Gubaba

I'm pretty sure Tochiro pre-ordered it from the source the moment they announced it.

Agreed. I hope the concepts from this do find their way into future Macross productions. Yeah, as Tochiro said, out for good. The final performance was yesterday. Which is a shame, because her name was still all over the merchandise. Still, her understudy, Maho Tomita, was excellent. And again, she was TOTALLY checking us out during the curtain call. Her blog: http://ameblo.jp/maho-time/

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36562&view=findpost&p=998159

No idea. It would seem a real shame to let it just disappear, though, so I hope so. Definitely. The play was long... well over two hours, not including the fifteen-minute intermission.

Sonia. Yeah, we know. EDIT: Her website - http://ameblo.jp/ai-beside/

Oh, and for you mecha fans...there was a Destroid Monster and VF-25F gerwalk in the show.

I figure this topic really needs its own thread... Tochiro, Save, and I saw "Macross - The Musicalture" today, and so I decided I'd write up a review. I think Save and Tochiro will be adding their impressions as well, at a later date. Part 1 - Tokyo Dome City So my friend Emi and I met Tochiro in Tokyo Dome City at a little after 9:30 this morning. For the uninitiated, Tokyo Dome is a baseball stadium, and there is a massive entertainment complex built around it, with lots of restaurants, shops, rides, and other attractions. First we went to the ticket counter and paid ¥500 for the stamp rally card, which also came with a Macross Tokyo Dome City clearfile. The stamp rally is in two parts, the first one lasting from Sept. 28 to Oct. 15, and the second one starting on Oct. 16 and lasting into the beginning of November. So the clearfile we got showed Ranka, with a Tenjin picture of the Macross punching the Daedalus through the Tokyo Dome City Ferris Wheel (called "The Big O," funnily enough) in the background. Presumably the second clearfile will have Sheryl on it. After that, we went off to get the stamps, which proved to be more difficult than we were expecting. We went to the Big O, and Tochiro rode it, but Emi and I hung back. Sheryl did the announcements for the ferris wheel, and (as you can see in Antibiotic Tab's video), some of the cars have pictures of Sheryl and Ranka on them. Also, according to Tochiro, there's an mp3 player inside each car that can play a variety of Macross Frontier songs. Unfortunately, when he got off, no one offered to give him a stamp, and he forgot to ask. To get the prize at the end of the stamp rally (a small pin), you had to get a variety of stamps. There were two categories, "Free Stamps" (with six spaces) and "Event Stamps" (with three spaces). You needed to get all six of the "free stamps" (which, as advertised, were free) and you had to get one "event stamp" (which were things you needed to pay for: the Big O, buying something at the Macross shop, or getting a drink or spicy hot dog at the "Silver Moon Café"). So after the Big O, we went in search of the free stamps. The closest one was easy: the log-flue-type ride, which netted us a stamp of "Ash Anderson," from the Musicalture. After that, we crossed the street to the attractions, where we got stamps of Hikaru, Misa, and Minmay. Finding the stamp stand was not always easy, and we got lost a lot, prompting Tochiro at one point to exclaim, "They really don't WANT us to get the stamps, do they?" We also bought some stuff in the Macross shop, which netted us the Sheryl "event stamp." (I bought two postcards. Tochiro bought quite a bit more.) Then we wandered up to the second floor, and with no little amount of effort, managed to locate and get the "Vigo" and "Sakura" stamps (also Musicalture characters). At this point, we were hungry, so we went to a family restaurant called "Vicky's" for lunch. Vicky's had three Macross-themed menu items: A "Kakizaki Steak," a "Pineapple Salad," and a "Basara Spicy Curry." I got the Pineapple Salad, Emi and Tochiro each got the Basara Curry and a Pineapple Salad to split. This netted us Roy Focker and Basara coasters. Tochiro and Emi nearly choked on the curry. I tried it, and yes, it was DAMN spicy (it was nothing on Orochon Ramen's "Special #2," though). The Pineapple Salad wasn't great, unfortunately (or, as Tochiro put it, "Man, Claudia's a lousy cook"). It came with yogurt instead of salad dressing, and under the pineapple... potato salad. Potato and pineapple are an odd mix of flavors, to put it gently. It wasn't inedible, and it didn't kill us, but I wouldn't order it again. (Oh, and Tochiro and I took a few pictures of us "dying" over the pineapple salad, which caused our waiter to crack up. Emi seemed embarrassed to be with us at that point...) While we were eating, we got a call from Save, who had just arrived in Tokyo Dome City (and had just arrived back in Tokyo a night before). We went off to meet him. Emi parted ways with us, since she wasn't going to see the Musicalture. Then we saw the musical. More about that in a bit. (Oh, and food that we DIDN'T buy: Tuna buns, Alto and Sheryl Spicy Hot Dog, Klan Kranberry Parfait, Triangler (which looks like three small pancakes with blue, green, and pink whip on them), some kind of cell phone