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JB0

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Everything posted by JB0

  1. JB0
    I thought the episode carried one on the title card. Maybe I'm just crazy. Edit: And on double-checking, yes, I'm just crazy. Fleet just has a "real episode" feel that confused me greatly, I guess.
  2. JB0
    I might would've enjoyed the movie had I not read the comics first. But I liked the badass gives-no-craps version of the Major WAY more than the depressed introspective Major. Also the manga had cooler guns. And fuchicomas. Given my tastes when I last saw it, I may've been as disappointed by THAT as I was the angsty Major more introspective philosophical tone. And I don't think a 1:1 adaptation would work very well... well, maybe as a high-budget all-the-stops OVA, but ... It'd go better than some franchises, but as a general rule the things that work in print and the things that work onscreen are very different. I truly am all for adapting and taking liberties. That doesn't mean I have to liek the end result, of course, but it's better to have tried than to cut out important details and large swaths of setting information to ensure you never deviate from a scene-by-scene, word-for-word recreation of the original material in moving pictures. And sometimes putting it to animation just reveals flaws that weren't as evident in the print version. Granted, I think some shows have been IMPROVED by people having a minute or two of conversation in the time it takes them to throw a single punch, but... it's still something that shouldn't happen most of the time. (And it's entirely possible in some of these that the author simply expected the reader to fill in the blanks and didn't write down EVERY punch that was thrown, but the TV adaptation adheres too slavishly to the scene as written). Anyways, I'm rambling now. I have low hopes for the Hollywood adaptation, but casting is not at all a concern. I will be happily surprised if it winds up being a decent and thoughtful adaptation. Now, this is not to say there are not PROBLEMS with Hollywood's whitewashing of damn near every story that comes through the town, as it happens to be a rather large problem(and much more pervasive than one single instance of a character with a japanese name being played by a white person). Just that it is rarely a problem to the actual story being told, and this specific character is one of the few instances where it could be justified in-continuity.
  3. JB0
    I'd laugh. I mean, I'd have low expectations to start, but could the movie's casting GET any worse? Those two should CLEARLY be playing Misa and Roy Focker! First chapter of the original comix sez: "Motoko Kusanagi(obviously an alias)" We don't even know her birth name. She was probably born female, but that's really all we know about her. I don't disagree with you, really. But the story could, largely, be set anywhere industrialized. It has a less japanese feel than a lot of other things I've seen. And the Major that Masamune Shirow wrote is as close to a blank slate as you can get. She has no backstory, does not use her birth name, does not use her original face, and by the end of it she's not even the same gender she started the story as. (Tangentally: Can we cast Tom Cruise as the crackhead whose body Batou steals for her?). Oh, I doubt it will be, truly I do. But it could be. And, well, it can't be a worse take on the universe than the first movie was. That movie was a betrayal of everything I expected to see, and I have a deep-seated mistrust of Ghost adaptations because of it. It's probably to blame for why I never watched SAC or Arise, actually. I was filled with dread when I first heard about SAC, and assurances that "they did it right this time" never really soothed my nerves enough. The petition started by someone who thinks the franchise began with the first animated movie, and probably thinks it ended there too. Great. Also, online petitions don't work. Letter campaigns are far more effective. And, of course, an actual boycott sends a far stronger message, But the vast majority of people who signed that petition were either never going to see it regardless, or are going to see it opening weekend regardless. Points to you for sticking to your guns, but... don't watch it on cable either. Don't watch it on Netflix, don't watch it on Bittorrent, don't watch it on your friend's copy that you borrowed. Just DON'T WATCH IT. That's how you do a boycott. It's not about denial of resources, it's about sending a message. Let them know you won't stand for this, under any circumstances. Let your friend know you won't stand for this if he tries to loan you the disk. Bitch on the internet about how you refuse to watch it because it's racist. Get that message out there, make sure people know this matters to you. (While I have done very little bitching, I still refuse to watch Amazing Spiderman on account of Sony ruined Spiderman 3, then after everyone involved quit because they were trying to ruin Spiderman 4 even more, they remade the first movie. Not on cable, not on Netflix, not from Redbox, not by borrowing a friend's copy, not off bittorrent. I don't even care that it was apparently a good movie. I refuse to watch it on principle, and I let people know this when it comes up.)
