Macross Δ (Delta) - NYE Special Talkback - READ 1st POST

[Karaoke Ninja]

Is this a magical girl, like in Delta?

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I see Yotsuba who is a little girl so yes I think so. And she's like 6 years old. Little creepy for Duke to be hanging out with her honestly...

[Bariaburu Faita]

its an example of how to fuse 2 diametrically opposed themes. in the various interviews Kawamori has stated how he wants to include serious combat scenes that were plus like, and silly cute scenes like from seven.

Is this a magical girl, like in Delta?

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[Actar]

Which is why it is so unusual to see some of you grown men love shows aimed at little girls. It is easy to understand why grown men might still enjoy show aimed at little boys. All grown men were once little boys. Since when were grown men once little girl

I'm a (straight) guy. I like girls. I like magic. I like magical girls. It's as simple as that. It doesn't have to target me for me to find meaning and enjoyment in something. People can't be that easily generalized. Not to mention, the genera doesn't decide its content, tone or direction. Take Nanoha and Madoka for example.

But, if you want to talk about target audience, shows don't target just one audience demographic. It's been known for ages that Precure targets girls 4 - 12 and boys 19 - 35. Each group can find something to like about it. Have you ever seen the fight scenes in Precure?

Edited January 3, 2016 by Actar

[Karaoke Ninja]

I only watch mature, adult anime like SDF Macross and not kiddie trash like Precure.

[Actar]

^

What is this and why haven't I seen this before.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Actar

[Karaoke Ninja]

^

What is this and why haven't I seen this before.

Commercial for some SD kid toys.

[Gubaba]

Not a commercial. It was the opening used for the 1992 rebroadcast of the show.

[technoblue]

Pacify? She had the staff in the Macross shooting guns at Myung. Not WELL, mind you, but...

I do concede it wasn't exactly the same. Just that the concept showed up there too.

Off topic, but I only remember a couple of the armed guards getting brainwashed outside of Myung's control area. I admit that it could be my own fuzzy memory working against me. I've been meaning to pop Macross Plus in to watch it again.

The images from the Macross (in Plus) that stick out in my mind are of the bridge crew ignoring their stations and zoning out to Sharon's tunes. I don't remember the AI needing any people at that point. Sharon had completely taken over the defense grid, confined Myung in all the power/media cables, all while stealing that drone fighter to chase after Isamu.

[RedWolf]

Know what given Mirage acts like Gamlin how long till some tabloid says she's a lesbian in a romantic relationship with one of the Wulkure?

[Graham]

Know what given Mirage acts like Gamlin how long till some tabloid says she's a lesbian in a romantic relationship with one of the Wulkure?

If that happens, I'd pay to watch it.......hahaha

[Lacerta]

What if Basara shows up instead?

He had better start laying down "Holy Lonely Light" straightaway!

[Graham]

It would be so cool if Basara showed up.

[Graham]

On my 3rd watch of the 0.89 episode, things I like, dislike and am on the fence about so far:

Things I like so far:

1) The fight choreography between the VF-31s and the Sv-262ss is pretty good.

2) The fight choreography between the VF-31 and Zentradi mecha is pretty good.

3) The mecha are all well detailed and animated.

4) The mecha designs. The VF-31, Sv-262, various Zentradi mecha and Hayate's power loader are all nice looking designs.

5) Overall animation quality and meshing of the cell character animation and CG mecha animation was fairly good for a present day TV series.

Things I dislike so far:

i) The whole magical girl transformation animation for each Walkure character. I sincerely hope we don't have to go through this every episode (although I suspect we will).

ii) The boomerangs and the agility and capabilities of the Walkure team. The tech seems indistinguishable from magic and too advanced for what we know of technology in the Macross universe.

iii) The Ariel Knights came off character-wise as genetic anime villains, especially the young one who charges in to combat (can't remember his name off the top of my head).

Things I'm on the fence about so far:

A) The character design and character's in general. No real stand-out character's that grab me at once. Probably because too many character's introduced in one episode. For me, there was certain no character that's grabbed me instantly like Hikaru, Roy, Minmay, Gamlin, Mylene, Basara, Sheryl, Ozma or Alto.

B) The music. To me it's instantly forgettable so far. I honestly can't remember any of the songs or instrumental BGM (was there even any BGM?). If the music in this episode is any indication, this series desperately needs Sheryl, Basara, Minmay and Kanno. With every other Macross series, OVA or movie, I've rushed to buy the music CDs immediately. With Delta, I still can't even remember any of the music after 3 watches. This may change later, but not impressed with the music and songs so far.

I'm not commenting on the story yet, as we're only one episode in.

Anyway, just my current opinion based on this 0.89 prologue episode and will certainly change when the series proper airs.

[RedWolf]

Concerning Freyja's flashback why do I have a feeling she isn't just some country bumpkin?