matchup featuring both Ranka and Sheryl's phones, Hippocow Ice Cream, and two drinks: the "Seikan Hikou" and the "Pink Monsoon" (guess what color each one is.)) After the musical, we went back to the ticket counter and handed in our stamp rally cards. They pulled out a big box in which we had to reach our hands and pull out a badge. I got a Basara one. Tochiro got Sheryl. I don't know what Emi got, but if it's not Misa, she'll probably give it to me next time I see her. Then we said our goodbyes, and that was that... Part 2 - The Musicalture First, the good news: the musical was good. Better than any of us were expecting. Act I was great. Act II was somewhat disappointing. Now, the bad news: the theatre was only about half-full, and one of Tochiro's friends, who got tickets for ALL EIGHT performances of the show, said that every day has been much the same. I'm sure everybody reading this has seen the "Three-Minute Digest" from Youtube, but if you haven't, here ya go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qexf-Ql2E The broad, spoiler-free overview: it's a side story, much like Macross Generation. Nothing of any serious consequence to the Macross universe happens, but there are some interesting ideas that could be developed further. As I'm sure everybody knows, the story is set on the Macross 29 Fleet, which is a pacifist fleet (i.e. no Valks), and is having serious economic problems. A nationalist Zentradi group called "Neo-Zentran" is gaining prominence, despite their violent tendencies. The main characters are Sakura Crawford, a girl who dreams of being an idol, Ash Anderson, a delivery boy at Nyan-Nyan, and Vigo Walgria, leader of the Neo-Zentran group, and formerly friends with Ash and Sakura. Other characters are Serge Corban Glass, the Mayor of Macross 29; his spoiled daughter Charlotte Marion Glass; Vigo's sister Daryl; the Nyan-Nyan manager Sonia Dosel (granddaughter of Loli Dosel, who, according to the official program, fathered three children on Vanessa); El, a "female-type robot" (!!!) found in a junk heap and repaired by Ash; A-fro, the "Bobby" of the group, who wears tie-dye, works at Nyan-Nyan, and is gay in a really homosexual, Oscar-Wilde-reading, Noel-Coward-listening, Wizard-of-Oz-watching kind of way; Zegand, the second-in command of Neo-Zentran; and Bodom, a homeless Zentradi guy. Oh, and the winner of the "Actress Wing" of the recent Miss Macross contest shows up to do Ranka commercials every once in a while. I think we all agreed that Sonia was the hottest, although Save and I also liked Charlotte, and Tochiro seemed rather partial to Daryl and her camel-toe. There were two original songs: the Neo-Zentran anthem (which you can hear in the Youtube clip), and El's introductory song. The rest were all culled from various Macross shows (but mostly Frontier). Also, we were effectively watching the show with two understudies. The actor playing Vigo dropped out a few weeks ago, and Sayaka Kanda (playing Charlotte) left the day before performances began, due to gastroenteritis. Despite this, Save said that he thought Charlotte's actress was the best cast member, and both Tochiro and I noticed how much bigger her breasts were than Sayaka's. The set was really good, and very versatile. Pieces of scenery would pop in and out as needed, and the two-level set was used effectively. The costumes, likewise, were excellent...up to a point. The Neo-Zentran soldiers had great uniforms, but when it came to the battle scenes, they looked very "Tron," and were wearing simple bicycle helmets. And Sonia didn't wear her black midriff-baring top and short-shorts NEARLY enough for my liking. (Oh, and although we had almost front row seats, I wish we hadn't been so far on the right side, and right in front of the speakers. Every time a gun went off, I shuddered.) I have no idea how (or even IF) this musical will be preserved for posterity. We only saw one camera, and it wasn't very big. However, if they were to release it on DVD, they probably would've recorded one of the rehearsals (as they did for the Youtube clip). I hope that one way or another, it gets some kind of release. It was good, and deserves to be placed among all the other Macross stories. So now...the nitty-gritty. Spoilers abound. I'm splitting it into two parts for those who want to know more, but don't want to spoil the ending. Act I: Act II: Conclusion: The first act was great because it introduced all the new characters and made us care about them. The second act was kind of let-down because it resolved itself in a way we've all seen before, using even the EXACT SAME MUSIC from the end of "Sayonara no Tsubasa." Everyone else thought the final fight lasted too long. I don't quite agree, but I see where they're coming from. All in all, though, it was really good, and (as I said) much better than any of us were expecting. I'd like to see these characters again, and I still fervently hope that this performance doesn't vanish after the final performance on Monday. Final note: Tenjin was at the same show. Tochiro tried to talk to him, but the "Intermission is over, go back to your seats" announcement came. No matter. He can just call him up later. Anyway, I hope Tenjin liked the show as much as I did.

