stray

Amazon.co.jp has it for 15400 yen (no tax, roughly $143 currently) plus shipping... to the US it's 2000 yen (to California at least... $18.50 or so), additional items are about 300 yen each shipped. edit: I've heard they're great for shipping to Europe, but i assume Aussie is Australia, so your results may vary. Of course, you're at the mercy of the exchange rate, CC conversion fees (2-4% on average in the US), and duties, but it still probably ends up being cheaper, especially if you want multiple items. I'm getting the Zero box and Lion single, next month from them. As far as whether it's worth it... that's a question you have to ask yourself....

OMG I'm going to put those stickers on everything... I have to pick my order up at the stupid FedEx distribution center since signature is required... sigh

Nooooo! DNR and edge enhancement will take Macross' soul!!!!! I'd look for some articles on why removing film grain is bad but... that screen comparison actually looks badass.

Backtracking a bit, since I have time... I think a big part of Alto not reciprocating just comes form being overwhelmed... might have been the same with Basara. Just because you have chicks (hot as they might be) throwing themselves at you doesn't mean it's a good scene. Agreed, almost 100% Driving with elbows is jet flying dinosaur with laser beam helmet awesome tho! Maybe he just heard the Shamen song and thought you could "move any mountain..." I really have to respect the fact that Kawamori and co. risked alienating fans to do Seven. It wasn't a flop by any means, but at the same time... it isn't SDFM or DYRL, or Plus. Honestly, once I put SDFM out of my mind I really, really started to appreciate Macross Seven for what it is. It's a really solid series, some pacing issues aside, but if you're too busy focusing on what it isn't, you won't see the forest for the trees. Or something. (Probably the worst rant I've written in months but I'm tired, so... you get the gist.)

City 7 had the Milky Road though... so much cooler than the interconnected islands.

Meh... I decided to break down and cancel it out; 3 SDFM box sets just seemed like overkill. I don't even know how much better BR is going to look being that it's still from a 16mm film source. Regardless, now I can put the money towards more Frontier goodies, and the inevitable Zero BR box next month...

SherylXEmilia, anyone?

Hrmm... I appreciate the heads up. I see alot of mixed reviews on Amazon but they seem to mostly focus on the price and the 'milking' aspect I suppose. I do kind of wish they put out something more similar to the Seven boxes, i.e. including everything SDFM, Flashback 2012 and DYRL as a mega Macross box(es). But I really like the polka dots...

So... I've got the R2 remastered 25th anniversary SDFM TV on order, and it's my last chance to cancel it before it ships hopefully on Wed. Has anyone actually gotten it yet? Someone on Amazon seems to make mention of a 240 page booklet... has anyone gone through the extras and are they worth it?

Wow, you went there. See but it's 2059 though, we can't get stuck in a 2040's mindset. Cougars need love too.

Could be Basara himself but maybe it's just a 'nobody' like Alice Holiday... or one of the ex-Jamming Birds I kind of misread that entry to imply she had gone on a date with said person but hrm... the plot thickens... As long as it doesn't somehow end up she fell for at some point... that would be so random and out of left field I could almost see it happen... edit: spoilered just in case I somehow end up being right

Wow, I never realized I could sign up for nico in Spanish... It's like a dream come true... I might forget English now.

First hair growing on her heart, now radio tower implants (is that like... the old Madonna look kind of?)... I can't take all these metaphors! Being that it's from January though, I'm kind of intrigued as to who Sheryl's ex is...

Mmmmm Jamming Birds... I really wonder where they are in the Frontier days... Oh yah, Sheryl is going to end up with Michael. It just... is how it is going to be.

...for the record, we never saw Basara in assless chaps. Or any chaps for that matter, IIRC... it was pretty much just the wifebeater and jeans... or the flightsuit. edit: unless there was some fanart/doushinji going around that I'd really rather not look for... As an aside, are the stars in some kind of crazy alignment today? we're like... having a relatively intelligent discourse on Macross Seven... I half am expecting the rapture to be upon us. Anyway, I was exaggerating about being gay for Basara earlier, but I can totally respect where he's coming from. I mean, he's not in it for the fame, or the poon, he just wants to get through to people (and aliens) and move his mountain. And he falls for the one (alien) chick that he can't get through to. Basara's role in the series is weird, though... in alot of ways his biggest purpose is to be the mirror everyone else sees themselves through. Also, further bordering on gay... I really thought the whole Basara/Gamlin friendship or rivalry was one of the better male bondings I've seen portrayed in an anime. Never once did I expect either of them to start shouting gar man-love should the other have been defeated. Although, I guess that was pre-gar. And finally, anyone who thinks an 100,000 watt soundsystem is not manly... seriously has to be... well, you know.

