Macross 25th Anniversary! New TV series coming!

[Keith]

Besides M7, no other Macross series has been directed towards the young crowd, AFAIK SDF,DYRL, M+ and Zero were all very crude and violent.

If you don't think the original was geared towards a young crowd then you haven't paid enough attention to it.

[danth]

I don´t get the whole idea of animes having main characters in the same age of ¨possible¨ viewers, I wasn´t in my 20s when I watched Macross Plus yet I felt it was perfect as it was, an adult themed production

Likewise, when I was very young, my favorite movies were the Star Wars films (starring adults), and my favorite show was Greatest American Hero (starring adults). When I was around 10 years old, my favorite cartoon was GI Joe (adult characters). Kids naturally look up to adults and think they're cool, so what's with this idea that characters in kids shows have to be kids?

[sketchley]

Star Wars and adults? Luke Skywalker was what - a married 30 something?

To stay away from tangents - I think it should be defined what exactly is adult-themed, teenage themed, and child themed.

In Macross we have coming of age stories a plenty:

Macross Zero: Shin's story.

SDF:M: Hikaru, Max, Kakizaki, Misa, Minmei, etc., etc..

DYRL is the same.

Macross Plus: Dyson, Guld, and Myung all growing up to face their past actions.

Macross 7: Basara, Mylene, Gamlin, etc., etc., all growing up.

Macross 7 Movie and Dynamite are the same storyline.

The ONLY Macross that isn't about growing up is Flashback 2012.

Yes, none of them are kid characters in a show aimed at kids. However, neither are the majority adults in a show aimed at adults. The vast majority of characters and show themes are growing up, and coming of age. Prime material for the 12 to 25 year old demographic. The same demographic (with similar themes and storylines it should be added) as LotR, Star Wars, the Matrix, Harry Potter, and pretty much any of the major movies released since 1977 (aka the release of Star Wars and the realization of the teenage market.)

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Can't wait to see what the new valks will be like.... yummy.

[Graham]

No doubt Bandai and BigWest want to be able to put the best possible CG animation on the tube for the resurrection of the franchise, in hopes of recapturing the popularity of SDFM.

Not sure why you are mentioning Bandai's name in connection with the new Macross series? At this stage, the name(s) of the major sponser has not been announced. Certainly, there has been no public announcement that Bandai is in any way, shape or form connected with the new series.

The only confirmed players in the game so far are Satelite, Big West, Victor & Kawamori.

Any other names are at this stage pure speculation.

Graham

[Aegis!]

If you don't think the original was geared towards a young crowd then you haven't paid enough attention to it.

Well, I would certainly never put Macross in the same category as, for example, Doraemon, and that was a kids show. Macross was inteded for a much older demographic from the begining, just like gundam, it had its fair share of violence and mature themes, I don´t see 12 year olds identifying with those themes, they were there for the valks mostly.

Star Wars and adults? Luke Skywalker was what - a married 30 something?

To stay away from tangents - I think it should be defined what exactly is adult-themed, teenage themed, and child themed.

In Macross we have coming of age stories a plenty:

Macross Zero: Shin's story.

SDF:M: Hikaru, Max, Kakizaki, Misa, Minmei, etc., etc..

DYRL is the same.

Macross Plus: Dyson, Guld, and Myung all growing up to face their past actions.

Macross 7: Basara, Mylene, Gamlin, etc., etc., all growing up.

Macross 7 Movie and Dynamite are the same storyline.

The ONLY Macross that isn't about growing up is Flashback 2012.

Yes, none of them are kid characters in a show aimed at kids. However, neither are the majority adults in a show aimed at adults. The vast majority of characters and show themes are growing up, and coming of age. Prime material for the 12 to 25 year old demographic. The same demographic (with similar themes and storylines it should be added) as LotR, Star Wars, the Matrix, Harry Potter, and pretty much any of the major movies released since 1977 (aka the release of Star Wars and the realization of the teenage market.)

