Macross Books

[hachi]

20 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Most folks, yeah.

I'm kind of weird in that I specifically got into collecting them with research as a goal (to fix the many errors in the old Macross II RPG).

There's just too much coming too fast for fan translators to reasonably stay on top of things, so the percentage of material made accessible to western fans is presently quite low.

(On a lark I got a price quote on what it'd take to get something like Variable Fighter Master File volumes professionally translated and it came out to a bit under $25k per book.) 

$25K is like several years' worth of a 3rd world salary

It's probably better spending money learning Japanese and translating it yourself. Or find someone studying JLPT Level 1 who might be up to take the challenge for some compensation (of course not $25K).

[Seto Kaiba]

8 hours ago, hachi said:

$25K is like several years' worth of a 3rd world salary

It's probably better spending money learning Japanese and translating it yourself. Or find someone studying JLPT Level 1 who might be up to take the challenge for some compensation (of course not $25K).

Yeah, the quote came in at $24,575 and four months turnaround time... an amount that's nothing to sneeze at even in the 1st world and not really that much faster than my group can do it on our own.  We inquired out of idle curiosity, and that princely sum was enough to convince us to inquire no further.  

It wouldn't be so bad if we had a license to commercially exploit a translation, since that cost could be spread across the sales of a few thousand books, but it's too steep for doing it simply for the love of the game.

[jvmacross]

10 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Yeah, the quote came in at $24,575 and four months turnaround time... an amount that's nothing to sneeze at even in the 1st world and not really that much faster than my group can do it on our own.  We inquired out of idle curiosity, and that princely sum was enough to convince us to inquire no further.  

It wouldn't be so bad if we had a license to commercially exploit a translation, since that cost could be spread across the sales of a few thousand books, but it's too steep for doing it simply for the love of the game.

You think you'd be able to sell "a few thousand" books? Just one translated volume of the MF books or the entire run?

 

[Seto Kaiba]

8 hours ago, jvmacross said:

You think you'd be able to sell "a few thousand" books? Just one translated volume of the MF books or the entire run?

Worldwide?  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I could sell ten thousand copies of a licensed Variable Fighter Master File volume's translation no problem.

Such as it is, I'm not likely to ever get a license due to the ongoing legal reasons and not owning a publishing company, so instead my humble circle of amateurs are focusing our attentions on just doing it for love of the game. 

Those who attempted this year's Super Dimension Convention's collectibles panel will have heard that we're working on a complete translation of Macross Journal Extra: The latest version of SKY ANGELS: VF-1 Valkyrie Special Edition.  The original plan was to have that one done and ready for uploading by SDCon to promote our new website project, but life got in the way when one of my day job's projects got moved up a full year without warning so now it's targeted a launch title for 1/1/19.  I just got to the bit about the engines (page 38) last night.

[jvmacross]

Wow...didn't think there would be that many folks actually willing to pay for a translated Macross publication.

Sadly, if such a book came out....it would be copied and posted online in its entirety within a few weeks if not a few days.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

17 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Wow...didn't think there would be that many folks actually willing to pay for a translated Macross publication.

Sadly, if such a book came out....it would be copied and posted online in its entirety within a few weeks if not a few days.

Yeah, I know five or six volumes of Variable Fighter Master File already have been fan-translated into Chinese.

[jvmacross]

9 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Yeah, I know five or six volumes of Variable Fighter Master File already have been fan-translated into Chinese.

Distributed for free is a big difference than selling ten thousand....many people claim Macross is a niche franchise which I think sooner would be the reason why an officially licensed translation wouldn't pan out in terms of sales numbers.....I for one would buy it....I just don't think I'd have anything close to 9,999 other paying fans joining me...

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Distributed for free is a big difference than selling ten thousand....many people claim Macross is a niche franchise which I think sooner would be the reason why an officially licensed translation wouldn't pan out in terms of sales numbers.....I for one would buy it....I just don't think I'd have anything close to 9,999 other paying fans joining me...

Thanks to the block on exports, Macross is one of the most-pirated anime titles whenever a new one comes out.  These days, there's ample evidence that most would rather purchase legitimate product and support the creators rather than resort to piracy not just in the Macross fandom, but among the anime hobbyist community in general.  (It's basically Crunchyroll's entire business model...)

Macross is, I think, more mainstream than you're giving it credit for... especially since Frontier.  There has always been a fairly significant underground fanbase, and one of the biggest obstacles to them has always been the huge markups that come with buying media direct from Japan.

Lately, the industry has picked up to the point that even light novels are more routinely ending up translated into English and selling rather well.

[jvmacross]

Guess we may never know for sure, unless HG relinquishes the license or someone decides to pay them to release something

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Lately, the industry has picked up to the point that even light novels are more routinely ending up translated into English and selling rather well.

