Bandai DX VF-31

[Scyla]

I've got a transformable fork with my meal last time I traveled by plane. It transforms from Storage-Mode into Fork-Mode!

[charger69]

I've got a transformable fork with my meal last time I traveled by plane. It transforms from Storage-Mode into Fork-Mode!

I had one of these transformable pencil case in elementary school and it was awesome!!

Edited January 21, 2016 by charger69

[Vifam7]

No?

[Moosey]

So the VF-31...........????

[seti88]

Hahaha..... This thread has been tickling my funny bone! Bravo!

[derex3592]

you miss the MW threads for a couple of days and you return to this...oohhh my...

[M'Kyuun]

No?

So wrong.

I've never seen M7, b/c everything about it seemed ridiculous (although the external valk designs are cool, just not the instrument cockpits..bleh!), and Delta seems like it's leaning a little too far in that direction. I could handle that in some other anime, maybe, but not in Macross. No matter how wicked the valk design is, the cool desolves the minute they break into song and dance. Or ride magical rainbow boomerangs while singing and dancing. This thread is depressing.

Edited January 22, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[Karaoke Ninja]

So wrong.

I've never seen M7, b/c everything about it seemed ridiculous (although the external valk designs are cool, just not the instrument cockpits..bleh!), and Delta seems like it's leaning a little too far in that direction. I could handle that in some other anime, maybe, but not in Macross. No matter how wicked the valk design is, the cool desolves the minute they break into song and dance. Or ride magical rainbow boomerangs while singing and dancing. This thread is depressing.

Macross has always been silly.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Karaoke Ninja

[kajnrig]

[mechaninac]

Leaving aside the whole giant and transformable mecha vs. 50ft aliens or AI divas or giant bugs, visual gags and silly scenes are a completely different animal from a series built around the silly, eye roll inducing, premise of frilly dressed magical girls singing and dancing their way through a battlefield with prancing VF-31s as chaperons. I sure hope that the intro episode is not indicative of Delta as a whole, because...

[GabrielV]

Vifam7,

we had that happen once in our Robotech RPG game. The Quadrono got her mech trashed a few hundred miles from base. So she surfed on top of the Veritech on the way home.

[anime52k8]

I fail to see the correlation between magical girls in ruffley dresses and a show being silly or eye roll inducing

[kajnrig]

Because they're not manly, see, and therefore not worthy of being in this most manly man of man shows about female pop idols literally ending multiple wars through song and dance.

Edited January 23, 2016 by kajnrig

[IXTL]

Hayate's Sigfried is designated as a VF-31J, according to this magazine article about Bandai's upcoming Mecha Collection MΔ plamo kits.

Edited January 24, 2016 by IXTL

[jenius]

You guys realize that things happen in varying degrees right? To pretend that Delta doesn't represent an extreme (so far) is being deliberately obtuse. It's okay that this extreme doesn't bother you but to act like it's silly it bothers other people is dumb. This isn't a case of saying "Dude, SDF Macross had Minmay so you should automatically love when Sailor Moon saves the day in Delta!" No, they're not perfect equivalents. The people that are groaning about the Sailor Moon rip-off act might be the same people that loved SDF Macross but thought it might have been a little better if they didn't play up the singing so much. These might even be the same people then that said "Macross 7 sucks because it has guitars for flight controls." The point is that you can be a Macross fan that doesn't blindly gobble up J-pop and flying bulletproof girls.

[Lolicon]

If you dislike the show, the best way to voice your disapproval is with your wallet, which means not buying any of the merchandise, including any of the VF toys. How many of us are going to do that? Not I.

[mickyg]

This greatly excites me:

Hayate's Sigfried is designated as a VF-31J, according to this magazine article about Bandai's upcoming Mecha Collection MΔ plamo kits.

[Bariaburu Faita]

This is just my opinion. But I believe a fan is someone who supports their hometown sports team even when they have a bad season. When everyone else has switched over to supporting the team that is winning, he supports and encourages his home team. Even when they make bad plays, and have some players that are not likable. He is loyal and supports them through thick and thin.

You guys realize that things happen in varying degrees right? To pretend that Delta doesn't represent an extreme (so far) is being deliberately obtuse. It's okay that this extreme doesn't bother you but to act like it's silly it bothers other people is dumb. This isn't a case of saying "Dude, SDF Macross had Minmay so you should automatically love when Sailor Moon saves the day in Delta!" No, they're not perfect equivalents. The people that are groaning about the Sailor Moon rip-off act might be the same people that loved SDF Macross but thought it might have been a little better if they didn't play up the singing so much. These might even be the same people then that said "Macross 7 sucks because it has guitars for flight controls." The point is that you can be a Macross fan that doesn't blindly gobble up J-pop and flying bulletproof girls.