While I agree Macross has its fair amount of ¨coming of age¨ stories, most of its cast was already in their young-adulthood or at least they´ve already gone through some hardships in life for them to have a more mature response to the conflicts depicted in each series. For me, Macross fits the gap between adult-themed and teenage themed mecha series.

And BTW, having character development is not the same as growing up.

In M+ the characters were clearly in their adult years, they didn´t grow up, they confronted their inner conflicts and evolved. Shin had already gone through very crude hardships in life, being thrown into the battlefield from a young age, he was forced to grow up prematurely, what we see in M0 is him trying to recover his humanity and youth ( and Roy plays an important part in that ).

[TheLoneWolf]

An adult-themed production would be better, but in all honesty, the demographic of anime is generally not adults, but children through to teenagers.

If anything, we are going to get something along the lines of Macross 7: youthful coming-of-age A-stories for the main characters, with adult-themed subplots for the mature (not necessarily adults) in the B-stories.

I agree that most anime tends to feature young, angsty, and usually whiny (not really the case in Macross) teens in a coming-of-age story. Keeping this in mind, it was no surprise to hear that Macross Plus and Metal Gear Solid were nowhere near as popular in Japan as they were in America. Isamu being in his mid 20's and Snake in his early 30's probably made them more appealing to a western audience, but this more than likely had the opposite effect in Japan.

Even as a kid, I do remember preferring to watch shows and read books about adults rather than kids my own age. This is probably a cultural thing whereas in Japan kids there would rather see and read stories about their peers. What is it about either culture that causes this? I don't know.

I expect the next Macross to feature another cookie-cutter angsty teen. And if Kawamori is involved, lots of preachiness regarding the good of nature. Is it any wonder why a new series fails to excite me?

[s001]

I expect the next Macross to feature another cookie-cutter angsty teen. And if Kawamori is involved, lots of preachiness regarding the good of nature. Is it any wonder why a new series fails to excite me?

That would be a true shame for the franchise.

Just follow the crappy anime mainstream of today.

Macross is always different from the other animes

[s001]

I predict the new series will be the further adventures of The Jamming Birds!

And thanks to worry us more Keith

[Valkyrie addict]

most annoying kid character in the history of great mecha animes.... Shinji from Evangeleon, everytime I watch it I just wanted to throw the remote at him, hahhaha

that's actually something I don't quite understand from the Japanese culture, for them the age goas along with knowledge, elder people are very respected, but they have that fetish thing about little boys and girls on everything...

[chrono]

Well, I would certainly never put Macross in the same category as, for example, Doraemon, and that was a kids show. Macross was inteded for a much older demographic from the begining, just like gundam, it had its fair share of violence and mature themes, I don´t see 12 year olds identifying with those themes, they were there for the valks mostly.

I'll like the original producers tell me what audience segment it was aimed. But clearly is was aimed at the pre-teens and teens due to it's toy market and the given attitude toward anime being solely for children.

While I agree Macross has its fair amount of ¨coming of age¨ stories, most of its cast was already in their young-adulthood or at least they´ve already gone through some hardships in life for them to have a more mature response to the conflicts depicted in each series. For me, Macross fits the gap between adult-themed and teenage themed mecha series.

Oh it was always about 'coming-of-age' however, since many country's don't consider a person an adult until thier late twenty's. Also the theme 'coming-of-age' is a very diverse theme(it's about change at it's core), but in older times it was simply getting thru puberty and becoming an excepted part of society.

And BTW, having character development is not the same as growing up.

Debatable as they are very much inner dependent on each other and adds to the story if growing up is part of the story. See 20th & 21th Century Boys.

danth, very true!

All this speculation.... so little info...

Edited March 18, 2007 by chrono

[Zinjo]

It also depends on where they plan to market it as well. Japan only or internationally?

Appleseed used western musicians on the soundtrack which made it infinitely easier to mass market the movie here.

With the Blueray format having a shared region with the US it makes things much easier to market new Macross titles in North America as import discs, getting around HG's blockade. All that is required is to hire translators to put together English subs and off they go.