Wow, I totally forgot about that... seriously, if Frontier can keep it up until series end, (I mean... even the clip show floored me) it's going to be the new benchmark for quite some time. Wait that was your point... Anyway, it was a really, really good point... and VFTF1's response kind of reminded me... 'wait, I love seven... and I'm not gay because of it!' Moreso I went with... "what if we were watching M7 now instead of Frontier?" I just wasn't sure if it came off as I was saying the endless speculation on Frontier was bad... because I really, really feel we're onto something special right now, and it shows in how many new faces, topics, artwork, etc. I see each week here, suki, and elsewhere. edit: MW does kind of seem to be getting a bit harder to read, lately, however... but I guess now I know how flower girl felt when Fire Bomber made it... I think we all kind of rushed through it... and I'm probably alone in wanting to savor it... but one of the biggest reasons I like it so much is it's so good at being a character focused ensemble show almost in the vein of something western like *gasp* Northern Exposure... or maybe (sort of a stretch) Scrubs to be more current. It's not a dark, brooding character piece like... Plus, or Cowboy Bebop (anything Watanabe, really), and the most f'ed up characters... don't become ninja warriors, or mecha pilots hellbent on gar vengeance... they start a band! As a space opera, though, not so much. And, I'm a little bit gar for Basara, but I won't go there... right now anyway. Speaking of Macross 7 mangas, does anyone know if there are any Mylene Beat scans around anywhere? I found some links but they all seemed to be dead... I didn't see them on iMacross or MShare, but I haven't checked recently... if they're there, I apologize in advance for being baka.

One thing Frontier has going for it is that it's not all that predictable... For the record, I meant I was going to go back and savor Seven, episode by episode, not Frontier... although, I have been trying really hard to avoid Kei subs lately, if nothing else *shaking* There's been so many mini-arcs in Frontier it's tough to say, there's just no real greater arc we have that much visibility on. Seven was kind of like that too, though. I mean you can call up til episode 10 the Ranka arc, up til 14 the prelude to a coup arc, up til 7 the Galaxy arc, 7 to 14 the Galaxy is missing arc? I dunno. Just the way things all clicked into place in episode 15 makes me wonder if this can really wrap up in 25 episodes... I'm already booking a hospital and/or saving up for a Yakuza hit come October, either way...

VFTF1 - No, that is one of the things I like the most about 7; and why I think the characters are some of the best in Macross bar none. I mean, if Max and Millia had mended fences in episode 4; that would have been utterly anticlimactic. Likewise if Basara and Gamlin hadn't taken time to trust each other; Mylene and Gamlin slowly becoming friends and Gamlin coming to terms with the fact she's in the band, Basara singing to Sivil day in and day out, while Gigl watched and started to recognize Basara's power... I dunno tons more examples. The thing is, week to week it would have had to be a really casual watch... I mean there's so many episodes where... nothing happens. Like, in the middle stretch... Basara sings to Sivil, Mylene wonders where Basara is going, and Gamlin talks to Millia... and that was pretty much it. That's not the kind of stuff that fills messageboards... well maybe talk of turning people gay, but... I guess it's not a gripe so much as a different experience. But when you're watching it straight through, it's easier to get into the greater arcs; but to do that it's easy to intend to watch 3 episodes in an evening and end up watching 6. Frontier is so much more balls to the wall through and through, and the arcs are probably as big, but there's alot more of a sense of closure in each episode, for better or worse. At the end of the day: I doubt I would be making rampant speculation, freeze frame analysis, complex character studies, or arguing who was going to end up with who all over the internet about Macross Seven; but I'd probably turn off a bit, and keep watching it week after week and enjoy it as much. On that note; I might actually start doing that soon...

I really kind of regret missing the old days of M7 hate around here... however watching it live would have been awesome. I can't even imagine thinking Gamlin was dead for like a week. The one drawback to that, tho, is that so many M7 episodes just flowed right into the next episode. I can't even count the number of times watching it that I kept going an episode or 3 later, just waiting for a logical stopping point. That's one definite gripe I have with 7, and the pacing on Frontier is so, so much better so far.

Thoughts... * It was a clip show/recap... but everything is starting to come together now. Grace/Brera/Leon, Ranka/Sheryl/Alto, Leon/Kathy/Ozma, Klan/Michael, and Luca and Nanase had to be doing something cool off screen... * Ranka learning from Paris and Britney on the beaver slip? * The voices are really trippy... super advanced AI? Neural network of cyborgs? Cylons? Borg? OMGWTFBBQ * What 'bout my star duet = pure epicness. Dancing at each other's back was hot stuff. Ranka's fang made an appearance. Alto was impressed... who knew that could happen? * Grace is a bitch. Once Sheryl finds out, it's on. * Zentradi have it good; their model trains can literally be real human sized trains. * Musicals = win.

True, but even then they were only 2 weeks behind... now they're a solid 4 episodes back is why I mention it. Not that there aren't enough groups already subbing Frontier, but Shinsen's tend to be keepers.

I second that... hatchbacks on Frontier = win. I really kind of want a Skull squadron logo on the roof of my hatch... Great clip show, or greatest clip show?

Anyone know what's going on with Shinsen? Seems like they just keep falling farther behind... they haven't quietly given up Frontier have they?

I love the spelling on this thread, so I figured I'd bump it and take the opportunity to advertise the IRC channel on rizon.net since... a few of us are actually talking trash in there today. irc.rizon.net #macrossworld

Kudos to you, good sir. And... bad kitty. Sadly, though, no DVD subtitles.