Macross Chronicle Translations

[sketchley]

As much as I would like to do it (and over half of the Chronicles in general), I know it's way beyond my present capabilities. As you also have the motivation to do it... it's actually quite surprising how much motivation plays a factor in language acquisition, translation, etc..

[Gubaba]

As much as I would like to do it (and over half of the Chronicles in general), I know it's way beyond my present capabilities. As you also have the motivation to do it... it's actually quite surprising how much motivation plays a factor in language acquisition, translation, etc..

Definitely...I plowed my way through all 23 volumes of Area 88 a few years ago (reading, not translating) out of sheer bloody-mindedness. I doubt I would've been able to do the same with something I didn't like as much...indeed, I tried to read some other, much shorter series later, and got nowhere.

[VF-18S Hornet]

Quiet, you, or I'll only translate the Mylene fashion parade and the explanation of Ranka's hair.

Anyway, Sketchley seems to like doing the Technology sheets, so I'm happy to leave them to him. It looks like he and I might have to fight over certain History and World Guide sheets, but as long as I get to do the Jammingbirds page, I'm happy.

Hey I like to know why Ranka's hair has a mind of it's own?

[RedWolf]

Hey I like to know why Ranka's hair has a mind of it's own?

I do have a theory about that.

The only other gal seen with live moving hair is Sivil.

Which means presumably Ranka's grandma's clone line is more or less a Zentradi precursor to Sivil Evil Series.

Sivil's hair sucked the life off Basara.

Edited November 4, 2008 by RedWolf

[Mr March]

I always thought Ranka's "hair" being prehensile was a very "bad" idea.

[Nexx Stalker]

I always thought Ranka's "hair" being prehensile was a very "bad" idea.

It's the whole Ranka that is a bad idea, not only her hair.

[sketchley]

Old news; Ranka is one of those Zentraedi with hair that can move. You know, like DYRL's Exodol.

[Final Vegeta]

I always thought Ranka's "hair" being prehensile was a very "bad" idea.

Moving hair is simply a cliché of anime. Nothing too bad. Mind that in the same anime we also got color-changing hair.

FV

[Zinjo]

Moving hair is simply a cliché of anime. Nothing too bad. Mind that in the same anime we also got color-changing hair.

FV

Color changing hair?

[Killer Robot]

It's not a cliche or emotion-conveying animation trick in Ranka's case, it's been officially described as a known if uncommon Zentradi genetic trait. My question: is it actually prehensile and/or capable of moving via the hair itself, or does it just move via subdermal muscles like some animals can do with fur or whiskers? If it's like that it's at least less bizarre. Still, it's a weirder sort of thing to push into the Zentradi genome than the pointy ears were.

[Final Vegeta]

Color changing hair?

Yeah, like Sheryl It's still not explained how her hair works.

FV

[Zinjo]

Yeah, like Sheryl It's still not explained how her hair works.

FV

You've seen a strawberry blonde in the sunlight right?

[Gubaba]

You've seen a strawberry blonde in the sunlight right?

You saw her become a brunette suddenly in the final episode, right?

Anyway, I'm sorry I brought it up. Do any of you fine Macrossworld commentators have any translations to share?

Edited November 5, 2008 by Gubaba

[Morpheus]

You saw her become a brunette suddenly in the final episode, right?

Anyway, I'm sorry I brought it up. Do any of you fine Macrossworld commentators have any translations to share?

Let see what I can do.....well its a rare chance for me to improve my Japanese and Kanji skill, or I could let my native friend on my lab to read it aloud to me in English while I write whatever he says.....

[azrael]

Anyway, I'm sorry I brought it up. Do any of you fine Macrossworld commentators have any translations to share?

Been occupied with the stuff from 2059:Memories. And I just got issues 6 thru 8. As I said in an earlier thread, I got a boat-load of Macross in the past 2 weeks. It's gonna take me time to digest and get back into work on the Chronicle.

[mike_s_6]

You saw her become a brunette suddenly in the final episode, right?

I thought that was just a sign that she was rapidly dying - people who age get duller hair color through time, and since she was nearing death, it just made sense that they make her lose that youthful luster. It wasn't just her hair that lost its youthful color, from what I remember.

[Gubaba]

I thought that was just a sign that she was rapidly dying - people who age get duller hair color through time, and since she was nearing death, it just made sense that they make her lose that youthful luster. It wasn't just her hair that lost its youthful color, from what I remember.

Y'know, it's kind of discourgaing to have an offhand comment I made generate so many responses, while the stuff that took me hours of work get almost none...

I'm not trolling for praise, I'm just sayin'.

[mike_s_6]

Y'know, it's kind of discourgaing to have an offhand comment I made generate so many responses, while the stuff that took me hours of work get almost none...

