Five Star Stories

[Sulendil Ang]

Seeing Seto Kaiba's awesome Knight of Gold (KOG) avatar, I wonder if anyone here at MacrossWorld Forum that are fans of Five Star Stories? The mecha design is simply awesome and beautiful. My favourite one are KOG and LED Mirage, although the Engage series is a close second.

[Gubaba]

Seeing Seto Kaiba's awesome Knight of Gold (KOG) avatar, I wonder if anyone here at MacrossWorld Forum that are fans of Five Star Stories? The mecha design is simply awesome and beautiful. My favourite one are KOG and LED Mirage, although the Engage series is a close second.

I love the comic deeply, although I've been getting frustrated over the past few years since it seems like Nagano's put the series on extended hiatus.

He's still got got A LOT of ground to cover if he wants to finish the story (I know, I know, the timeline is there so that he won't ever need to finish it...still, I'd like to see it done, even if it takes twenty more years).

[Sulendil Ang]

I love the comic deeply, although I've been getting frustrated over the past few years since it seems like Nagano's put the series on extended hiatus.

He's still got got A LOT of ground to cover if he wants to finish the story (I know, I know, the timeline is there so that he won't ever need to finish it...still, I'd like to see it done, even if it takes twenty more years).

Yeah, Nagano really likes to enjoy his life.

Well, at least there's the (expensive) models from Volks to look out for.

[Gubaba]

Yeah, Nagano really likes to enjoy his life.

Well, at least there's the (expensive) models from Volks to look out for.

Unfortunately, I'm not a good enough model-builder to justify spending the money on them.

I did get a Wave plastic injection kit of the KOG quite a few years ago, which was fine, I suppose. I remember on the old Five Star Stories forum site (what was it called? I can't recall...it went down about six or seven years ago, I believe) there was someone who actually inquired about how much it would cost to get his Volks KOG plated with real gold.

Turned out it was prohibitively expensive, but less, IIRC, than getting a "Twin Towers" Jagd Mirage kit.

[AcroRay]

I was really into the whole property back in the late 80s & 90s, and the (relatively recent) translated manga was a godsend. But my interest has kind of cooled into a background classic, since new - or even newly-translated - content has been so sproadic or difficult to obtain.

Still, its one of my favorites design & story-wise... like the 'fine literature' of the mecha genre.

I had a 1/100 scale vinyl kit of the Led Mirage with Flame Launcher a long while ago, but sold it because it wound up rather difficult to maintain with moves and hot summers. I also had a couple of General Products' tiny metal kits. (Still have the Black Knight somewhere. I think I sold or traded the KOG.) And I had the classic 'floating' kit of Lachesis built-up, but I sold her, too. Now I've got a couple of KOG & Led Mirage plastic kits by Wave I picked up cheap during a lull in popular FSS interest, and are waiting to be built. I've got books, a couple of posters & printed things from NEWTYPE.

So I've still got a fair - but inactive - interest and collection of stuff.

Edited December 6, 2009 by AcroRay

[QuinJester]

I remember on the old Five Star Stories forum site (what was it called? I can't recall...it went down about six or seven years ago, I believe)

Wax Trax. There's still some people from there who moved on to the forums at gearsonline.net.

I have a number of FSS model kits, most in various states of incompleteness. I love the designs, though I never got into the manga much. I love the juxtaposition of bulky and lithe that Nagano manages to pull off with a lot of his designs.

[Gubaba]

I was really into the whole property back in the late 80s & 90s, and the (relatively recent) translated manga was a godsend. But my interest has kind of cooled into a background classic, since new - or even newly-translated - content has been so sproadic or difficult to obtain.

Still, its one of my favorites design & story-wise... like the 'fine literature' of the mecha genre.

Yeah...I figured they were waiting for him to finish "The Majestic Stand" before releasing the translation, but considering that Volume XII of the Japanese Edition came out three years ago and doesn't finish the story...and no Vol. XIII forthcoming anytime soon...it's kind of fallen into the background for me as well.

