Gubaba

It's also a reference to the Macross 7 episode "Minmay Video" (which also inspired "Macross Generation"), as well as the in-universe status of DYRL.

Beautiful Dreamer was released by CPM, no?

Yes, because NOTHING but NOTHING is more awesome than ROBOTECH!!! Let me do it for you: Rick Hunter: Tobey Maguire Lisa Hayes: Some hot chick who's done a sicence fiction TV show or something. Minmay: Either whatever Asian actress is well-known, or else just give and say "some hot Japanese idol ('cause I don't know their names)." Roy: Some famous actor who's in his 40s. Max: Some other famous TV actor who wears glasses. I'm just shocked no one's suggested Jack Black as Ben.

Crap...you got to it just before I edited it. I meant "sell."

No, I have seen some posts there that I liked...but most of them are from people who are also over here (Robelwell202 being one of them). I also like K.I.S.S. a lot, and I'm sorry the MacrossWorld version never really got off the ground. Although I guess random shouts of "BOMBAA!!" serve the same purpose... BOMBAA!!

I think you're a great guy, Seto, and I have a lot of respect for you, but I don't really have a whole lot of sympathy for you in this situation. I look at RT.com about once every other week or so, and I invariably leave after a few minutes. The "Series and stories" forum baffles me, and the "SouthernMacrosspeada" forum seems like MacrossWorld-Lite. Never felt much of an urge to post there...anything I said would probably be perceived as flame bait, anyway. Let 'em have their fun without a gadfly in their midst. It's not 1988 anymore...anime is widely available, and the origins of Robotech are easily found. If they don't know much about Macross, it has to be because they either don't WANT to know, or else don't know how to use Google. Either way, I'd rather have them over at RT.com than over here. A number of the people who get banned from RT.com and come over here to get their fix are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, anyway. Why would we want more of them?

Again, thanks as always to Renato for catching a few things I left out and fixing some errors. #09 - Friendly Fire It's a basic fact that new idols have to hand out tissues on the street (laughs). It was determined from the beginning that each episode would be a "character episode." The truth is, because we had decided that Michel would lose his life in the 1st cour [Translator's note: a "cour" is a season of 13 episodes], we put his story here. But he turned out to be a better character than we had expected, so we extended his life. Also, we really wanted to see giant Klan give him a slap. #10 - Legend of Zero The "movie within a movie" has been done many times throughout Macross so far, but Ranka playing the role of Dr. Mao, thus overcoming her heart's hurdle, while crossing "Macross Zero" and Protoculture, and also crossing the dimensions, gave me the chills while working on it. I'm digressing a little here, but I somehow still think that Miranda, the actress chosen to play Sara, was miscast (laughs). #11 - Missing Birthday To Alto, life is a three-answer multiple choice test (laughs). With Ranka's real debut, she and Alto quickly begin to miss each other [Translator's note: this is "miss" in the sense of a "missed call"]. Apparently (Megumi) Nakajima-san got fan letters asking things like, "It's unusual to sell so well right after your debut, isn't it?", but according to her, "It was real." Nakajima-san says that her life really did drastically change immediately after her debut.

That's a big part of it, but I think he'll fail, not because he's out of step with the other fans, but because he doesn't seem to be trying to serve the fandom in any way, he seems to be trying to dominate it. Fans will always gravitate toward other fans that give something that they otherwise couldn't get, be it information, products, or even a sense of humor. Here, for example, we've got a lot of people with followings because they either seem to find info before anyone else can (like Kresphy) or build models that other people want (like Valk009). Likewise, you can win fans over by being exceptionally funny (Destroy All Podcasts comes to mind). Doug Bendo does none of these things. He's just a blowhard who's full of himself. He seems to believe that people will come around to him because there's no one else left. But unless he starts getting people like Tom Bateman on every show, I don't think anyone else will follow.

Good idea. I was saving it all for part three, but here you go: Here's the too-small-to-read scan of the whole article. For the green page, the first section says "About Macross Frontier." The second says "About Macross Ace Frontier." Again, notice that's it's clearly an interview, not episode commentary (unless, of course, the commentary is embedded in Kawamori's answers). Here's detail of the right-hand page of the article. The beginning of this is the same as the answer to "Q1" from the "translated" interview...the bit about the difference between the themes of Macross Plus and Frontier. Now, bishopcruz should be receiving a copy of the magazine soon, so better scans should be available. We just don't know when.

