Macross Frontier News Thread IV *Read 1st post*

[Valkyrie addict]

Are you for real? Okay, I´ll need to ramble a bit.

First off, you don´t introduce random elements into a series which in the end turn out to be for basically nothing, if you have any skill as a writer. If you have a scene in a room where a sword hangs on the wall, it better damned get used somehow somewhere!

This is what I'm so worried about in Frontier, the last two macross productions have had terrible ending results

Macross 7, 49 episodes, 3 unreleased episode, 2 OVA... and the love triangle was never resolved, we could have gotten a lot more about the protodevlin history and background and they just learn to sing a song and the universed is saved, and space whales are inmortal

Macross Zero, what happened to Edgar, APHOS with Sara and Shin? and what was the whole deal of Zero since nothing really got explained at the end, we just got some pretty feathers and a valk magically flying away, I don't know how can anyone be content with that ending

and Frontier has sooooooooooo much things that need to be explained

I don't want to be let down this time

[Macross007]

We have had now three or four such antagonists? The Zentraedi, the Protodevlin, the Birdmen and now the Vajra? Wouldn´t have some people already said "Enough of this!", if it weren´t for the interminably long time we had to wait for another Macross series? You can only repeat a story so many times, before it becomes stagnant.

Or are we all really just waiting for the Supervision Army to show up, and humanity just needs a new special songstress. To repeat the same story all over again?

Let´s rather tell a new story in the Macross universe. How the inner conflict between the human and cyborg colonization fleets threatened to extinct humanity, and that conflict needed to be overcome. Preferably with good music.

Could not said it better. ENOUGH with all these Protoculture biological weapons. Zentradi, Supervision Army, Protodevlin, Birdmen, Vajra and what next ? This is getting ridiculous. I'm beginning to think that the Protoculture had nothing to do except creating useless bio weapons. Macross need to go the Macross Plus way : making an independant story not related to any of the Protoculture bio weapons but keeping the power of the music and love. Repeating the same story all over again is working well for Gundam but I seriously doubt that Macross can maintain a decent level of success with that kind of tactic. As you said, Macross need to explain itself : we need more explanations on the Macross universe. For example, a OVA of a TV series explaining how things work when a colonial fleet find a habitable planet. Or how the NUNS on Earth deal politically with it fleets spreading across the Galaxy. Just throwing ideas for fun. But just to say that the Macross Plus way must be the way to go for the Macross franchise.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Macross007

[Gubaba]

Could not said it better. ENOUGH with all these Protoculture biological weapons. Zentradi, Supervision Army, Protodevlin, Birdmen, Vajra and what next ? This is getting ridiculous. I'm beginning to think that the Protoculture had nothing to do except creating useless bio weapons. Macross need to go the Macross Plus way : making an independant story not related to any of the Protoculture bio weapons but keeping the power of the music and love. Repeating the same story all over again is working well for Gundam but I seriously doubt that Macross can maintain a decent level of success with that kind of tactic. As you said, Macross need to explain itself : we need more explanations on the Macross universe. For example, a OVA of a TV series explaining how things work when a colonial fleet find a habitable planet. Or how the NUNS on Earth deal politically with it fleets spreading across the Galaxy. Just throwing ideas for fun. But just to say that the Macross Plus way must be the way to go for the Macross franchise.

To be fair...we don't KNOW that the Vajra are protoculture bioweapons yet...and Macross Dynamite 7, like Macross Plus, didn't have any old remnants of the Protoculture coming back to threaten the present. So they don't always go that route...

But yes, it does strain credulity a bit...but so did the whole notion that, of all the planets out there, the Macross would crash on earth...and that the Zentradi would coincidentally locate it on the very day it was due to be launched.

[Cybergig1]

Speaking of Macross Plus it would be interesting if in these last episodes with the power struggle and whatnot we got to see some SMS versus NUNS valkryie action! probably wont happen but I mean thats part of what made Macross Plus so bad@$$

[charger69]

That's out of topic a little bit but I have to tell.

From the last week, I'm dreaming about a 1 hour animation special named as:

MEGA STRUCTURES:

BUILDING

MACROSS FRONTIER

Like the documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic, but in Macross way.