And his writing is really, really difficult for me to read. I depend on the translations to make it through.

Wax Trax. There's still some people from there who moved on to the forums at gearsonline.net.

I have a number of FSS model kits, most in various states of incompleteness. I love the designs, though I never got into the manga much. I love the juxtaposition of bulky and lithe that Nagano manages to pull off with a lot of his designs.

Yes, that was it! Thanks...that was going to bug me all day, I know.

And I'd heard that it had moved over to Gears Online; I've checked it out once or twice, but never joined up...

[Sulendil Ang]

Well, I do join the forums at Gears Online, but the FSS section is somewhat in a sleeping/death state now, no less because of lack of news from the man himself.

Nagano, where are you? We're missing you, you know.

[Wanzerfan]

Well, I do join the forums at Gears Online, but the FSS section is somewhat in a sleeping/death state now, no less because of lack of news from the man himself.

Nagano, where are you? We're missing you, you know.

Most likely competing in this semester's Sasuke tournement (sp?).

And before any of you give me any funny looks:

one of the contestants was named Nagano.

Edited December 6, 2009 by Wanzerfan

[Gubaba]

Most likely competing in this semester's Sasuke tournement (sp?).

And before any of you give me any funny looks:

one of the contestants was named Nagano.

That's because it's a very common Japanese name. I've known three unrelated Naganos.

Do you actually have something to add to the thread...?

[Beltane70]

I remember wanting an old Led Mirage resin kit after seeing one at a sci-fi convention back when I first got into anime. It was one of the 1/100 scale ones with quite a few metal parts. I almost died of sticker shock when I saw that the price for the kit was around $350.

I always loved the intricate Mortar Headd designs that came out of the series.

[Seto Kaiba]

Seeing Seto Kaiba's awesome Knight of Gold (KOG) avatar, I wonder if anyone here at MacrossWorld Forum that are fans of Five Star Stories? The mecha design is simply awesome and beautiful. My favourite one are KOG and LED Mirage, although the Engage series is a close second.

Well, I think with an introduction like this it should go without saying that I absolutely LOVE Five Star Stories. I have all twelve books, that're out thus far, plus the movie and a bunch of the artbooks. I've only ever attempted the model kits with help from my now-ex-girlfriend BlackRose, since I'm better with assembly than I am painting, and painting FSS kits requires a reasonably skilled painter.

I was first introduced to Five Star Stories by one of my coworkers at one of my summer jobs back in college. I was working as a tour guide at a museum, and ended up swapping anime titles with one of the tech support guys who worked there. He was big into Blame! and Five Star Stories, and was even building a model Mortar Headd (I think it might've been the Jagd Mirage) in his cubicle. Ended up borrowing a couple volumes of the Toypress translation from him to read on my breaks and between groups of tourists and obnoxious VIPs, and later the first few volumes of Blame! as well... though I didn't thrill to that nearly as much as I did FSS.

I love the mecha designs, though the giant robot high heels do get on my nerves a bit... it's the characters that really sell it for me... especially Kaien. My favorite MHs from the series are definitely the original Knight of Gold (not Upandla Raymu's Knight of Gold II), the Kaien's Schpeltor, and the Jagd Mirage (if only because Schaft and Parthenon are good value).

Edited December 7, 2009 by Seto Kaiba

[electric indigo]

I recently uploaded photos of my built and unbuilt MH kits to this flickr-album

[Seto Kaiba]

I recently uploaded photos of my built and unbuilt MH kits to this flickr-album

Bravo... very nice.

I'm particularly liking that A-toll.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Seto Kaiba

[kung flu]

I like the fss series too, mainly for the mecha, they are the most beutifully designed robots i have ever seen. I've got the entire collection of the english books. I've only got 2 plastic models though, both are 1/100 scale. I've got the Knight of Gold and LED Mirage with flame unit. My modelling and painting skills aren't all that great so i found the kits really challenging to build which kind of put me of collecting more of them.

