M7 BD: The changing face of Mylene

[Renato]

I wasn't going to start a new thread just for this, but the search function really sucks here and I couldn't find any Macross 7 Blu-ray discussion, except for in the FB7 thread.

Anyway, I was going through some of the materials included with the first Blu-ray Box of M7, and I found something odd. In the illustration collection booklet, there is a picture of the cover of the old This is Animation Special book. Except it's been modified -- Mylene's face is now drawn closer to Mikimoto's current style, as opposed to his 1990s style. I consulted the largest copy of that image I have, the one in the Gallery section of the Macross Chronicle, and sure enough, the difference is night and day. Basara's face remains unchanged.

I have included pics of both so you can check for yourself.

Why was this necessary?? Sigh. At least they didn't change the show... oh, apart from the ending of the first episode, which didn't originally have "to be continued" at the end, before the credits (although this change was already present in the 2007 HD remaster DVD box set).

[VF5SS]

Modern anime is trying to eliminate all the noses from characters. It's a noseocaust!

[Mr March]

I have found that artists often have the most bizarre aversions to their own art. I can understand to a smaller degree, since I suffer some similar feelings never being satisfied with what I draw or color. Perhaps Mikimoto - or those making the BD set - were never happy with Mylene's old face and decided to update it. The reason could also be that it was a cheap and easy way to attract more modern audiences using a style of face much more attractive to current tastes.

[nexxstrait]

I have found that artists often have the most bizarre aversions to their own art. I can understand to a smaller degree, since I suffer some similar feelings never being satisfied with what I draw or color. Perhaps Mikimoto - or those making the BD set - were never happy with Mylene's old face and decided to update it. The reason could also be that it was a cheap and easy way to attract more modern audiences using a style of face much more attractive to current tastes.

that image was first modified by Mikimoto for his INNOCENCE artbook (2003) and is very similar to this one (slightly different shadows on the face), so it's just a retouch for the BD of something he had already changed 10 years ago.

[AcroRay]

[David Hingtgen]

I've noticed that a lot of various recent Mylene stuff doesn't look like her---more genericized.

[Mr March]

Here's a larger picture of the original (taken from This Is Animation Special Macross 7)

[Shaorin]

I've noticed that a lot of various recent Mylene stuff doesn't look like her---more genericized.

while i personally don't mind it much myself with Mylene here,

i agree that Anime chara design in general has indeed reached an unparallelled degree of overall homogeneity in style over the last 5/10 years now.

originality is most definitely NOT in style these days. in terms of female Anime/Manga chara design, there are ups and downs to that, YMMV...

[Marzan]

The nose has been almost eliminated and the eyebrows and eyelashes have been thinned out. But as nexxstrait pointed out, the change had been done some time ago.

[Kicker773]

Need to find a box set 1 I already have box set 2

[Mercurial Morpheus]

that image was first modified by Mikimoto for his INNOCENCE artbook (2003) and is very similar to this one (slightly different shadows on the face), so it's just a retouch for the BD of something he had already changed 10 years ago.

Reading this naturally forced me to pull my copy of Innocence out to look. This is a bit more than a retouch. The eyes are completely redone and the mouth is slightly different. Her ear also appears to be smaller and less visible, and her cleavage is gone. The effects are also completely redone vs the original and the Innocence version as a blur frame effect added. So this is effectively a third version, not a tweaked second.

Personally, I like this one best, but the original is definitely the most distinct.

Edited December 31, 2012 by Mercurial Morpheus

[Renato]

Oh my god, you're right. She has three faces (that we know of so far!). What the hell is Mikimoto playing at.