Mr. Kawamori can show us how new colony vessel was being build, also some new mechas like cool construction destroids etc.

Just day dreaming

Edited August 31, 2008 by charger69

[Morpheus]

That's out of topic a little bit but I have to tell.

From the last week, I'm dreaming about a 1 hour animation special named as:

MEGA STRUCTURES:

BUILDING

MACROSS FRONTIER

Like the documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic, but in Macross way.

Mr. Kawamori can show us how new colony vessel was being build, also some new mechas like cool construction destroids etc.

Just day dreaming

I prefer Tour of The Factory Satellite, we can see all type of construction there from regults, NMC, and latest colony ship design.

[sketchley]

Personally, I like how Macross has continued along it's own themes, and not borrowed from other shows nor become clones of them. Biological weapons is one of the things that makes up Macross.

But yes, it does strain credulity a bit...but so did the whole notion that, of all the planets out there, the Macross would crash on earth...and that the Zentradi would coincidentally locate it on the very day it was due to be launched.

Agreed that it strains credulity that the ASS-1 would land on Earth. But hey, if it didn't, there wouldn't be a show.

As for the Zentraedi detecting it:

Macross's space launching ceremony. The Zentradi Army's Vrlitwhai Fleet arrives within the Solar System. During its enemy search operation for Supervision Army survivors, the fleet happened to detect traces of an Supervision Army gun destroyer's (Macross's) defold reaction from 10 light years away and came in pursuit. Macross's Main Cannon automatically fires.

From http://macross.anime.net/wiki/2009

So, it's not so much that the located it on they arrived on the same day, but that they happened to be able to detect the ASS-1's defold reaction that occured 10 years prior as it passed through an area 10 light years away. Perhaps their arrival just as it was activating was a coincidence, but then again, if they arrived earlier or later, the show would be vastly different.

[mike_s_6]

Just throwing ideas for fun. But just to say that the Macross Plus way must be the way to go for the Macross franchise.

The co-director of Macross Plus I think made a whole lot of difference, just look at his other works. He has a knack for making characters that can move your emotions. I'm not so sure if eliminating the Protoculture in a story would make a good story in itself, but why not for a future Macross series

[Final Vegeta]

Heh ? Frankly if the series ended with basically nobody knowing of the Galaxy's role or involvement that would be rather lame.

They may get to Grace, but it's as far as they get. They can't wage a war based on suppositions, and Galaxy consortium may officially deny any responsibilities for Grace's actions.

It would be nice to see Macross Galaxy get some action at the end, but be aware that it can only done in a very rushed way.

First off, you don´t introduce random elements into a series which in the end turn out to be for basically nothing, if you have any skill as a writer.

That's amateurish thought. And there is also amateurish comprehension of Macross Frontier.

The world doesn't exist just for a few characters' sake. Excess of converging destinies may result in contrivance. You have to accept that some things are just there to create a universe bigger than its characters. Thus in Macross we got the Protoculture without having ever seen it.

The Galaxy consortium seem to be an extension of corporations. As such something like that would have existed independently of the main characters. Ultimately it's a group born out of greed, doing things for greedy reasons. These reasons seem to contrast those of Bilrer. This is all we need to know.

As for them being defeated, this is a comeuppance that may feel good to the audience, but ultimately is worthless. They are a headless organization, and they may not even be the only of its kind. They are bound to be a costant thorn in the flesh, but at least we can see their plans thwarted this time.

You have called them "the real game", but have you noticed we don't even know their names? That's because it's not important who they are, what was to be known was that Grace is not just a subordinate spy, she works at the utmost levels. Basically they are an extension of Grace, they show how much Grace is influent.

As for Bilrer, he explained to Alto the existence of the Fold Quartz. This is a way to indirectly tell the audience details about the story without resorting to a narrator.

The Fold Quartz is a subplot centered around the peculiar importance of the Vajra in the universe of Macross. For audience's sake it is expressed as a conflict between Bilrer and Galaxy. This made things easier to understand: at the end of the anime the one of them who is rejoycing has won. As such though all it is needed is just their comment about the outcome.