 What would be an example and where would the info regarding number of copies actually "sold" be available?  You can certainly print as many copies as you want, but the trick is to actually get folks to buy them at retail...otherwise you won't be publishing many other volumes if the existing books are becoming clearance fodder

[Seto Kaiba]

46 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Guess we may never know for sure, unless HG relinquishes the license or someone decides to pay them to release something

It won't be so much a "relinquishing" as a "expiring"... it's not really something they control.

 

46 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

 What would be an example and where would the info regarding number of copies actually "sold" be available?  You can certainly print as many copies as you want, but the trick is to actually get folks to buy them at retail...otherwise you won't be publishing many other volumes if the existing books are becoming clearance fodder

I've been following a few series through Yen Press, including Kugane Maruyama's Overlord series... I haven't seen precise numbers for the sale of the translated edition (if such a thing is even published as a matter of course), but the publisher has indicated continuing strong sales... enough to justify a pace of 2-3 new volumes per year.

[jvmacross]

1 minute ago, Seto Kaiba said:

It won't be so much a "relinquishing" as a "expiring"... it's not really something they control.

Let's hope so....I still recall the teasing of a translated Macross Memory from Books Nippon back in the day.....I appreciate the fan translations, but being able to buy a book like that via amazon or a local bookstore would be fantastic...

4 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

I've been following a few series through Yen Press, including Kugane Maruyama's Overlord series... I haven't seen precise numbers for the sale of the translated edition (if such a thing is even published as a matter of course), but the publisher has indicated continuing strong sales... enough to justify a pace of 2-3 new volumes per year.

Well, that is good to hear, but again, not sure how well a Macross publication would fare.....

[Seto Kaiba]

21 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Let's hope so....I still recall the teasing of a translated Macross Memory from Books Nippon back in the day.....I appreciate the fan translations, but being able to buy a book like that via amazon or a local bookstore would be fantastic...

Yeah, it'd be a nice touch.  I'm kind of surprised SoftBank hasn't started putting out English editions of the Master Archive Mobile Suit books at the very least, since Gundam does have a reasonably big following in the states.

 

21 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Well, that is good to hear, but again, not sure how well a Macross publication would fare.....

If they can get seven thousand-plus idiots willing to repeatedly pay money for a trash-tier atrocity like the recent Robotech comic... I think Macross would do just fine.

[jvmacross]

29 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

If they can get seven thousand-plus idiots willing to repeatedly pay money for a trash-tier atrocity like the recent Robotech comic... I think Macross would do just fine.

Seriously?

I can understand maybe curiosity with the first issue....perhaps hopes of improvement with the second....a fool's hope by the third....but after that it's pure masochism with a dash of self-loathing.

[Seto Kaiba]

10 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Seriously?

I can understand maybe curiosity with the first issue....perhaps hopes of improvement with the second....a fool's hope by the third....but after that it's pure masochism with a dash of self-loathing.

Yeah, they're still staying up above 6,000 copies an issue.

If a barely-there niche-within-a-niche-within-a-niche title like Robotech can still move 6,000 copies a month of a $4 comic, I don't doubt for a minute that you could move 10k or more volumes of a $30 artbook or tech manual for a better-regarded series like Macross.

[Marzan]

If the HG stranglehold was broken, I have no doubt there would Macross titles that would be licensed. If something as niche as the Legend of the Galactic Heroes novels or the manga Ooku are being consistently released, Macross can do it too.

[jvmacross]

Let's hope that day comes....so far we have nothing to indicate it will

[Seto Kaiba]

29 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Let's hope that day comes....so far we have nothing to indicate it will

We have good cause for optimism...

• We know Harmony Gold's license expires on 14 March 2021.
• They've soured their relations with Tatsunoko Production in an arbitrated legal dispute over the royalties owed for home video licensing, complete with infuriating Tatsunoko with some stupid claims that they owned Tatsunoko-copyrighted IP from Southern Cross and MOSPEADA.
• Tatsunoko Production's parent company, Nippon TV, reportedly wants to keep its properties on a shorter leash.
• Tatsunoko itself has been conciliatory towards Big West lately as well.

[jvmacross]

Best I can muster is cautious optimism

[no3Ljm]

Hey JVM. I know you're the go to guy for books like this. Care to share if you have any idea if this book is good?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-2285153

 

[jvmacross]

1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

Hey JVM. I know you're the go to guy for books like this. Care to share if you have any idea if this book is good?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-2285153

 

If you like all of his non-Macross illustrations then go for it....probably will contain his non-Macross HMR work....