Actually...it's more embarrassing than that. If I had thought of writing Satelight, I would've. It just never occurred to me. Instead, I went on a research odyssey. And I dunno about people really NEEDING it. I posted the Yoshino interview and the Kawamori Commenary (so far) over at AnimeSuki, and most everyone pretty much agreed that they'd been bamboozled. Here, I PM'd a few people after the last "Ohnogi Outbreak" in the news thread, and almost everyone said, "Oh. Yeah. That doesn't really pass the smell test, does it?" or words to that effect. That said, there are still one or two holdouts, so we'll see.

I agree that it's kind of futile, but we already have some clues as to how it will proceed. 1) The script is almost word-for-word the same as the script for "Booby Trap." 2) A lot of the designs are DYRL-inspired. 3) The story begins in 2012 with the departure of the Megaroad, and thus appears to be told as a flashback. 4) Minmay looks hot. He could throw caution to the wind and start including a lot of the DYRL plot, but it doesn't seem TOO likely. It seems to be modeled after Gundam the Origin, and I think that's the best example of how it wil proceed (minus the backstory that fills up six volumes of Gundam). As long as the magazine stays popular long enough for him to tell the whole story the way he wants to, I'm happy.

I've been trying to think of ways to keep this from falling into the "too long/didn't read" abyss, but I really can't find any way around it. Breaking it up into separate segments seems to be the best way to do it, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole thing is huge. Anyway, the "whole thing" is still a work in progress, which is another good reason to post it piecemeal...criticism of one part can be addressed in the next part, and so on. I was hoping I'd get a lot of rebuttals against my findings (or, more accurately, non-findings), but I kinda doubt that will happen. When I first started hinting at this stuff, a number of people dismissed it. Once I let people in on the whole tale, they seem to readily agree (with one exception, who I talked with over PM, and who came up with "answers" to my arguments, like "Maybe Shaloom never said it was a radio show," and then told me that everything I said could be easily rebutted. I wonder if he'll find the WHOLE story so easy to answer...?). So yes. Five parts to this essay, including an introduction and a conclusion. Part Three and the Conclusion haven't been written yet, due to the fact that I'm still waiting to see a real scan of the Famitsu Magazine interview...which I believe is the deciding factor here. A disclaimer: it is quite possible that I'm wrong, and I'm ready for that. If that's the case, I'll admit my mistake, apologize to the people involved, and I hope everyone will let me move on. But although I have no 100% conclusive proof yet, I'm sure enough that I'm not wrong to go ahead and start spilling the beans, or opening the can of worms, or whatever you want to call it. So enjoy my frustration! Whether or not to conclude it [the love triangle] was quite a last-minute decision, actually. Like, looking at the final scene, inside everyone...I don't have clear words for it, but..."which will win, who will stick together?" It shouldn't become that kind of attitude. "It might not have to be like that," was the feeling I got. Every member of the staff spoke out about it, but for a quiet and unsociable person like Alto to act naturally, he should love the sky more than girls, right? So, you can't force a decision, you have to let the other people choose their own path. "Won't the fans be angry about it?" "Yeah. But, well, that's okay. I'm prepared for that." That was the kind of conversations I had. Afterwards, when everyone had given different feedback, finally Kawamori-san got a little upset. At least, he looked worried about it. - Hiroyuki Yoshino, Frontier's Scriptwriter and Series Planner from Macross F Official Fan Book The finale will be impressive, because the very director Kawamori wrote the script. We will begin to see it on the screen as soon as the Valkyries take off. You will also see that it will try to make true different dreams he has. You will see. - "Hiroshi Ohnogi," scriptwriter from an undocumented radio show * I think Yoshino had a lot of fun abusing Sheryl. - Shoji Kawamori, Chief Director from the Commentary for Episode 18, in 2059: Memories Kawamori told me that episode 18 would be completely done with my script. - "Hiroshi Ohnogi," scriptwriter from an undocumented radio show Introduction The question of whether Hiroshi Ohnogi (a writer who planned out the post-SWI episodes of SDFM, and wrote a number of episodes for the show, as well as being a writer for Orguss, Zeta Gundam, the Area 88 TV Series, Macross Zero, and, weirdly, a Doraemon movie) worked on Macross Frontier is a strange one, considering that it essentially came out of nowhere and was not seriously questioned by anyone until much later. The initial news was innocuous enough, with a post from the Spanish-language Macross Generation forums, showing a portion of an interview with Kawamori from Famitsu Weekly Magazine, issue #1035. From Macross Generation, it was translated into English and posted at the whatboutmystar live journal (http://community.livejournal.com/whatboutmystar/20651.html?thread=277931). Note specifically the comments for episode 5 (and connecting to episode 18), episode 14, and episodes 21 and 22: Shoji Kawamori's Famitsu Interview This is an interview of Shoji Kawamori by Famitsu about his thoughts on the different episodes of MF. 