[jenius]

To use your sports analogy, of all the fans I know of any sports team, all of them quite often acknowledge when the team has a bad game, or has a player not living up to potential, etc. They still support the home team but it's not like they turn a blind eye to all of its flaws. You can be a fan of a sports team and not like the defensive coordinator (ask any Green Bay Packers fan). You can be a fan of Macross and not like when it goes over-the-top with the dance numbers. If you were a fan who thought Macross was leaning too hard on the singing and dancing, Delta's throwing the girls into the actual fire fight is obviously going to be a huge turn-off. To say you think that was a 'step too far' doesn't make you not a Macross fan, it just means you're a Macross fan that likes some aspects more than others and that's OKAY. You can love Macross and hate Macross7 because of how silly it got. That's fine, Mac7 just didn't focus on the aspects you did like about Macross (and anyone who claims 7 captures the feel of SDF Macross is ignoring the fact it deliberately tried to be different). I'm sure there are lots of girl fans that like Macross despite of its often times relying on silly robots fighting in space. That's okay too.

Edited January 24, 2016 by jenius

[Bariaburu Faita]

Most of those, are good points. One thing I disagree with, it that the implication that the emphasis on song being a flaw of Macross. As stated by Producer Kawamori himself, the 3 essential pillars of Macross is Music, Love Triangles, and Variable Fighters. To dislike Macross because of the emphasis on songs, is to dislike something that is part of the essential core of what makes macross macross.

BTW, I like Macross Toys too. Do you like the Delta toys that have been released so far?

To use your sports analogy, of all the fans I know of any sports team, all of them quite often acknowledge when the team has a bad game, or has a player not living up to potential, etc. They still support the home team but it's not like they turn a blind eye to all of its flaws. You can be a fan of a sports team and not like the defensive coordinator (ask any Green Bay Packers fan). You can be a fan of Macross and not like when it goes over-the-top with the dance numbers. If you were a fan who thought Macross was leaning too hard on the singing and dancing, Delta's throwing the girls into the actual fire fight is obviously going to be a huge turn-off. To say you think that was a 'step too far' doesn't make you not a Macross fan, it just means you're a Macross fan that likes some aspects more than others and that's OKAY. You can love Macross and hate Macross7 because of how silly it got. That's fine, Mac7 just didn't focus on the aspects you did like about Macross (and anyone who claims 7 captures the feel of SDF Macross is ignoring the fact it deliberately tried to be different). I'm sure there are lots of girl fans that like Macross despite of its often times relying on silly robots fighting in space. That's okay too.

[aaajin]

You guys realize that things happen in varying degrees right? To pretend that Delta doesn't represent an extreme (so far) is being deliberately obtuse. It's okay that this extreme doesn't bother you but to act like it's silly it bothers other people is dumb. This isn't a case of saying "Dude, SDF Macross had Minmay so you should automatically love when Sailor Moon saves the day in Delta!" No, they're not perfect equivalents. The people that are groaning about the Sailor Moon rip-off act might be the same people that loved SDF Macross but thought it might have been a little better if they didn't play up the singing so much. These might even be the same people then that said "Macross 7 sucks because it has guitars for flight controls." The point is that you can be a Macross fan that doesn't blindly gobble up J-pop and flying bulletproof girls.

sums up everything I said about Sailormoon Delta.

I mean, Macross Delta.

The show that has those girly-girly, dancy-dancy stuff.

edited : I'm joking guys..

Edited January 24, 2016 by aaajin

[jenius]

Most of those, are good points. One thing I disagree with, it that the implication that the emphasis on song being a flaw of Macross. As stated by Producer Kawamori himself, the 3 essential pillars of Macross is Music, Love Triangles, and Variable Fighters. To dislike Macross because of the emphasis on songs, is to dislike something that is part of the essential core of what makes macross macross.

BTW, I like Macross Toys too. Do you like the Delta toys that have been released so far?

The pillars gets back to the 'varying degrees' bit. Music is, without a doubt, a pillar of Macross. Singers in the thick of the fight is not a pillar of Macross though Macross7 definitely did it (but even they were housed in mechs). So this does seem like a more extreme example of Macross7 which was already a very divisive show among Macross fans. Hey, you can be a fan of Macross in varying degrees though too. You can love all Macross, you can love most Macross, or you can even just love Macross mechanical designs and think most the shows are rubbish. All are valid.

I think I sit in the 'most' of Macross category and I love the mechanical designs and can't wait for the release of the toys (though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little let down to hear another 'meh' VF-171 is going to kick things off. I can't wait to get some Drakens and VF-31s. Does any of that Japanese text specify a date?

This greatly excites me:

In the other thread it says these are tiny kits, not DX toys.

