once his battle had been completed. Just like he was also able to give up political power even while having it - he didn't care for it and was more concerned about Nia and marrying Nia. Showing Simon becoming the Spiral Nemisis would have ruined the story for any number of reasons. EDIT: Let me put it even clearer: All the babble about the "threat" of the "Spiral Nemisis" on the part of the Anti-Spirals was exactly the same as the Village Boss's babble that the roof would collapse if they tried to drill through it to get to the surface. The Anti-Spirals are no different from the fat village chief - except insofar as they have a bigger stick and needed to be utterly destroyed unlike the Chief who just needed to be free to own a restaurant full of hot waitresses. Pete

I saw the movie On The Beach back in College. Fantastic movie and very relevent. Pete

That would be a GREAT IDEA if not for the fact that I think most of us LOVE the canon designs and are really picky about anime accurate products! Pete

Well in all fairness, didn't NGE run out of money initially? Which is why I made a big mistake showing NGE to my girlfriend starting with episode one - since to her non-otaku eyes it's just some ruined city with a big monster walking through it getting shot at by the military and people generally getting very mad at the monster being unstoppable... It is also why the one episode of SDFM TV she saw - Pine Salad - she liked. Although there's mecha action, there's also a lot of dialogue, and interaction and character plot. Same as when she happened to see a portion of Macross Frontier and also liked it... well - what portion was it? The one where Sheryl was at Alto's dad's place and Alto snuck in to see her any they talked by the pond... This is really true - at least for the American market as I recall it. Back then, "Japanese anime" was Digimon, Pokemon and asorted other crappymons. Beast Wars and Beast Machines seemed to be serious works of science fiction and I would run screeming from the TV when Japanese crap came on because it just seemed so cliche and kiddie. Then again...I'm talking about FoxKids line up back then so... Naturally Toonami had better stuff going for it... But those were hazy times...I had this feeling that there was something better out there...but not a lot was available by just turning on the TV...and I couldn't find Keith on the internet back then so... ... yeah...going overboard with emo characters can be bad too Pete

I agree with NuGundam II ...besides, Transformers have no need for Gerwalk modes....wouldn't they be like...painful for them? They'd be in mid transformation and feel really wierd. It's kind of a senseless mixing of the mediums... It's like...if I took my Gundams and twisted them around and said "hey look! It's a jet!" or "hey look! It's a truck!" and you guys would all say "uuugly!!" and rightly so... No sense making Transformers have Gerwalk modes...IMO...although people seem to like doing it all the time Oh well ! Pete

All I know is that my girlfriend wanted to turn it off abot 3 minutes into episode 1 Meanwhile, she watched through ALL of Pine Salad and said it was good. Pete

Hm.. I don't think he turned to wandering around doing random acts of kindness... the thing with the little kid was just there to underscore generational change...that just like once Simon needed a "big brother" to show him the way to crack the shell that was pestering him, so now he shows this kid...but it's just a peanut shell...and it's no longer epic... Who says he can't discover anything any more? We just don't see any more? Just because Simon says "No...I'm nobody" doesn't mean it's true. Heck - how many times during the series did Simon pronounce himself worthless and a nobody? And yet thanks to people like Nia, or his Bro' - he always broke through his own fears. That's just who Simon is - always self-doubting - even when he's an old man. But it doesn't mean anything is over for him. Who knows what adventures meet him later in the desert? Again - that scene was just meant to underscore how time moves on and the young become old, and new youngsters take their place and the adventure and drama of the Spiral life form re-asserts itself - forever and ever. So - the scene totally fit his profile The anime is perfect I've heard about the movie being that way - haven't watched it ... but correct me if I'm wrong - aren't most anime movies nowadays meant to be for people who for whatever reason (lack of time?) didn't watch the series and just need a two hour movie? I'll always love the series. As for the series being "too fast paced enough" ... ...make up your mind Too fast paced ... or fast paced enough? Yeah - it was fast paced, especially towards the end - but that's just because it tried to encompass something truly epic and massive into a piddly 27 episodes... I think it did a great job for what it was. Pete

