RavenHawk

Unlike most people here, I'm not really much of a fan of Macross (though I loved it as a kid) and do consider myself a fan of Robotech. Keep in mind I'm really a MOSPEADA fan more than anything else in reference to this topic. That said, one would expect me to LOVE Shadow Chronicles. It is Robotech, which I liked as a kid, enjoyed again a few years ago when I watched it with my kids, and read all of the novels as a teen and loved them. It is also visually the closest thing to new MOSPEADA we're ever likely to see, as it continues the Robotech version of the tales of some of their characters (well, Stick/Scott, really, as Ariel is pretty changed) and continues using MOSPEADA mecha, unused MOSPEADA mecha that was previously only seen as lineart, and slightly modified versions of MOSPEADA mecha. Clearly, I should have loved it. Instead, I was horribly disappointed by it. The writing was terrible and uninspired, the dialog was worse than fan-fic level, with the "jokes" stolen from numberous other shows and movies, where they weren't funny either, none of the characters acted like themselves, and the art was just bland. I've seen other anime made by the same studios, so the low quality here, I assume, must simply be due to not paying them enough to put real effort into it. Even my kids didn't like it. In fact, my son mentioned last weekend that he had just rewatched all of the first gen of Robotech, then mentioned that one horrible movie, with the really lame dialog. I said, "Oh, you mean that old tape we have of Clash of the Bionoids? That's not really Robotech." To which he replied, "No, I liked that one. I mean that Shadow Chronicles one." In contrast, I was bored a couple weeks ago and downloaded and started watching Macross Frontier. I loved it. Had to ration it out so I didn't finish the 25 episodes too quickly. Gorgeous artwork. Well written story (sure, with flaws, but relatively few, all things considered). Good dialog. New designs, but which still feel like part of the same universe. Overall, it builds on everything that came before, while still being its own unique, original, distinctive entity. It makes references to previous series, as well as paying homage to them, while still giving it all its own unique, updated spin. EDIT: One other thing. Robotech and Macross both have music/song as an integral part of the stories. The Shadow Chronicles music and singing is quite weak and uninspired, more just a new rendition of old stuff, hastily put together. The Frontier songs are surprisingly good, get stuck in your head, and have generated 2 CDs of music which are all very listenable.

Depends on how old you are. In my early teens, I absolutely loved the David Eddings Belgariand. The sequel series was a bit slow (Mallorean, I think it was). Later teens, I'd say William Gibson. In your 20s, I'd say read George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Starts off a little slow, but well worth it. In your 30s, I'd say Neal Stephenson, if you have the patience. Sadly, I can't think of any good scifi to recommend, which is weird seeing as how I haven't read fantasy in years, since it really started to bore me, and now read more scifi or history.

Same here.

Ginrai, you mention on the podcast that you would love to get more recommendations for anime that portrays teenagers fairly realistically. Check out the anime version of Starship Troopers. It's only like 7 episodes, so it's pretty short, more like a long movie, but there are definitely some interesting reactions, especially early on. There's one scene that somehow stuck with me, where the mom gets mad at the son because he decided to join the military (in a fairly believable teenage way), and the dad calmly takes the son for a drive in the car to talk to him in private. The dad stops the car, giving the son some advice, and lights up a cigarette. The kid is shocked to realize his dad smokes, while it interestingly shows some insight into the dad.

Who asked you to remove them? What exactly will be available in the US, so we know what exactly to look for?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, so hope it doesn't come across as such. Despite how adamant you are about this, it simply is not the case. Megazone came out after MOSPEADA. There was no Megazone footage used in MOSPEADA. New Gen of Robotech edited out a few scenes for content from MOSPEADA, it did not add any even more violent footage in. If you still disagree, find proof.

Clearly I'm getting all of the motorcycles, and Sideswipe looks too cool to pass up. I'll get the ice cream truck for my kids (personal in-joke with them). I have to get Jetfire, as my son and I both loved the old Jetfire, and I love the SR-71. If I get Jetfire, I may have to get the matching Prime (tough I have two different sizes of Prime from the previous one and wasn't too impressed by either).

So there's no hope at all? And I was actually getting really hopeful about this...

Well, since they missed the 23rd anniversary, which would've been nice, since it's Megazone 23, maybe they could still put something out for the 25th in 2010?

Definitely worth Netflixing, don't know about buying it though.

That would be great. Thanks.

I had heard about something like that being the case, but had never seen any designs for any additional robots, except for, if I remember correctly, a couple space versions of existing stuff.

I watched it (subbed) a couple months back and liked it a lot. Gave my thoughts on it in the "current anime" thread.

Well, I disagree, but clearly we just have different tastes. For me, I like it and it's different from the other designs. I like it for being on ONE Garland. Now, if they were doing that on all of them, then yeah, I'd agree with you. I don't think I'm familiar with what you mean. Vanity City designs?

I don't see why you think so. I actually like the robot mode, and like how it's different from the other stuff on there. If anything, I don't like the cruiser riding position of the bike mode.

... and there goes THAT surprise...

The bike or the robot mode? I see it has the same arm transformation as the BGC pic I posted up above.

Yeah, there's a definite similarity to that, and a lot of other sport tourers.

The Cross Line one looks like it would be at home in TF: ROTF (or Rideback).

WOW!!! Thank you SO MUCH for posting all of that, and going to all of that work. LOVE IT! My favorites are: - The sketches for alternate covers for the Animation Bikes book. The book itself has some alternate covers in it, but not those. - The Hargun toy prototype - CROSS LINE GARLAND - GARLAND 1+1 - SPORTS GARLAND - MANEUVER SLAVE A-TYPE Does anyone have any additional information about that new Megazone 23? This is the first I've heard of/seen it.

I'd love to see that too.

I just went online to order the Maneuver-Blade from HLJ. Finally convinced myself to spend the $500, and it said you would get 5% off if you preordered it before tomorrow... and it's sold out. Order stop. I am so f-en mad right now.

Thanks

What can you tell us about the book that comes with the limited edition of the PS3 game? I've considered getting the game just for the book, but can't find any info on size, page count, or content. Thanks. EDIT: I'm also curious about the "Maneuver Book"

I can't find a pic, but it's clear how it transforms, so here is a poor poor photoshop job of how the underside would look, minus the nosecone flipping up to cover the head.