Edited December 7, 2009 by kung flu

[Sulendil Ang]

I recently uploaded photos of my built and unbuilt MH kits to this flickr-album

Nice Berlin SR2!

Seito Kaiba: Well, I can't really remember how I get to know FSS, but I think mostly because of Gears Online. I have read volume 1 and 2, but not the rest.

Speaking of FSS, I remember during one of my visit to my local bookstore, I happens to spot a Chinese FSS book. There's nothing much inside the book, which is basically a model kit catalog, and didn't buy it. Now it's gone from the bookstore, I suddenly think I'm being stupid for not buying such a rare book, especially about FSS which is not famous in my place. Regret my decision till this day.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Sulendil Ang

[Seto Kaiba]

Seito Kaiba: Well, I can't really remember how I get to know FSS, but I think mostly because of Gears Online. I have read volume 1 and 2, but not the rest.

Yeah, GearsOnline is a good resource, though in some cases it's maddeningly incomplete. Once I've finished my work on Macross II and the whole alternate universe continuity, I'm seriously considering making a similar comprehensive reference guide for Five Star Stories.

If you want to catch the rest of the series, I know the English translations of Books I through X (Vol.1-26 I think) are available online thru torrent and RapidShare... I don't think anyone has ever finished translating Books XI and XII, but I know there's a translation of Prima Classe Hugtrang that was done a while back.

[Sulendil Ang]

Yeah, GearsOnline is a good resource, though in some cases it's maddeningly incomplete. Once I've finished my work on Macross II and the whole alternate universe continuity, I'm seriously considering making a similar comprehensive reference guide for Five Star Stories.

If you want to catch the rest of the series, I know the English translations of Books I through X (Vol.1-26 I think) are available online thru torrent and RapidShare... I don't think anyone has ever finished translating Books XI and XII, but I know there's a translation of Prima Classe Hugtrang that was done a while back.

Yeah, I know what you means. I'm looking forward for your FSS project, especially when it comes to the MHs and Buster technology.

[Seto Kaiba]

Yeah, I know what you means. I'm looking forward for your FSS project, especially when it comes to the MHs and Buster technology.

While I was sorting out my big pile of translations for my Macross II project, I remembered something. There was at least one article in the old Mecha Press magazine that gave some fairly explicit tech specs on select Mortar Headds and the weapons they use, and not just the ones in the movie either. I've got some kinda crummy partial scans from one of those old issues that show stats for the original Knight of Gold and the Siren-based Rainbow Boowrays the Fillmore Empire used while disguised as mercenaries for Hagooda during the Colus-Hagooda War in Books II and III. Dunno if they cover anything else, but it might be worth looking into if you're desperate for info.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Seto Kaiba

[blacklotus]

I remember wanting an old Led Mirage resin kit after seeing one at a sci-fi convention back when I first got into anime. It was one of the 1/100 scale ones with quite a few metal parts. I almost died of sticker shock when I saw that the price for the kit was around $350.

I always loved the intricate Mortar Headd designs that came out of the series.

Well, if you have the spare cash now and still interested in those RESIN kits, there will be a re-release soon of quite a number of kits listed at HobbySearch webshop.

Happy shopping.

As for me, I'm still contented with my 2006 purchases of 1/100 mold-injection re-released KOG Volks kits from HLJ I got at 50% of the price of their initial 1997 releases.

[cobywan]

Volks is releasing a new Injection molded Bang Doll and Black Knight. The new version of the Black Knight.

I've been into FSS since I read that Mecha Press article in 89. I went nuts when I got a real job and I now have a giant pile of unbuild Mortar Headds and Fatima kits.

