Gubaba

We don't know that for sure, but it's a popular theory. I mean, they don't use any Mospeada characters other than Stick, Aisha, and the Refles, but no one is arguing that they don't have the rights to use them.

Sorry...actually, I was looking in the wrong place. They have a big credits section for "Duet Part," when really I should've been looking above the lyrics...but I can't read the guy's name...the first kanji is either "kon" or "ne," but the second isn't in my kanji dictionary.

Yeah, it has an interview with Kawamori, and his commentary on each episode. I went through it pretty carefully yesterday, and Ohnogi is mentioned nowhere in the book, except in the credits for episode 10.

Yes...I'm lucky in that I have a long-term goal that I'll probably never reach: translating the Tale of Genji. Macross is merely a stepping stone to that end point.

I liked Zero a lot, but I've come to accept that I'm massively uncritical when it comes to Macross. Now, I've only seen SC on youtube, which isn't the way to see it at its finest, but it was all so static...and not purposefully static, like Evangelion (or a Jim Jarmusch movie), but static in a "here's another panning shot followed by Basara strumming the same chord on his guitar over and over again" Macross 7 kind of way. Mao moved more (and more realistically) in any single scene of Zero than all the characters in SC put together did in the entire movie. As you say, ten years behind its time.

I remember years ago coming across someone who was talking up Battle of the Planets compared to G-Force, and her whole rationale was that the names in G-Force were lame...which is true, of course, but given the choice between a relatively faithful version starring "Ace Goodheart" and a shitty version featuring 7 Zark 7, I'll take the stupid names. Thankfully, ADV provided us with the best option. Now if they'd only do Gatchaman II and Gatchaman F...

Chinese is really, really difficult, thanks to the vowel tones. If you get the wrong tone, people won't know what you're saying...unless the word is a long one, and the context is obvious. But a lot of words in Mandarin are very similar to Japanese. Toshokan/Tushuguan, Tensai/Tientsai (not sure if I've got the pinyin right on those...I'm going by ear), and countless others. Going from Japanese to Mandarin is like going from English to German...there's a lot you'll miss, but sometimes you'll hear a word or two that is almost exactly the same, and you'll be very pleased with yourself that you can actually understand a bit. Then you'll try to reproduce the sound and fail utterly.

This article makes me feel really sorry for the poor actors and actresses, having to go out in hype mode, and defend the movie. I'm sure they've been given their talking points by the studio, but that can't make dealing with the hate any easier: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomple...-will-hate.html

I'm talking about earlier...when Ai-kun pops out of the picnic basket and startles Nanase. He's still a cute li'l squirt, but the six little brown stripes across his chest are suddenly moving with a clicky-clacky sound. I disagree. The Macross narrator only comes in at the beginning of the episode, at next episode preview, and when there's a jump in time in the story. She's relatively unobtrusive. Of course, I think SDFM is the only Macross series that even HAS a narrator to handle more than the openings, so in that sense, I guess you're right.

I've heard about that version before, but I've never seen anything from it. How was the dubbing? (I saw a Brazilian dub once and was surprised at how good it was. Of course, it helps that Portuguese is one of the loveliest languages in the world, so Minmay and Misa automatically sounded ten times sexier.)

I dunno...maybe they DO need to. I remember checking RT.com during Frontier's run, about the time Ai-kun starting, um, "growing up" (when he suddenly sprouted the creepy insect arms), and someone (Treiz, maybe...?) said something to the effect of, "He has arms? I guess they forgot to animate that before." So maybe some of them are just lost without the RT narrator explaining what it going on on-screen...

I disagree. The CGI in Macross Zero is WAAAAY better than the "OVA quality" animation from SC. The VF-0s are insanely detailed, with grime and soot all over them; things explode realistically, rather than just having the same orange poof every time; and the nature shots are beautifully done. (And, as unsatisfying as a lot of people found the ending of Zero to be, at least it HAD an ending.)