Edited January 24, 2016 by jenius

[M'Kyuun]

Personally, I don't need Delta's narrative to make me appreciate and want a few of its associated mecha on my shelf...I like transforming mecha for their own merits apart from the stories in which they're featured. That said, I am a Macross fan, and I don't have a problem with singing and dancing per se; I thought the presentation of Minmay, Sara Nome, Sharon Apple/Myuung, Ranka, and Cheryl made sense within their associated stories. I've not seen M7, so I won't make commentary. The presentation of the singers in Delta, from what I've inferred, goes beyond any sort of practicality, of which there was at least a kernel in SDFM, Zero, M+, and Frontier that made their inclusion somewhat grounded in reality. To suddenly have these singers floating on magic boomerangs and surfing the backs of fighter jets in flight battling with song is too much of a stretch, at least in my mind. I hope to get a chance to see at least a few eps to judge it fairly, but for now, all I have to go on is the commentary here on the forums, and so far, the prognosis is not very appealing.

Edited January 24, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[Bariaburu Faita]

From what I have seen, the official date is Autumn 2016. But if you have any experience buying Macross toys you know the size of the grain of salt you need to take with that.

I think I sit in the 'most' of Macross category and I love the mechanical designs and can't wait for the release of the toys (though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little let down to hear another 'meh' VF-171 is going to kick things off. I can't wait to get some Drakens and VF-31s. Does any of that Japanese text specify a date?

[mickyg]

In the other thread it says these are tiny kits, not DX toys.

That's why it excites me. I'm a sucker for model kits before the toys. They're often smaller, always cheaper, and in many cases, capture my favourite mode: fighter.

But I'm hanging out to see the DX toys as well.

Edited January 24, 2016 by mickyg

[David Hingtgen]

They do love their J-model designations. I wonder if it's mainly due to being the "standard hero variant" in Macross now, or if it's still intended to homage/denote Japan, as the original VF-1J and F-15J do.

(J isn't a very common model designation---only ones I can think of real-world are F-15J (where the VF-1J designation almost certainly comes from), P-38J, F-4J, and F-8J.

For the P-38, F-4 and F-8, there simply were that many variants. But for the F-15J, it's really just to denote Japan-built ones. (F-15J's are really F-15C's built by Mitsubishi).

[kajnrig]

snippet of criticism

You've misconstrued things a fair bit, but I'm not going to press the point. Back OT:

I don't recall there being any other "J" variants besides the two listed (VF-1J and VF-31J), so I wouldn't consider it much of a love affair. Alto's VF-25 was an F-type, but then the F motif was strong in that series.

The J = Japan is an interesting proposition all the same, though. I wonder if Kawamori is indulging in a bit of nationalism and/or the designation is supposed to reflect Hayate's cultural nationality.

[mechaninac]

I fail to see the correlation between magical girls in ruffley dresses and a show being silly or eye roll inducing

I fail to see how you fail to see it. I'll just ascribe it to different strokes for different folks; personally, I've always found anime about magical girls, regardless of franchise, to be silly, eye roll inducing, and impossible to watch.

[Scyla]

You guys realize that things happen in varying degrees right? To pretend that Delta doesn't represent an extreme (so far) is being deliberately obtuse. It's okay that this extreme doesn't bother you but to act like it's silly it bothers other people is dumb. This isn't a case of saying "Dude, SDF Macross had Minmay so you should automatically love when Sailor Moon saves the day in Delta!" No, they're not perfect equivalents. The people that are groaning about the Sailor Moon rip-off act might be the same people that loved SDF Macross but thought it might have been a little better if they didn't play up the singing so much. These might even be the same people then that said "Macross 7 sucks because it has guitars for flight controls." The point is that you can be a Macross fan that doesn't blindly gobble up J-pop and flying bulletproof girls.

While I agree with you I find it a bit surprising that people didn't expect what we saw in the preview Episode. I honestly was surprised to see that much Valkyrie on Valkyrie action and not more focus on Walkure. Even when looking at past installments I think that Macross 7 is not one extreme of Macross it is rather the norm with SDF:M/DYRL and Plus being the outliers. Especially when you look at the success of May'n and Megumi Nakajima and the music of Frontier in general a music centric show had to be expected. Especially when you look at the success of the idol groups in Japan. Don't forget the man behind Delta did also AKB0048 which got two seasons green-lit.

I don't need suspension of disbelief to accept what the Walkure girls do in Delta. Mikumo could be a Grace like cyborg and all the tech you can already see in action during the concerts in Frontier. Not used on the battlefield but still present. During the preview episode the other girls looked really stressed during the battles so I got a real sense of danger from the scene. To weaponize singing is the logical consequence in this universe with singers as soldiers on the field.

If you're hung up about the Sailor Scout dresses I can't help you. However since we all saw Reina in her flight gear before landing in the city we can assume that they all wear body armor underneath.

