Macross World Podcast - feedback & comments

[Renato]

Well, if anyone has any more questions we're happy to try and ♪ light the light... ♪

[Nekko Basara]

The "Basara Explosion" bit was the best worst joke I've heard in a while. Never going to hear "My Soul For You" quite the same way...

[Scyla]

What was that bit at the beginning?

Part 3 was very informative. I would like to hear something similar about Macross 7

[boinger]

That was another great podcast!

I'm not sure what Germany has to do with Macross though?

Would that be an in-joke on the lost Macross TV series: Air Cavalry Chronicles?

That series appeared to be a re-telling of the first World War with valkyrie mecha.

Is there any more information on that series?

It's hard to say what the new Macross series will be like. You could have a look

at the earlier abandoned Macross concepts that could have been turned

into a series: Macross VF-X 2, Macross M3, Macross 3D, or Macross: Final Outpost Earth

(DYRL live English version). There might be a pattern to what ideas were dropped

and which ideas were turned into a series.

I really liked to hear about the production history of Macross.

Tom Bateman's perspective on how Macross came to North America and transformed into

a hybrid anime showed how the anime market has changed quite a lot since the 1980's.

I hope you can bring on some more guests for later podcasts, not that I don't enjoy hearing

about your Macross news and adventures.

I'm glad that Gubaba is still working on the Macross Perfect Memory translation, since that

book is a Macross treasure trove. Thanks for that!

Another podcast idea could be to focus on a specific Macross production guy/gal's career.

Ishiguro or Mikimoto, etc.

Or you could try a live streaming viewing of a Macross movie or TV series with a running commentary.

And I look forward to your next podcast.

Thanks guys!

[Renato]

Thanks for all the comments, everyone!

Boinger, I appreciate all your suggestions. That's definitely a lot of material to cover, but it can be done. I especially would like to talk about "Macross: Final Outpost: Earth" since there is actually some info out there in Japanese and also Gwyn has been bugging me to do a "proper" retrospective on Ishiguro's life and works for the longest time. Plenty of intersting things to talk about.

[Gerli]

Very cool! I don't always get all the jokes but it was funny to listen anyway

[Apollo Leader]

I really liked the "Missed Opportunities" discussion, especially regarding the aborted Toynami/Tamashii Nations chunky monkeys. I was hoping that we'd finally have a definitive answer as to what happened, but at least it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's still curious about it.

I've been told on a number of occasions that the two main contributing factors to why things fell through were a) the economy tanking in 2008-9 and b) the reality of nearly a decade's worth of saturation of large VF-1's on the market.

[Hoptimus]

Still think it was a nice idea but when Toynami went to do it and Big West found out they probably told BANDAI to not do it or they were gonna be pissed.

That was a good Podcast guys!

[Bub]

Hello Save,

I'll be in Tokyo this week. I'd like to know where exactly are the toy stores that you and the rest of the Podcast crew were mentioning in episode 12 (I think). The ones at:

1) Ikebukuro

2) Sakuraya Shinjuku

3) Honggo Sanchomeh (did I get this one right?)

4) Ebisu

Please PM me Stores' Names and the Addresses so I can see them at Google Maps or maybe if you have links to websites that mention them. Thank you very much!

[Renato]

I think Save is on a plane right now so he won't be able to answer, but I'll try to help out.

To be honest, I think these stores might not be what you are looking for if you want Macross goods.

Sakuraya Shinjuku does not exist anymore. It closed down about 6 years ago. I don't remember what context we talked about it on the podcast but it was probably an off-hand remark.

Hongo Sanchoume -- You go out of the station, make an immediate right down a short, narrow street, and then you'll come out to the main road. There, take a left, and just a few paces ahead you should see a yellow sign saying "Yellow Duck" or something like that. I don't remember the name of the store but it's something to do with a duck, and it's on the second floor. It is a tiny store mainly selling import toys.

Ebisu -- Google a store called "Monster Japan". That also is an import store. I do not know any other toy shops there.

Ikebukuro -- I don't know, sorry. Adrian and Gwyn should know this one.

If you are looking for Macross in Tokyo I recommend you hit Nakano Broadway and Akihabara before trying the above places, though.

