The Newbie and Short Questions thread

[Gubaba]

So, since Klan is half of this doomed equation, can we talk about her condition a little?

Is it specifically that her miclone form is locked into adolescent when miclonized, or just that it appears younger than her normal form? Meaning:

When Klan was actually five years old, would her miclone form already have appeared 13 (or whatever juvenile age it appears in Frontier) as well?

When Klan is 29, will her miclone form then be "adult" in appearance?

I assume (and it's only an assumption) that she'll always look adolescent in Miclone form. Otherwise, the tragedy wouldn't be there.

[Kelsain]

Right. Would she age if she stayed in miclone form?

[Nekko Basara]

I assume (and it's only an assumption) that she'll always look adolescent in Miclone form. Otherwise, the tragedy wouldn't be there.

So, do you figure there was a time when her miclone form actually appeared older than her normal form, or were they in sync up to a certain age, and then the miclone got "stuck?"

I ask just in good fun. I personally saw Klan's condition as semi-metaphorical for how Mikhail couldn't see her as the adult she had become (and as service to the Loli fans, of course). If the two of them were emotionally mature and in touch with their feelings, I think they would cope with it like any couple where someone has a physical disability, and there wouldn't be a tragedy at all.

[VF5SS]

She may just start looking like a teenager with Werner's syndrome or something as she grows older. Mini Klan as a whole seemed to suffer from the animators not getting she's supposed to look like she's around Ranka's age or like Mylene in Macross 7 (since Klan is the Mylene part of Lovely Bomber). Instead she was tended to look like she was an irate ten year old. The movies and FB7 make her look older so someone must have wanted to correct that.

[Gubaba]

So, do you figure there was a time when her miclone form actually appeared older than her normal form, or were they in sync up to a certain age, and then the miclone got "stuck?"

I ask just in good fun. I personally saw Klan's condition as semi-metaphorical for how Mikhail couldn't see her as the adult she had become (and as service to the Loli fans, of course). If the two of them were emotionally mature and in touch with their feelings, I think they would cope with it like any couple where someone has a physical disability, and there wouldn't be a tragedy at all.

Honestly, I think whatever keeps her and Michel apart is what the creators want. You fill in the blanks. (so to speak...)

[Saruta]

OK, my soon-to-be-9-year-old son is marathoning Macross 7 uncontrollably. he's on Episode 27. I've only finished 6. Unfortunately he can't read subtitles and has to make do with a very bad Russian voiceover...

Anyway, he has many questions, and here's one I could not answer.

It appears that a Valkyrie in GERWALK mode has both legs (so i can walk) and arms (so it can handle weapons). Therefore, the mode appears to do everything that Battloid is for. SO, why have Battloid at all? Is there any advantage to it in any form of battle, compared to GERWALK?

The difference between plane mode and others is quite clear, with plane being good for ranged combat and the others for comparatively close combat.

[CrazyDude]

Gerwalk can't walk, iirc, but it can hover and glide while leaving the arms free to hold a weapon.

This makes it faster and more mobile than Battroid mode, IMO.

Battroid being best for Hand to Hand combat.

I still think Battroid was mostly done due to the super robot legacy.

[Mr March]

The GERWALK mode can certainly walk. The GERWALK mode is not shown walking often because the mode is typically used in flight, but It is shown walking in SDF Macross, Macross Frontier and Macross Zero (probably the most extensive GERWALK walking scene in all of Macross).

The in-universe fiction states the Valkyries were designed as anti-giant weapons and as such had to act as basically giant-sized infantry for humans. Now we can look at Macross critically and say the justification doesn't make much sense, but that's the Macross writing for better or worse. It'd probably be cheaper and more effective to arm an exisitng human-scale army with more anti-tank/anti-material weaponry. But who knows, maybe intimidation plays a large role in such cases and an army of giant robots larger than the giant-sized enemy is worth the expense for force morale alone.

I think some Macross published fiction does occassionaly state the Valkyries are actually three vehicles in one, each serving a role analagous to a conventional vehicle.