Great job! Very emotive! Makes me want to calm her down Pete

Maybe there's a secret Pink Pecker Squadron enthusiast over at Yamato who has an axe to grind since they went with the CF instead of the Pink Pecker VF-11?? Pete

Answer: the internet. See - I seriously think that one of the greatest services prodived by the internet is the to further the division of labor. You know - if you are expert and farming, you farm. If you're into shoe making - you make shoes. You don't need to do everything for yourself - you can trade with other people, and if one of the things you do is produce means of exchange, then you can also trade this to facilitate more trade.... Fast forward to the internet... If you're not into very intelligent stuff but prefer to look at pictures of horse poop every day - then there's probably a website out there for you. No longer do people who want to look at horse poop have to vie for air time and production money with people who want something like NGE. Now - there is no longer really an anime market, just like there is no longer ANY kind of homogenous market. There are millions of market niches, with millions of people specializing in millions of arcane things - and it's all reflected in the internet. And where once there was conflict - now it's like - there's more room for everybody, so nobody gets in anybody's way. I don't think Eva is "more" popular now than it was before - I just think that it's easier to target and that those people who would love to see it no longer have to take pains (like your pal with Zeta did) to do so. The world has become smaller and it's not that more fans materialized - it's just that they have better access and producers of anime can "talk" straight to their target instead of having to canvass and mass market (and therefore dumb down/water down a product). At least that's what I THINK has happened. Pete

That looks awesome!!! Count me in! I can't wait!! Although - Dirk Benedict might just have to write another article (like for BSG) - this time ranting against the fashion changes between "suits when I wore them" and "suits now." Notice how, while everyone retains the same colors, the same general clothing - ok BA is kinda missing his chains but it's still visibly him...Faceman is the only one who got a major make over. It kind of makes sense - and I can just hear Dirk Benedict...in fact....here - I'll have a go for him this time! A-Team 2010 and the Death Of Gentleman's Fashion By Dirk Benedict [Ghost Writer: Pete] There was a time, not so long ago, when women were attracted to men who had a sense of style that went beyond the modern trend for men to look like pimps. Everybody knows that the way men dress is largely dictated by women who, contrary to what they might say about character being important and looks being secondary, always judges a guy's character largely on the basis of his looks. After all, if a guy wears baggy pants, he's probably a drug pusher. If he doesn't iron his shirts, he probably works at Macdonalds, and if he doesn't comb his hair and shave properly then chances are he'll be offering her a date on his porch, dinner consisting of beer and pretzels and a quick romp on his matress (sans actual bed frame). Guys who want to land good prospects dress the part at the very least. Sure, looks aren't everything, but certainly they do mean a lot to women (take it from me fellas). Hence Faceman, who I played in the original A-Team, always dressed to please the opposite sex (not to mention please himself in the process!). The 2010 version also dresses to please the opopsite sex - but it is note worthy HOW he dresses; and what this says about how women's tastes have declined, and men, still hoping to land good prospects, have adjusted accordingly. To be blunt: Faceman ver. 2010 looks like his day job is being a gay dancer at a Latino club, while at night he stands on the street corner peddling hookers. It's a grim testimony to the collapse of morality and good taste in our day and age, when a guy can no longer just wear a light blue suit and a classy scarf to get girls, but instead has to dress like he's from the FBI. I guess they were going for "tall, dark, and handsome" - which, even though I'm blond - would not have bothered me. After all, Bogart, who I based both my acting and dress on, was the benchmark for that particular stereotype. The problem with Faceman ver. 2010 is that while he is indeed tall and dark, the word "handsome" would have to be replaced by "menacing" ... well ... menacing and overtly metrosexual, if not homosexual. Thank god movies only let us hear and see, rather than smell. Somehow I suspect that Faceman ver. 2010 is the victim of contemporary metropolitan women's obsession with spraying men with sixty different types of perfume, buttering him up with a variety of exotic skin creams, and herding him into a solarium. Back in the day, a guy was expected to be a little gruff, and we used aftershave mainly to take the sting away from shaving - not for the odor. Odors and creams and perfumes and make up in general was the domain of women - and it is a pity that they have started to share this domain with men. Then again, you can't tell a book by its' cover - so I'm hoping that picture of Faceman doesn't portend a smooth talking metrosexual where there should be a sharp witted, romantic, classy guy! Dirk (and Pete)

