Macross 25th Anniversary and upcoming new TV series thread

[UN Spacy]

I bet NEW sempai bites the dust REAL early on.

Anyone know if this is supposed to be a 26 or 50 episode tv series?

[Graham]

26 from what I understand.

Graham

[charger69]

Pleaseee better scans of grey/orange VF-25!!!

Hey Yamato, where is my VF-25???

(Upps, am I too early?)

Edited November 8, 2007 by charger69

[sketchley]

noticed it's in plural

I'm sure there might be at least a couple more fighters and destroids

Japanese, by it's very nature, is uncountable. As in - there are no plurals. If they do mention a plural, it tends to be with a specific quantity.

There is an exception to this rule, and I reserve the right to correct this when I see the text in question.

[Sumdumgai]

So who thinks this Nome girl is a descendant of Mao Nome? I mean Macross Zero gives us a story that was classified info in the Macross timeline for decades after the story of Macross Zero. Then we get Macross Frontier and have a girl with the last name "Nome".

I'm hoping that the mysterious enemy aren't Shin and Sara's inbred hippy stoner descendants.

[Aegis!]

I'd love to posts some comments and join you guys, but I can't see any pics whatsoever u_u

I'm dying to see some images so...could someone post a link or something, please...

[Mr March]

Sorry about that Aegis. If I knew kresphy's images weren't working for everyone I'd have posted the uploads I made for other message boards. Here's the pics on my webspace:

Can you see these okay?

Edited November 8, 2007 by Mr March

[eugimon]

still not liking that dip in the back in fighter mode.

[Kelsain]

The VF25 looks like it's got some of the Seiran running through its veins. I'm liking it a lot, but someone needs to give that battroid a cheezburger! I think it's an improvement over the SV-51, but I think it would benefit from a little anime magic in the torso. Can't wait to see it's face! (Second plus over the 51 - no Pope!)

PS: Just how small is that pic of the VF25?

Edited November 8, 2007 by Kelsain

[John Focker]

Considering it is taking place over 20 years after Macross 7, many different fighters would have been developed by then. In the 30 years after SW1, they went from the VF-1 to the VF-22, that is a range of many generations of fighters.

After the 20 year span, I wouldn't be surprised if VF-19/VF-22 are borderline retired, VF-25 become main fighter, and see newly developed models sometime past the series' midpoint.

If Bandai had the rights, and ran Macross like they run Gundam, we would've already seen 4 to 5 different types of Valks...

[wolfx]

Thanks for the repost. Haha....never thought this thread came alive again.

VF-25 fighter mode looks like it went back to traditional VF-1/VF-0/SV-51. Its nice and sleek but can't say I'd prefer something more "revolutionary" looking. After all that decades up in space and zentran adoption into society, you'd think that hory froating head would come up with a more revolutionary craft.

[charger69]

After the 20 year span, I wouldn't be surprised if VF-19/VF-22 are borderline retired, VF-25 become main fighter, and see newly developed models sometime past the series' midpoint.

If Bandai had the rights, and ran Macross like they run Gundam, we would've already seen 4 to 5 different types of Valks...

Which are quite the same cheesy looking variants of a single mobile suit with blades and light sabers

Thanks for the repost. Haha....never thought this thread came alive again.

VF-25 fighter mode looks like it went back to traditional VF-1/VF-0/SV-51. Its nice and sleek but can't say I'd prefer something more "revolutionary" looking. After all that decades up in space and zentran adoption into society, you'd think that hory froating head would come up with a more revolutionary craft.

Then people will start referencing the new designs to Yukikaze's crafts

I'm happy with a VF-0+VF-1+SV-51=VF-25

And who knows the design of the enemy mecha

Edited November 8, 2007 by charger69

[wolfx]

Hmmm I don't mind Yukikaze-ish fighters. In fact, I wouldn't mind if the new valk will end up looking like a SU-33-ish fighter. You know....big....menacing....loads of missiles.