What if Freyja is royalty? Her family fell due to a Anti-NUN revolt in the Kingdom of Wind? Her family being responsible for integrating Windermere to the NUN?

[Graham]

Interesting theory and probably likely.

[Renato]

On my 3rd watch of the 0.89 episode, things I like, dislike and am on the fence about so far:

i) The whole magical girl transformation animation for each Walkure character. I sincerely hope we don't have to go through this every episode (although I suspect we will).

Yeah, I agree it would get old, but I really don't think we will see it every episode. I'm cautiously optimistic that those scenes would know not to overstay their welcome.

B) The music. To me it's instantly forgettable so far. I honestly can't remember any of the songs or instrumental BGM (was there even any BGM?). If the music in this episode is any indication, this series desperately needs Sheryl, Basara, Minmay and Kanno. With every other Macross series, OVA or movie, I've rushed to buy the music CDs immediately. With Delta, I still can't even remember any of the music after 3 watches. This may change later, but not impressed with the music and songs so far.

I agree here, the BGM and songs are somewhat forgettable... Maybe there was too much happening at once, but they didn't have the presence that Macross demands. With the exception of "Ikenai Borderline", the song at the end. That really made up for it in my opinion, and I actually like it more than Sheryl's "Iteza Gogo-kuji Don't be Late!" I recall that Sheryl song being good, but not good enough for me to keep listening to it over and over. That came later, with "Infinity" and "Diamond Crevasse". "Ikenai Borderline" alone sells this show, though, IMO. We'll see what else the OST has to offer...

[Actar]

Yeah, I agree it would get old, but I really don't think we will see it every episode. I'm cautiously optimistic that those scenes would know not to overstay their welcome.

I have absolute confidence that they will only appear once in such a flashy manner (or at least have completely different outfits/animation each time). Every episode would also be unlikely as they would only "transform" for the battles. Modern magical girl shows that are not a villain-of-the-week series are pretty particular about only showing an extended transformation sequence once throughout the entire run. This is especially true for shorter anime that have a higher budget as the stock transformation scenes are usually used as filler.

Also saw this interesting comment by WhatShtIsThis on another forum:

One thing you have to remember about Macross is that it reflects the music trends in real life at the time.

The original had 80s idols, 7 had 90s J-rock band, Frontier had the idols we got now, and Delta deals with idol groups which are also pretty damn popular nowadays.

The whole idol/VF pairing thing was interesting, and for WIP footage, it was pretty okay, the character animations weren't bad, the CG ain't perfect but hey, you can count with your hands how many TV anime does CG well.

The action scenes were good though, nice songs as well.

I don't see magic either, the songs calm them down, the drones provides the protection and distraction via holograms. The transformation was there even in Macross Frontier, holograms used in concerts to "change" outfits, a portable version of that wouldn't be farfetched.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Actar

[Karaoke Ninja]

I have absolute confidence that they will only appear once in such a flashy manner (or at least have completely different outfits/animation each time). Every episode would also be a unlikely as they would only "transform" for the battles. Modern magical girl shows that are not a villain-of-the-week series are pretty particular about only showing an extended transformation sequence once throughout the entire run. This is especially true for shorter anime that have a higher budget as the stock transformation scenes are usually used as filler.

So long as it's not as bad as Macross 7's stock footage. How many times did we have to see that Fire Valkyrie transformation clip?

[Bariaburu Faita]

would you like to bet that a doujinshi on that subject is being written as we speak?

If that happens, I'd pay to watch it.......hahaha

[JB0]

So long as it's not as bad as Macross 7's stock footage. How many times did we have to see that Fire Valkyrie transformation clip?

And that VF-11 pilot getting shot up and ejecting.

[RedWolf]

Hmm... Thinking about it in Macross history there is one instance that Zentradi became violent upon hearing a song.

Some pilots in Chlore's fleet upon hearing Mylene sing went violent. The rest of the fleet did too once properly listening to Basara before he finally tames them.

[VF5SS]

I don't think they were getting violent, just rowdy.

[Duke Togo]

I went to the recent Comic Market 89, and can safely say almost everything will have magical girls added to it. Kinda like rule 34. You cant fight it, its inevitable.

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I would watch this

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Know what given Mirage acts like Gamlin Misa how long till some tabloid says she's a lesbian in a romantic relationship with one of the Wulkure?

corrected

[Lorindor]

I fear that the constant misspelling of Walküre will lead to a lot of English-speaking fans pronouncing it "Wal-koo-re"... Those are umlauts, not silent rock dots. I thought the Japanese voice actors actually did a relatively good job pronouncing it in most places.

On a similar note, Draken is supposed to be pronounced more like "drah-ken". Not "drey-ken" and certainly not "drack-en". Also, the "-en" suffix is a definite article in Swedish, so writing "the Draken" is like putting two "the" in a row. It just kind of feels strange to me as a Swede.