Yep. It's like George Washington refusing to be crowned King of America and then walking away from the Presidency after two terms - he made a pretty revolutionary point. Simon does the same thing: "Power? For love. Yes. For friendship? Yes. For truth? Yes. Forever? No thanks. Bye." It was awesome! Pete

Hmm? Of which bubbly jubblies do you speak?? If you're refering to the ones that appear on the first page of chapter three of my photo-comic linked in my sig - those belong to Yoko, who isn't Polish But as for Polish girls being well endowed - I agree I have nothing against CGI; I like it in Macross Zero and Frontier -- but damn...hand drawn mecha are really something to behold (Char's Counter attack gets kudos from me for some of the best hand drawn Mecha I've ever seen - just in terms of the detail of the line art there...) ... And Gurren Lagann is soooo nostalgically Retro fun. It's not just the Mecha that are hand drawn though... There are tons of scenes...the whole art style is extremely retro - like they're bringing back the 70s or something. I really REALLY like that. It's like -- I've been dreaming of seeing a new animated show that uses the OLD animation styles - and Gurren Lagann delivers. It revives the old styles and shows that they can still be exciting and fresh and meaningful today. The ending was Tragic - but Simon had to accept his Tragic Fate - the only alternative would have been total annihilation of the universe - exactly what the Anti-Spirals warned about. This is why it was important that Simon did not use Spiral power to bring Nia back to life or to fight eternally. He led a life of truth, love and passion - and that was enough. Going beyond that would risk the universe and make the Anti-Spiral's point that Spiral beings would necessarily evolve into Spiral Nemesis and thus had to live underground and eat moles. As for the earlier comments...I dunno....I think I might have been an early casualty of those comments because I saw that pic of Yoko with Boota in her boobs and Graham's whole "not for me!" line and thought..."oh ok...it's just one of those flashy boobies wierd Japanese shows I hear so much about." Kind of like right now in discussions of Ikke Tousen I am hearing that it's just girls fighting and tearing their clothes off... Hmm...is it really just that? Because - you know - when people give summaries like that...I literally think to myself that I'm going to turn on Ikke Tousen and it's going to be 30 minutes of "crash! pow! ooooh! my panties!" I guess with Gurren Lagann, I kind of thought it would be similar. But then...one fateful day... I decided that I needed to "check out" something totally new - and I guess it was Yoko's boobs that made me think "why not? Worse case - I'll just look at her boobs for 25 minutes and then write the series off." The first episode was...interesting! And the cliffhangers at the end of each episode were great - particularly since there was no retconing...no "status quo" that everything went back to... nor was there slow pacing building up to some "finale." Nope! The whole show was just one big finale after another being pierced! I think Gurren Lagann is actually better than Macross. The only thing that Macross has going for it is the entire history - comparatively. Gurren Lagann is a one time explosion of awesome energy. So I guess it's hard to tell whether it or Macross will endure as #1 in my mind - I freely admit to having been totally bamboozled by Gurren Lagann. I feel like a guy who's been married for 30 years and suddenly falls in love with the new girl on the block Is Gurren Lagann the Otaku's equivalent of a Midlife crisis? In any event - whatever! I've always believed that old girlfriends and new girlfriends should just be friends in the best of both worlds! But glad to hear you've watched Gurren Lagann! Pete