If you just want Macross art.....perhaps wait for the next Sorties book

Edited November 1, 2018 by jvmacross

[jvmacross]

1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

Hey JVM. I know you're the go to guy for books like this. Care to share if you have any idea if this book is good?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-2285153

 

Found this on eBay.....no Macross = easy pass for me...4th Sortie must be coming soon...

The book packs 200 full colored illustrations by Tenjin Hidetaka, best known as the illustrator of Macross, and Gundam series, features the following contents:

• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Armored Trooper Votoms
• Fang of the Sun Dougram
• Aura Battler Dunbine
• Heavy Metal L-Gaim
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Mobile Police Patlabor
• Full Metal Panic!
• Genesis of Aquarion
• Knight's & Magic

[seti88]

I think i saw some macross art in there, namely the sv-51, but probably rehash from his sortie books...

sorry my bad, i thk that was some hase boxart for ace combat...

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by seti88

[hachi]

On 11/1/2018 at 4:55 PM, jvmacross said:

Found this on eBay.....no Macross = easy pass for me...4th Sortie must be coming soon...

The book packs 200 full colored illustrations by Tenjin Hidetaka, best known as the illustrator of Macross, and Gundam series, features the following contents:

• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Armored Trooper Votoms
• Fang of the Sun Dougram
• Aura Battler Dunbine
• Heavy Metal L-Gaim
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Mobile Police Patlabor
• Full Metal Panic!
• Genesis of Aquarion
• Knight's & Magic

Those are all mecha shows I'll want to get it but not now--maybe when Xmas bonus comes (or next year).

[jvmacross]

Hope the 4th Sorties book comes soon....guessing the HMR VF-4 illustration might make it into the book if it released next year

[eXis10z]

If we PO a book from Amazon JP are we charged immediately or only upon the book's release?

[jvmacross]

12 hours ago, eXis10z said:

If we PO a book from Amazon JP are we charged immediately or only upon the book's release?

Yes...when you place the order

Edited November 14, 2018 by jvmacross

[eXis10z]

10 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Yes...when you place the order

Thank you!

[jvmacross]

[seti88]

Masterfile vf-11 incoming...

 

[spanner]

19 hours ago, seti88 said:

Masterfile vf-11 incoming...

 

awesome!!! 

[Seto Kaiba]

On 12/27/2018 at 4:36 AM, seti88 said:

Masterfile vf-11 incoming...

 

... I really, really want to get excited about this because I love the VF-11 Thunderbolt, but I can't bring myself to forget or forgive the unholy mess they made of the VF-4 Lightning III and VF-22 Sturmvogel II books.  It's going to be an anxious couple months until this comes out and I can find out whether they've done it justice or not. 

 

On the upside, my group is finally sitting down to get cracking on a full translation of the first VF-1 book.  

[NightmarePlus]

There's something sexy about the Pre-Frontier VFs having the NUNS emblem on them. Can't wait to get this one when it drops!

[jvmacross]

Guess I'm old school....hoping at least some pics will have the uns kite

[Seto Kaiba]

4 hours ago, NightmarePlus said:

There's something sexy about the Pre-Frontier VFs having the NUNS emblem on them. Can't wait to get this one when it drops!

One of the best contributions made by the Variable Fighter Master File series is, IMO, their explanation of the military adopting the "New" in its official markings.

Pretty much all of the efforts to explain why the military changed from "UN Forces" to "New UN Forces" in Macross Frontier hinge on the plot of Macross VF-X2, where a survival-before-principles sort of survivalist faction called Latence that'd arisen in the New UN Government and the military was trying to consolidate governmental authority on Earth and in the military.  Latence basically were Earth supremacists who wanted to give the military more authority than the already excessive power it had in the name of coordinating a defense against rogue Zentradi and other threats.  The military was reorganized after their coup attempt in 2051 was done in by the very special forces unit they'd tried to con into suppressing their opponents.  Most explanations, like the one from Macross the Ride, suggest the military officially became the New UN Forces during this reorganization.  They inevitably all have the problem that NUNS markings are seen in scenes set several years earlier.

Master File takes a slightly different approach.  In their version, the government and military both adopted the "New" when they were reconstituted after the First Space War in 2010.  It took a while for the new markings to start to be adopted since Earth's population had bigger worries like keeping everybody fed and watered, but the emigrant fleets started adopting those markings early on while the oldest and most established population centers like Earth and Eden dragged their heels about it partly out of pride and partly out of sympathy with the budding Latence movement.  After the Latence incident in 2051, the holdouts in the military finally bowed to pressure during the reorg and the new markings finally achieved galaxy-wide adoption.

 

1 hour ago, jvmacross said:

Guess I'm old school....hoping at least some pics will have the uns kite

Count on it.

[jvmacross]

6 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Count on it.

just don't count on a reliable release date...lol