Battroid = Tank/Giant-sized Robot Infantry

GERWALK = Aerospace Attack Helicopter

Fighter = Aerospace Jet Aircraft

The statistics for the VF-1 Valkyrie certainly support this type of interpretation and the animation shows them being used in such roles.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Mr March

[Zinjo]

The GERWALK mode can certainly walk. The GERWALK mode is not shown walking often because the mode is typically used in flight, but It is shown walking in SDF Macross, Macross Frontier and Macross Zero (probably the most extensive GERWALK walking scene in all of Macross).

The in-universe fiction states the Valkyries were designed as anti-giant weapons and as such had to act as basically giant-sized infantry for humans. Now we can look at Macross critically and say the justification doesn't make much sense, but that's the Macross writing for better or worse. It'd probably be cheaper and more effective to arm an exisitng human-scale army with more anti-tank/anti-material weaponry. But who knows, maybe intimidation plays a large role in such cases and an army of giant robots larger than the giant-sized enemy is worth the expense for force morale alone.

I think some Macross published fiction does occassionaly state the Valkyries are actually three vehicles in one, each serving a role analagous to a conventional vehicle.

Battroid = Tank/Giant-sized Robot Infantry

GERWALK = Aerospace Attack Helicopter

Fighter = Aerospace Jet Aircraft

The statistics for the VF-1 Valkyrie certainly support this type of interpretation and the animation shows them being used in such roles.

Macross 2 had a non-transformable GERWALK type craft. It wasn't a hero vehicle so saw very little screen time. It appeared to act very much like a Attack Chopper and a close combat space vehicle against capital ships.

[Seto Kaiba]

Gerwalk can't walk, iirc, but it can hover and glide while leaving the arms free to hold a weapon.

This makes it faster and more mobile than Battroid mode, IMO.

Battroid being best for Hand to Hand combat.

I still think Battroid was mostly done due to the super robot legacy.

Shin Kudo would put a lie to this in Macross Zero... he walks in his VF-0 in GERWALK.

Macross 2 had a non-transformable GERWALK type craft. It wasn't a hero vehicle so saw very little screen time. It appeared to act very much like a Attack Chopper and a close combat space vehicle against capital ships.

Ah, yeah... the GERWALKroid. Described in official material literally as a "poor man's Valkyrie", basically a VF without having a transformation mechanism. Close air support unit, kind of like a chopper, and loaded for bear with internal missiles.

[Mr March]

Macross 2 had a non-transformable GERWALK type craft. It wasn't a hero vehicle so saw very little screen time. It appeared to act very much like a Attack Chopper and a close combat space vehicle against capital ships.

Yeah, like Seto said it was like a close attack craft that was cheaper to build. Though I don't remember seeing it walking in Macross II. But it looks kinda cool

[Nekko Basara]

Macross II also had the civilian SNN valk with no battroid mode as well, right?

[Mr March]

Yeah, just GERWALK and fighter. Has a sexy cockpit though. Reminds me of Yukikaze stuff

[Saruta]

Question: is it known how some people on Earth survived the Zentradi bombing?

I know about those on the Macross and on the moon base. But, there was apparently enough to populate quite a few cities that Minmay toured, even before cloning got into full swing. Besides, a teenage Mao Nome and a kabuki master by the last name of Saotome (Alto's grandfather or perhaps great-grandfather) must have survived, and they were unlikely to be on the Macross or on the moon base. it appears that the Earth's population remains in the low millions, not the 100-200 thousand that could fit on the Macross plus moon base?

DYRL does state no one remained on Earth, but DYRL is a bit of a world of its own. Besides, it's only spoken by two young military people who have one Valkyrie. They are not exactly equipped to investigate all of Earth.

[Mr March]

There's trivia that features a statement about somewhere around a million humans managed to survive the genocide of Earth. Some were sheltered inside the Grand Cannon facilities. And there were also small space colonies.