 Notes: 
-Famitsu is one of the most popular video games magazine in Japan, published weekly.
 -Hiroshi Ohnogi is a Japanese screenwriter/novelist focusing on anime productions. His works include Gundam, SDF Macross, Macross Zero, RahXephon and Eureka 7
 -Haruhiko Mikimoto - manga-ka (Ohnogi attended Keio University in the same years as Mikimoto and Kawamori)

Credits:
-Interview translation: stray (AS, #macrossuki@rizon.irc.net)
 -Notes info: Dash_Hunter (AS)

 Episode 1 : Kawamori is finally be able to see the culmination of 3 years of work.

 Kawamori on Episode 2: "I always dreamed that Minmay would have an older sister and I felt exactly that when we designed the mini duet of Ranka and Sheryl at the observatory."

 Kawamori on Episode 4: "This was a debt to Mikimoto, who forgave me for Minmay winning her pageant. Not only him, but Matsuda Seiko (Mikimoto's inspiration for creating Minmay) never won anything as an unknown. As I was writing the script, I thought to prove that Mikimoto would have been right."

 Kawamori on Episode 5: "This episode was written to definitively establish Sheryl as Ranka's big sister, but when we finished the script we discovered a new character through her qualities as a woman. This was our most edited script, and I still wasn't convinced this was an important character for Frontier. But Risa Ebata convinced me to give the changes a chance, and when I saw the fan response, I didn't give credit. Hours later we were in a conference with Big West to send a list of changes for episode 6 to our secondary studio."

 Connecting to Episode 18 : Though the script has been changed as early as Episode 5 to work Sheryl's character into the story, expanding Sheryl's storyline is another matter, as Kawamori isn't sure which direction Sheryl should take, so Ohnogi asked to leave everything into his hands; he was given free reign over Episode 18+ onwards as Kawamori watched. Here, this is where Sheryl's character is "remade" and polished in Episode 22.

 Episode 7: This episode was a gift to the mecha fans. Completely dedicated to them.

 Episode 10 : In the second half, Kawamori's cameo [the director] was unplanned. However, it [Ranka's fame] ended up being counterproductive, as Ranka in future episodes demanded much, so Kawamori believes her fame doesn't bring her good fortune. (The phrasing was vague in some parts, but this is the best I could do.)

 Kawamori on Episode 12 : "I only made this episode to make people angry, and from there, the kira. Someone who arrives to a battle singing nowadays isn't as crazy as in the time of Macross 7." (stray: "I think the gist of 12 is that he wanted to go from raaaage... to.... kira!")

 Kawamori on Episode 14 : "Here I wanted to pay homage to the work of a great friend (Ohnogi)."

 Episode 16 : Another idea of Mikimoto's. To show how a romantic idea (singing) under the perspective of whatever government lose it's romantic meaning to become an instrument of war.

 Kawamori on Episode 17 : He's teasing fans who didn't get the pineapple salad concept; it's not fatal for Skull Leaders, just womanizers. That Roy was Skull Leader and a womanizer was just a coincidence.

 Kawamori on Episode 20 : "This was the most difficult episode I've had to direct in my career. I read in diverse forums that people were sad. The staff was the same way. But we were able to express exactly what we intended: the desperation."

 Kawamori on Episode 21 : "This was the end of a cycle full of trying different things. The innocent version of Ranka Lee was different from the message we were trying to convey. Ohnogi then sent her on a voyage of self discovery. It was hard for us, and for her."

 Kawamori on Episode 22 : "Humility is the word. Ohnogi stopped here to polish sheryl. This episode is full of tests of humility."

 Episode 23 : Family, the simple life. Dreams and actions. A good episode to show the real motivations of the main characters.

 Kawamori on Episode 24 : "The last frontier of the heart is yourself. The fans loved the scenes of Alto and Sheryl, and I must say, so did I! They look great on screen. (laughs)"

 Episode 25 was Kawamori's dream made reality.