I do have some built up though.

http://home.comcast.net/~cobywan/Templates/MH.htm

I've been picking at that new 1/32nd scale L.E.D. Mirage bust for the last few months. Here is someone else's buildup of the kit I'm talking about,

http://www.hobbyfanatics.com/index.php?/to...irage-bust-wip/

[captain america]

I think that Nagano is merely coasting on the royalty revenues for the franchise now, having seemingly abandoned the manga or any story continuity altogether. While I think that this is perhaps one of the greatest manga series out there (or at least used to be) I find it a bit sad to see it on virtual life-support, with token kit releases and the occasional, re-hashed art book every 2 years or so.

Oh well, at least I still have my resin kits.

[blacklotus]

Volks is releasing a new Injection molded Bang Doll and Black Knight. The new version of the Black Knight.

Wow! Good news. Hopefully, the prices are reasonable. I might pick up a couple of Blackies to go head to head with my 3 KOGs.

Thanks for the info.

[blacklotus]

I think that Nagano is merely coasting on the royalty revenues for the franchise now, having seemingly abandoned the manga or any story continuity altogether. While I think that this is perhaps one of the greatest manga series out there (or at least used to be) I find it a bit sad to see it on virtual life-support, with token kit releases and the occasional, re-hashed art book every 2 years or so.

Oh well, at least I still have my resin kits.

Same sentiments here. But I can't blame him. He create the FSS. He has every right to stop anytime he wants, especially if he is sick of it.

After all, there's more to life than a drawing manga, especially if one has tonnes of cash to spend. After all, one doesn't want to end up like Crayon Shinchan's creator.

We Chinese have a common saying "Got plenty of money but no life to spend it"

Edited December 8, 2009 by blacklotus

[captain america]

Oh, and Cobywan, that issue of Mecha Press was released in late '92, not '89... Number 6 I think it was, right before they started adding that color center section.

[Seto Kaiba]

I think that Nagano is merely coasting on the royalty revenues for the franchise now, having seemingly abandoned the manga or any story continuity altogether.

Honestly, I think that Five Star Stories is, by design, a story that can never really be finished. The world Nagano created spans so many different settings and such a vast amount of time that it's really a vast stage on which an infinite number of different stories can potentially be played out. It's called the Five Star Stories for good reason, there is no one story that defines the entire series. I think that's also why the "main" story of Amaterasu is broken up in segments told in anachronic order and interspersed with other stories, so the author could explore multiple aspects of the varied worlds and eras of the Joker Galaxy without having to lock himself into one story at a time. It not only keeps the "main" story of Amaterasu fresh and reasonably interesting, it probably helps Nagano stay interested in the project and help him avoid writing the story into a corner.

That he hasn't done much with it lately is a bit disappointing, but it doesn't really affect the integrity of the rest of the stories.

[Sulendil Ang]

What!? NOOOOOO!!! Don't smash my dreams for Volume XIII like that.

Still, how big the chance that Nagano really abandoned FSS? 100%?

[Seto Kaiba]

What!? NOOOOOO!!! Don't smash my dreams for Volume XIII like that.

Well, he did cover the Majestic Stand in Books XI and XII, so it's not like he stopped to cop out on telling important parts of the main story.

Still, how big the chance that Nagano really abandoned FSS? 100%?

Dunno, maybe he's just having a break after working on it since 1986.

[nugundamII]

I think no Mech collector will deny how beautiful these mech designs are. But the models really turn me off to owning something tangible. I am surprised I Bandai has not pulled this into their MG line or seen any SOC like representation of these

I still hope tho

I would sell my liver for a PG LED

[cobywan]

Oh, and Cobywan, that issue of Mecha Press was released in late '92, not '89... Number 6 I think it was, right before they started adding that color center section.

I was thinking of Animag. Woops.

[captain america]

I think no Mech collector will deny how beautiful these mech designs are. But the models really turn me off to owning something tangible. I am surprised I Bandai has not pulled this into their MG line or seen any SOC like representation of these

I still hope tho

I would sell my liver for a PG LED

I wouldn't hold my breath for that, and I dare say that Bandai would have to pry a FSS license from his cold, dead hands. Nagano made FSS the way it is because of Bandai's interference and meddling in the Zeta Gundam and L-Gaim TV series (in fact, FSS is a kind of re-telling of L-Gaim); they wanted mecha that were toy-friendly and not overly-difficult to animate, and this is to say nothing of Bandai's likely influence on the stories themselves.