The fate of Bilrer is tied to the Vajra, because for his goal he needs Fold Quartzes, which are found only in the body of Vajra.

If the Vajra will be huntable Bilrer will get his goal.

If the Vajra will flee from this galaxy Bilrer won't get his goal.

If the Vajra will become unhuntable because now friends of humans Bilrer won't get his goal.

If the Vajra will become unhuntable but let everyone access their graveyard Bilrer will get his goal.

It is as simple as that.

What Galaxy actually wants is still to be known, so I can only speak for Bilrer. Macross Frontier is not the story of him becoming a quartz baron though.

As for the Vajra, yeah they have no personality. What do you expect out of something that bears no resemblance to humans at all? Still, for villains personality is not a must. The villain can be even a force of nature.

And this brings me to my final point: The Macross universe must move a bit away from another enemy who just needs a beautiful song to be won over.

And here is where Kawamori waves his hand and says goodbye to you

FV

[Final Vegeta]

The co-director of Macross Plus I think made a whole lot of difference, just look at his other works. He has a knack for making characters that can move your emotions. I'm not so sure if eliminating the Protoculture in a story would make a good story in itself, but why not for a future Macross series

I don't think the co-director of Macross Plus was as influential as you think. Basically Kawamori was thinking about three other stories and he put them together with the brand name Macross to get them approved. For this reasons it's arguably the Macross "less Macross" out there.

FV

[mike_s_6]

I don't think the co-director of Macross Plus was as influential as you think. Basically Kawamori was thinking about three other stories and he put them together with the brand name Macross to get them approved. For this reasons it's arguably the Macross "less Macross" out there.

FV

Have you watched the other works of Watanabe? I wouldn't say that he "made" Macross Plus, that's preposterous, but given that Macross Plus had those characters makes me think that he had a hand in at least writing down the personalities of Isamu and Guld, which for me, is why Macross Plus was so interesting (apart from the excellent Valkyrie to Valkyrie action, which I'd credit to Kawamori in a heartbeat).

I'm just saying that it's not enough to remove the Protoculture to perhaps make Frontier as interesting as Macross Plus, if Macross Plus is comes close to your standard of good story-telling.

[Sergorn]

They may get to Grace, but it's as far as they get. They can't wage a war based on suppositions, and Galaxy consortium may officially deny any responsibilities for Grace's actions.

It would be nice to see Macross Galaxy get some action at the end, but be aware that it can only done in a very rushed way.

I dunno. When you think of it the big Bodolza flottila in SDFM basically arrived just for the final battle episode... and it was still done effectively, so we'll see.

But really it would be really odd to have introduced the rebuilding Galaxy at the end of episode 15 for it not the play a role later on.

-Sergorn

[Major Focker]

a double-length 25th episode would be a nice way to cap off this series.

regardless, 4eps should be sufficient to wrap up the major threads.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Major Focker

[Radd]

Could not said it better. ENOUGH with all these Protoculture biological weapons. Zentradi, Supervision Army, Protodevlin, Birdmen, Vajra and what next ?

Er, the Supervision Army was not a Protoculture biological weapon.

The Protodevlin were not Protoculture biological weapons. The EVIL series bodies they inhabited were, but not the Protodevlin themselves. The Protodevlin were also the force behind the Supervision Army, just as they were behind the Varuta forces. And the Supervision Army has never shown up as an enemy for humanity to face, seeing as how they were wiped out after the Protodevlin were originally sealed away.

We don't know that the Vajra come from the Protoculture. We have some indication that they are, and some indication that they aren't (if the narration speaking of the limits of the Protoculture and all Protoculture races was translated correctly). We'll see how that all wraps up.

So, let's see, out of three series and three OVAs we have two confirmed examples of "biological weapons", if you consider a clone army to be a biological weapon (and if you do, then where do you draw the line? What about humans and zolans?). That would be the Zentradi, and the EVIL series weapons designed to replace the Zentradi but being used by another enemy entirely. The Birdman is as much a machine as a Zentradi warship, or battlepod, or Q-Rau. What more would you expect from a race that's shown to have biologic-based technology? Where do we draw the line? At any rate, we're not exactly seeing a recurring, "What Protoculture bio-terror will our heroes face this week?" formula, with the same story endlessly repeated.

