jvmacross Posted December 9, 2020 Posted December 9, 2020 13 hours ago, spanner said: Thanks JV but I can't seem to get that website registration to work.. is there any other site offering this? I had to select a password that contained only upper and lower case letters and numbers....no special characters I was able to create an account, however, you cannot have the items shipped directly to you from the Doujin site. You will need to use a proxy....the "official" proxy for the site seems to be one called AOCS-Anime Otaku Carry Service.....I have not heard of them before so I will read up and see what they charge to ship the items out of Japan. Quote
spanner Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 5 hours ago, jvmacross said: I had to select a password that contained only upper and lower case letters and numbers....no special characters I was able to create an account, however, you cannot have the items shipped directly to you from the Doujin site. You will need to use a proxy....the "official" proxy for the site seems to be one called AOCS-Anime Otaku Carry Service.....I have not heard of them before so I will read up and see what they charge to ship the items out of Japan. 6 hours ago, no3Ljm said: Hey Spanner. If you're still having hard time registering, might want to reach out to our trusted Proxy sites and see if they can get it for you. Thanks guys, I'll try a proxy Quote
hachi Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 Finally HLJ has the Kawamori book. Hopefully it arrives next week without delay. Quote
no3Ljm Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 (edited) Looks like Amiami separated the book with the item that will be released next month so they sent me invoice for the book. Nice! Amiami charged me Y2030 for DHL. Edited December 10, 2020 by no3Ljm Quote
sh9000 Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 I received my 2 Kawamori books from Amazon JP today. The books were so heavy that the crappy shipping box collapsed. Luckily there was no damage to the books. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 Macross - Shoji Kawamori Designer's Note In a nutshell, the biggest bang for your buck is still the Macross Variable Fighter Designers Note...if you just want a lineart book that has essentially all of the VF's Kawamori ever designed for TV, Film and OVA with some game designs thrown in for good measure in one book, then the Macross Variable Fighter Designers Note is for you.... However, if you want to further explore the creative evolution for many, not all, of the VF's designed by Mr. Kawamori, then the Macross Shoji Kawamori Designer's Note will not dissapoint. Within the book you will find several pages of rough sketches for several of his most famous VF designs and also for some of the Zentran Mecha. The biggest gift for the Macross VF fan will come from the design sketches and final lineart for several of his legendary game VF designs, including the VF-1SOL and Stampeed Valkyrie along with several others. There will probably never be a definitive collection of everything Kawamori has done in terms of Macross designs...at least not while he keeps the Macross franchise growing....but this book definitely gives you better insight into the "Making of a VF" from it's early concept rough sketch to it's awesome finished design... Quote
jvmacross Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 On 12/8/2020 at 7:24 PM, SaitouSad said: Does anybody who has this know how it compares to the Macross Variable Fighter Design Notes? (Other than it being much thicker) I guess I'm just wondering if there is any / a lot of content overlap. There is some overlap, but if you are looking to find "most" of the VF lineart in one book....get the Macross Variable Fighter Designers Note... The new Kawamori Designer's Note is more of a companion book to the MVFDN as it concentrates on how Kawamori brings a VF to life from rough sketch to full lineart....and it shows that process for a handful of VF's (the most popular) not all of them....additionally, it does offer an exclusive look at some of the less published lineart for several of the main VF's created for some of the Macross video games....namely the VF-1SOL and Stampeed Valkyrie....the lineart for these VF's does appear in other publications, but not nearly as detailed as in the new Kawamori Designer's Note Quote
SaitouSad Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 2 hours ago, jvmacross said: There is some overlap, but if you are looking to find "most" of the VF lineart in one book....get the Macross Variable Fighter Designers Note... The new Kawamori Designer's Note is more of a companion book to the MVFDN as it concentrates on how Kawamori brings a VF to life from rough sketch to full lineart....and it shows that process for a handful of VF's (the most popular) not all of them....additionally, it does offer an exclusive look at some of the less published lineart for several of the main VF's created for some of the Macross video games....namely the VF-1SOL and Stampeed Valkyrie....the lineart for these VF's does appear in other publications, but not nearly as detailed as in the new Kawamori Designer's Note Thanks for answering! I just received the Kawamori designer's note last night (and boy is it a monster of a book. So T H I C C ! ) Good to know that VF linearts are in the VF Design notes. I've had it on order for months, and was wondering if I should cancel it, but I guess I'll keep the order Quote