[SuperHobo]

Well the VF-25 is looking pretty sleek and sexy even if the pictures aren't high res. The animation I'll leave to judge when I actually see it in action and not some unclear photos from a magazine. I hope the CG valks are even more rendered than that of Zero's. Hopefully with the proper funding and writing will see a beautiful spectacle in Macross history. All we need now is a scene in the series somewhere where a symbolism of Minmay getting slapped is put in and I think we can call it a win.

[Graham]

Damn, just checked the hobby shops near my work, but they don't have the December New Type yet.

The VF-25 is a definite mish-mash of the SV-51, YF-19 and VF-1 IMO.

Graham

[David Hingtgen]

Meh, looks like the VF-0. Which looked like the VF-1. All of Kawamori's recent valks are too similar, both plane and battroid. I like the Sv-51 because it's DIFFERENT. (Much how the YF-19 and -21 were). And -4. And -17. But the last 5 years---all variations on the VF-1.

[UN Spacy]

Meh, looks like the VF-0. Which looked like the VF-1. All of Kawamori's recent valks are too similar, both plane and battroid. I like the Sv-51 because it's DIFFERENT. (Much how the YF-19 and -21 were). And -4. And -17. But the last 5 years---all variations on the VF-1.

What would YOU like to see instead?

[eugimon]

Meh, looks like the VF-0. Which looked like the VF-1. All of Kawamori's recent valks are too similar, both plane and battroid. I like the Sv-51 because it's DIFFERENT. (Much how the YF-19 and -21 were). And -4. And -17. But the last 5 years---all variations on the VF-1.

doesn't look anything like the vf-0. looks like an sv-51 with vf-1 wings.

[azrael]

OH CRAP!!! Kazutaka Miyatake isn't listed in the article as a design contributor!! That'll be something of a first.

This whole pilot school junk (school based anime stinks for the most part), imo, feels like shades of Macross: Trash, M+, M7, AND CLAMP's recent anime all mashed together. I seriously hope that they plan on bringing the Anti-UN group back into the fold as the opponent.

Considering that the staff listings for MF haven't been released yet, it's premature to say Miyatake isn't on board. For Gundam 00, we didn't get a more complete staff listing till about 2 month before it aired, and the cast listing didn't show up until the following month. So before we all decide to jump to conclusions, you might want to wait for more info to come out in the following months.

One thing to keep in mind (and of course, has probably been lost since talk slowed down until this month) is this Macross is not really for the older generation. So should it feel like you are watching some CLAMP series, well, that's cuz this is the target audience is the same as many CLAMP series. a flight school motif hasn't been done in Macross, so again, we are exploring some new ground here.

[cyde01]

What would YOU like to see instead?

i'd like to hear what an aviation buff such as david would prefer to see as well.

i think the problem with kawamori designing a more revolutionary valk is that he doesn't have much to draw from for inspiration. for mac plus, he had future advanced fighter prototypes to draw from in the YF-23 and the X-29. however, real life fighters more advanced than those have yet to be conceived of, let alone designed or built. thus, when faced with the prospect of designing a valk more advanced than the YF-19 or the YF-21, he has no real world equivalent to work from.

consider some of the options:

the fb-22 pic

x-36 tailless fighter pic

boeing bird of prey pic

sukhoi su-47 pic

sukhoi T-50 pic

JSF pic

x-32 pic

all these planes would yield a valk design too similar to the YF-19 or YF-21, or they're completely unsuitable to design a valk from (x-36, bird of prey). the Rafale and Typhoon would be a step back from the YF-23 and X-29, and the only other advanced fighters are unmanned. so kawamori probably decided to settle with a proven formula for the VF-25 rather than guess what a 6th generation fighter would look like. plus, the VF-25 still looks better than a rehash of the 19 or 21

as you can probably tell i've put a lot of thought into what a valk that is more advanced than the YF-19 and 21 would look like, and I still haven't a clue. so i'd be intrigued to hear what David would like to see in a valk more advanced than the 19 or 21.