Mac Plus is much more appreciated here as opposed to there and I'm not sure how well recieved Mac Zero was in Japan. Both featured mature characters and mature themes, similar to SDFM which appeals to the fairly sophisticated attitudes of Western audiences including our youth.

So who knows, maybe they are planning a series similar in tone to Mac Zero and Plus.

I mention Bandai simply because they seem to be a regular distributor of Macross titles and I admit I made an assumption they'd be involved in sponsoring the new show.

[Vince]

Bandai being the largest toy maker in Asia, I'm willing to bet they will be very interested in the new Macross series. My concern is how this will play out for Hasagawa, it will surely be ashamed if Hasagawa stop making Macross kits.

[John Focker]

most annoying kid character in the history of great mecha animes.... Shinji from Evangeleon, everytime I watch it I just wanted to throw the remote at him, hahhaha

You've seen NOTHING yet my fellow MW'er...NOTHING...

You think Shinji's bad?

Just check out those whiny-kid-infested Transformers reincarnations...

or better yet...

Check out the Superior Defender Gundam featuring the kid with Tri-radish hair and poliomyelitic toothpick legs donning Shaq-size shoes.

If Macross is raped with such montrosities and turned into a Pokemon/Digimon clone, someone must die!

Who was it that said after Mac7 there's no where but up?

[sketchley]

Two Japanese expressions that may help members to better understand the Japanese preference of producing anime for the age (peer) group of the audience, as opposed to marketing a show about adults to kids, and why Macross Plus was not a success in Japan:

"If we all cross together, there's nothing to fear."

"The nail that stands out will quickly be hammered down."

Japan is not the individualistic culture of many to all North Americans. In fact, it is quite opposite. Yes, you can give the culture the derogatory label of 'group oriented', but it misses the point of the freedoms and comforts that the individualistic cultures don't have that the culture provides.

Macross Plus was about a bunch of 'nails standing out,' and they were not cool, as some of the nails that stand out in Japan can be, simply because the Macross Plus young-adults-but-still-kids-at-heart made trouble for everyone else in the process of standing out. For this very reason, Macross Plus is successful in individualistic cultures. It is also one of, if not the main reason why we will most likely never see another Macross like it.

This is also why the idea of the further adventures of The Jamming Birds has a lot more merit than posters are giving credit. Jamming Birds = team. A team that faces challenges and the trials of growing up together. That immediately gives something that ALL Japanese, no matter the age, can instantly identify with. After all, having your audience identify with your characters is a make-or-break point with any production.

Will the next Macross animation be aimed at the international market? Doubtful. It, like most every other anime, is created for the Japanese market. Any international sales are a bonus. The inclusion of foreign musical artists and foreign languages in anime in most cases isn't done to assist potential foreign sales, but to give a production an exotic air, and the use of English (written or otherwise) is generally accepted as cool. I'd compare it to the inclusion of alien languages in Star Trek and Star Wars - another layer to the rich story tapestry that is being created.

Aegis, growing up = character development, but not all character development = growing up. Macross Plus is about three university age kids facing up to problems they made for themselves in high school.

MW members may disagree with the three characters in Macross Plus being labelled kids; at best, I could call them young-adults, but as they lack responsibility and run away from their problems... like kids do... and the entire show is about them coming to terms with their childhood... thus "growing up" in a way that is so un-Japanese, that it was nigh impossible for the target audience to sympathize with their plight... making it rather unsuccessful in Japan.

Edited March 18, 2007 by sketchley

[sketchley]

Bandai being the largest toy maker in Asia, I'm willing to bet they will be very interested in the new Macross series. My concern is how this will play out for Hasagawa, it will surely be ashamed if Hasagawa stop making Macross kits.

Don't you mean that Yamato (a toy maker) will stop making toys? Even then, it runs contrary to Bandai having stopped making both toys and models for Macross, and both Yamato and Hasegawa currently making them. There may be some contractual agreements that even Bandai cannot break.

Of course, their is the possibility of Bandai getting the rights to make the cheap or low quality toys and models, while Yamato and Hasegawa retain the rights to the high end stuff. However, given that Bandai has stayed away from Macross every since Macross 7... I don't think they are interested in it any more.