jvmacross Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 There is so much to take in with the new Kawamori Designer's Note book....but I was trying to find anything that would shed some light on the "VF-1C"....I found some additional rough sketches...but nothing that would have indicated it as an intentional "stand alone" unit.... I think the idea that the "VF-1C" was created as an additional valkyrie to sell from ARII seems to make sense. The VF-1C name only appears on ARII promotional materials. My guess is that they received tons of lineart and setting materials from the Macross art team before the show aired and wanted more VF-1 variants to sell in their kit lines...5 would be more profitable than 4! So they took the head unti shot of the VF-1D alternate head and called it the VF-1C.... At some point, Big West, Kawamori, etc squashed the idea of a VF-1C and ARII was not allowed to actually officially designate a valkyrie as a VF-1C......unfortunately, they had likely already worked on a VF-1C mold so they decided to "sneak" it into a production kit, namely in the form of their 1/100 VF-1D Gerwalk..... A dedicated book detailing the marketing of the original SDFM TV show would probably be a great read, hope they make one someday! Quote
jvmacross Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 Can't decide which one of these two I would want Bandai to do next...... Quote
Shawn Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 I wonder if the Zentradi Variable Power suit may have inspired Miyatake later when he did the Orguss Flier...just sort of 'tuck it all back there' and give it enough thrust to push through the air. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 14 minutes ago, Shawn said: I wonder if the Zentradi Variable Power suit may have inspired Miyatake later when he did the Orguss Flier...just sort of 'tuck it all back there' and give it enough thrust to push through the air. Yeah...seems pretty clear...also that bottom powered suit seems like a future "Mu" from the same show.... Never had much interest in Orguss, but now I'm wondering if I should give it a watch Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 My copies of Designer's Note rolled in this morning... and I am pleasantly surprised by how BIG this book is. This is art with some HEFT to it. Print quality seems pretty good too. (I'm even more pleasantly surprised that FedEx managed to get it here as a next-day package... ) I did a quick skim and found mostly the expected content, though I'm rather happy to see more (and cleaner) lineart from the non-official setting FamilySoft games and Scrambled Valkyrie. Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 Gave the book a once-over and it seems pretty solid... a few things I haven't seen before like that unused "Prototype VF" designed for the FamilySoft game trilogy. There's one error I spotted on page 561. The thing labeled "QF-4000" isn't a draft of the QF-4000... it's an original design Kawamori did for the Spring '04 issue of Character Model as a new/original weapon for the VF-0: It's a cruise missile-like Ghost that's used as a standoff weapon, it launches like a missile but can maneuver like a fighter and attack enemy aircraft with micro missiles. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 10, 2020 Posted December 10, 2020 Dug out my old Shoji Kawamori Macross Designs Works...... The new Kawamori Designer's Note is basically one massive upgrade to the Macross Design Works...bringing it up to date through to his Macross Delta designs.... Finding this pic from the old Macross Design Works of an early VF-19 Kai illustration makes me wish the new book had more "color"..... I'd be all in on a "Deluxe" Kawamori Designer's Note! Quote
Shawn Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 The studded bracelets on the Rock Fighter are just too much I'll now envision the head-laser as a mohawk Are he chest stripes a subtle nod to some BMW M1 livery? Quote
jvmacross Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 28 minutes ago, Shawn said: The studded bracelets on the Rock Fighter are just too much I'll now envision the head-laser as a mohawk Are he chest stripes a subtle nod to some BMW M1 livery? I like how Basara stands in the cockpit in the early designs of the VF-19 Kai...why not? LOL Quote
jvmacross Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 And since we are all admiring Kawamori's vintage VF concept designs.....here is an old interview with Kawamori and you can see several of his original sketches for his VF concepts in the background....as a bonus the video also mentions the abandoned Live-Action Macross movie Macross Final Outpost Earth... Quote
Shawn Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 Did we truly get 'ALL' his macross drawings? I think some were held back! Maybe for a Volume #2 600 page edition in a couple years Quote
Roy Focker Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 I'm amazed by how much he saved. Not just the near finished drawings but the very rough early sketches. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 2 hours ago, Shawn said: Did we truly get 'ALL' his macross drawings? I think some were held back! Maybe for a Volume #2 600 page edition in a couple years Yeah....there will never be a complete collected works...so just keep catching 'em all as they are released! I would buy the same Kawamori Designer's Note with colored versions of all the lineart....maybe they will release an updated Macross Design Works instead to take more of your money.... Quote
jvmacross Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Roy Focker said: I'm amazed by how much he saved. Not just the near finished drawings but the very rough early sketches. And now imagine all the dougas, rough dougas, correction dougas and gengas that were tossed in the trash.... Now I am starting to wonder if the rough art is actually more rare..... Quote
wmkjr Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 On 12/10/2020 at 6:31 AM, jvmacross said: Can't decide which one of these two I would want Bandai to do next...... Love the stampede but SOL would be my vote. Would love to see a Prototype valk too as I like how it looks. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 11, 2020 Posted December 11, 2020 Wouldn't lose either way! But my vote would go for a VF-1SOL....only because the Stampeed just reminds me now of the over the top VF-25's and VF-31's...so it is no longer a "unique" over the top valk in the Macross Universe... Quote