I'm not trolling for praise, I'm just sayin'.

Oh I didn't mean to do that, sorry. I haven't gone through the scans though (and consequently your translations), perhaps in a while

[Graham]

This is sci fi. There's all sorts of explanations as to Sheryl change of hair color - nanotech, holgram, mini fiberoptics implanted in her hair, etc, etc.

Graham

[Gubaba]

World Guide Sheet

04A: The Zentradi

Page One

[Picture Caption] To say that "life" and "battle" have the same meaning is not an exaggeration to Zentradi, who know nothing but war. But when they learned of a life outside of war, called "culture," they became humanity's partners.

The Zentradi: The Warrior Race Spawned by the Protoculture

It was when humanity met the stuff of legends - the Zentradi giants. While in myths, giants had been protrayed variously as gods or monsters, such powerful beings have always been products of the human imagination. But giants truly existed, and existed throughout the galaxy. To the cultured Protoculture civilization, it was not strange to dream of imaginary beings as being truly alive, and the Protoculture had the power to create that life. Because of that, the day that mankind first met giants outside of the realms of fantasy, that day was no dream. And none of them knew how dangerous that meeting would be for humanity.

The Giant Human-Type Biological Weapons, the Zentradi, were created eons ago by the Protoculture, who also constructed the Interstellar Republic. They needed to create something pliable and intelligent enough to follow orders, wage war, and such things, but still not deviate from their role as weapons. The fundamental principle of the Protoculture was "Involve ourselves in every aspect," and so they placed many chains on the new life forms. Their thinking ability was restricted; they were not able to create even the simplest thing; nor could they effect any kind of repair work.

For the Zentradi, in whom the battle instinct is strengthed to the point that "war" and "life" have the same meaning, and missing any sense of how to create, they tended to continue fighting no matter what. But their meeting with humanity became the turning point, when some of the Zentradi of the Bodol Main Fleet who had been exposed to culture decided to follow in the path of mankind. According to the words of the Protoculture, the powerful mind control placed on the Zentradi could be broken by the rush of emotion caused by what is known as "song."

From crossing swords at first to choosing coexistance with humanity, the Zentradi have raised the old saying "Yesterday's enemy is today's friend" to a galactic level. As humankind proceeds out into the unknown galaxy, beside them stand the Zentradi as their close companions. because, in this legend, the giants turn out to be our best friends.

EXTRA REPORT: Zentradi Miclonization

By using the Miclone System, Zentradi can reduce themselves to human size, making the so-called "Miclonization" process possible. During Space War I, the Zentradi spies Warera, Rori, and Konda miclonized themselves to infiltrate the Macross. There, they learned about culture, building a bridge between their species and ours. Further, reversing the process and turning humans into giants is also possible, but whether the report than Maximillian Jenius became a ginat during Space War I is true or false is still unknown.

[Picture Caption - MacroKlan and LoliKlan] Klan Klan - A Zentradi attached to S.M.S., Macross Frontier's civilian military provider. Although she's a beauty who boasts an outstanding figure, she has an unusual physical makeup that causes her to have the body of a yound girl when miclonized.

Page Two

The Creation and History of the Zentradi

In the 27th century of the Protoculture Calendar (2600s), the Protoculture created the Zentradi to serve them in expanding the territory of the Interstellar Republic. Later, when the Protodeviln emerged, and with their brainwashed Protoculture and Zentradi followers (it is presumed that the army of Protodeviln followers formed the base of what later became the Supervision Army) began their attack on the Interstellar Republic, the Zentradi who stayed loyal to the Republic could no longer fight effectively, due to their Prime Directive, which forbade them to attack any Protoculture. The protoculture removed the Prime Directive, but this directly and indirectly resulted in the war becoming even more intense, and involving more of the Protoculture, whose population dropped sharply. After sealing the Protodeviln, the depleted Protoculture had only enough power to reissue the Prime Directive. But those Zentradi absent during the issuing kept to their earlier orders, "Fight the enemy," and continued the war. But when they contacted a portion of humanity that had acquired "culture," they quickly changed. No longer mere weapons, they became "a single species," walking down a new path.

[Picture Caption - Chlore's Fleet] Still continuing to fight, the Zentradi have become well-known throughout the galaxy. After Space War I, only a small number of them could agree to a peaceful settlement.

Distinctive Physical Features

The physcial structure of the Zentradi when they are in Miclone form is almost exactly the same as an Earth person's, but in giant form, the position, function, etc. of their interior organs changes in order to give them a more powerful physical form suitable for battle. It is when macronized by the Miclone System that their unique genetic differences become apparent. During the cloning process, the organs and general constitution are scaled up, and body-strengthening is applied. Later, although Zentradi were still created by cloning on Factory Satellites,* coexistance with humans has introduced them to giving birth through more natural means as well.