Also, Dynamite was another such Plus-like side story, without "Protoculture bio-weapons". I love both Plus and Dynamite, so sure I'd like to see more along those lines, but as it is they're hardly rehashing the same story over and over with SDF:M, M7, and Frontier.

[Final Vegeta]

Have you watched the other works of Watanabe? I wouldn't say that he "made" Macross Plus, that's preposterous, but given that Macross Plus had those characters makes me think that he had a hand in at least writing down the personalities of Isamu and Guld, which for me, is why Macross Plus was so interesting (apart from the excellent Valkyrie to Valkyrie action, which I'd credit to Kawamori in a heartbeat).

I'm just saying that it's not enough to remove the Protoculture to perhaps make Frontier as interesting as Macross Plus, if Macross Plus is comes close to your standard of good story-telling.

I think Watanabe is good with older main characters, and probably this is also one of the reason Kawamori hired him.

There was already the intention on Kawamori's side though to do something for an American audience. Also, he specifically said he liked to do something on the line of the novel "The Right Stuff". Again, what is due to who is debatable, but it's not like it slipped past Kawamori.

With a mainstream series though you know you have to use protagonists not older than 17. This limits their possibilities.

As for the Protoculture, I just said that Macross Plus was a story that just happened to become Macross, therefore it have less ties to its predecessor from the start.

I dunno. When you think of it the big Bodolza flottila in SDFM basically arrived just for the final battle episode... and it was still done effectively, so we'll see.

But really it would be really odd to have introduced the rebuilding Galaxy at the end of episode 15 for it not the play a role later on.

In Macross Plus we got the Macross consortium doing its shady dealings, but it never got a comeuppance of sort. It all comes to how dark you want your story to be.

FV

[Macross007]

Er, the Supervision Army was not a Protoculture biological weapon.

You are right. SA was a faction of the Protoculture. My mistake.

The Protodevlin were not Protoculture biological weapons. The EVIL series bodies they inhabited were, but not the Protodevlin themselves. The Protodevlin were also the force behind the Supervision Army, just as they were behind the Varuta forces. And the Supervision Army has never shown up as an enemy for humanity to face, seeing as how they were wiped out after the Protodevlin were originally sealed away.

Just saw "The Mistery Of The Ruins" (Macross 7 episode 37) yesterday night and again you are correct. The Protodeviln come from a parallel universe. But that does not change the fact that the "EVIL" are Protoculture bio weapons.

We don't know that the Vajra come from the Protoculture. We have some indication that they are, and some indication that they aren't (if the narration speaking of the limits of the Protoculture and all Protoculture races was translated correctly). We'll see how that all wraps up.

Wait and see, but I have a bad feeling about that.

So, let's see, out of three series and three OVAs we have two confirmed examples of "biological weapons", if you consider a clone army to be a biological weapon (and if you do, then where do you draw the line? What about humans and zolans?).

Humans are Protoculture's ancestors. Humans did not received genetic modifications to become a bunch of super soldiers unlike the Zentradis. That is why I can't say that Humans are bio weapons.

That would be the Zentradi, and the EVIL series weapons designed to replace the Zentradi but being used by another enemy entirely. The Birdman is as much a machine as a Zentradi warship, or battlepod, or Q-Rau. What more would you expect from a race that's shown to have biologic-based technology? Where do we draw the line? At any rate, we're not exactly seeing a recurring, "What Protoculture bio-terror will our heroes face this week?" formula, with the same story endlessly repeated.

The Birman is indeed a machine but with bio parts in it. Why do think Sara was able to control it ? With her DNA. So I consider the Birman as a machine and as a bio weapon because of it ability to interact with biological components.

Also, Dynamite was another such Plus-like side story, without "Protoculture bio-weapons". I love both Plus and Dynamite, so sure I'd like to see more along those lines, but as it is they're hardly rehashing the same story over and over with SDF:M, M7, and Frontier.