Edited March 18, 2007 by sketchley

[Zinjo]

Two Japanese expressions that may help members to better understand the Japanese preference of producing anime for the age (peer) group of the audience, as opposed to marketing a show about adults to kids, and why Macross Plus was not a success in Japan:

"If we all cross together, there's nothing to fear."

"The nail that stands out will quickly be hammered down."

Japan is not the individualistic culture of many to all North Americans. In fact, it is quite opposite. Yes, you can give the culture the derogatory label of 'group oriented', but it misses the point of the freedoms and comforts that the individualistic cultures don't have that the culture provides.

Macross Plus was about a bunch of 'nails standing out,' and they were not cool, as some of the nails that stand out in Japan can be, simply because the Macross Plus young-adults-but-still-kids-at-heart made trouble for everyone else in the process of standing out. For this very reason, Macross Plus is successful in individualistic cultures. It is also one of, if not the main reason why we will most likely never see another Macross like it.

This is also why the idea of the further adventures of The Jamming Birds has a lot more merit than posters are giving credit. Jamming Birds = team. A team that faces challenges and the trials of growing up together. That immediately gives something that ALL Japanese, no matter the age, can instantly identify with. After all, having your audience identify with your characters is a make-or-break point with any production.

Hmm, Evangelion , Samurai Champloo, both examples of "buddy" series or small "teams" with individualistic tendencies. Hell even Basara was more loner than team mate, Shin the same way.

I get a distinct impression that Studio Nue is trying to stretch the boundaries of traditional Japanese philosophies. In that instance I do have respect for them trying to pose the question of "Is strict adherence to the group necessarily the best thing?" Always a interesting dramatic premise to leap from.

Will the next Macross animation be aimed at the international market? Doubtful. It, like most every other anime, is created for the Japanese market. Any international sales are a bonus. The inclusion of foreign musical artists and foreign languages in anime in most cases isn't done to assist potential foreign sales, but to give a production an exotic air, and the use of English (written or otherwise) is generally accepted as cool. I'd compare it to the inclusion of alien languages in Star Trek and Star Wars - another layer to the rich story tapestry that is being created.

Possibly, but even Japan with the legitimizing of their anime in the Western markets, which adds to it's "coolness" factor cannot remain so willfully blinded to a potential new market. If that were always the case then we wouldn't be driving Toyota, Honda, or Suzuki vehicles here. There wouldn't be any Sony or Panasonic brands here either.

The next Appleseed movie is being produced by an internationally known director John Woo, that is an indicator of a changing perception of the studios. Particularly with their shrinking domestic budgets for productions. Miyazaki and Studio Gibli's international success helps to fuel such perceptions and the idea that foreign investment in the anime industry is possible.

Among the public this may not be the attitude, because like us with our shows and movies, we are fairly indifferent about it and no doubt so are they. A friend of mine has a Japanese girlfriend and when he puts on anime, she get's fairly bored, but if he puts on a North American movie then that's another matter.

I don't know what the next Macross title will be about, however SDFM went against the demographics of the day with a more "gundamesque" type serious story and it was a monster success.

Mac 7 was a cookie cutter type kids story with lots of J-pop and it was a success too, but not as lasting as SDFM. Makes one wonder what is on the drawing boards this time?

[big F]

Zinjo make a good point there.

All the hype and speculation will be just that until someone eaither leaks the story idea or it is published officially.

I just want a good story with good animation (no Robotech anime) and not too much hippie poo and excessive singing.

[Gui]

All the hype and speculation will be just that until someone eaither leaks the story idea or it is published officially.

And it's just a matter of days now...

[Vince]

Don't you mean that Yamato (a toy maker) will stop making toys? Even then, it runs contrary to Bandai having stopped making both toys and models for Macross, and both Yamato and Hasegawa currently making them. There may be some contractual agreements that even Bandai cannot break.

Of course, their is the possibility of Bandai getting the rights to make the cheap or low quality toys and models, while Yamato and Hasegawa retain the rights to the high end stuff. However, given that Bandai has stayed away from Macross every since Macross 7... I don't think they are interested in it any more.