I always loved the Shinji scream It's so raw!! She did a great job because Shinji really does sound like a maturing young boy and not like a little girl (he just acts like a little girl...sometimes...but then again...don't we all?? ) Anyways... even though I don't know Japanese, the voice acting in Neon Genesis Evangelion gets through to me because it's so emotional. Emotions are rather universal, and so it's enough that the subs explain what they are saying/screaming/whispering...and when you have that parallel to the excellent animation...aaaahh....so awesome!! It's amazing that for the longest time, before watching this anime, all I would hear (if anything) is derogatory comments about it, to the effect that it "makes no sense" and that it's "Japanese" (synonymous with "makes no sense") or that it's "wierd religious/mystical stuff" Don't ask for links - I'm talking about the 90s when NGE came out and I was totally not into anime...I think the first serious anime I ever watched episode after episode (and really loved it) was Tenchi Muyo. I don't remember a damn thing about it, except that every episode a new hot babe appeared out of a space ship...or something like that ... But from time to time, I'd hear about NGE off hand - or read about it...the internet was young back then...and I guess I never got interested enough to...try to figure it out... Then - fast forward to...when was it? .... 2002? 2003? Somewhere thereabouts.... I was in a French Institute here in Warsaw looking for Tintin comics....and I happened upon a french edition of the NGE manga - volume 1.... It just featured ...what's his name...Shmizel? MizeL? The first angel...or second?...the black one with the skulls from episode 1 .... It was hard to read in French, but since je peux lire en francais comci-comca ....I managed... The REALLY funny thing is that I BELIEVED the manga when it said that the Second Impact was a comet that hit the Earth 15 years ago!! And I remember thinking: "Pff... how predictable! A comet hits the Earth and then monsters show up that only big robots piloted by children can fight...whatEVER!!" I can't believe what a moron I was for not tracking down the rest of the story. I actually BOUGHT the "lie" that was part of the story itself!! Ahh... poor me... Pete

Some new upcoming Figmas - I don't know either of them very well, howeve r- I LOVE this girls' weapon!!! F#CK WITH YOMI AND SHE'LL IRON YOUR FACE!! Figma is really beating Revoltech hands down with girls. Revoltech has had like one new humanoid figure in its' 2010 line up so far, and that's some guy who looks like Magneto's distant cousin... hmm... in fact...his face looks like it got ironed by Yomi!

Sounds like a misunderstanding. I'm sure the shop you gave your money to was refering to its' own re-stock of the VF-22S, and not to a general re-issue. It was limited to 1000 pieces. Your shop is probably just restocking... Pete

Can anybody tell me (and I've asked this before in several other threads which have a relatively similar "oh noooo! Yamatoed!" theme) --- what does this whole situation look like in Japan? Surely some of our members who are fluent in Japanese and frequent some Japanese fan sites must be able to tell us? Are Japanese fans also reporting widespread QC problems with their valkyrie? Even if the warranty service is "Free" - it's only "free" for customers - -- Yamato would notice if they had to suddenly produce tons of "free" spare parts. Like Graham said - last time he asked for pics - he got two. That's not exactly going to convince Yamato it's an epidemic. This time there seem to be more pictures in the specific thread. I think what might be really annoying people is that these products are not cheap -they are very expensive - and to get a defective one is a real bummer. This is understandable. Still - I'm wondering what it looks like in Japan. Maybe Yamato don't hear about the problem because if the proportions are such that for every, say, hundred valks a retailer sells, two or three are defective and get brought back by customers - the retailer just replaces the thing himself and doesn't even bother pestering Yamato about it? I mean - it would have to be a REAL epidemic for that to happen... But I dunno...any info on how this issue looks in Japan? Pete

I had a good chuckle when I saw the pictures of the upcoming Japanese TF: Animated. It's like the entire cast of Animated got killed and came back as Transformers ghost Because...as we all know - when a robot dies, it turns black. And later, it comes back as a ghost in its' original color, albeit see-through with a strange glowing tint ! Pete

But model kits are traditionally cheaper than finished models, like this one purports to be. This is clearly what it is - an unfinished grand project that didn't pan out for whatever reason. It has a bunch of things missing but you can also clearly see this would have been the greatest Macross toy ever made...if they managed to do it. Oh well. I hope Yamato went back to the drawing board and are...drawing right now Pete

Yes - amazing scans...but STILL the flight decks on the ARMD I and II are not painted ...2000 bucks...unpainted flight decks... the WAVE version was also expensive - but at least they painted the flight decks Oh well... Pete