  4. JB0
    Okay, I've got a question about Macross 7... What the HECK is up with Fleet of the Strongest Women? Not in the "that's just insane" sense, which is answered easily enough simply by being Macross 7. No, I'm wondering more about it being a home video exclusive that was given an actual episode number. Moreover, it was given an episode number that was taken by an actual broadcast episode. What happened there? My best guess was they decided it was too silly(for Macross 7?) and that they shouldn't have that easy of a time with a fleet and it cheapens the threat the remaining zentradi pose(which is totally true), so the episode was pulled from the lineup and replaced with something less damaging. But it's just a guess, and I've been wrong before. Anyways, the whole thing bugs me,and I'm hoping someone has an actual answer.
  5. JB0
    " It is being drawn by none other than the same talented Capcom artist who drew the original illustration of X. " Namedropping: This is not how it is done. It's pretty sad that this is going to be it for Megaman this decade, probably. An action figure on Kickstarter, and a guest role in Smash Brothers.
  6. JB0
    It might! And apparently, the petition writer also believes the franchise started with the anime movie, so... pbbbbth. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/683/366/733/dreamworks-dont-whitewash-japanese-films/ There's the petition, anyways.
  7. JB0
    Far as I knos, the EX-Gear is new for the 25, with the dual purposes of more natural battroid control and more survivable ejections.
  8. JB0
    The 1R in 2036 is awesomer. It has transforming FAST packs. Well, real-world fighters can exceed human tolerances. Not as dramatically as Guld's death in Mac+ Movie Edition, but... The inertial damper was needed to excuse why we didn't just move to fleets of drones, remote-piloted or otherwise Yeah, I don't like it either, really. But it had to come next if fighters kept moving forward.
  9. JB0
    Sady, the story is more mundane than that. It's a six-bot combiner. Seems like the TEAM is Devil Satan 6 as well as the actual robot. Because the name was too awesome to use just once, almost certainly. Man, I'd love me a Predaking set. I just don't think I want to pay what it costs to GET one.
  10. JB0
    True story: Monstructor is the only Transformers combiner I ever owned. But he has an awesome name, and I think the design was pretty cool. Toy would've rocked if he'd been in a larger scale. A micromaster combiner just doesn't quite bring the house down. Even if he isn't exactly suffering for articulation next to his older brethren. The Transformers combiners mostly have pretty good names, though. This is higher praise than it sounds, given the high quality standards Transformers names so rarely apsired to. So many characters are just dictionary words, and then you get the likes of Superion and Predaking. Predaking is such a great name. It just FEELS powerful when you say it. But name-wise, none of them quite rise to the heights set by Machine Robo with Devil Satan 6. That's mostly irrelevant, though. I only mention it because I wanted an excuse to point out there's a toy robot out there named Devil Satan 6(Spoilers: He's evil). Pity he's an isolated incident. I could really get behind a toy line where EVERYONE had such an overblown name.
  11. JB0
    But will it have invisible faces? That's pretty much the second-most iconic feature of the franchise at this point, after "assassin in a hooded cloak"
  12. JB0
    Heck yeah. Trust G Gundam to make a one-episode throwaway character with background and motiviation... who is solely remembered for piloting a racist mech(as though every character and mech in the show wasn't a caricature of common stereotypes). Also, it's the only show I've ever seen include a practicioner of the ancient and honorable art of german ninjitsu. Gotta respect that.
  13. JB0
    BOMBA!
  14. JB0
    The suspense is killing me!
  15. JB0
    The only good gundam is G Gundam. That's right, I went there.