 Q1: How would you define frontier with respect to your previous work?

 Kawamori : "While Macross plus is a history where conflict arises in profound mental and physical trauma, adding emotional problems, in Frontier I wanted to express the type of conflict that could occur if it is not possible to understand suitably. To continue, Frontier is an example of the tragedies that can occur when [one] could not understand someone, by the fault of lacking a suitable language."

 Kawamori on Macross Frontier Movie : The Macross Frontier movie will follow the guideline of "Do You Remember Love, I'd like for all to see Frontier on the big screen, with great sound." Here it was made clear that Ohnogi was a pivotal figure for Frontier in general and Sheryl in particular. The episode 14 note is rather puzzling, but was extensively elaborated on later. But more about that later. It's worth pointing out that some of this IS verifiably accurate. For example, there is a scan going around of the Famitsu interview, unfortunately incomplete, but "Q1" and Kawamori's answer are taken verbatim from it. It's easily possible that a lot of the "interview" here is taken from Kawamori's actual words. However, the rest of the article, while too small in the scan to actually read, is clearly in standard interview format, with no episode commentary, unless the comments are worked into the text. I should note at this point that the documentation for Ohnogi's involvement is sparse. Essentially, it comes down to two sources: 1. The Kawamori Interview from Famistu #1035, found (but not scanned) and translated into Spanish by Shaloom of Macross Generation. 2. Radio Interviews, transcribed (but not recorded) and translated into Spanish by Shaloom of Macross Generation. Additionally, there are references to several "novels" about Macross by Ohnogi. These are documented only by Shaloom of Macross Generation. Part One: Liner Notes and "Novels" Part Two: The Radio Interviews Part Three: The Famitsu Interview Conclusion

Your wish is my command... FINALLY! After MONTHS and MONTHS of waiting, a friend of a friend of a friend said that this leaked footage is an ACTUAL SCENE from the RT LAM! Enjoy!

Speaking of WWII...what about the Nazi scenes in Legend of the Overfiend? THAT was insulting to anyone's intelligence... EDIT: I realized that I made in sound like the rest of Overfiend WASN'T insulting. But it is. Deeply insulting.

Too bad...that idea is GOLD! Dude...bring it. And then, wen everything's quiet, say (very loudly), "'Scuse me while I whip out my 24-inch Optimus Prime!" and see what kind of looks you get. Me, I'm hoping someone with A LOT of Hasaegawas to sell shows up...(hint, hint).

But...but...how can we hate on it if there's no THERE there yet...?

It that way, doesn't it? In a way, it's kind of a shame, since I've marshaled all sorts of Google searches, website bits, and pieces from interviews to bolster my points, and have finished three parts of a five-part essay about the whole thing. But it looks like a lot of people already had some doubts about its veracity, and were just waiting for someone to find a serious hole in the story. (By the way, I don't think I've even mentioned the REALLY serious holes in the story...this was all just meant to be groundwork-laying.)

It depends on how much he's planning to condense the story. The first issue followed "Booby Trap" pretty closely (with some variations, and scenes cut and added), but I doubt it will continue to be that faithful. "Gundam the Origin" told the first two episodes in depth, before beginning to skim over some of the others (and omit a number of them completely). Evangelion told the first six episodes quite faithfully before leapfrogging over quite a few. I imagine that Mikimoto is obligated to tell the first three episodes without much variation from the show...after that, it's anybody's guess (and who knows if he's lanning to include the post-war arc or not?). Hell, he may even throw in story points from DYRL. No one knows.

Ah, big deal. Haven't we all had that for months now?

From your lips (er, fingers) to God's ears, man... I so want to see that happen...

She can hold the baseball bat in her mouth. Duh.

What 'bout a VF-9 with a grand piano control system, piloted by a young girl who is both a classically-trained pianist AND a huge, raving Basara fanatic...?

Yes, Big West protected it so well that they let HG get the trademark on the name. All of this is a huge game of "telephone." I don't think we have any official statement from Big West at all regarding Macross around the world. I'd love to be wrong about that, though, so if someone has a link, please post it.

That would be nice...but, well, we'll see, I guess. If this movie gets some serious traction, that is. I always assume that any huge conglomerate could crush anything like a small anime production studio, but I could be wrong.

HG probably couldn't make it happen, but Warner Bros. is a world-wide money-making entertainment machine. You think Big West could stand up against them...?