Gubaba

That surprised me, too, especially since a couple of people here pegged it early on. And, as you say, it's a relatively established teen comedy ending. I was also rather surprised that Yoshino had to fight apparently the entire staff, including Kawamori, to end it that way.

I was working on this for my next big thread, but not all of it is useful for that purpose. Still, it seemed a shame to let it sit and rot on my hard drive, so I'm presenting it here. I might get around to doing the rest of the interview, but I doubt it'll be any time soon (and anyway, the next part of the interview is all about Klan and whether she'll find happiness in the movie version or not. Who cares about that? It's Nanase or nothin', Yoshino!). It's from the Macross F Official Fan Book, p. 92. Hiroyuki Yoshino was Frontier's series organizer and its scriptwriter. - I've heard about it in many places already, but since a lot of people are talking about it, let's start witht the love triangle. The love of Alto, Ranka, and Sheryl...why didn't you conclude it? Yoshino: Whether or not to conclude it was quite a last-minute decision, actually. Like, looking at the final scene, inside everyone...we never explicitly stated 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, I think Kawamori-san got a little upset. At least, he looked worried about it. However, when we went to see the Budokan Concert, and saw Sheryl and Ranka sharing the same stage, I said to Kawamori-san, "Not having a conclusion was good, wasn't it?" "Yes, it was. Looking at it now, and looking at the stage, it seems like it would feel kind of strange if we had had one.*" (Laugh) - But wait. Of course saying that Alto loves the sky is fine up to a point, but in episode 22, he and Sheryl end up staying together all night... Recently, I've been talking with the voice actors, and there's been some talk about that. I heard there was a great uproar that was very funny. Yoshino: (laughs). Certainly, whatever happened between those two created a lot of anxiety. I won't talk about any of this, it's better to leave it to the imagination... During the voice recording for the original image and storyboard image (Note: the final animation hadn't yet been completed), we ended up creating a somewhat indecent version for the rough cut with "Oh..." sighs from the voice actors and even from the staff in the booth on this side. But no. I wonder what what really did happen that night? Only Alto and Sheryl know the truth. - Won't this "Indecent Cut" be resurrected on the BD and DVD!? Yoshino: Hmmm, what should we do with it? Rather than look forward to it in the TV version, what about the movie...? We're considering how to get it out there. We could also use it for publicity (laughs). - And one more thing about this: Alto's strange advance continues. In Episode 23, he says "Ranka is the reason I joined S.M.S." In 24, he says "I'll return to you" to Sheryl... And at the end, it's "Both of you are my wings"! Yoshino: I think Alto doesn't have much self-awareness. Unreflective and a little obnoxious (laughs). Just speaking personally, in episode 24 when he leaves Sheryl, in that conversation the two of them have before he goes off to battle, I think his real feelings, which he didn't even understand himself, spilled out. But of course, thank goodness that doesn't settle it! Fans of both girls try to support them, saying things about the ending like "He was heading towards Ranka!" and "No! Sheryl won!" and it's best that people see it however they want to see it. There are as many different endings as there are people who watch the show, and the feeling is that no one is insisting they stay quiet about it. *Thankfully, Renato finally clarified this. Since the Budokan show happened a week or so after the end of Frontier, it would have felt strange looking at the stage and seeing one girl as a winner and the other as a loser. And that's it. I was planning on translating Kawamori's Frontier Episode Commentaries next, but I'll get back to this if enough people clamor for it. EDIT: Renato made a couple of corrections for me, so I added them.

Yeah, I remember seeing a screenshot of that...I'd like to think that if had watched the episode without knowing about it, I would've noticed...but the truth is it probably would've slipped past me.

Very cool! So I take it this is the ship's "backwards gerwalk" mode?

Well, you could buy the official DVDs. There are subtitle patches here for them, made by Xeros.