[Picture Caption - Ranka's "Dog Ears"] Zentradi genes will skip generations, and individual traits will manifest variably. Some people are linked to their heritage through hair which moves according to changes in their emotional state.

[Picture Caption] Zentradi Size Zentradi: 10 m. / Human 2 m.

(Gubaba here. It's still not done. This is taking longer than I thought it would, thanks to the amount of biology words in the "Distinctive Physical Features" section. Meh. I'll try to finish it before next weekend.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Gubaba

[RedWolf]

Interesting that some Zentradi still abide that directive.

Which could mean if there are Protoculture remnants they could have Zentradi fleets under them.

[Gubaba]

Interesting that some Zentradi still abide that directive.

Which could mean if there are Protoculture remnants they could have Zentradi fleets under them.

I think the article is really unclear about what happened after the Protoculture reissued the Prime Directive...possibly the Zentradi who obeyed it were all destroyed...? Certainly, Bodolzaa's Fleet has no built-in failsafe to keep them from killing Miclones.

But yeah, you could be right. We'll probably never know, unless you want to turn it into a fanfic (which I'm assuming is your intent).

Really, I think the only long-standing question this article answers is that yes, humans CAN be macronized. DYRL is not wrong on that count.

[Letigre]

I think the article is really unclear about what happened after the Protoculture reissued the Prime Directive...possibly the Zentradi who obeyed it were all destroyed...? Certainly, Bodolzaa's Fleet has no built-in failsafe to keep them from killing Miclones.

But yeah, you could be right. We'll probably never know, unless you want to turn it into a fanfic (which I'm assuming is your intent).

Really, I think the only long-standing question this article answers is that yes, humans CAN be macronized. DYRL is not wrong on that count.

I guess that only leads to more questions..largely why don't we see more macronized humans? Or hybrids, for that matter....after all by the time of the events Frontier there is evidence of more and more mixing between humans and Zentradi, but thus far all of the known and noted hybrids have been miclones. I wonder if "can" really means that it's possible, but potentially dangerous.

[Killer Robot]

I guess that only leads to more questions..largely why don't we see more macronized humans? Or hybrids, for that matter....after all by the time of the events Frontier there is evidence of more and more mixing between humans and Zentradi, but thus far all of the known and noted hybrids have been miclones. I wonder if "can" really means that it's possible, but potentially dangerous.

Emilia Jenius is an example of a half-human that was macronized, but she's the only one I can think of. After her talking about how seeing DYRL as a kid totally changed her life, I have to wonder if that affected her decision to go the opposite way of most.

That said, I could totally believe that a number of things could make this rare even where full-sized Zentradi are found. Cultural forces are one: when even most Zentradi micronize, why go the other way? Especially if there are any undercurrents of resentment/discrimination against Zentradi, why try to emulate that trait? Resource footprint might be a factor as well: it's one thing to tolerate humans' new partners keeping their historic stature if they so choose, but might it be more frowned upon for one born human to go the other way?

On to the strictly medical: It might well be that many/most humans aren't genetically suited to do it safely especially after millennia of genetic drift from when the Protoculture last meddled with human genes, and so it's unreliable enough to make it even rarer than personal choice alone would dictate. Long-term effects especially might not be known: the long-term effects of Zentradi being micronized were still being felt out as of the 2040s, and that's with a much larger sample size. Having implants whether of the old-school Zentradi style or the modern Galaxy-type designs(which are common in much of the rest of the Galaxy by 2059, mind) might mess with things. It might also be unsafe for those not yet fully grown as well: with Zentradi cloned apparently directly to adult stature, making the process work for children wouldn't have been a priority. Weird cases like Klan's aside, mind.

[Morpheus]

The zentraedi article still doesn't explain why the protoculture made both male (zentran) and female (meltran) warrior, in the TV series we saw them mix into one army (Bodol fleet) while DYRL depict them as separate army who's constantly fighting each other. Although in Mac7 they depict Chlore fleet as another independent meltran fleet, they are using DYRL meltran ship, which is different from Lalplamiz unit in Bodol fleet.

Or probably Protoculture just like woman with big boobs.

[sketchley]

Erm... can we keep the tangental discussions to a minimum, or another thread? I thought this topic is only about translations, and not discussion of translations.

[RedWolf]

Well I do have a theory that the Meltran ship designs in Fleet of Strongest Women held a little truth about the DYRL movie.

Two factions of the Protoculture civil war used different fleets.

One side with very organic ship designs while the other more machine like.

