What mode got you into Macross?

[RDClip]

Something i've been wondering about that kinda connects to my story of first becoming a Macross fan.

I first came to know of Macross 12 years ago when i was lucky enough to catch a showing of Macross Plus on cable. This was before i was an anime fan so this was a defining moment in my life (well, for hobbies at least). I was enamored by the fast-pace beautiful action scenes and the awesome fighter jet combat, but i wanted the whole thing to just be about jets and none of this silly robot stuff.

So there it is, i used to think mechas were silly. Now i appreciate mechas and some of my favourite anime series are mecha (other than macross theres patlabor, FMP, rahxephon, etc)

So i'm just wondering what mode got you guys into the Macross franchise?

[sketchley]

Voted fighter, but it has to be justified:

all modes are great. I was initially attracted to Macross precisely because they had a realistic looking fighter aircraft that changed into other modes, yet still retained features of the main mode. I think what hooked me is the realism inherent in the VF-1.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm still fascinated that the creators are throwing things in like vapor cones when passing through the sound barrier and the condenscing of atmospheric moisture when transforming into gerwalk or battroid from fighter mode. It's this level of realism that makes Macross more than the average animation or live-action series, to me.

Edited October 9, 2009 by sketchley

[peter]

My first Macross model kit - Arii 1/100 scale VF-1D. My dad got it for me when I was probably 7, I hadn't even watched Macross at the time.

[buffalostyle]

Gotta go with GERWALK as, when I first saw the show, it was something very new and interesting...I mean, I saw airplanes before and I've seen robots before but the GERWALK mode? Never saw anything like that before...hooked me...

[D' only]

Definitely fighter mode, it brought me to macross and aviation industry!

[Penguin]

Fighter modes are my favourite, but I'm like Sketchly in that it was the nature of the transformation that caught my attention and drew the Valkyrie (and its successors) out of the crowd of anime mecha.

[thankheaven]

I like all modes actually, but being an aviation fan the realistic and believable fightermodes did draw me in. Its what makes Macross unique compared to other mecha shows in my opinion.

Other Mechas can transform too but they all look like they are turned upside down, bend the legs and put the shield over the head. Or they look like big blobs with wings.

But it also depends on the macross series. Some series have cooler battroids and others have cooler fighters. Macross Zero for example is all about fighters for me (And it had a strong aviation focus too) and Macross Plus to a degree. M7 was all about cool battroids.

Edited October 9, 2009 by thankheaven

[eugimon]

fighter... macross is all about jets that transform into robots. Every other transforming mecha show does it the other way around.

[VFTF1]

Tough question when you put it that way. My answer would have to be hot girls singing mode... but that's not an option... hm. You know... even if I had to just really vote between the three modes of the VF-1, it would still be hard to pick. The fact that the mecha is variable is a big part of its' charm, and the extent to which each of the three modes has a very definitive purpose - they aren't random. I really can't look at the VF-1 in terms of "one awesome mode and two less awesome."

But what really got me into Macross was Minmey, seen from behind, in episode 1, when Roy was oogling her while she was busy fussing over her little cousin. I loved the dress she was wearing. It was so feminine; simple, yet classy. While I do enjoy modern fashion, which is generally mode sexualized and erotic than fashion from older times, I have to admit that there's just something about a slim, well proportioned girl in a knee-length dress that does wonders for me. I guess I'm one of those guys who enjoys well cut clothes rather than revealing clothes. It's not so much that I'm against tank tops and mini skirts and stuff like that - but even in Macross Frontier, I believe Ranka's charming dresses to be miles and miles ahead of Sheryl's pretentious and pedestrian prostitute-chic. There is, naturally, a certain primal delight in the bare sexuality that Sheryl projects, as well as the fact that I appreciate it's only part of her "act" and not indicative of her character (though, the two are very very connected - she really LIKES her image, I think)... but still - Ranka is just beautiful in her dresses - not so much in that yellow one she starts out with - and I don't like her goofy teenage girly necklace - icky. But later, she has some utterly gorgeous duds. Her school uniform, naturally, but also the white dress and the blue dress - the one she wears while on the island filming Birdman. Her "performance" dress is kind of silly, although it gets the job done. But generally, her dresses are more demure and classical, and I like that.

