Jump to content

1:48 Hasegawa VF-19!!!!!!!!!!&


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
There's a reason Macross 7 never got picked up by a stateside anime company. It's bad. No, wait - that doesn't cover it. It's horrifyingly, mindrendingly, cosmically bad. And it wasn't even "so bad it's good". I'm an afficionado of "so bad it's good" - hell, I own a DVD box set of Pink Lady and Jeff. Macross 7 is "so bad it's... really ******* bad". I still list it as #1 on my list of worst anime of all time - beating Tenshi ni Narumon, an anime that makes me physically ill if I try to watch it. It's one thing to suck - it's quite another to suck in the name of a classic.

For the record, Macross 7 appeared in the mid-90s, and is a sequel set 15-20 years after the original. It centers around Max and Miriya's daughter (no, not Dana), who is such a bubblehead she makes Minmei look like Margaret Thatcher. All in all, it makes about as much sense as Wesley Willis trying to read Jabberwocky. It is the North Korea of anime. You'd have more fun watching educational filmstrips in Croatian.

FAIL.

As for the other Macross sequels...

Macross Plus did pretty well, and deserved to. If memory doesn't fail, Cartoon Network even played it a few times in the late 90s. It ran on pure cool, which was enough to sustain it through a four-episode OVA. It wouldn't have been able to keep itself going any longer, and didn't.

Yeah, it could've benefitted from more screen time on TV, but sadly most of the C/N fanbase at the time was so immersed in anything Gundam (when I become world dictator, I'm gonna execute the C/N guy that decided to air Gundam Wing... I have him to thank for the surge of homoerotic fanboyism that followed it) that if it wasn't part of a UC or AC timeline or capable of some level of super sayan (gayan), the fans weren't interested in it. The only thing that would've been better is if the movie version had gotten some screen time, but since the C/N crowd was so anti-subtitle, it never would've flown. (for those not in the know, a dub of the Macross Plus movie does not exist)

Macross II was okay. People compared it unfairly to the original, which it didn't live up to - but it wasn't bad in and of itself. It was distributed in the US before anime had really gotten big, and that's probably why people haven't heard more about it.

I think part of the problem stemmed from the fact that it was labelled "Macross" and even featured screen time of the SDF-01 UNS Macross, but was not called "Robotech", which confused a ton of american fans (those poor souls that never got to see the original goodness that hideous effing chud of a TV series came from) as the stories had nothing to do with each other. Macross II is guilty of 2 things: 1: One of the single worst english dubs in the history of anime (I'd rather watch "Clash of the Bionoids" than watch MII in english) and 2: a story that is so close to the original DYRL story yet tries to be so much more different and fails miserably. This was also a period when Haruhiko Mikamoto must've been on some particularly bad acid, and character designs suffered because of it (his best work was done in DYRL and later in Mac7).

Despite these handicaps, MacII did get a few things right. First were the technical designs. The Valkyrie designs were well presented and while the main battle pod of the enemy looked pretty pathetic, the various power armor suits were absolute works of art. Secondly, it's soundtrack is just about second to none. Japanese popular music style tends to run about a decade behind US trends... showing up in the early-mid 1990s, the music style emulates US rock and pop of the 1980s, and does it very well. I love every Macross soundtrack that I own (last I looked, I've got them all), but my 2 CD set of Macross II gets more play time than all the rest.

Macross Zero hasn't been picked up yet, and it still might, or maybe not. I have very mixed feelings about it. It was going really well for three of its five episodes, then just kinda dove off a cliff.

Even the God of transforming anime (Shoji Kawamori) is allowed an off-day. :) (I completely agree with you, lol)

Macross Frontier is the latest one. I have mixed feelings about it, as well, but they're generally positive. It 's flawed - it tried too hard to be a tribute to the original, but I think never really understood what made the original great. The original Macross was sad and serious. I liked it in the first place, back in the mid-80s, because it was the first thing aimed at people my age that didn't talk down to me. Roy died. Ben died. Minmei was never going to find happiness. It was grim and melancholy and I loved it. Frontier has sad moments, but its tone just isn't serious enough. Frontier was also too trendy, with fashionable bishonen characters I could have done without. I could have done without the female Zentraedi's "chibi" mode. I could have done without the flaming gay "bridge bunny" (bring back Claudia!). I never really did understand why a Macross armada needed a PMC.

And on a personal note, I wish Grace hadn't been evil - she gave me a raging sti... uhm... appreciation of her feminine beauty.

