Bri

Think it's going to be F-35Cs all around. The SDSR mentions only one type and initial reports from early october mentioned that the Cameron government was planning to cut the F35 order from 138 to 50 aircraft in total. They also planned scrapping the entire fleet of 120 GR4 Tornados. The RAF seems to have managed to save the Tornado at the expense of the RAF harriers. The RN managed to keep the surface fleet intact and secure the future of the carrier. The RN harriers and the Ark Royal might have been a fairly small price to pay. I've also read that the harriers performance at close air support in Afganisatan was under critism. Maybe all remaining F35s will go to the RN?

Thanks for the warning, but I'm importing it mainly for the backwards compatability with my DVD-collection which is mostly region 1.

*Sigh*, after seeing that video I give up. Time to import a region A PS3.

Sounds pretty good then. Kaichou wa Maid Sama exceeded my expectations and tho I haven't gotten around to see much of Arakawa, the humor did appeal to me.

It's near impossible to compare the popularity of 7 and Frontier, as conditions for anime have changed so much in the mean time. One could agrue in favor of any of the three TV series, imo it's sufficient to say all were pretty succesfull in their time. For example if you look at a recent Newtype pole on most popular characters of the last three decades. Minmay, Basara and Sheryl all made the top 3 of their respective decade. Gundam Seed has more in common with Frontier then 7. Both use a strong focus on teen drama to apeal to a modern, less tech oriented anime audience. While 7 often draws events furter into the absurd, Frontier may be the less accessible title of the two as character behaviour is much more governed by current anime tropes and archetypes. That's just personal opinion. While MII has it's fans it's certainly not a very popular Macross show. On suki it's actually used as an example to explain the term kuro-rekishi ("dark history") used for unmentionably bad shows. Again an opinion ofc.

I'm not sure if they are just parodying American 90s cartoons but even more so taking the piss at the whole otaku obsession with pure and innocent female characters. Using a more cartoony format might just allow it to remain tongue in cheek without insulting fans. As it's such familair material I found it a bit of a chore to get through the first episode. Still Gainax deserves the benefit of the doubt to try soemthing different. I found all three Anime no Chikara shows sofar to be quite interesting. They seem to have plenty of money to spend on these projects. Tell me about it...I think Giant Killing was one of the best shows of the year, but it had low production values. The total disinterest in terms of sales leaves a second season very much in doubt. Seems pandering to said tastes is the only way to get sponsors to invest.

Star Driver's first episode was pretty impressive. Nice art and animation but have to wonder what kind of drugs these guys are on...I have no idea what this episode was all about

Fall 2010 doesn't have much to offer me. Will check out the new Bones show Star Driver. Found the first episode of Panty & Stocking disappointing. It's pretty much a Japanese version of Ren and Stimpy: The lost episodes meets Powerpuff girls, nothing new here.

In the current time line we are already 50 years in to the future. No idea what series placed after Frontier would be about. Maybe some kind of exploration mission outside of our own Galaxy with technology derived of the Varija. Macross the first animated in the current era could be a very cool idea assuming it won't end up the same way as Gundam Seed. As a side not, I'm a bit curious about the reception of Macross the First in Japan. Anyone know how well it does in the manga rankings?

Great to see Macross the First no.2 is out, been looking forward to it. Shame any translated editions seem out of the question here now. Few days ago I had a chat with a representative of Glenat who visited a comic store owned by a friend. He's a fellow anime fan and as they published M7 trash in the past I had to ask, but he considered the chance of them publishing it zero

Culture has somewhat to do with differences in taste in regard to models, brands, interior etc. but I don't believe he difference in countries in terms size or weather conditions is as important to car culture as Peter Egan makes it out to be. In the end it's all about money: income, fuel prices and taxes. Post-WW2 British cars were poorly built and tariffs kept out the competition. Consumers had a choice between a bad car or no car. In the end this protectionism killed the UK car industry as the incentive to modernize came far too late. Robust designs and over-sized engines are great when durability matters the most to a car buyer. But in continental Europe and Japan where cars are taxed on size and weight and where fuel prices have historically been 3 to 4 times as high as in the US, buyers will have different priorities. I'm sure car fans there love performance cars just as much anyone else but under those conditions a hot hatchback becomes more appealing then a V8 muscle car.

Hmmm, you'd end up with something along the lines of a Focus RS. Okay, it isn't RWD but it's about as a heavy as a first generation Mustang and a lot of fun. Which isn't all that different from the original formula.

Still have a soft spot for Manchu's space ship designs that introduced me to sci-fi as a kid. Probably his most well known work is the mecha designs for: Once upon a time...Space/Ginga Patrol PJ. There is also a connection with Studio Nue, who have adapted his designs for use in Ulysses 31. Alliance of Omega: Cobra class cruiser Cassiopeian warships Alliance of Omega Battleship

It's like Seinfeld with Japanese school girls, can't go wrong with that

Serious robot goodness? Oh boy… that has been in short supply the last decade. Decent examples other then the Sunrise/Satelight/Gainax works I can think off are Flag, Raxephon, FMP:TSR, Gunparade March and Rideback. Heroic Age isn't that bad either. None of these are very recent though. Sci-fi had it a bit easier. A few recent shows I’d certainly recommend: Eden of the East, Canaan, Dennoh Coil, Gunslinger Girl, Ergo Proxy, Real Drive, these are near future, cyberpunk type shows. Bonen no Xamdou, FMA: Brotherhood, Last Exile: Alchemy/Steam punk. Birdy the Mighty Decode and Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari for some light hearted fun. Fantasy: Seirei no Moribito, Kemono no Souja Erin, Haibane Renmei . None of these is particularly fast paced but the character development is excellent. Mystery/Suspense: Kara no Kyou Kai, Durarara, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Shikabane Hime, Mushi-Shi. The darker side of life. Comedy/Romance: Kannagi, Bakemonogatari, Toradora, True Tears, Spice and Wolf. For visual novel adaptions: either Clannad or Kanon (2006) if you’ve seen one nakige/crying game show, you’ve seen them all. So it’s probably best to have seen the best of the genre first.