Just six. It was originally released in Japan in six volumes, which became three volume (2 eps. each tape) for the U.S., and then they all got slapped together as a "movie." I'm surprised by how many people there are who saw Robotech a tyke, but only got into Macross in the last few years. I'm glad I got to experience everything in kinda/sorta real time (it took a few years after its release for me to get to see Macross 7, and another few years after its release for me to see Dynamite 7, but that's about it), but there's something that sounds kind of fun about waiting a long time, and then gorging yourself on EVERYTHING. While I can rewatch Macross in huge chunks, I was never at a point where I could watch it in huge chunks. On the other hand, I was never really confused about which order to watch everything in, and I'm kind of anal when it comes to stuff like that...so I guess I'm glad I wasn't driven crazy by the countless timelines out there. Of course, what I'm REALLY waiting for is someone to come in and say "I got into Macross when I saw Frontier last year; then I went back and watched everything else."

Man, I hate Roppongi. I was waiting for one of my friends in front of Almond once, and one of the African "Hey, come to my club, come to my club" guys walked up, trying to give me a flyer. I told him no thanks and he said, "What, you don't like titties?" and stood there glaring at me. I told him I was meeting my girlfriend (untrue), and he finally left. Hell, I pretended to be German to get away from those guys once...

I have to admit that my writing has gotten shockingly bad...my speaking's okay, my listening and reading are much better. Even then, reading something like Macross Chronicle often takes a long, long time. What I found when I was studying the language in college is that learning seemed to be done by intuitive leaps. We'd learn some new grammar, and it didn't matter how much I looked at it, I just didn't get it...until one day, suddenly, I did. I think it also helps to find a normal TV show (i.e., some kind of variety show) that you like and watch that over and over again. For me, it was "Pa-Pa-Pa-Puffy" (which of course is no longer airing). I can't tell you how much of what I learned got consolidated from watching that.

Strangely, there is no arranger listed that I can see. The first credit is "Coordinate," but I can't read the guy's name. The producer is listed as "Imagine." Then it lists the engineer, the studio, and the musicians. I don't think Kanno worked on it. Some sought-after BGM is present in the dramas, though.

I don't think Harmony Gold has ever really hidden the origins of Robotech...hell, they sell the originals right on their website. But yeah...in a roundabout way, I agree with you. I think they want people to see Robotech as the "primary" version, the one that's going places, and having access to Macross sequels would destroy that notion pretty quick. If you're a big Southern Cross or Mospeada fan, you really DO have to turn to Harmony Gold to get a fix...Macross fans are lucky enough to have more options... EDIT: Ooh, hey! I'm a Jamming Birds Sound Tech now!! Does that mean I've no longer survived Macross II...?

Well...yeah, but I have A REASON to be superfluous...I'm almost finished being a "Macross II Survivor" (which I think means I'm almost a "Jamming Birds Sound Tech"). What's your excuse?

I listened to all three-and-a-half or more hours of Doug Bendo's interview with Tom Bateman...the whole thing was pretty excruciating, as any Doug Bendo production is, but Tom Bateman (who certainly has no love for Harmony Gold) did say that it sold quite well. The guys at the comic/video store near me also said that they sold a lot of copies of it. So, while everyone WANTS to believe it was a failure...I don't think it was.

I never watched the cartoon much, but all I wanted from the movie was awesome scenes of robots beating the stuffing out of each other. Instead, I got giant robots sneaking around a garden, piss jokes, and "humorous" black people. I'm still bitter about that movie... Robotech wouldn't even be on my radar screen of movies to see...unless A LOT of my friends REALLY, REALLY like it.

The script leak? Sure, especially since everyone said it sucked. I'm not sure how MacF would complicate it...Macross Zero was being released while they were working on Shadow Chronicles, and yet it didn't seem to have pushed them any harder to make SC look better. Or do you mean that now, Macross's profile has been been raised by MacF? I don't know how that would affect things...

Okay, now THAT was a superfluous post.

Wait, wait wait...I BELIEVE they'll miss the point, but it's not a done deal yet. But I'll be surprised if they understand why Transformers was a hit (Hell, I'm still trying to figure it out myself...I thought the movie was dismally, depressingly bad). Anyway, I'm with Taksraven...I can't say a Robotech movie will never get made, but I think it'll take a long, long time if it ever does.

You mean MW's Duke Togo...*gulp*...didn't make it?

True. I was trying to be cautious, since I didn't have the numbers in front of me. It didn't know if Speed Racer eked out a small profit, or if it ended up in the red. But Transformers momentum has not worked for any other movie. I believe that Hollywood execs aren't saying, "Let's make more movies like that!"; they're saying "Let's make more movies with Michael Bay and Shia LeBouf!"