mechaninac

Sci-fi. It was crap. 392232[/snapback] I'll second that... utter garbage. The anime version, however, looks very promissing.

It isn't just Catholics, but I'm pretty sure a lot of Christians (BOTH Catholic and Protestant) that are probably not too happy about what was in this episode including me. 392085[/snapback] What I find offensive is not that they depicted Jesus flinging poo at everything "America"... crass, tasteless, infantile, imbecilic, and inappropriate maybe; but that is South Park. What I do find unforgivable is Comedy Central's selective, cavalier, feckless, sensitivity towards religious depictions and desecrations within the same damned episode. How can they lucidly, and honestly, justify censoring the innocuous (as described in the text) showing of Mohamed while using the image of the Christian Icon in such a debasing manner gets their okay. It is beyond hypocritical and a sad vindication of the message Matt and Trey were trying to get across regarding this reflexive self-censorship of anything that might, perish the thought, offend the Muslims. Burry one's head in the sand indeed. It just goes to show how pathetic the media's championing of the first amendment has become, and to their fear of retaliation from the same people whose a$$es they so piously try to kiss. After all, you don't see Bible thumpers strapping bombs to self detonate in the middle of crowds, or set fire to buildings, or murder those whom the feel has offended them. Par for the course in this day and age. Edit: Sorry if that sounds political... it isn't. It is, however, a sad commentary on the PC straight jacket governing most of what we see and hear in the media at large.

How about an OVA/possible series revolving around some of the original characters who got lost during their return trip from their expeditionary mission to the other side of the galaxy, and a pensive, love struck protagonist's self appointed mission to find his lost hero. Throw in a new "shade" technology and/or enemy thingamgig and MOSPEADA inspired hardware and you've got the next, perfect, Macross chapter. No, wait...

My vote goes to: Admiral William ("Bull") Frederick Halsey, Jr. "I never trust a fighting man who doesnt smoke or drink." Attributed to Admiral William Halsey, courtesy Lexmark Corp. Quotation Server. Halsey, William Frederick, Jr. (1882-1959), was one of the leading United States naval commanders during World War II. General Douglas MacArthur called Halsey "the greatest fighting admiral" of World War II. Halsey became vice-admiral in command of a Pacific carrier division in 1940. He commanded this division in attacks on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands and on Wake Island and Marcus Island in February, 1942. Later in 1942, he took command of U. S. naval forces in the South Pacific. In a series of bloody battles, his forces defeated the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. This victory enabled American land forces to occupy the entire island chain. During this period, Halsey also supported the opening offensives of General MacArthur in the Southwest Pacific. Halsey took command of the Third Fleet on June 15, 1944. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October, 1944, Halsey's fleet and Admiral Thomas Kincaid's Seventh Fleet smashed the Japanese Navy and virtually eliminated it from the war. The Japanese later signed the surrender on Halsey's flagship, the battleship Missouri . Halsey was born in Elizabeth, N. J., and was graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1904. (Excerpt courtesy World Book Encyclopedia, 1986.)

So, Comedy Central did indeed "puss out"... the pusillanimous PC finks! Edit: Hurray, post #666

It looks like the same gummy pilot that came with the original LV. That, if nothing else, is very welcome news. Edit: Oooo! one post away from the triple 6 post...

I find that the character designs, although a bit bland, specially for the male ones, is rather good; and as far as the "pointy" chins, I don't find them any more jarring than M+'s Pinocchio noses or M2's weird ears. I do think all the spandex-like uniforms are a bit idiotic... they remind me too much of TNG's 1st and 2nd season's "unitards". And for the too-much-cleavage detractors... I only see it in Ariel/Marlene and Janice M, which is hardly any indication that will be the standard for the entire female cast. Besides, a little fan service, if done in small amounts, is always a good thing. As for the Mecha, they come directly from MOSPEADA or are derivatives thereof, so no complaints from me. I do find that the rendering for some of them, at least in the posted pictures, is much too CG-ish and "washed out" -- probably on purpose to try to disguise the glaring mismatch between it and the cell work. I just hope that the animation is on par with modern standards (but without the long still shots with endless dialogue so common to contemporary anime: GITS:SAC, Eva, etc.), and that the story is good, if it ever gets released.

Here you go... The key to the search function is to start in general terms (I typed "pilot recast"), and make sure to set it to look in All Forums. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...hl=pilot+recast http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...hl=pilot+recast

So shoot me; and for your information, I got the designation from this site HERE. I was relying on a source of information that purports itself as being accurate; therefore, your nitpicking of a single letter (is it J of G?) is rather arrogant. Also, although I haven't done it myself, a lot of people just write VF-2 or VF-2S or VF-2J as shorthand... everybody knows perfectly well which VFs they are referring to.

If anything, I just love some of the reactions this last episode provoked in this thread. It's perfectly alright when South Park skewers: 1) Politics, political inclinations, political parties, political opinions, politicians; 2) Religions, religious dogma, religious symbols and icons, religious leaders and figures, devout believers, divinity itself; 3) Special interest groups, moralists, interventionists, environmentalists, nationalists, pacifists; 4) Hollywood, self important personalities, smug sport stars, elitist actors; 5) Americana, European culture, Asian culture, Latin American culture, African culture, Middle Eastern culture, ...; 6) Sex, sexual orientation, Puritanism, libertine morays; 7) Race, racial stereotypes, racism and bigotry; Beatniks, peaceniks, hippies; 9) Mentally retarded, physically handicapped; 10) And just about anything else you can think of. But poke fun at Family Guy, however mildly, and that's going too far. I love it!

Okay.... but where does that leave the Metal Siren (VF-2MS?) or the AJA-1JF, for that matter?