[Bub]

Thanks Renato, I have been to Nakano Broadway and Akihabara a couple and more than a couple of times.

1) Let's say I want to buy BRAND NEW MACROSS TOYS by Arcadia. Are there specific Shops in Nakano Broadway or in Akiba where I can physically pick them up? Or would you or anyone else recommend picking them up over at Yodobashi or BIC Camera or any other Department Store?

2) When you say import store, you mean they sell toys that are NOT PRODUCED by Japanese Companies like Mattel and Hasbro?

[Renato]

1) Apart from Volks and maybe Kotobukiya (and that shop in Ikebukuro that Save swears by), I don't know. There's mostly only used stuff on sale in Nakano and Akihabara. But they do have items clearly marked "opened" / "unopened", etc. Yodobashi has some Macross, but not that much these days. BIC likely won't have anything. You'll remember that a while back the flagship Kotobukiya store in Akiba got 3 (yes, THREE) Ozma 29's in. And that's it. The situation a decade ago was that you walked in to Sakuraya or Yodobashi or even TRU and there'd be a giant stack of fresh 1/48's at the end of the aisles. Those days are long gone, as I have been lamenting for the last few years on this site.. Most sales have shifted to online preorders, and production is extremely limited now. Most of the hobby shops (i.e., not second-hand shops) I used to go to in the early 2000s have closed down.

2) Yes.

[Strumvogel]

I'll have to check the podcast again and see if I know of the Ikebukuro store. When I'm Tokyo, Ikebukuro is usually my main hub to get to everywhere else in the city.

Unless it's actually pretty small store out of the way I may have been there before.

[Bub]

1) Apart from Volks and maybe Kotobukiya (and that shop in Ikebukuro that Save swears by), I don't know. There's mostly only used stuff on sale in Nakano and Akihabara. But they do have items clearly marked "opened" / "unopened", etc. Yodobashi has some Macross, but not that much these days. BIC likely won't have anything. You'll remember that a while back the flagship Kotobukiya store in Akiba got 3 (yes, THREE) Ozma 29's in. And that's it. The situation a decade ago was that you walked in to Sakuraya or Yodobashi or even TRU and there'd be a giant stack of fresh 1/48's at the end of the aisles. Those days are long gone, as I have been lamenting for the last few years on this site.. Most sales have shifted to online preorders, and production is extremely limited now. Most of the hobby shops (i.e., not second-hand shops) I used to go to in the early 2000s have closed down.

2) Yes.

I just came from akiba yesterday since I didn't know where to go in Ikebukuro. Calling Mr. Save regarding the elusive toy store in Ikebukuro...

[Tochiro]

Episode 15 is UP!

How good is the Macross 2 remaster, you ask?

Don't ask me, ask SAVE!

http://www.macrossworld.com/6511/speakerpodcast-ep-15-macross-2-remastered/

[thenoyb]

Going to miss you Gubaba hope you get back to the podcast soon.

[Jasonc]

LOL, we butchered the end of the song, but that was fun. Thanks guys for a great time on our first trip out there. I know we're only borrowing Gubaba for a time. We'll bring him back over there.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Jasonc

[Renato]

Listened to it on my commute today. The guitar sounds even better than I remember it, Jason! It's refreshing to hear these acoustic.

[Jasonc]

Listened to it on my commute today. The guitar sounds even better than I remember it, Jason! It's refreshing to hear these acoustic.

Thanks buddy. It sounds better than I remember, but drinking and playing for me never do all that well, LOL. You guys did really good on the songs. Wanted to have a little jam session there.

[Strumvogel]

Great podcast guys. I had great fun with it and quite informative.

A few things:

First up, though not Macross related, there's actual a good reason that Captain Earth is on that late. Mainly that the energy they use to power their super robots are actually their adolescent libido, or at least are the catalyst for it.

Right.

Now let us move on and not speak of it any more...

Great trip report for the Mac II screening. Love the details, which brings me back to the previous podcast. I also loved the trip report by Renato, though I know Tochiro is trying to keep things on track on Macross related subject and an eye on the time, it's not really a trip report unless there's details about the area your're visiting so if you could next time just let them go on about things like that. After all otherwise no one would know of Whitey City(eheheh..) in Osaka... (Which incidently has a small but good food court in the underground basement area. Can be pricey though)

And a great send off with the rendition of Angel Voice at the end. It's my favorite song from Mac7 and a lot of fun listening to you guys having fun with it. (I have fond memories realizing I'm slowly losing the power of comprehensible speech due to all the wonderful drinks I had at Fire BomBar while that song was playing)

And god's speed you crazy big eyed hairy space rodent, god's speed. Have a save trip and all the best for the future.