A total of several hundred thousand (to approximately one million) human survivors confirmed in the Grand Cannons III and V, the Lunar surface's Apollo Base, and the space colony clusters (bunches).

So quite a few survived. Then add the Macross population and the Zentradi from the 100 surviving ships of the Adoclass fleet, you get a sizable population...considering what happened.

[Seto Kaiba]

Macross II also had the civilian SNN valk with no battroid mode as well, right?

Yes... the Takachihof VC-079 Civilian Valkyrie, fighter and GERWALK modes only. In-continuity, it was actually the second non-military VF developed by the Takachihof group. SNN's is a modestly customized version kitted out with various camera systems, while the stock model is used for everything from a leisure craft to transportation to what amounts to a postwar DNR.

Question: is it known how some people on Earth survived the Zentradi bombing?

Yep! The lucky survivors were the ones who were conveniently about six kilometers underground in Grand Cannon I (Alaska), Grand Cannon III (Africa) and Grand Cannon V (South America). Between the people who survived thanks to an underground hidey-hole and the people who survived thanks to being in orbital space colonies and on the moon, the survivors numbered a rough 1 million souls. That number was subsequently beefed up with mass cloning of humans that began about three months after the war (May 2010).

[VF-15 Banshee]

Why was Ishtar able to activate the bridge of the Macross just by touching it?

Also, did they ever explain why the Macross was making those energy discharges?

Edited May 23, 2014 by VF-15 Banshee

[Seto Kaiba]

Why was Ishtar able to activate the bridge of the Macross just by touching it?

No official word on that, AFAIK... but Macross II's creators stopped just short of bluntly declaring the Mardook to be a second big group of Protoculture who fled the collapse of their civilization to start over, like the ones who built the Altira in DYRL?, so it might have been the original Meltrandi systems on the Macross responding to her genome.

Also, did they ever explain why the Macross was making those energy discharges?

According to Macross II's director, Ken'ichi Yatagai, the reason for that is that the Macross's alien early warning systems are still active, so the cannon occasionally discharges if it detects hostiles.

[VF-15 Banshee]

And was there ever any explanation for why the Macross cannon systems had been expanded into the ARMD sections and the legs?

[Seto Kaiba]

And was there ever any explanation for why the Macross cannon systems had been expanded into the ARMD sections and the legs?

's part of a retrofit that was started on the Macross with the intention of bringing her up to spec with the mass-production Macross class ships (like the ill-fated Million Star), with the intention of returning her to active service with the fleet. The retrofit project was abandoned after another postwar influx of new overtechnology effectively rendered the upgrades obsolete. (Exactly which war was the one that ended the project, they don't say... the most likely candidate was the May-December 2054 war.)

[s001]

Does anyone know what does L.A.I. stand for?

[sketchley]

Does anyone know what does L.A.I. stand for?

Luca Angelloni Industries

[Mr March]

Does anyone know what does L.A.I. stand for?

The Macross Compendium states is stands for Legodt & Angeloni Industries.

http://macross.anime.net/wiki/L.A.I.

[CrazyDude]

2 quick question:

What is the rationale for the SDF-1 transforming?

Anyone noted the transforming type for value increased as to where in frontier it is instantaneous.

[Andras]

The fold drive disappeared and took a power conduit needed for the main gun. It couldn't be fired unless the SDF transformed.

[CrazyDude]

Thx.

[Zinjo]

The fold drive disappeared and took a power conduit needed for the main gun. It couldn't be fired unless the SDF transformed.

That never did explain the "modular" construction of the ship that allowed the transformation in the first place though...

[Saruta]

(Exactly which war was the one that ended the project, they don't say... the most likely candidate was the May-December 2054 war.)

Sorry, what war is that? I must be missing something, or did you mean 2045?

[Seto Kaiba]

Sorry, what war is that? I must be missing something, or did you mean 2045?

Yes, you are... the series chronology that fills in most of the Macross II backstory was never made completely available in the US thanks to the Turbografx-16 failing to penetrate the video game market here, and the kind of scattershot hobby magazine market.