Glad you see it that way. I'm just saying that Macross need to forget the "Protoculture" for some time in an effort to become a much more diversified franchise. Macross Plus is the best example of what I'm talking about. I want a Macross franchise dealing with diversified issues. I'm not saying to forget all about the Protoculture because is an important issue of the Macross universe but I'm saying that other issues deserve attention too. After all, it's called "Macross" not the "Protoculture Show".

Edited August 31, 2008 by Macross007

[Master Dex]

Let's remember one of the reasons Macross Plus is so different at times is that Kawamori originally wasn't trying to make a Macross OVA, just a story about 2 test pilots. However it became Macross eventually I think because that is the only way it could get done. This is probably why you don't see anything about the Protoculture, besides that it is for the most part a character study (with two really awesome mechs duking it out).

Edited August 31, 2008 by Master Dex

[Radd]

Well, the SA was a faction of the Protoculture in the same way that the Varuta are a faction of humans. It's actually a credit to the series that there's so few other races in the story. They could have easily pulled a Star Trek, like so many other shows/anime. And, as I understand the story, humans are not Protoculture "ancestors" in that we came directly from Protoculture, but that humans are the result of Protoculture directly meddling with life on Earth. That narrows the "definition" gap between human and zentradi in this context. Both races are products of the Protoculture via genetic engineering.

And the EVIL series are pretty incidental to the Protodevlin appearance in M7. One might as well complain about Zentradi appearing in every single Macross, even when it's been as an integrated part of human society ever since SDF:M.

So the Birdman is a machine with bio parts. So are Q-Raus. So are zentradi battleships. Again, where do you draw the line? It seems like a very odd complaint to make.

Glad you see it that way. I'm just saying that Macross need to forget the "Protoculture" for some time in an effort to become a much more diversified franchise. Macross Plus is the best example of what I'm talking about. I want a Macross franchise dealing with diversified issues. I'm not saying to forget all about the Protoculture because is an important issue of the Macross universe but I'm saying that other issues deserve attention too. After all, it's called "Macross" not the "Protoculture Show".

But like it or not, the Protoculture are a big part of the series, and always has been. The Protoculture and the Protodevlin pretty much set everything in motion. Even this far into the third Macross tv series, there are unanswered questions. To be fair, out of 6 series/OVAs (not counting DYRL since it was a retelling of SDF:M, or Flashback since it was kind of an epilogue to both) 4 have dealt with Protoculture themes, and two have been exactly what you're talking about when asking for side stories not dealing with the Protoculture themes. Considering the amount of time between Macross productions, and the questions that have lingered with Macross fans in the time between them, that's not a bad ratio, hardly indicative of a series returning to the "same old thing" to the point where it's ridiculous.

I've no problem with the idea of seeing more Macross side stories, like I said I'd love to see more of that, too, it's just that the complaint that all we've seen, aside from Plus, is the Protoculture bio-terror of the week seems like such a silly argument. Especially when it's not entirely true.

[magnuskn]

That's amateurish thought. And there is also amateurish comprehension of Macross Frontier.

*snip rest of long diatribe telling me in more detail what you said in the first sentence.*

Sorry, you are wrong. I am going to post a part of a column, which novel writer Robert Weinberg wrote a few years ago for a X-Men fansite named X-Fan, when he was writing the comic Cable ( for which he won one Bram Stoker award ). He also taught "Writing Thriller Fiction" at Columbia College in Chicago for 3 1/2 years, so it´s not as if he is talking out of his behind.

It´s called "How to write"

"Second rule: A story is like a human body. Your basic idea is the heart of your body. The plot is the skeleton. Without a skeleton, people are nothing more than mush. Without a plot, a story isn`t anything either.

You take that basic idea and look at it with a writer`s eye (read my previous column) and say to yourself, "What does this imply?" or "What`s going to happen because of this event?" or one of a hundred other questions. You study your idea and look at what happens next. You have a heart, but now you need someplace to put it. You need that skeleton, the plot, for that idea to develop and work.

A story needs a framework to work right. Don`t let anyone tell you otherwise. Character development is extremely important, as is setting, but a story that is all character and no plot, is not a story. It`s just a sketch. A story that`s all scenery and no plot is a landscape. A true story has events that follow logically from one point to another.