I really hope to hear you back with the podcast in the future in some form or another.

Someone has to laugh at you know who's jokes.... (I'M JOKING)

Edited July 15, 2014 by Strumvogel

[Renato]

Strumvogel:

Thanks for the comments!

Regarding Captain Earth. I didn't go into detail because it was way beyond the scope of the podcast but the biggest reason these shows are on late at night is because those time slots are cheap to secure from the broadcaster, unlike prime time slots. It's not like the old days where ratings mattered and had an effect on toy sales, today the situation is geared towards selling BDs and DVDs themselves. That is not to say that content is irrelevant, but it comes as second. Either way, the libido thing is really not anything that the PTA would have so much of an issue with, in my opinion. Remember the original Orguss series had an actual sex scene on a Sunday 2pm lunchtime broadcast slot (yes, I realize standards have changed, though). And let's not forget the space aliens having orgasms when listening to Basara's song in M7!

Glad you like Angel Voice, yeah, it is such a great song. In fact, as I type this, by coincidence, I have the BD of the final episode of Dynamite Seven playing in the background and it's the scene where Basara is singing Angel Voice with the whale.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Renato

[Tochiro]

I finally got this edited - learn all the secrets of Macross 30 in the latest episode of SpeakerPODcast!

http://www.macrossworld.com/6523/speakerpodcast-ep-16-macross-30-spoilercast/

Also, Renato manages to offend every single fan of Knights of Sindonia. That's right. All of them.

On a technical note, this is the first time we've attempted a skype-cast (Andrew was too much of a cheapskate to fly to Japan to record :-p ).
As such, we had technical difficulties galore. Apart from synching issues, the Levelator completely destroyed the sound quality of the final version.

As a result, I the version I've posted has not been..err…Levelatored. But, since it's a skype-cast, the levels were a little more uniform to begin with.

I know some of our listeners have rather sensitive ears, but please bear with us because you might find some of the cast interesting :-)

[Marzan]

Nice podcast guys. It gave a good overview of what the game has to offer. and the technical stuff was in order. If you hadn't mentioned that Andrew wasn't there, I wouldn't have noticed the skype-cast.

Listening to your thoughts on the story and the characters, reminds me why stuff like "time travel" is a bit of a mess topic to introduce in a saga like Macross. Fine for game I think, but I hope that they steer well away from it in the forthcoming TV series. Let the characters stay in their respective time/sphere.

And about Sidonia, well I guess it's understandable that not everyone can bear the Bear.

[Tubbsii]

Another great episode. And i'm glad to finally learn the plot of the game, thanks guys.

[Nekko Basara]

Hmmm. My wife and I are only about halfway through Sidonia. Should I avoid this SpeakerPodCast until we finish it? I desperately want to think the series will do something spoiler-worthy, because so far it has been painfully formulaic.

[Tochiro]

Hmmm. My wife and I are only about halfway through Sidonia. Should I avoid this SpeakerPodCast until we finish it? I desperately want to think the series will do something spoiler-worthy, because so far it has been painfully formulaic.

No, there's no spoilers so you should be ok.

But feel free to get angry at Renato regardless. It really is quite therapeutic.

[Nekko Basara]

I dunno, Renato strikes me as exactly the kind of relentless pedant that I identify with.

If you read this, Renato, I hope you take that with kindness ;-)

[Renato]

No there's no spoilers I just mention Sidonia for a brief few seconds. This was recorded quite a while back, so Sidonia was still in its first episodes. I had not read the manga. My first impressions were that everyone looked the same, and then there's a bear. But I'm glad I stuck with it, because it did get exciting after a while.

Alas, it and Break Blade both finished their short runs, and Captain Earth still keeps on going. I finally gave up on that one, though. I tried, I really did.

Anyway, Macross 30!! It's a thing!