[CoreyD]

I'm a bit of a retrogrouch, but I finally watched this. I really liked seeing the Zentradi again, but overall, not into it.

[Mommar]

I thought the hand drawn animation looked good. I'm not worried about a standout character after one episode, we have a lot more to get to know everyone.

The Walkure tech was confusing and odd. I didn't expect singing girls actually out on the battlefield. I figured it would be more like projections or drones and they would be back at a base/studio. And the quickly moving drones were odd.

Valk on valk fighting looked great and Iike the designs so far.

I've never been a fan of Japanese pop music, I feel they latched onto the "Happy Hardcore" electronic sound back in the mid nineties and have held onto and taken it too far. Despite that I've been able to appreciate a catchy melody here and there but this stuff was both uninteresting from a musical and production standpoint.

[Cloris]

If I had to use one word to describe this episode it would be 'fun'. It was really entertaining from start to end and that seems to be the general opinion among the people who have watched it, included those who are newbies to Macross.

Freyja is like Ranka's and Sheryl's lovechild. She has the former's energy and cheerfulness and the latter's determination and will, plus some of Mylene's brattiness thrown in. She almost reminds me of a mahô shôjo protagoni- wait Hayate has the potential for a lot of development and I think Freyja and Mirage (who if I remember correctly is said in her profile to take her job as a pilot seriously?) as well as the rest of characters will act as a good foil for him. In general I found everyone pretty likeable, the evil pretty boys included.

The animation seemed good, too. I'm a bit baffled at the people who think Frontier's was better ???? That CG needs some work but it seems pretty obvious most of it is unfinished and the parts that were clearly finished looked really good. And as for the character animation, I think those designs look great animated. I loved how expressive Freyja or some of the knights were but, really, everyone else looked good too.

The second half of the episode was really exciting! Both Walküre's concert-battle, whatever you call that, and the dogfight scenes got me pumped. I can recognize some of Mina Kubota on the songs and I thought that the BGMs, while not on the level of Kanno's best work, were nice (especially the one with the bagpipes that played during the dogfight).

Lastly, didn't Kawamori say in an interview after Sayonara no Tsubasa aired that he felt like doing an spin-off about Magical Girl Ranka? He was warning us But honestly, I don't mind the mahô shôjo aspect; it's all part of Walküre's act and public image. Plus, previous Macross series are full of holographic tricks and after all the threats that have been overcome by humanity thanks to the power of music, militarized idols just seem like the next step.

It's almost cruel that we have to wait three more months until the series starts airing. I guess the next episode will be more battle-heavy and that Master Herman guy looks like Gilliam the Second.

[kajnrig]

Hayate Immelmann's last name is clearly named after Max Immelmann and the Immelmann turn maneuver, but does Hayate have any particular significance? Like there was a famous WWII ace named Hayate or something...?

[Heron]

Hayate Immelmann's last name is clearly named after Max Immelmann and the Immelmann turn maneuver, but does Hayate have any particular significance? Like there was a famous WWII ace named Hayate or something...?

Hayate can mean Fresh Breeze (Breeze is another form of wind) in Japanese and it was also a WW2 Fighter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84 which in this form is Gale, another wind reference.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Heron

[RedWolf]

Thinking again about a possible tabloid issue I can see some rag alleging Mirage is the daughter of Basara and Mylene like Basara was alleged as Hikaru and Minmay's son.

[Sildani]

Where or how are you guys watching this? The links don't work for me unfortunately.

[David Hingtgen]

I realized what this reminded me of:

The whole "Open Ranka" scene/song from the 2nd Frontier movie. Which to me, was the worst point in the entire series. I never re-watch that part, always skip it. (And I still like the 1st movie more than the 2nd)

And Delta seems to have that, as its main premise.

[Mommar]

Where or how are you guys watching this? The links don't work for me unfortunately.

I googled Macross Delta Episode 1 and dome links popped up.

Cloris made a point I forgot to mention, the CG didn't seem to mesh eith the traditionsl animation as well. I'm hoping that's because it isn't quite finished.

[Renato]

I realized what this reminded me of:

The whole "Open Ranka" scene/song from the 2nd Frontier movie. Which to me, was the worst point in the entire series. I never re-watch that part, always skip it. (And I still like the 1st movie more than the 2nd)

And Delta seems to have that, as its main premise.

Haha, that's hilarious because it was the best point in the entire series for me. Everything about that entire sequence is fantastic, from the designs, to the 2D and 3D animation, the filters used, the frame timing, the music and how it all blends together. Some of the CGI crowd shots might look out of place, but overall it is the only part I watch, apart from the end battle, I always skip the rest of the movie.

They even went into extreme detail on the bonus disc explaining how the sequence was put together and if you have a PS3 you can playback the rough pencil keyframes, the textureless 3D models, and even see the actual pop-up papercraft models they used for the sets. Definitely a creative high point of the whole of Frontier, for me.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Renato