On these points, I back Nagano 100% for wanting to keep FSS out of the clutches of the establishment. In fact, Kaiyodo had even (briefly) marketed a series of FSS Mortar Headd toy figures back in the late 90s, but Nagano didn't renew that licence because it seems he felt that the product was not up to the standard for FSS in general. I think that the best thing you can hope to get in terms of "affordable" Mortar Headds are the new plastic offerings by Volks (Bang Doll/Vatshu.)

These latter offerings are certainly a step above previous plastic FSS kits, but still not in the same league as the resin kits.

[RCB]

Ahhh, FSS what an amazing creation. I used to have MANY of the kits. I got frustrated with what was available in which scale and ended up selling everything when I was out of work five or so years ago. Some of my favorite kits ever though. That Twin Tower Jagd really is something else. I wish I could have gotten that kit. Oh well. All I have left now is a good number of the English translations.

The story is excellent. I never did see the movie though. I couldn't imagine them trying to tell that story in a single movie, so I never pursued it to see for myself.

Edited December 9, 2009 by RCB

[CrusherJ]

Ahhh, FSS what an amazing creation. I used to have MANY of the kits. I got frustrated with what was available in which scale and ended up selling everything when I was out of work five or so years ago. Some of my favorite kits ever though. That Twin Tower Jagd really is something else. I wish I could have gotten that kit. Oh well. All I have left now is a good number of the English translations.

The story is excellent. I never did see the movie though. I couldn't imagine them trying to tell that story in a single movie, so I never pursued it to see for myself.

The movie only focuses on Book I (Japanese version) or Books I-III (English version) of the manga. It's was actually my first foray into the world of FSS about 5 years ago. It's good, but the manga is better imho.

FSS is one of my favorite manga series (along with Battle Angel Alita and Bleach). I love the fact that the stories aren't necessarily told in chronological order, some people don't really like that, but I think it works well since it allows Nagano to jump around and tell about all of the different events in the Joker Galaxy. Kaien, Decors, Deimos, Megaera, Palsuet and Potar are some of my favorite characters. I really wish that atleast all of Book 12 (Japanese) was available in English as well as the Design Works books. I'm gonna buy those anyway once I get some spare cash, would just be great to be able to read the wealth of information in them (another reason I love the series, there are a lot of details).

[mpchi]

Had followed the FSS manga for many years, but not much else to follow when there is no new story coming out. I think the last volume I had was vol.12, and got a couple of the guide books back then to help me track down the timeline and who is related to who. Love the details and complexity of the story, and of course, the mecha design. Too bad there aren't much pre-built toys or gokin worthy of mentioned, besides the model kits. I am all for that, if they make some. Though my brother still have the gigantic Twin Tower Jagd Mirage kit sitting in his closet un-built. Huge green box with gazillion parts. But he haven't touched his FSS stuff for a few years now. Wonder how he had the guts to buy such a thing back then.

[RCB]

Had followed the FSS manga for many years, but not much else to follow when there is no new story coming out. I think the last volume I had was vol.12, and got a couple of the guide books back then to help me track down the timeline and who is related to who. Love the details and complexity of the story, and of course, the mecha design. Too bad there aren't much pre-built toys or gokin worthy of mentioned, besides the model kits. I am all for that, if they make some. Though my brother still have the gigantic Twin Tower Jagd Mirage kit sitting in his closet un-built. Huge green box with gazillion parts. But he haven't touched his FSS stuff for a few years now. Wonder how he had the guts to buy such a thing back then.

An unbuilt Twin Tower eh? Hmmm, you know I heard tell if you don't use something in a year you should toss it out. I have actually started a FSS recycling center. I will be glad to dispose of that troublesome model kit for him