Edited November 8, 2007 by cyde01

[Sumdumgai]

Who's willing to bet against me? That Saotome is going to either:

A) have a voice actress.

or

B) be voiced by a voice actor who plays very girly-looking-guy roles like: Sakurai Takahiro (Cloud Strife, Suzaku), Suzumura Kenichi (Zack Fair, Kudo Shin, Shiro Kamui), Yamaguchi Kappei (some guy in Gravitation), Seki Tomokazu (Van Fanel, Shiro Kamui, another guy in Gravitation), Koyasu Takehito (Gamlin though he's not that type, Hotohori, also was in Gravitation, Kiryu Touga), or Midorikawa Hikaru (Tamahome, Mikagami Tokiya, Icarus/Toma).

I really doubt he's going to have a really deep voice. I'm expecting something soft or nasally, and brooding.

I can't wait to see better pics of the VF-25 and to see that transformation.

additional stuff after seeing cyde01's post, which he posted while I was still writing:

The X-36 looks like a Ghost fighter. Kawamori was jokingly saying that the Russians were taking inspiration from the YF-19 by doing the SU-47. And I agree that those designs aren't all that workable for a valkyrie more advanced and groundbreaking than the YF-21, or unconventional than the YF-19 forward swept wings without looking too... well weird.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Sumdumgai

[Keith]

The VF-25 is definately pretty, character designs are cool, though it's how they look when animated that counts. I get the feeling this series will mirror the original in many aspects, all the right pieces seem to be there. The Nome name being used could just be mislead though, but we'll see.

After months of nothing, I'm definately excited again.

[Zinjo]

JSF pic

Ahem... F-35 Lightning II...

I'd rather SK concentrate on making the enemy mecha alien and cool and stick with the proven technology of the variable fighters. Hell the SW-XA looks more cutting edge than the VF-25, however it depends on what the premise is.

If the VF-25 is a line fighter then it won't be fitted with a lot of fancy bobbles like a special missions fighter would.

I expect with the retcon of SWAG tech (not my favorite retcons from Mac Zero ) it is conceivable that the new variable fighters have some sort of limited omni-directional barrier shields. It's hard to tell if they still sport leg mounted mini-missile launchers. The spikes could be shield emitters or energy weapons, since SK has designed it as an all mode weapons system, considering the vertical stablizers in GERWALK mode and the return to the swing wing construction of the wings.

Need more info...

I don't mind the idea of a pilot school. It's a fresh premise, no more far fetched than teenagers being accepted into the pilot ranks aboard the Macross. If the drama and situations are plausible, the age of the characters won't matter much...

Edited November 8, 2007 by Zinjo

[Dante74]

Is anyone else wondering why a fighter for a space based colony would need wings and air intakes?

[Sumdumgai]

Well Dante, if they settle down on a planet that's hospitable, they'll probably need variable fighters capable of operating in an Earth-like atmosphere. It is a long range colony fleet, looking for a place to settle down on, if they're anything like the Megaroad or New Macross colony fleets.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Have to for those cool atmopshere based missions! I don't want a whole series based in space. >_< BORING!

And Nome is totally a decendant of you know who. There will be a link.

Edited November 8, 2007 by ruskiiVFaussie

[Dante74]

Well Dante, if they settle down on a planet that's hospitable, they'll probably need variable fighters capable of operating in an Earth-like atmosphere. It is a long range colony fleet, looking for a place to settle down on, if they're anything like the Megaroad or New Macross colony fleets.

I know, but in Mac 7, did they ever actually fly in an atmosphere? I wouldn't know because I haven't seen Mac 7...yet.

I'm with Ruskii here. They'd better find a planet to fight over so we can get some cool atmospheric combat scenes.

Whatever the case, we'll probably see FAST pack versions of the VF-25 anyway...

[Graham]

Yes, there was a fair amount of atmospheric flying in M7.