Minmey was, of course, the queen of classical style and good Lord did she look great in that stuff! Even her one piece bikini was a hit - and most girls with her figure would be wearing a two piece, I think? In any event, I think it was Minmey that got me into Macross - particularly her looks. Her personality not so much (won't complain about her "character" because from a literary angle it was interesting) - but dag - she's so beautiful.

The only time Misa looks that beautiful is towards the later episodes where we get glimpses of her in casual clothing. I never found the officer's duds attractive. They weren't bad, just not very feminine (although that was sort of the point I guess...)

Oh my.

I've strayed completely off topic.

I guess I'll vote um...um.... I dunno. I honestly can't say which mode

sorry

Pete

[Beltane70]

Fighter mode for me. That's because the VF-1 looks a lot like an F-14, my favorite jet fighter.

[Kronnang Dunn]

Gotta go with GERWALK as, when I first saw the show, it was something very new and interesting...I mean, I saw airplanes before and I've seen robots before but the GERWALK mode? Never saw anything like that before...hooked me...

I couldn't have said it better myself...

[Seto Kaiba]

Really, it wasn't any one mode so much as the mechanics of the transformation itself... though I do have a soft spot for aircraft design.

[Rbstr]

Gotta go with GERWALK as, when I first saw the show, it was something very new and interesting...I mean, I saw airplanes before and I've seen robots before but the GERWALK mode? Never saw anything like that before...hooked me...

Yeah, half-robot airplanes were quite the novelty.

[Vile]

I voted battroid, because the first Macross model I ever saw (and built) was a Tomahawk. It was years later that I saw DYRL, so my knowledge of Valkyries and their transformation was severely limited at the time - this being before they invented that new-fangled interweb an' all ...

[ruskiiVFaussie]

I'm going Battroid, after Hikaru ploughed through the buildings i'm like wowww as a kid. Beautiful VF-1D battroid.

But i'm a big Gerwalk and Fighter lover. YF-21 fighter mode hubbahubba.

Gerwalk is the main mode that makes Macross complete and totally unique.

As others have mentioned Robots were frequent during this time, but other than crappy transformers, limited super robot anime like Mazinger Z,

and lesser extent AstroBoy (the cool Goliath saga!),i wasn't used to cool robots going off, still a close decision, gerwalk and battroid, but battroid VF-1 rules.

Edited October 11, 2009 by ruskiiVFaussie

[Batou]

I voted "battroid", but it's really the practicality of using all 3 that had the biggest impact on me when I first saw Macross (in the guise of Robotech) as a kid. They at least bothered to make up an excuse as to why it was necessary to invent a massively impractical transforming robot beyond the fact that they look eff'in cool.

You also have to remember what else was being offered to kids at the time to put it in the proper perspective: These weren't silly talking robots with over the top personalities, all a pretty transparent merchandising ploy (a la Transformers, Gobots, etc). These were practical machines of war with a human being sitting in the cockpit, constituting an advanced new stage in the evolution of warfare.

Also, other animated shows about "war" that were on the air at the time and aimed at kids (I'm pointing at GI Joe, in particular) portrayed old John Wayne style warfare, where the good guys always won, were never scared of anything, and no one - not even the bad guys - ever actually got shot, hurt, died, anything. Ever. Contrast that to Macross, where at least the poor brownie CF pilots started dying by the score starting episode 1, ultimately wiping out almost every living thing on the earth. I vividly remember appreciating not being patronized. War was supposed to be hell, and while it clearly wasn't Saving Private Ryan in terms of graphic violence, it was a more "realistic" portrayal of how a war would be. And yes, I cringe to use that word to describe an anime about fighter planes that turn into robots and blast aliens to tiny little bits, but I think you all know what I mean.

[mitch]

I voted GERWALK because I remember finding the plane/robot/bird/griffin combination fascinating, but what really got me into Macross and cemented my love for giant robots in general was when my Father went on a business trip to Japan and brought me back an SDF-1 as a gift. I can't have been more than 5 or 6, and I had no idea what show it was from, but the size of it and the design blew me away. I honestly never saw robotech (except maybe the 'movie' where they edited bits of the Macross series together and slapped it on VHS), so it really wasn't until when "Clash of the Bionoids ", Macross Plus and MII came out in the 90's that I was able to figure out what the SDF-1 was. At SDCC this year I found an SDF-1 for sale, and after carefully checking over the joints and ratchet mechanisms I haggled the booth owner down to $75 and it was probably the highlight of the whole convention for me.

[dreamweaver13]

Without a moment's hesitation - GERWALK!