Please, please note that word "logically". You can`t write a good story if the story doesn`t make sense. As you`re developing a plot, you need to ask yourself again and again and again (!!!) "does this make sense? Would anyone act this way?" The problem with so many terrible stories we see on TV or in the movies is that the people act so dumb. Why go into the basement when you know a serial killer is on the loose and you`re home alone? Wouldn`t it make more sense to call 911 then end up with an axe in the middle of your forehead? If your plot doesn`t read true, then readers aren`t going to believe your characters. And, if you want to keep someone reading your story, you need them to believe your characters are intelligent, not idiots.

Now, let`s go back to the skeleton for a minute. There`s a reason I compare a story to a human body. As I said, the basic concept is the heart, and the plot is the skeleton. (next column, I`ll discuss muscles and blood - no kidding!). The main thing that you need to remember about a skeleton is that all the bones are attached - to each other. That`s another basic rule of storytelling that you can`t forget. Your plot has to flow from one point to another and everything in your story needs to be attached. Everything in your story needs to be there for a REASON.

I type that in big letters because it`s a fact that many writers - amateur and professional both - seem to forget. A story is exactly like a skeleton. If halfway through a murder mystery, you spend a chapter describing the hero going for a swim in the swimming pool, later in that book that scene better have a reason. Otherwise, you`re just wasting the reader`s (and your) time.

A well-told story does not contain material that is not relevant to the plot. Sure, it has sections that develop character and setting, but those are important elements to any story. Sure, if it is a mystery or suspense or adventure story, it might have elements that seem unimportant but that help establish a specific point that you need to know. However, a story filled with scenes that have no explanation and no tie-in with the story are filler. They might make the book or story longer, but they serve no useful purpose. And, the goal of a good writer is to construct a story that ties together perfectly.

Comics are somewhat different than regular novels or short stories in that they are a continuous medium - that is, the adventures continue on and on, like a soap opera with super heroes. So, sometimes there are glimpses of things to come - events that happen that are not explained in the story, or sometimes, not for several stories to come. That`s foreshadowing, a standard practice in fiction that works as a continuous medium (not only comics, but novels that feature the adventures of the same characters, or movies like the Star Wars epics, etc.) That`s allowable, but within limits. If you`re going to use foreshadowing, one of the basic rules of writing dictates that you don`t begin a plot thread and leave it dangling until the readers have forgotten it. Otherwise, you`ve done nothing than waste space. Foreshadowing is fine, as long as you keep hinting from time to time that sooner or later that mysterious stuff that seems to make no sense is going to be discussed and hopefully will be exciting. Again, it`s all common sense. If you get the reader interested in what might happen next, you don`t postpone what should happen next for two or three years when they`ve totally lost interest in that plot thread.

How can you tell if you`ve written a good plot? Play doctor. If your plot works, it should be just like a skeleton. Remove an important bone from a human skeleton and a person is permanently damaged. Remove an important scene from your book or your story or your comic and your story should be permanently damaged! In other words, every major scene, every major twist, every major turn in your story has to be there for a reason. If you can cut five pages from your story and it still reads exactly the same, then guess what? You`ve written five pages too many. A tight plot is one where every event matters, and if someone is reading your story and they skip a few pages, then they`ll need to go back and read them again.

Watch The Sixth Sense. Or The Matrix. Or Dark City. Every scene in those movies is there for a purpose. Cut out a scene and the movie doesn`t make sense. The plots work and they work well. Then watch most Hong Kong action film (I admit I like them - a guilty pleasure). Cut out any scene other than the beginning and the final fight. No difference. Because the plot isn`t important, it`s just an excuse for a lot of action. It`s eye candy and it looks great. But, give me the choice between The Drunken Master and Dark City, I`ll take Dark City every time. "

And here is where Kawamori waves his hand and says goodbye to you

I find your lack of imagination disturbing.

[MisaForever]

Wow, again such serious back and forth on a fan-site. I don't think I'll ever be a real fan just because of this kind of stuff.

Edited August 31, 2008 by MisaForever

[electric indigo]

I think that if anime would follow Robert Weinberg's rules, most of us here wouldn't be watching it at all. Funny how he doesn't even realize how narrow his approach is.