I meant for Bandai to get a piece of the pie like you mentioned here and not be the executive producer of toys and model kits for the series, creating different product lines for different market segment, age group, price range and such. Lower price products are needed at the initial stage for the series launch to achieve market penetration. The higher price and quality can come when the series has been accepted by fans (with money).

But then I've been wrong. Either way given the size of Bandai's and their distribution network, it will only be beneficial having them onboard.

On another note, didn't some anime in the recent year targeted the whole Asia market instead of domestic market alone?

[Valkyrie addict]

the problem with animes, is that most of them are fairly similar, once you seen one, you feel like you've seen them all

they all focus in one character, a child, who is insecure and somewhat antisocial, who turns out to be the saviour of the universe but doesn't really care, is forced into the situation, and several mentors/friends help him to develop, grow up or whatever so he can finally be ready to save the world, this is mostly, when the character is male

but if the main character is a female, she is a strong whiny talented cocky girl who can achieve everything, but needs to get off her ego trip to save the world

and let's not forget the I can leap 15 feet easily and shoot fireball with my hand and have 3 episodes go by with flashbacks when they are in a battle or whatever, or the excessive I need to explain you everything or try to convince you that my phylosoohy is the right one before I kick your ass

[T.V.]

I get a distinct impression that Studio Nue is trying to stretch the boundaries of traditional Japanese philosophies. In that instance I do have respect for them trying to pose the question of "Is strict adherence to the group necessarily the best thing?" Always a interesting dramatic premise to leap from.

That's an interesting observation, which makes me think it's a distinct Kawamori influence.

The Big Froating Head is an individualistic PIA who in his long carreer has often butted heads with colleagues and superiors, isn't he?

I believe Kawamori has a definite affinity with that kind of characters, which may (un)consiously influence the production of the afformentioned shows.

That said, the "breaking the mold" template is a fairly universal theme, even recognized in Japan.

US and other western audiences may like individualistic SOB's more than Japanese people do, in general.

I get the feeling that Japanese society highly regards discipline. Moreso than in the west.

As for mecha driven animes and Macross in particular, I think Gundam SEED, Eureka 7, Code Geass and other similar titles give a fairly good indication of the genre inclined audience demographic, and thus what Macross; Flyer should aim for if it wants to have the widest possible reach.

Edited March 18, 2007 by T.V.

[T.V.]

the problem with animes, is that most of them are fairly similar, once you seen one, you feel like you've seen them all

.. and you get old, etc., etc.

When you've get the "been there, done that" feeling, your younger brother may have gotten his first taste of it.

It's a recurring cycle of audiences of a certain age that get introduced to certain theme with which they have an age related affinity.

When MSG became a success in the early '80s, most of the fans were teenagers.

The same goes for Macross which came a few years later.

The Sentai shows of the '70s, up to current itterations of Power Rangers are probably the most shameless about reïnventing themselves time and again to capture a new group of youngsters each time.

[big F]

The Sentai shows of the '70s, up to current itterations of Power Rangers are probably the most shameless about reïnventing themselves time and again to capture a new group of youngsters each time.

The Star Trek franchise has managed it for years.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I just want an Isamu Dyson or the character from ninja scroll to be what the main character is like. Or maybe a character like spike from cowboy bebop? (Spike = space cowboy, while the guy in champloo = one of spike's ancestors from japan Spike is just more easy to relate to for the west because of his fighting style which clones all of bruce lee's moves)