I'm sure we could recommend a few shows but a few likes/dislikes would help. Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou is fairly obscure title from the spring season, can I assume from that you've seen most of the more popular titles of the last few seasons?

And they have international shipping too, nice link.

It's a bit different, the main audience is a bit older then the high school age, it mostly consists of young professionals/uni students (17-35ish) with plenty of disposable income (read: without spouses, kids and/or mortgages). It's not a cheap hobby. In anime you never see characters in high school go through puberty, in essence they are adults placed in an idyllic setting. Individuals are not jaded by experience so friendship and romance are not affected by things like financial/career interests or social standing. Off course the setting bears little resemblance to the real world but it allows the viewer to escape from their daily lives to a glorified time of their past. College is less suited as only part of the audience would have these shared memories.

The character design are by Clamp, a group of female mangaka which are famous for their bishonen style commonly seen in manga aimed at girls. It's not my cup of tea either. The series targets a relatively mainstream/casual anime audience as it has a bit of everything, it mixes school life, mecha, magic, drama, romance and comedy. In many ways it's Gundam Wing/Seed on steroids estrogen as it's extremely popular with the yaoi crowd and shippers. As far as I can tell the show is less popular at forums that focus on mecha then with mainstream anime sites. The high ratings follow from it's popularity and says less about it's quality. It one of those shows that fans love to push up the rankings as if it were a contest. And it certainly is popular:ANN recently announced that a third season will be made.

Iirc Graham mentioned in the first thread that originally the 1/2000 SDF-1 was a prototype for a toy not a model. But for some reason Yamato cancelled it and created the ABS do-it-yourself kit in an attempt to recoup the development costs. I would need to look up his post to find his exact words if your that interested. As the basis for a toy the 1/2000 certainly did not deliver. I would use the world failure to describe that even if the ABS kit sold beyond expectation.

I'm pretty impressed the way Yamato salvaged the SDF-1 project. The 1/2000 SDF-1 ended up as a failed prototype. Instead of shelving it entirely they pushed ahead with the expensive self built kit which now has lead to a smaller mass production versions. Well done, curious what price it will end up at. A bit taller then the Quarter it shouldn't be that much more expensive. I guess a price tag between 20,000 and 30,000 yen would make it accessible to most Macross toy collectors.

The money in anime these days is in moe not mecha. So I would bet that any relaunch of SDFM would end up as a high school drama, even more so then Frontier. (More then enough reason never to consider it!) So if we're aiming for the hit title of the year, what would this monstrosity look like? With a little help by Frankenstein: Set up: Most of the cast will be high school seniors living aboard the SDF-1: Misa: tsundere class rep (think Kyou from Clannad) Minmay: Hikaru's childhood friend, moe blob with music talent, loves Pineapple cake (Yui from K-on!) Hikaru: harem lead (pick any random rom-com, they are all the same) Milia: emotionless quiet girl (Tenchi, Angel Beats) and will fall for Hikky (they don't call em harem lead for nothing) Max: Hakaru' classmate, computer nerd and smitten by Milia. Kakizaki: military otaku and pervert. Butt of all jokes. The bridge bunnies: random female classmates. Together with Misa and Vermillion squad they form the schools computer club specializing in flight sims(the boys) and RTS-games(the girls). Lin Kyle: evil exchange student, aims to seduce Minmay with pine apple cake, will stop at nothing to get Claudias recipe Roy: former pilot now teacher in aviation, sometimes GAR, most of the time a lecher. Shares Minmays love for pine apple cake Claudia: the class's ICT teacher wants to domesticate Roy, eternally annoyed by his antics. Master cook of pine apple cake Plot: Zentradi arrive decade after crash SDF-1 as per normal. The rebuilt ship is understaffed as only a skeleton crew was aboard during the launch ceremony. After the emergency fold to Pluto the laws of Gundam will ensure that the class will end up in the military. UN Spacy adopts sailor uniforms as standard military outfits. The main attack of SW1 will happen at the same time as the annual school festival. Minay and the music club give their first performance there, broadcasted live to boost the ships morale. Zentradi warchine overcome by waves of moe-ness and fatal nosebleeds... There we go, wonder if there are any modern anime tropes missing?

They are quite different. I've only read part of the Retsu Tateo manga. The manga is more like Fumofu, the humor is somewhat edgier. Haven't read the original light novel by Shouji Gatou.

The first FMP is okay, but it got a lot better when Kyoani did the sequels instead of Gonzo. I think that both FMP: Fumofu and FMP: TSR are really good.

Haven't bought a YF-19 yet, mainly because of the bad reviews. I found the YF-21 a pain to transform and from what I have read the YF-19 is worse and is fragile. Would only pick one up if it's on sale. A new more user friendly YF-19 would be an immediate buy for me.