1/6 scale, 14" tall, fully articulated and detailed... I want it, but at about $212.00 (did a conversion using Malaysian Ringgits) before shipping? I don't think so.

Mmmm, maybe the OVA name Macross II had something to do with it in this case, but that does not explain the VF-XX (double experimental, VF-20 in Roman numerals?) or the Metal Siren (VF-1, 3, or 4 MS... take your pick). Besides, there is no evidence, other than the aforementioned M0, that the VF numbers have anything whatsoever to do with the program's name: SDF: Macross had the VF-1 (okay, first Macross series, first VF... but I doubt that there is any intentional correlation); the VF-4 appears in Flashback 2012, so the show should've been called Macross 4; Macross Plus should've been Macross 11, 19 or 21 since those planes appeared prominently in the OVA; Macross 7's hero plane should have been a VF-7, but it isn't... instead we get a bright red, VF-19 with a face, and the VF-11, VF-17, VF-22, etc. In the world of "official" Macross that theory does not hold water.

Even Kawamori's Macross does not always follow the incremental numbering formula; the VF-3000 and VF-5000 both predate the VF-11... if a logical numbering progression were the absolute rule, than it would follow that the VF-5000 would come into service some 200+ years in the future of chronicled events. There is absolutely nothing wrong or illogical with the VF numbering system applied to the Icarus and Valkyrie II; unorthodox maybe, but not a reason to dismiss them; after all, the VF-2 nomenclature was not taken by any previous VF placed in service. As mentioned, the second letter in the designation denotes primary operational environment... it would have made a bit more sense if the Icarus were the VF-2** and the VII a VF-3SS (the Icarus looks a bit more primitive), but since they are exclusive of each other in their intended roles, an exception could be made. The VF-XX and Metal Siren, however, are much harder to explain and correlate with any numbering system. One thing to remember is that Macross II takes place in what is an alternate future where anything after the VF-4, in SK's canon, never existed; as such, the numbering system is rather moot when applied to M2. Besides, it can be argued that M2's UN-SPACY revamped their numbering system altogether, for whatever reason, leading to the odd, confusing, state of affairs in their designations. EDIT: Damn, I love this thread... one can get so verbose and opinionated about something so incredibly trivial.

Given the SAP's booster/cannon design, I think that un-swept wings would actually interfere with the SAP's wings (the booms that support the large left and right missile/drone pods). Therefore, in the case of the VF-2SS, having the wings fully swept to battroid/deck storage mode makes sense. Besides, since the SAP is intended for space operations only, AFAIK, the wings are useless and are best kept out of the way; if, like the VF-1, the VF-2SS carried a wing mounted weapons load and had a more modestly sized, maybe without the booms, SAP, then having the wings out would definitely add to the look. And it's not as if I don't like the craft with the SAP, I just like the Valkyrie II without it a bit more.

I voted for the D, if no no other reason than that it is a departure from the VF-1 design aesthetics... a "VF-1" with delta wings ala VF-11 MAXL, but without the b@@bs and chick face wearing shades.

I agree, the Valkyrie II without the SAP looks better than with it, and I also like it's look in battroid mode too...sleek, powerful, and elegant, but like most of the other Macross VFs it's GERWALK mode is, at best, a compromise. Although the SAP is clearly meant to be the ultimate FAST Pack, it does tend to clutter the beautiful rakishness of the VF-2SS. It is a crying shame that the chances of us ever getting any toys, in any scale, from Yamato, Bandai, or whomever, of any Macross II mecha, are less than getting struck by lightning twice on the same day.

Ah yes, Sliders... really cool premise, mediocre execution and lack of imaginative possibilities for alternate realities in the first season, and did a major "jump the shark" starting the second season when it became thoroughly unmatchable.

You're right about the baby boomer pandering, but his leaping into those decades was part of the show's premise: to jump to any point in time within one's own life time; therefore, he could not leap into the middle ages for example, and he could not go beyond the point when the "accident" happened. Although, there was one episode where he leaped into his own great-great grandfather, or something, during the American Civil War, because of a extreme DNA correlation with his 1860's relative, IIRC. In any event, if Sam were, say, 35 years old when he first leaped in the mid 1990's, he'd be able to leap within a 35 year temporal span.

Ha!... candy for masochists... apple flavored.

Not Engrish, but...

SK "jock sniffing" aside, this is a beautiful design worthy of the Macross name. And the Icarus is no slouch either... And I as for the Marduk, the impression I got was that they were just another hostile alien race who happened to have enslaved a great number of Zentradi to use as cannon fodder. So the existence of the Marduk does not, in any way, contradict the Protoculture or the Supervision Army... they are just another enemy.

Well, isn't that pretty much what I said???

That's kind of stretching it... any resemblance is vague at best. I still contend that the VF-4 is the oddball or the VF family tree, but what an oddball it is. I do agree that Kawamori got most of his design inspiration from real world aircraft... at least in the most basic of proportions. One could argue that the YF-19 is based off the X-29, but aside from the FSW and canards there is almost nothing in common (I see a lot of the Berkut in the YF-19, however). And just to throw a monkey wrench into the argument: If the VF-1 borrows basic aesthetic design queues from the F-14 (it obviously does) and the VF-2JA and VF-2SS are evolutions/redesigns of the VF-1, then it follows that the VF-2JA and VF-2SS are also inspired by the F-14. See, I too can stretch things...

But so are the VF-3000 and VF-5000, and the VF-11 borrows more than a little from the VF-1. It is true, however, that Kawamori gets most of his starting points for new VFs from real world fighter aircraft, but not always...VF-4. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you just prefer Kawamori's design style over the artist(s) who penned the mecha from M2. That's cool.