"Dogfighter" is part of Track 2, "Tatakai no Unmei [The Destiny of Battle]."

I like that idea. A manga adaptation could work, too.

Yes and no. The first Frontier movie is about 50% TV series footage (although much of the story and dialogue have been changed). The second movie is completely new.

Don't. It's a bootleg.

Most of it was composed specially for the movie, and even the two short bits reused from the TV series ("Macross" and "Dog Fighter") have been re-arranged and recorded.

I watched the first two episodes (in the "Macross Special" format) and listened to my newest iPod playlist: Macross 30, which is a collection of all the official anniversary CD releases: "Friends ~Across the Dimensions~" (both Mylene and Minmay versions) [15th Anniversary]; "Macross the Tribute," "Mari Iijima Sings Lynn Minmay," and "The Macross 2002 Song Collection" [20th Anniversary]; The "Macross Maximum Box" [25th Anniversary]; and the Sheryl and Ranka Guide through the Macross Gengaten Art Exhibit [30th Anniversary]. Yes, I know I should've added "Macross the Complete," but I only have the third disc on my computer....

I';; probably watch the first two episodes again, and then I'm off to the musical.

Nope, it's never been released, unfortunately. No, although a lot of used shops in Japan will sell all nine DVDs together as a set.

THE MAYOR!!

But Exo... Who's gonna deal with...the EN-A-MEEE?

NOOOOOOOO!!! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!!! The musical is next week, Macross FB7 will debut at the end of the month, and the full VF-25 Gerwalk will appear in Osaka!! Maybe!! MACROSS SUICIDE!! DON'T DO IT!!!

What Hulagu said. And the thread is here: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=37269

Ouch. That's unfortunate...

I don't know...the medicine doesn't seem to work well for Guld... Yeah...I heard the similarity to "Smoke on the Water," but I didn't know about "Space Truckin'." Thanks! A question, though... I wonder if the title of "Pink Monsoon" is a reference to the Pink Lady song, "Pink Typhoon"...?

I agree completely, but that's not the topic of this thread... Still slightly off-topic (this is the last one, I promise)... A Japanese fan recently told me that the lyricist for Seikan Hikou originally wanted to call it "Seikan Hikou - Kira!" (星間飛行・キラッ!) which would make it the final part of the trilogy that began with 誘惑光線・クラッ! ("Yuuwaku Kousen - Kura!" or "Temptation Beam - Kura!")... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdI1pCZ7eYg (And uh, make sure you watch until AT LEAST 0:45. IT'S WORTH IT!!) ...and continued with 赤道小町・ドキッ！("Sekidou Komachi - Doki!" or "Equitorial Beauty - Doki!"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-G05cJg5XM ...and that concludes our "Seikan Hikou" history lesson.

That's uh... NOT a "Konig" Monster...

Slightly off-topic, but if you listen to "Macross Vol. III - Miss DJ," (released in 1983) Minmay says that her favorite songs "are a little old-fashioned," but she likes "Aoi Sangosho" (1981): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJUqJ9M_bS0 and "Slow Motion" (1982): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9wOTqFN2o

HAHAHA!! You're quite the joker, aren't you?