Gubaba

Chronicle #37: Mechanic Sheet * VF-171EX Nightmare Plus EX * U.N. Spacy Transport Planes / Aircraft * VF-11 Thunderbolt * Poaching Ships * Nopti-Baganis 5631 Character Sheet * People of Macross Frontier NUNS * Grace O'Connor * Jammingbirds Timeline Sheet * The End of the Varauta War [already???] History Sheet * First Contact * Space War I World Guide Sheet * The Galactic Thought Connection Network Plan Glossary Sheet Jun ~ Interstellar Republic [who's Jun?] Production Sheet * Macross 7 / The Galaxy Is Calling Me! / Macross Dynamite 7

The newest R2 version is VERY different from the AnimEigo version.

I beg to differ...

I can't believe they won't print more binders soon. Amazon.co.jp still has them. I'll check Kinokuniya on Friday, and see what they say.

If he watches the show and has something new to say about it, then his contribution is welcome, whether it's positive, negative, or neutral. If he doesn't want to talk about specific episodes, and would rather talk about the series in general, then no, his contribution won't fit the format of the thread. I'm with Pete on this one...I'd *like* to have some of the people who don't like M7 join in on the journey and add their two cents into the pot, as long as it stays civil, and everyone explains WHY they liked or disliked something.

I still have yet to hear anyone say that the original Galactica was genuinely good, or explain why they like it in any terms other than nostalgia. I don't care if its the 1970s, the 1870s, or the 2270s...bad storytelling is bad storytelling. Why bother coming up with excuses for it?

This story of yours was debunked on this very forum a while back. Quit sticking to it. It's completely untrue.

Tell me about it...one of my friends wants to see it, but she lives out in the boonies of Hamamatsu, and she's not willing to make the 8 hour trek out to Tokyo just to see it. *goes back to avoiding this thread for fear of spoilers*

Speaking of things that should've been left alone (and your avatar), did anyone see the Prisoner remake? The LA Times review said that it was quite dull.

Hmm...what about American TV, though? I suppose I can adapt a Samuel Johnson line here: "An American science fiction TV show in the '70s is like a dog walking on its hind legs. It is not done well, but you are surprised to see it done at all."

Just finished "The Man with Nine Lives." It's been a long time since I saw The Towering Inferno, but didn't Fred Astaire play a lovable con man in that, too? And the Klingon wannabes were ridiculous. If that isn't damning with faint praise, I don't know what is. Was there ANY good TV in the '70s besides some of the edgier sitcoms? I mean...I watched it in the '70s. I liked it. I went to Universal Studios to see the Galactica section of the tour. I had some of the action figures. I had a Muffit plush toy (which barked when you pulled the little string). But I was, like, five years old. Watching it now, I look back at that five-year-old boy I used to be and say, "You LIKE this?" And he says, "It's pretty good. I like the stories I make up with the action figures better than the ones on TV, though. And really, all I want is Star Wars Part II. What ELSE am I going to watch while I'm waiting for that?" And I say, "I hear ya. Just so you know, though...one day you'll be embarrassed that you ever thought this show was good." And he just kind of nods and goes back to playing with his toys.

Good points. (Admittedly, I've seen Macross fans also criticize Frontier as a mere rehash of SDFM, but I think I saw more of it from RT fans. In either case, I have to conclude that they weren't watching the show very carefully. ) But yeah...a lot of the criticism did seem like sour grapes, especially from the hardcore RT fans who claim that they really, really love Shadow Chronicles. Funny how they act like there's a competition on...as far I'm concerned, the competition was over as soon as HG decided not to pick up DYRL way back when. Whichever franchise has DYRL wins handily (although Cpatain JLS described DYRL as "a vapid experience," and Doug Bendo claimed that Robotech: The Untold Story was better because DYRL "looks really, really rough." But again...sour grapes, right? Right).

Which brings another divide which I thought was interesting (and of course, this is a generalization)...it seemed that most Macross fans liked the homages in Frontier, while most Robotech fans hated them. At least, that's the way I saw it. If my view is accurate, I wonder what it means...?

Are you kidding? They'd get all gummed up with cheese, and THEN what would she do next time she needed to detonate a Dimension Eater?

...says the guy whose avatar shows the LAMEST OF THE LAME characters in Macross 7.

Are there any changes to the story or to the art, or any bonus material?

Duly noted. Back to the mundane, then, I think "War of the Gods" again exemplifies the main problem of the original series...the fact that the writers don't really have any clue how to write science fiction. As such, we've had WWII movie pastiches ("The Gun on Ice Planet Zero," "The Young Lords," "The Living Legend"), cowboy movie pastiches ("The Lost Warrior," "The Magnificent Warriors"), and now, something that's more...mythical, shall we say? Adding a figure of Ultimate Evil into a story is a tricky business for a writer, because it's tough to think of new ways for the Evil to be credibly vanquished. Adding figures of Ultimate Good into a story is even trickier, because if the heroes have godlike beings on their side, any sense of drama and tension can easily vanish. "War of the Gods" adds both...and it wasn't entirely disastrous for the story. I remember very little about the upcoming episodes, but I hope this is a well they don't draw from too often...because, quite simply, I don't think the show's writers are good enough to pull it off. Next up: "The Man With Nine Lives."