Regarding the mecha news. Booo to the reveal of the VF-171. We need new cannon-fodder mechs.

[edit:] I want to clarify that I can understand if this iteration of Macross is not for you but I was surprised about some of the feedback after the preview episode. I don't know if I will like Macross Delta but I will reserve my final judgment until I saw the whole show.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Scyla

[ChaoticYeti]

This argument gets old. Everyone is right, and everyone is wrong. Everyone is gonna have their own opinion. I can stomach a lot of things I would not be able to normally enjoy as long as the robots are cool and go pew pew with. Some pretty girls wanna fly around and have morphing hologram clothes, that's fine. Maybe it will get grounded as the show progresses. This was the first glimpse we've seen. Very excited to see more of the new mecha. 7 grew on me, after awhile, warts and all. Will I ever watch it again? Probably not. Am I glad I did? Yes. Give the show some air to breath. It is an anime. There are tropes. It's ok if you don't like it. It doesn't mean you have betrayed any loyalty to the franchise, if that even matters. 10 internet points to everyone!

On topic-ish, the 31 may seem derivative, but I am interested to see where they go with packs and such. The super/armor/tornado parts seemed to be popular offerings from bandai for the Messiah's. Maybe we'll see some more bolt on awesomeness. Hopefully some options for the weapons pod.

[Scyla]

This argument gets old. Everyone is right, and everyone is wrong. Everyone is gonna have their own opinion. I can stomach a lot of things I would not be able to normally enjoy as long as the robots are cool and go pew pew with. Some pretty girls wanna fly around and have morphing hologram clothes, that's fine. Maybe it will get grounded as the show progresses. This was the first glimpse we've seen. Very excited to see more of the new mecha. 7 grew on me, after awhile, warts and all. Will I ever watch it again? Probably not. Am I glad I did? Yes. Give the show some air to breath. It is an anime. There are tropes. It's ok if you don't like it. It doesn't mean you have betrayed any loyalty to the franchise, if that even matters. 10 internet points to everyone!

On topic-ish, the 31 may seem derivative, but I am interested to see where they go with packs and such. The super/armor/tornado parts seemed to be popular offerings from bandai for the Messiah's. Maybe we'll see some more bolt on awesomeness. Hopefully some options for the weapons pod.

We have an image of some of the add-on parts:

It seems like they are gray and similar to the Macross Plus/7 packs. I can spot the boosters on the wings (obviously) and leg armor of some sorts.

If you compare this with the naked RVF-31 you can spot two thruster nozzles on the legs and armor plating that has the same color of the boosters.

They are more on the simple side especially since we got so elaborate Super/Tornado/Armor Packs with Frontier. I think the Armored VF-25 makes Frontier awesome (and the music and costume changes of course ).

[edit:] as you can spot on the second picture the radome transforms not as smoothly as the other containers. It does not transform into a smooth surface on the aft fuselage.

After looking at the other VF-31 none of them has a smooth surface in the back unlike the YF-30:

Edited January 24, 2016 by Scyla

[ChaoticYeti]

I saw that! Pretty sweet. VF-19/25 style mounted boosters. Hopefully the hinge is toleranced well on the figure. The radome pod makes sense with the weapons pod methodology. No reason to have RVF specific frame modifications -in universe- when you can just swap the head and the pod. So much more to be seen.

Edited January 24, 2016 by ChaoticYeti

[anime52k8]

I fail to see how you fail to see it. I'll just ascribe it to different strokes for different folks; personally, I've always found anime about magical girls, regardless of franchise, to be silly, eye roll inducing, and impossible to watch.

if magical girls and singing aren't your bag, that fine; but why is it silly?

[Sildani]

In HIS opinion, he said. I don't think he's denigrating anyone else's opinions or preferences.

[mechaninac]

In HIS opinion, he said. I don't think he's denigrating anyone else's opinions or preferences.

Thank you. People around these parts get so damned defensive and passive aggressive whenever they come up against differing opinions; it's as if they feel personally slighted with an Earth-shattering insult if someone dares to not blindly follow the "perceived" prevailing view of a show or any aspect thereof... so dogmatic.

I'll stick with my first, negative, impression of Delta's use of the magical girl shtick. I'll give the show a try once it starts its broadcast run to see if it improves in my eyes, but I don't hold much hope; at this point, I'm mostly in it for the mecha action, and as long as the parts I find silly and groan worthy don't become too prevalent and obnoxious, I'll likely slog through it... and who knows? The show may surprise me and prove me wrong.

The VF-31 and the SV-262 look very interesting, although none of the 31's color schemes have grabbed me as something I must own, yet. If the show ends up introducing a less acrobatic-team-colored version, CF maybe, I'll be far more enthused.