I don't know about you guys but wasn't basara the kind of character who would go against the grain and for that reason, people would have to "put up with him"? I don't think only western audiences want non-whiny or non-pussy characters, fans just want something that isn't always the same story as told in every other anime about the kid with the communication problem. It's more that we are jaded and have seen it. I think that dyson suits macross plus because he is a test pilot for a machine that needs to show off to the military how good their tranforming fighter is compared to the competition so it's not that the character is out of place in that setting. You might need a person who takes risk and "pushes it to the limit" to get the most out of the machine. In fact the traditional guy who doens't take risks and plays it safe all the time (Guld) is actually more successful when he takes the limiter off when the time comes for it. (ie people's life is in danger) Now given that Dyson does this with the yf-19, how is that any different from when amuro ray complains that the gundam is too slow for his movements to keep up with his reflexes? Same thing imo just that one guy is cocky and shows off, and the other guy is more geeky and whiney. The thing they have in common is that because they are using an expensive piece of machinery the rules that apply to the regular soldiers are not going to apply to these characters because it is experimental and new. Trying crazy stuff might mean you find out something you wouldn't have found out had you been too hesitant to experiment and play around a bit to get a feel for what the robot/plane/superweapon could do.

Its anime FFS. Normal people know its not real and they watch it for an escape. Maybe they should take a different approach and not deliberately focus it only at fan of a genre by ignoring convention and just make it apreciatable to everyone instead? (the same way hikaru didn't always steal the show from roy or max despite being the main character. I'm pretty sure most people thought roy had the coolest vf-1 when they first saw SDF:macross. I mean it was as much about other characters as it was about minmay and hikaru and misa)

I can watch pretty much either type of anime whether it be directed internationally or just for japan so it's not going to be a big deal to me. I bet many purists are just going to import thier dvds from japan anyway right?

The episode in eureka 7 with those two red and blue Qrau clones reminded me of DYRL. Micromissile swarms, Qraus, love triangle, acrobatic dogfights, transformation, end of the world theme - that was pretty much a macross right there minus valks.

If they just put it in space, on different planets, have fleet battles, a gundam like arms-race, a bit of 8th MS Team sense of danger, and not stretch the series over 50 eps to tell the story like they did with macross 7, it shouldn't be that bad. They then pad the series with all the character build up to break up the action, (macross 7 had pretty deep characters I thought) and there ya go.

I thought macross Zero was too short, (rushed ending) and macross 7 was too long. repetitive songs, repetitive recycled combat animations, and the theme of monsters learning to tap into ther own power to save themself by singing took ages. (remember when that vampire chic was stuck in the tree hibernating for aaaages?! and basara had to sing to it until it woke up? that was boring!)

So something in between (maybe 26 eps and a cliff hanger ending) would be good. I thought what spoiled macross 7 was that we actually saw the monsters too early. We saw things from thier point of view and they weren't mysterious enough. They should have made the PD more like those evil demons in ninja scroll where you only get to see what they can do, after they killed something. They weren't evil but it might have made them more scary. I guess it just wasn't allowed to be violent and that is what held back mac7.

Edited March 19, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[jenius]

My opinion: Isamu, Gould, and Myung were not at all children. Were they flawed? Yes, certainly, but belittling the dynamics of their relationships and their character flaws as "coming of age" is just patently wrong. The same is true of Shin in MacZero. Yes, he has problems, no you can't write it off as being the story of a child growing up. Hikaru and Minmay are better examples of children coming to age (focusing on those crux teenage years with the added pressures of near armageddon). The examples of their coming to age are bountiful within the context of their relationships with each other (all the awkward moments and a love triangle that hinged on no small amount of innocence and naivette) as well as their reactions to the events that unfold (Hikaru's first kill, Minmay's realization of Kaifun's faults). Mac7 has Mylene who would fit right in with that (isn't she like 14?) and she spends the whole series trying to figure out what it is she wants. Basara doesn't really fit anything as he lacks a third dimension of any sort and the audience is instead presented with mirages to fabricate depth. So, arbitrarily labeling these shows as "children-oriented" or "adult-oriented" can't be an exact science since all of them cover a wide spectrum (although some do-so more than others). I would prefer something in the vein of the original series that has some characters that clearly need to do some growing up but that are grown up enough that they don't annoy the piss out of me (like the Mac7 cast did).

[TheLoneWolf]

sketchley, thanks for the informative post.

[Scream Man]

There are a lot of animes that are fantastic that arnet coming of age stories. Ghost in the Shell in its various forms, Mac 0, Mac +, Bebop... hell even Last Exile, which was largely starring children, didnt really feel like a "coming of age" to me.