I never had any trouble following it, either, which is kind of amazing considering... A) I was twelve when I first saw it. B) It was a crappy third or fourth generation VHS tape where everybody looked like they were underwater and the picture fuzzed out any time there was an explosion. C) It didn't have subtitles and I didn't know any Japanese. I found a lot of things confusing about the movie in those days of watching it raw, but the final battle wasn't one of them.

An English DUB? For the whole series? You ask a lot from your bootlegs, don't you? Anyway, no, there isn't. And all the bootlegs out there are low-quality TV rips with crappy Engrish subtitles. (Hasn't this been asked before...?)

He used to work for RT.com, and was Tom Bateman's roommate.

A while back, jasonc mentioned that HG's biggest source of income is some sweet real estate deals they made. But yeah, the "asleep at the wheel" defense doesn't work, for a number of reasons.

Hmmm...I wish I say certain scenes, but I've never been one for picking and choosing. If I sit down to watch a movie or series, I watch ALL of it, no skipping or fast-forwarding (which is the main reason I never watch porn). But I love the final episode of every Macross series. Yes, even Zero.

I dunno...I think Los Neuvos Extraterrestres really gives Mac and Me a run for its money... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VOeDpZRUko (You have to fast forward to about two and half minutes to get the full effect...)

Ah. I hadn't read that thread all the to the finish, so I thought you were talking about RobotechFanPlus coming in and blaming the writers of Macross for killing Focker. Now that I looked at the rest of it...sheesh. Yeah, here, Azrael usually comes in, says "Good grief," and closes the thread before it goes that far. But hey, having just reviewed the subs for SDFM Episode 4, I can say with some certainty that everyone aboard the Prometheus was killed. (C'mon someone, take the bait...you know you want to... )

And the long wait between Shadow Chronicles and Shadow Rising is unhinging them even further... Thankfully, in our little corner, we KNOW we've got a movie coming up relatively soon, and probably a new series or OVA coming up in 2012 for the thirtieth anniversary.

I dunno...there have been some pretty daft discussions here, as well...

I doubt it... Tokusatsu Ace had "Ultraman the First," but they didn't turn that into a series. Gundam Ace has "Gundam the Origin," but that hasn't become a series. I don't think "Macross the First" will be any different. Besides, Space War I has been done as an animated TV show, a movie, some novels, and now a comic. Isn't that enough?

Hey, you snooze, you lose. Alto should've made up his mind when he had the chance.

And that's nothing compared to the "Where's the SDF-2?" thread... But let's face it: we are die-hard (Macross) fans who can't stop talking about it (Robotech), right?

You mean, like us?

Totally, totally wrong. if the movie isn't entirely about Nanase and ONLY Nanase, I'm giving up Macross forever. Ah, what the hell, I'll give up Gundam, too. And food.

You mean Nanai, don't you? Lalah was, like, fifteen or sixteen.

Huh? Nothing like that exists.

Most people will agree that the first ten-to-fifteen episodes are kind of tough going. I think it gets better as it goes on, although there's a lot of goofiness and filler episodes throughout, and only one or two REALLY good mecha battles. If you view it as the story of a rock band which just happens to involve some mecha (rather than as a mecha show with lots of music), it makes a lot more sense and is much more enjoyable.

I noticed the same thing (and to show how unobservant I am, I didn't really notice it until the tenth time I watched it or something like that). I just assumed that the (abandoned?) city where they first touched down was probably half the globe away from Macross City, and so they they flew through a number of time zones. And yes, the battle against Sharon took all night. (Either that, or it's just more dramatic and symbolic to have the big battle happen at night and end with a sunrise.)

A lot to live up to...? As I recall, the first miniseries was good and thoughtful, the second series was, um, not as good, and the TV series wasn't very good at all. Just watched the trailer...I think it's kind of interesting that they seem to be going for a religion analogy rather than the Nazi analogy of the first series. Although as others have pointed out, the whole set-up is a ripoff of Childhood's End anyways. Too bad no one ever made a movie of that, although it probably wouldn't have worked as a movie...

As you say, Frontier rocked. And clearly, based on how popular it's been, THAT'S what the fans want. And "Showori" is complying.