Let me make this perfectly clear -- if anyone is on the fence about getting this game, come off it right now and just buy it. You will not be disappointed.

[Strumvogel]

Well I've yet to get the game, the only reason I haven't was because the last two, Macross M3 on the DC and the PS2 one was really, really bad, control and gameplay-wise.I do not count the Vita ones since not only do I not own or want to own a Vita, the lack of dual analog stick makes controlling the game even worse.

Hell I only loved the VF-X ones because I can pretty much fly it like I'm playing Ace Combat. I rarely change from the fighter mode as the other modes feels clunky. The part you have to play in those modes were the worst.

I'll look into getting a copy sometime soon.

[Renato]

Those were made by completely different developers. Most of them have been bad until recently, with the exception of the Scrambled Valkyrie and maybe DYRL shooters.

This one is developed by Artdink, and we go into their history of truly fantastic Macross games (which were on the PSP, not Vita, BTW) at the start of the podcast. Spoilers only come in at around the second half.

I have yet to find a single person who has it that is not in love with this game.

[chrisk]

Haruka Chisugaaaa...

[Tochiro]

Wow! This thread has gone from a podcast thread to Renato's Macross 30 sales pitch thread!

But in all seriousness, it's a fun game. And probably the best Macross game we will ever get.

That was another great podcast!

I'm not sure what Germany has to do with Macross though?

Would that be an in-joke on the lost Macross TV series: Air Cavalry Chronicles?

Another podcast idea could be to focus on a specific Macross production guy/gal's career.

Ishiguro or Mikimoto, etc.

The mysterious German stranger who emerged during the recording session may never be explained I'm afraid. It's best to leave him to go on his way. maybe we will cross paths again.

I wish thee well, mysterious German MC.

Many thanks for the podcast suggestions! We will definitely take them onboard!

Well I've yet to get the game, the only reason I haven't was because the last two, Macross M3 on the DC and the PS2 one was really, really bad, control and gameplay-wise.I do not count the Vita ones since not only do I not own or want to own a Vita, the lack of dual analog stick makes controlling the game even worse.

Heeeeeeeey... I LIKED the PS2 game! (then again, maybe I'm biased...)

It didnt have the best controls but after getting used to it i thought it played pretty well.

And not to be nit-picky, but the previous Artdink titles were technically on the PSP, not the Vita (and are not legally playable on the Vita as far as I know). While a single analogue stick isnt the best control option, the fact of the market was that handhelds were more popular than home consoles in japan (and still are). So releasing on that platform maximized their sales and Macross' exposure which was a good thing :-)

I do wish they would release a digital version of the PSP titles though so ppl could play them with a PS3 controller. Unfortunately, that's never going to happen. :-(

Haruka Chisugaaaa...

Everyone, let's sing it together now! Edited July 22, 2014 by Tochiro

[Murphy]

Great podcast, I have one question, why was the original song" voices" not in the game?

[Tochiro]

Great podcast, I have one question, why was the original song" voices" not in the game?

Well, there were many many songs that didnt make it into the game, unfortunately.

In fact, most songs werent in the game.

I suppose Voices might seem a little slow and soft for a support song in the middle of a battle.

On the otherhand, artdink has always encouraged players to use the custom soundtrack feature, so I think the idea was that Macross fans could build the tracklist that they wanted. The pre-existing songs in-game were meant more of a sampler imo.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Tochiro

[Strumvogel]

Re: Toshiro & Renato

PSP/Vita/whatever, they looked so similar even if the specs and functions are different I just go ahead and lump them together.

I tried using them once (actually to try one of the first Frontier games to appear on the handhelds, can't remember the name now) and to me the gameplay made little appeal to me due to the lack of control and quite frankly I don't want to play an action game thru a tinny-tiny eyestrain-o-vision screen. I feel robbed of detail and immersion. And it hurts physically using it for any prolonged period.

Otherwise, if the quality of Macross games of recent memory had been any better I'd jumped onto the Macross 30 pre-orders back then. I'll just have to look of a regular edition is all, though I'd doubt I'd have gotten the CE version even then. It seem to be packed with things that those who actually loved the game would want rather than as a Macross collector would jumped at.

edit: only just started the podcast now. bandwidth and firewalls had been stopping me all day from this show.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Strumvogel