Shawn Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 I live in VF-3000 wish land....I would love to see a large scale toy made of it. I think it is a more natural evolution of the vf-1 than the vf-4. It would certainly be much less complicated than any vf-25 or crazy 262! And if they needed to 'Stampede-Style' it, there is always the crazy option too, although it starts looking pretty goofy Quote
jvmacross Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 I miss Yamato....we probably would have had a VF-3000 and VF-5000 by this point Quote
no3Ljm Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 26 minutes ago, jvmacross said: I miss Yamato....we probably would have had a VF-3000 and VF-5000 by this point And this too. Quote
lavinrac Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 This book is fantastic and it's spoiling me. Now I want all my previous macros books to have English translations too. Zentradi I don't care as much Quote
rdenham Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 I finally got my shipping notice from CDJapn yesterday; the order was held up for a day or so due to a shipping charge revision which they needed my approval for. Since I had four other books in my order I just went ahead and paid up so I could get this tome in the mail and in my hands ASAP. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 8 hours ago, no3Ljm said: And this too. We definitely would have had the Space Dildo....lol! Quote
jvmacross Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 Welcome to the Shoji Kawamori Designer's Note Owners Club everyone! Quote
Mommar Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 Kawamori didn’t design them but the Scramble Valkyrie Battroid pics have some real comminalities in the chest and head area when compared to the VF-2. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 1 hour ago, Mommar said: Kawamori didn’t design them but the Scramble Valkyrie Battroid pics have some real comminalities in the chest and head area when compared to the VF-2. Yeah, I can see it too....The VF-2 was designed first for Macross II....but then Kawamori did the VF-1SOL which takes place prior to the events of MII, but during the same "alternate" Macross universe that MII, Macross 2036 and Macross: Eien no Love Song all exist in, which all derive after the events of DYRL.....so maybe Kawamori just wanted to make the VF-1SOL "fit in" design-wise with the mecha that was already designed without his and/or Studio Nue's involvement? In short, he was cool with it....even if it wasn't "his" vision of Macross...the man obviously takes his work seriously! Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted December 12, 2020 Posted December 12, 2020 1 hour ago, jvmacross said: Yeah, I can see it too....The VF-2 was designed first for Macross II....but then Kawamori did the VF-1SOL which takes place prior to the events of MII, but during the same "alternate" Macross universe that MII, Macross 2036 and Macross: Eien no Love Song all exist in, which all derive after the events of DYRL.. ... huh? That's not right. Zamuse's Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Scramble Valkyrie has never been listed as a part of the same timeline as the Macross II: Lovers Again OVA. It's never been listed on either of Macross's official timelines, TBH. It was a standalone title that was set in its own alternate version of the First Space War. The game used DYRL? visual aesthetics for the pilot portraits and the Macross itself, but had distinctly TV series touches like Milia having defected to the UN Forces before the start of the story (to be selectable as the third playable character, for the VF-1SOL-J). The game didn't really have a story, it was just an R-Type clone that used Macross designs for mook enemies and had the usual nonsensical R-Type-esque bosses. (The final boss is particularly noteworthy as being a completely out-of-place 2001: a Space Odyssey style giant space baby in a bubble that, in its second phase, turns into Freeza from Dragon Ball Z... but with a dragon's face in the "you won" cutscene.) Prior to 1997, the only games that were a part of either official timeline were the two games Nippon Computer Systems developed specifically as tie-ins to the Macross II: Lovers Again OVA: Macross 2036 and Macross: Eternal Love Song. It wasn't until Macross Digital Mission VF-X that Macross's main timeline started including video games, starting from VF-X and expanding out to the PS1 DYRL? game, VF-X2, Macross Plus Game Edition, Macross M3, and most recently Macross 30: Voices Across the Galaxy. 1 hour ago, jvmacross said: ...so maybe Kawamori just wanted to make the VF-1SOL "fit in" design-wise with the mecha that was already designed without his and/or Studio Nue's involvement? In short, he was cool with it....even if it wasn't "his" vision of Macross...the man obviously takes his work seriously! Nah, that more angular design style is just what was trendy at the time. You can see it in the work Studio Nue did for FASA's Japanese edition of BattleTech around the same time, and in the designs they did for the unrelated FamilySoft trilogy (the VF-X3 Medusa/Star Crusder, SDP-1 Stampede Valkyrie, and LDR-04 Maverick Destroid). Quote
jvmacross Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 I thought I had read it somewhere that all three games were tied to the same alt universe created by MII....maybe not I think "angular" is pretty much every VF other than maybe the VA-3 and some other more radical departures to the streamlined "VF" look...nevertheless, I do see a similar aesthetic between the battroid forms of the VF-2SS and the VF-1SOL as shown in their lineart.... And speaking of the VA-3..... Quote
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