Graham

[MilSpex]

so kawamori probably decided to settle with a proven formula for the VF-25 rather than guess what a 6th generation fighter would look like.

Won`t the next generation of real world fighters be remote control?

[Mr March]

I agree with cyde01 adn Zinjack. At this point, there's no way to reinvent the wheel with regards to Valkyrie design. Virtually every conceivable way to transform a jet from fighter to Battroid has previously been explored by Kawamori. IMO, I think it's better for him to stick to the transformation methods that work (VF-1, VF-11, YF-19, YF-21) rather than the ones that don't (VF-4, VF-9, VF-17, et cetera).

As others have mentioned, Kawamori has already borrowed from the most advanced fighter craft in the world. It's not so much the overall silhouette that is most important, it's the smaller details like engine nozzles, nose shape, wing shape/edges, fuselage design and other such elements that make one aircraft frame look more advanced than another.

The majority of design elements from the real world aircraft have been utilized in the mechanical design for Macross Plus, especially the YF-21. Having exshausted all real world inspiration, the next step can only be refinement in design rather than innovation. As I see the state of Macross mechanical design, Kawamori has only two choices other than refinement:

1) Invent the next major advances in aerodynamic design himself (this is hardly something we can ask or expect of one man).

or

2) Create faux-futuristic designs ala Macross II/Yukikaze and abandon all his engineering sensibility in favor of style (this is hardly something I would want to see in a Kawamori-designed Valkyrie).

But really, this is all just fanboy gab about minutiae. I'm FAR more concerned with the story for this next Macross production. The story is something that has suffered in the last two major Macross productions and this is not a mistake I want to see repeated. The VF-25 is a great design in my eyes and it will have far more appeal to me as a Macross vehicle if the story in which it's used is better than Macross 7/Macross Zero. So far, everything looks great for Macross Frontier and none of the supposed warning signs that others see are bothering me. I'm cautiously hopeful

[Phyrox]

While I would have liked to have seen something that looked a bit fresher for the VF, what we do have is, at least from what little I can make out, not so bad.

It takes the forward fuselage of the SV-51 (it's only good quality) and combines it with the rear fuselage of the VF-19 (it's best quality). Looks OK to me, better than VF I've seen in a while.

If Kawamori is going to just be reworking the same territory he's already covered though, I wish he would revisit/update some of his other Advanced Valkyrie stuff.

I hope the "bad guys" don't have variable fighters in this series. Cool mecha, yes...VFs, no.

[Zinjo]

I hope the "bad guys" don't have variable fighters in this series. Cool mecha, yes...VFs, no.

Well it is the popular thing with Macross fans. Whether the enemy will have variable fighters (VF types) is unkown, but they quite possibly may have variable mecha since it's what the audience wants to see.

More battlepod ownage by VFs is not really something that will generate much word of mouth buzz.

[Project Phoenix]

It looks like a rehash of the VF-1. But that is a good thing in my book. Now I am looking forward to see Yamato release them in toy form.

[eugimon]

could someone explain to me why people keep comparing this new valk to the VF-1? Other than the wings and the hikaru paint scheme, the two have very little in common. The head placement in fighter mode, the transformation, and the way Battroid mode looks doesn't seem to me to be similar to the VF-1 at all.

[Mr March]

I'm lost on that one too eugimon. The VF-1 color scheme is the only striking similarity to the original VF-1 Valkyrie that I can see in the VF-25. The nose is SV-51, with a totally new cockpit canopy. The fuselage is YF-19/VF-19, as are the rear vertical stabilizers (especially the VF-19 Excalibur-like placement off-nacelle). The ventral intakes are SV-51. The legs/engine nacelles are new with some YF-19 and Fz-109 influences. The main wings are Advanced Valkyrie/VF-0 styling. The shield is of course Macross Plus-era. The feet are fairly new, like elongated YF-19 feet but with a new design. And last but not least, the Battroid mode looks like a VF-5000 upper torso with an SV-51 mid-torso and an overall YF-19 Battroid silhouette.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Mr March