Hey, anyone can do jet fighters. anyone can do robots. but... both?? at the same time??? what the hell is that mystical mecha????

And besides, when it came to the Nintendo side-scroller game, Gerwalk rules!

[SchizophrenicMC]

It was looking at the Fighter mode of the VF-1, modeled much after my favorite plane, the F-14, in my dad's copy of Robotech Art 1 that got me into Macross, originally. I started looking into Robotech, with my dad's help, and discovered the truth and blah blah blah...

The VF-1's fighter mode is very pretty. Not quite beautiful, but very pretty. The way its parts and features are displayed in the other modes shows how much care was put into the whole thing to make it a Real Robot mecha.

[lechuck]

For me it has always been Battroid mode.

Human looking robots, it's something we don't get in real life and so this fascinates me more than anything else.

If I were into fighters, then I would be collecting model kits/toys of the real world things, rather than waiting for what Shoji can come up with.

I'll be quite honest and say that if the original Macross (or in my case Robotech) only had semi futuristic fighters,

then I might have stayed on for the rest of the show, but probably would have never returned for future incarnations or the franchise itself.

[jonwayne]

voted for battroid, but actually it's the fact that it can transform into battroid from a fighter.

[Vifam7]

I voted fighter mode. Though to be honest, the Valkyries were only part of the reason why I got into Macross. The mastery of DYRL on all levels (music, animation, character design, story) can make a lots into a Macross fan.

That said, I would've taken to Macross even if the Valkyries did not transform to Gerwalk or Battroid modes. I just love military aircraft. Both real and make-believe. To me, the closer make-believe aircraft are to real aircraft, the cooler it is.

[mikeszekely]

fighter... macross is all about jets that transform into robots. Every other transforming mecha show does it the other way around.

I voted fighter, and I was going to write my explanation for my vote, but anything I'd have written really boils down to what eugimon is saying here.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Voted fighter, but the fact that it transformed was what caught my attention. The level of realism was very important too.

[Ghost Train]

For me it was fighter/gerwalk. If you asked me 15 years ago I would say Battroid....

[blacklotus]

All 3 modes for me.

The VF1 is a transformable F-14 Tomcat. That's what got me into Macross.

The F-14 is my favourite American fighter jet of all time. The SR-71A Blackbird is my favourite jet, and still is, but it aint a fighter jet.

[Alastar]

For me it was a fluke...i dont know how but Robotech was on cable at one point in time during the early 90's and i watched it. Too amazed by ep.1 when "Rick" transformed the VF-1. for a 6 year old...i fell in love. And as i got older and Anime was becoming more and more available (IE many trips to china town.) I ran across a copy of DYRL and then and rest of the Robotech series. Guarden mode for me is what caught my attention.

[lanis]

I have to cop out and say all 3. It wasn't a specific mode that hooked me, it was how all 3 modes could so smoothly transform from one to the other and look like that mode was how it was meant to be. For alot of transforming mecha, especially when they are in robot mode, they tend to have lots of parts sticking out for no reason other than because that part is needed for one of the other modes (something the Transformers fandom call kibble). Or when they are in flight mode, it doesn't look like something that should be able to fly, let alone perform dogfights. The fact that the VF-1 looked perfectly natural in all 3 modes was what made it tiers above all other mecha in terms of design.

[Paliodor]

Well, it's pretty easy question, it's ofc fighter mode. Since little kid I always liked fighter planes and anime so when I saw Macross where this combination is, that there was no chance I would not fall in love with this title.

[Prime]

Fighter mode, and all the realism that went with it. Catapult launches, aircraft carriers, and hanger bays. Took my love for aviation as a kid and turned it into something special.

[nexxstrait]

Battroid hands down. But if it wasn't for Mikimoto's character designs, It wouldn't have been the same.

[Morpheus]

The gerwalk mode for me.

First time I saw it when I was around 8, and I tought it was a robot chicken

[Fortress_Maximus]

None. It wasn't the mecha specifically, rather it was the music, animation and awesome character designs by Mikimoto! If I had to choose a mecha then it would have to be the battroid.

[Awacs]

If I had to name one mode of the Mecha that got me into Macross then it would have to be Fighter mode. I grew up next to an airforce base, and still have rather a love of aircraft. The Valkyrie was a giant robot sure, but it was a giant robot that had the class to turn into a sharp, and very practical looking aircraft.

Karl