Also in regards to Laplamiz fleet remember factory satellites are rare.

Begars can't be choosers. Like the Glaug fleets like Chore's is a novelty.

Edited November 11, 2008 by RedWolf

[azrael]

Well I do have a theory that the Meltran ship designs in Fleet of Strongest Women held a little truth about the DYRL movie.

Two factions of the Protoculture civil war used different fleets.

One side with very organic ship designs while the other more machine like.

Also in regards to Laplamiz fleet remember factory satellites are rare.

Begars can't be choosers. Like the Glaug fleets like Chore's is a novelty.

Let's just keep this just to translations and not fan-fic theories. You do know we have a fanworks section....

[Gubaba]

I added more to the Zentradi section, but it's still not done. I've only got about seven or eight more paragraphs, though, so it shouldn't be too much longer.

At this point, I'm beginning to see time frames...Character Sheets take a weekend, World Guide or History Sheets take a week.

After I finish the Zentradi sheet, I'll move on to either the Sharon Apple Incident History Sheet, the Protodeviln World Guide Sheet, or the Shao Pai Long History Sheet.

I've also started working on the Timeline Sheets, but I'm trying something different as far as my usual translation "method" (which is usually "Start at the beginning, blunder through the middle, and, when I come to end, stop tearing my hair out"). It'll take a bit longer to get any of the pages up posted, but it means that I can work on five or six sheets simultaneously, which (I hope) will enable me to ACTUALLY CATCH UP to the magazine, which would be nice.

[azrael]

(which is usually "Start at the beginning, blunder through the middle, and, when I come to end, stop tearing my hair out").

*looks at hair on floor*

Yeah, that's already happening pulling the info off the VF-25 kit manual...My stubble is having a better time than the hair on top of my head.

[sketchley]

Started typing up WorldGuide: 13a Super Long Range Emmigration Fleet 超長距離移民船団 here: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/inde...c=2017.msg28855

(Started being the applicable adjective. I finished like the first paragraph. I'm going to try and complete a couple of paragraphs every night for the next few nights.)

Finished translating Technology: 01a Variable Fighter バリアブルファイター. Not much new info, and during many spots, I felt like I was translating stuff I read a couple of times already in English... hopefully the 01b sheet will be more... revelatory...

Housekeeping:

Completed but not typed up:

Mechanic: SDF:M UNS 15a Space Destroyer 宇宙駆逐艦

Technology: 01a Variable Fighter バリアブルファイター.

Currently being translated: I think I'll dive into Mechanic Sheet: SDF:M, UNS 09a: Military Vehicles. Need a break, and a relatively short page to feel like the momentum is continuing. 3 (or was it 4?) weeks on one sheet is... well... =.=

Subsequent sheets I'm interested in translating:

mechanic M7 UNS 9a Macross 7 Fleet

mechanic SDF:M Zentraedi 10a Factory Satellite

mechanic D7 UNS 01a VF-5000

History M7 02a Varuta Martial attack

tech Variable fighter 1b

tech Destroid 2a

tech Super Long Range Emmigration Fleets

worldguide 17a Macross 7 fleet

[Gubaba]

Started typing up WorldGuide: 13a Super Long Range Emmigration Fleet 超長距離移民船団 here: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/inde...c=2017.msg28855

(Started being the applicable adjective. I finished like the first paragraph. I'm going to try and complete a couple of paragraphs every night for the next few nights.)

Finished translating Technology: 01a Variable Fighter バリアブルファイター. Not much new info, and during many spots, I felt like I was translating stuff I read a couple of times already in English... hopefully the 01b sheet will be more... revelatory...

Housekeeping:

Completed but not typed up:

Mechanic: SDF:M UNS 15a Space Destroyer 宇宙駆逐艦

Technology: 01a Variable Fighter バリアブルファイター.

Currently being translated: I think I'll dive into Mechanic Sheet: SDF:M, UNS 09a: Military Vehicles. Need a break, and a relatively short page to feel like the momentum is continuing. 3 (or was it 4?) weeks on one sheet is... well... =.=

Awesome!

And I know what you mean about momentum...the feeling of progress is almost more important than progress itself, isn't it?

[Zinjo]

Erm... can we keep the tangental discussions to a minimum, or another thread? I thought this topic is only about translations, and not discussion of translations.

Agreed.

We can start a discussion thread based on the translations of the Chronicle found in this thread.

[Zinjo]

Hey guys, does anyone have a down and dirty translation of the Q&A's in Memories 2059?

Just curious...

[Getsuga Tenshou]

DOMO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU. This translation will be very useful for fans who cant read Japanese like myself. Im taking up Japanese classes starting next month. Ill be helping you guys with future translations projects after I get the hang of it :-)