I guess we need to define "success," then...because I agree with you, but Basara's success is different from Mylene's success. Mylene at this point seems to want a career; getting better gigs that will expose Fire Bomber's music to as many people as possible (and industry types as well), and making sure everybody (i.e. Basara) shows up to those gigs on time. She thinks Basara's priorities are out of whack...and they ARE, if the goal is to have a successful, professional band. Basara's success is to get through to people. I think he would rather play for one person who "gets it" than have his albums bought by millions of people who don't. But he also chafes at the responsibility that comes with being popular: you have to be reliable, you have to be on-time, and you have to perform at your best even when you don't feel like it. But still...so far in the series, he has shown up, he has made the effort, even if he has to be coerced. So it's a conflict, but not much of one thus far. (Oh, and VFTF1, I think you misunderstood one bit about the other bands. That wasn't Queen & King and the Mosaic Band that Basara got in a fight with, they were merely FANS of Queen & King and the Mosaic Band. ) And so far - there have been no specifics presented to uphold the contrary position that the episodes are filler, all the same and basically disposable. Enh, it's not much of a problem. I've seen the show several times before (most recently about a year ago), and the dialogue really isn't very difficult. If there's anything that I don't recall and which confuses me, I'll check the fansubs.

Star Blazers was edited a bit, but they still left some "mature themes" in there.

Oh, I've seen it before...just not in a very, very, VERY long time. I remember something about Adama with a beard, some blond boy genius with glasses, and some plot (that bored the shit out of me as a kid) about going back in time to WWII. I also vividly remember the "stranded Starbuck" episode, because that was the only one I actually liked.

Because they're horribly incompetent and inefficient? I just finished watching "War of the Gods Part II." Man...they're laying on the Mormonism rather thick, aren't they? Even the Osmonds were never this blatant...

http://www.robotech.com/community/forum/re...&forumid=31 The post I quoted is at the beginning of page 2 of the thread, so all the build-up is on page 1.

You've never seen Orguss? You should!

On the subject of Robotech's pioneering efforts, I found this in the "for when more robotech?' thread over at RT.com. Now, I'm not trying to hold up this member for ridicule or contempt (I'll save that for Pizza the Hutt); this guy (Darkwatch1977) seems like a good enough guy, but I found his post interesting: Some people had been complaining about the quality of Shadow Chronicles, and Darkwatch1977 first castigated someone for disliking Robotech (as though if you dislike Shadow Chronicles, that means you hate Robotech. Which means that everyone here who dislikes Macross II, or 7, or Zero, or Frontier, I guess you guys aren't Macross fans ). But it was his defense of Shadow Chronicles that I found most interesting. It's titled "CONTEXT!" Do you notice anything missing? Any analogous things he COULD mention, but doesn't? In America, yeah. Except of course for Star Blazers, and the works of Ralph Bakshi. In Japan, though, stuff like Southern Cross, and Mospeada were and are pretty standard fare. Or Satellite, Gainax, Studio Khara... So yeah. If you're comparing Shadow Chronicles to other American animated movies, yeah, I guess it's pretty okay. Likewise, if you compare Robotech to other cartoons that were on afternoon syndication in America, it's pretty innovative stuff. Frontier wipes the floor with Shadow Chronicles...hell, Macross Dynamite 7 wipes the floor with Shadow Chronicles, but if you don't know that those exist, and you're comparing Shadow Chronicles to Pixar movies...well, I think you're missing out. Again, not trying to rake the guy over the coals, I just think it's an interesting (though wrong) perspective. Oh, and VFTF1...if you miss Capt. Donovan, he's been pretty active in that same thread recently.

SOme things are bad, even with nostalgia goggles on. I liked Battlestar Galactica as a kid, but it was never something I wanted to revisit. It wasn't until I saw a lot of online chatter about what a "classic" it was, that I decided to rewatch it. The premiere episode wasn't awful, but it was far from good. It held my attention, but that's about it. Every episode since then has either been dull, or laughable, or completely wrong-headed. I have to keep wondering...if the "rag-tag fugitive fleet" comprises the last remnants of humanity, why do they keep running into so many people out in space? And why do they so rarely say, "You know, the Cylons are planning to exterminate all of mankind. And they're following us. You, uh, might want to hitch a ride with us to earth if you want to survive." I have to assume that everyone they meet will probably get killed a few hours after they leave.