  16. JB0
    In Macross 7, they seemed to just be a rapid intercept force. Assuming Diamond Force's use of VF-17s meant anything. Launch the best hardware and pilots you have out of a railgun towards whatever the biggest problem seems to be, and let them deal with it. ... One would hope Seven Fleet had more than one such force, particularly given how rapidly they comitted Diamond Force to a problem area. You jump a zentradi soldier in the bathroom and steal their uniform, of course. The destroids always struck me as vehicles that were very much at home on the ground. Yes, there IS a flying Monster, but... that's only really useful to rapidly move it from point A to point B. Once it gets to point B it lands, finds secure footing, and blows the everloving hell out of something. Mobile Artillery: The Next Generation. If anything, a conventional destroid is at a disadvantage in space, where it's confined to the surface of a ship. I assume a heavy battroid would fill a similar role to a Tomahawk or Spartan(at several times the cost).
  17. JB0
    I'd swear Stage Fright was dubbed over the music of one of the original songs, but I'm probably crazy.
  18. JB0
    Well, I assume THIS Blackbird will make some attempt at concealing the robot in vehicle mode. At least they can't do WORSE than Hasbro's take on that jet.
  19. JB0
    Holla!He must form the head. It is the only logical choice.
  20. JB0
    You know, thinking about it... the original GoBot Blackbird was basically the same situation as the Transformers leader-class Blackbird. An entire robot hanging under a plane. This is more forgivable in a toy that cost four bucks and is roughly the size of a Hot Wheels.
  21. JB0
    Well, sure, if profit is the only thing that matters. But if all a production cares about is profit, it's creatively bankrupt. As far as Robotech music goes... songs excepted(and those were redubbed versions of the japanese songs anyways, so tehy aren't really "Robotech music") , I love it. I consider it separate but equal to Macross. The 80s-synth Star-Wars-Lite feel is great. As far as on-topic goes... wake me when there's something on-topic to be said.
  22. JB0
    I loved them because they were mighty robots that turned into mighty vehicles. More importantly, the toys were cheap. I had a LOT more Gobots than Transformers because of that. Ironically, having looked up pictures, I think the original Blackbird toy had a better vehicle mode than this new one. At least from the top.
  23. JB0
    It's only in robot mode. I dug for some stuff about this because I heard Blackbird and didn't see it. The one with cones sticking out of it's shoulders and no vehicle mode sitting next to it. So yes, we got plastic jet blueballed here. Apparently, in Machine Robo, it's named Blackbird. Because they were hella creative naming the line. In GoBots, it was named Snoop.
  24. JB0
    You guys are right. I shouldn't imply things like that. I should state them clearly. Moe is a far bigger stain on anime than Harmony Gold ever was.
  25. JB0
    Ah, this makes it fun! So, the universe is a dangerous place. Humanity was rather rudely awakened to that fact when an alien gunship crashed on the Earth and then the planet was on the receiving end of an orbital bombardment. Suffice to say, there's a lot of folks out there who do not come in peace, and they cruise in some really nasty spaceboats. Otherwise, we wouldn't have variable fighters. Just considering known risks... Some colony fleets may be taking courses that pass near known zentradi patrol ranges. Some may have inadvertently stumbled upon a zentradi fleet(as the Macross 7 fleet did, if Fleet of the Strongest Women is canon) and are currently engaged in a reeneactment of Space War 1. Some settled colonies may've had problems with space pirates(one of the oldest of genre traditions) that have well-armored raiding ships. All of these situations would make a colonial government interested in a fighter designed to break battleships without resorting to tightly-controlled reaction weapons and their associated risks and drawbacks. Which, as it happens, is exactly what the SDP-1 is designed to do. Though the VF-1 base makes the Stampede a gravely dated vehicle, there's still nothing quite like it. And even if there was a viable modern replacement, these colonies have already invested extensively in their Stampede forces. Not just in terms of raw materials needed to make the fighter, but in support equipment and training. A refit to bring the Stampede up to modern performance levels would keep it a viable anti-ship weapon for a fraction of the full-on replacement cost, to say nothing of retraining and equipment replacement. Better yet, much of the necessary work has already been done for the VF-1X upgrade program. While changes would be desired to play to it's unique role and unusually heavy armament loadout, this still makes the Stampede Plus a relatively cheap upgrade to develop. Some colonies may have already gone ahead and taken the stock VF-1X upgrade as-is and applied it to their Stampede squadrons with the ingenuity frontiersmen have alwatys been known for, while others wait for a modified upgrade scheme that better suits their Stampedes.
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