[magnuskn]

I think that if anime would follow Robert Weinberg's rules, most of us here wouldn't be watching it at all. Funny how he doesn't even realize how narrow his approach is.

Actually, so far the series has followed his approach to a T. Foreshadowing, plot and character development, it´s all there. It just seems unlikely that they will be able to pull it all together with only four episodes left, so the next logical conclusion is that there should be a season two in the works.

[GreatMoose]

I think it COULD be done in one season (especially if the last two episodes are double length, making it essentially 28 eps), but I really like the idea of wrapping up the Vajra this season, and then conflict with the Galaxy being the second.

[Morpheus]

Does anyone have the ratings for MF episodes so far? I just want to know which episode got the highest rating and which one is the lowest.

[Major Focker]

Does anyone have the ratings for MF episodes so far? I just want to know which episode got the highest rating and which one is the lowest.

IIRC ep8 had the highest ratings by far. go figure

[magnuskn]

IIRC ep8 had the highest ratings by far. go figure

Sheryl pantsus!

[MacrossCN]

^^

[Major Focker]

ah, i see you got the tissue handy. kidding...

[d3v]

Off course, for all we know, Kawamori is once again trolling us and the series will actually run for longer than 26 episodes, say 36 eps, just like the original (exept this time by choice).

Off course a second season is what I would prefer.

[Sulendil Ang]

d3v: I don't know, I prefer if MF just end in one season. Just don't like the idea of waiting another few months/years to see the story in its conclusion. But that's just me.

kresphy: Nice thing. BTW, what's that VF picture you hang in the wall?

[magnuskn]

Holy... is that a bedsheet you can buy, Kresphy?

[DarkReaper]

Hmm, your room looks a bit like a prison cell, at least the part I can see.

[MisaForever]

Kresphy, all respect I had for you just went out the window. You are a sick, sick man.

[rubi]

ah, i see you got the tissue handy. kidding...

Since when in a prison cell you have the right to have a PSP ? And no, I don't know anything about it (prison...)

This was maybe take from a dormitory but I would have thought the picture was more interesting for Sheryl's supporters ?..... I love her hair here !

Edited September 1, 2008 by rubi

[Final Vegeta]

Your plot has to flow from one point to another and everything in your story needs to be attached. Everything in your story needs to be there for a REASON.

You fell in my KEIKAKU DOORI!

How strong does this REASON need to be? Have you ever thought about it?

For example, we have a singer in a mecha anime.

STRONG REASON for her presence: she is there to defeat enemies with her singing.

WEAK REASON for her presence: she is there just because we like singers.

How came you can accept a WEAK REASON for main characters being singers in Macross but demand that secondary characters need to have a STRONG REASON to be there? Like, them being the ultimate enemy or something like that, and not just Conspirator A, Conspirator B, Conspirator C and Conspirator D?

Obviously we will get at least a second scene from them which will show how they are doing, and this is needed because they were made into characters, but their main reasons to be in the story are 1) to show the real status of Grace 2) to show a broader perspective of the impact of main characters' actions. This in a stylish "show, don't tell" way.

This is not to say their role couldn't be expanded upon, but so far there is no reason to do so.

Comics are somewhat different than regular novels or short stories in that they are a continuous medium - that is, the adventures continue on and on, like a soap opera with super heroes.

Anime are different from comics. The first difference is that they don't go on and on. The second difference is that they still need to separate the story in self-contained units called "episodes". These episodes are to be seen one per week. Each episode usually needs to have its own story (unless it continues from the previous one), therefore there are always a lot of overall filler parts, because they serve just for a particular episode. If an episode in itself failed to build a good own climax usually it's called a bad episode (an episode not so entertaining). A bad episode may still have elements important to the overall story though, and may still be important to the overall pacing and emotional polarity, despite being a filler.

Emotional polarity is a technical term from another author's guide to writing. You can't reduce writing just to making things flow from one point to another while avoiding fillers.

I find your lack of imagination disturbing.

You consider yourself a good writer, yet the first thing you suggest right of the bat is to jump the shark, and with a franchise that is already successful as it is, and as it is doing.

FV