There were a number of major Zentradi conflicts in the Macross II backstory between the end of the first space war and the Mardook invasion. The big ones were in 2036 (Macross 2036), 2037 (Macross: Eternal Love Song), and 2054 (mentioned only).

The 2054 Zentradi invasion of the Sol system was stopped dead at Pluto's orbit by a UN Spacy defense perimeters, but it took quite a toll on the fleet... ending with the UN Spacy capturing a factory satellite.

[Andras]

So can the Regults actually fly in an atmosphere & gravity or are they limited to thruster assisted jumps unless in space?

[Seto Kaiba]

So can the Regults actually fly in an atmosphere & gravity or are they limited to thruster assisted jumps unless in space?

They can fly in a planetary atmosphere.

[Mr March]

I think it's funny how none of the Zentradi mecha are aerodynamic; they're all flying bricks. The Nousjaduel-Ger, the Queadluun-Rau, the Reguld and Glaug, even the Gnerl is about as aerodynamic as a Golf. It's no wonder the UN Spacy forces managed to be so successful against the superior numbers of the Zentradi; the Valkyries probably flew circles around the Zentradi in planet-side aerial combat

[JB0]

Honestly, I suspect the zentradi probably didn't care about aerodynamics. I get the impression they believed pretty firmly in space warfare.

Much like the VF-1 was great in terriestrial warfare, but kinda not-so-good in space(if it WAS, the FAST packs wouldn't exist).

Both sides made all-environment vehicles, but made major sacrifices to get optimum performance in the environment they figured was most important.

[Seto Kaiba]

I think it's funny how none of the Zentradi mecha are aerodynamic; they're all flying bricks. The Nousjaduel-Ger, the Queadluun-Rau, the Reguld and Glaug, even the Gnerl is about as aerodynamic as a Golf. It's no wonder the UN Spacy forces managed to be so successful against the superior numbers of the Zentradi; the Valkyries probably flew circles around the Zentradi in planet-side aerial combat

I think JB0 has the right of it... these mecha were, by in large, developed for space combat and a "quantity has a quality all its own" philosophy of warfare. The UN Spacy might achieve a ten or twelve to one kill ratio over the Zentradi, but the Zentradi do tend to show up with a few thousand of their mates whenever they decide to start trouble.

[Mr March]

Not sure I see it like that, but I suppose a lot of this discussion would be based upon individual perception. Watching SDF Macross I never got the impression the VF-1 was a compromised space fighter craft or that the Zentradi mecha were so much faster/maneuverable than the VF-1 Valkyrie in space. The Super and Armor packs to me are optimization for a specific role, not supplementation to carry a compromised base model. I got the impression the UN Spacy forces were pretty much superior to the Zentradi mecha and it was only because they were vastly outnumbered that the UN Spacy was on it's heels most of Space War I. Otherwise I'd have trouble reconciling why a force of a few hundred valkyries (supported by Ghost fighters and Destroids) managed to fend off tens of thousands of Zentradi mecha repeatedly. But perhaps the perceived performance disparity between the VF-1 Valkyrie and the Zentradi mecha is a fault of the story - a narrative conceit - and was never meant to reflect relative performance of the two mecha forces.

Then again, even if the two mecha forces were contrasting compromises in performance, it always made me wonder how the Zentradi remained any kind of threat POST-Space War I. I mean, aren't the Zentradi mecha effectively static when we talk of technology? It's not like anyone in the Zentradi Armies are developing new mecha, or researching technology, only rogue Zentradi that contacted the humans in Space War I would learn to do that. As we move past the many eras of Macross, into Flashback 2012, Macross Plus, Macross 7 and Macross Frontier, the Valkyries are vastly improving performance and technology, but the Zentradi/Meltrandi main fleets are still using Nousjadeul-Gers, Gnerls, Regulds and Queadluun-Raus. After a while, wouldn't it be like World War I biplanes fighting against stealth jet fighters?