As for the new series; Im all for an ova or longer series, but make sure u know where u are going and have it plotted first. Mac 7 is decompressed to far, and while i disagree that 0's ending was rushed, it still felt like it meandered around a lot before getting where it wanted to get.

[Skullsixx]

I vote for an OVA. The visual quality seems to hold up much better.

[RDClip]

Oh, I love it when i say something that sparks a huge discussion

Coming of age stories are all well and good, but the thing i love about Macross is the military aspect of it. I think many of the other mecha shows bother me (Mac II included) is that the 'kids' in these series don't really understand the duty they have. Gamlin was the only M7 main character I like because his story was about him developing the responsibily and understanding the conflict of his duty vs his personal feelings.

Cookie-cutter mecha leads are usually in a situation outside of their choosing and constantly have a problem with it but eventually learn its where they belong. (Lets forget Basara who never gave a damn about anyone but himself) I prefer characters that are in the military fighting because they want to be.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Well in anime the adults are usually the bad guys because they have made a decision that goes against what their own son believes.

Ie

the adults: "lets kill all the [insert alien race] and bring peace back to our homeland through force. These new robots should teach those invaders a thing or two about messing with us."

The younger generation: "stop killing people you idiot. I have friends who are [insert alien race], and I just want to screw his alien sister cuz she is hot! I want to make babies with her someday and live in a peaceful world. Can't we reason with them and everyone just calm the fart down and disarm their guns before it goes out of control?" *cue whiney screaming*

Then a big fight happens which kills important people (VIPs) giving more reason to toughen defenses and then march to war again and the story turns into a race to destroy the doomsday weapons that either side has developed before it ends in post-apoc world and there is no future generation to carry on living, before the weapons fall into some villain's hands who happens to also be a madman who had a traumatic childhood; which is revealed at the end, and who just wants to kill all humans because they've commited sins and are too unevolved to understand each other through communication. (ok enough picking on gundam for one day )

Anyway that is how I see the PC: the weapon got out of control and the peaceful ones tried to come to earth to start again, against orders, just before they became extinct and that resulted in humans ages later. (just speculating here. That's my interpretation)

To a lesser extent you could say this children vs adults idea was also in the star wars trilogy with luke having to fight his own dad because his dad was too messed up to keep a clear head to see that the empire is evil.

Edited March 19, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[MacrossCN]

===============================================

Mar.19, 2007

The last news from Satelight:

The Satelight prepare the Mecha show of Kissdum and Aquarion for TAF 2007. The Production Supervisor Shoji Kawamori chit chat with Satelight in Mar.10, 2007 for it.

Kissdum: NES Cockpit Armor（ＮＥＳコクピットアーマー）

There is no news for New Macross...

I figure Satelight ready all for other Animes, how about Macross???

BTW, some Macross fans join the Victor Entertainment's Heroine Application, I hope to get any grapes from them...

T T

- -

Mod edit: I hate that much null space, and no need to link to this thread

Edited March 19, 2007 by azrael

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Thanks I'm interested to see how this goes. I like the idea of smaller mecha to be honest. Something the size of those suits in appleseed is more my style.

If anything I think real robot shows like Patlabor demonstrates the semi-usefulness of a giant robot by how clumsily something that size would move in a city packed with traffic and other obstacles and the risk of crushing people if you had to actually walk about.

1. barely able to jump

2. wrecking the floor everywhere you step

3. not able to shoot because you might kill somebody innocent

4. so expensive that the police can barely afford it or justify the reason for its existence where the occasional drunken labor construction worker could easily be taken down with other vehicles

etc

Edited March 19, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Macross73]

pretty neat Mech.

looks as though it should be underwater with that bubble cockpit.

Its very much like a dolphin or whale.

Wonder if transforms or not? I suppose it does.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

http://www.kissdum.com/mecha.html#

It combines with other vehicles. Just like the glaug if the glaug was allowed to combine with other things beyond just the glaug booster.