And yet the music was catchy, the characters were appealing, the mech designs were good, and the series went down smooth. It was funny when it was supposed to be funny, and dramatic when it was supposed to be dramatic. Frontier was not exceptional - it wasn't art - but it was above average by any objective standard.

I liked the story ok, but then I liked Mac7, which followed a similar principal (Music as a weapon). I completely agree with the trendy part though (characters, etc)... it's almost as if Kawamori "sold out" to the gundam wing/dragonball crowd, which borders on bitter betrayal in my eyes. I will say the flaming bridge bunny added an interesting humor dynamic to it, especially with his hard-on for the squadron commander. I also never understood why an experimental company (owned by a teenager no less) moonlighting as a PMC, would be flying an entire squadron of valkyries that make the UN squadrons look like drooling idiots...

Ditto on Grace, she was "the hawtnez". But then I don't get off on pre-adolescent girls with hair that looks like floppy dog ears.

I pretty much share your sentiments on the rest of your assessment of Frontier. It could've been better in many ways, but after the last couple of episodes of Zero, pretty much anything was an improvement.

Edited by Skull Leader
Link to post
Share on other sites
No "Kodomo no Jikan" for you?

Oh, that's what that was from (avatars from two guys on a forum) . Gotta say...ew.

And Strike witches was cute, und Frau Barkhorn ist (IMO) ganz Moe!

As for the gym pantsu...well, it's not the weirdest thing to come from Japan.

Link to post
Share on other sites
If you understand this poster, you've watched too much Strike Witches:

Not really. I just watched through once and not really an expert on the girls' pantsu. I was pretty much enamored with Gertrude, Erica, and Mio and the rest were meh to me (except Elia and Sanya, those two pegged the kawai factor for me, so cute!)

Edited by sv51macross
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Mac7 might *possibly* connect better with the younger audience (though in their late 20's by now). But the core modeling demographic is more in the mid-30's to 50's age range - even those who are into anime, so I suspect the Tomcat-like lines of the VF-0/-1 would resonate as well, if not better. I'm sure Hasegawa looked carefully at the sales of their 1/72 Macross kits to gauge how 1/48 versions would do and figured a -19 would sell well enough. I have a suspicion that Hasegawa is saving the VF-1 for a later release, maybe by teasing us with a -19 first.

I grew up watching both the original Japanese Macross and the English-dubbed Robotech, but after watching Frontier, I'd say they're roughly equal as far as the TV series go. When I watch the original Macross, I realize how corny it was. In that respect, Frontier had a more polished storyline, and the animation and music were very well done.

Ai Oboetemasuka (Do You Remember the Love) is an absolute masterpiece. It had such a different feel from the original TV series, both in animation style and the theatrical grandeur of the soundtrack. The opening scene with full orchestra music is truly awesome.

MacII is largely unforgettable. MacPlus was okay, but it didn't have the scale of the original show. Zero had great animation and mecha (SV-51 WOW!), but the music was uninspiring and was a little too metaphysical for me. Mac7 just isn't that interesting -- I've tried watching it, but I can't get beyond a couple episodes.

This brings up an interesting discussion on the wisdom and strategies of sequels, prequels and reboots. Very few sequels have outdone the originals, but a good brand (Star Wars, Star Trek, Bond 007, Batman, etc.) can have staying power over time. I think Macross fits into that mold and is possibly time for a reboot -- possibly as live action. There are some good live-action "what ifs" on YouTube and I think BigWest/Tatsunoko/Studio Nue should consider licensing or working in cooperation with Hollywood to take this franchise to the next level. Transformers, which wasn't even that good of an anime, is doing very well on the big screen.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Nobody will carry these in the US. If you want one then you better order from HLJ or Rainbow Ten. You can thank Harmony Gold for your inability to buy these kits in the US.

Getting this thread back on track from esoteric discussions about Japanese amines in general, who or what is Harmony Gold?

Edited by Dave Williams
Link to post
Share on other sites
Getting this thread back on track from esoteric discussions about Japanese amines in general, who or what is Harmony Gold?

An anime importer/distributor that, for all intents and purposes, ra*ed Macross and Mospeada into Robotech. Adn yes, I think that in this case that particular verb is appropriate.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Skew the Excalibur, I want the Idolmaster F-2A! :cheers:

So putting the text block into Yahoo's page translator reveals:

Very much, make wait we have done, new spreading/displaying opening! 1/48 scales first feature “YF-19”, directing late to September sale, presently are the die production under way. Because model total length 388mm, it is the large-sized model which becomes full-width 309.5mm, when taking in the hand, it becomes the preponderant existence impression. As for proportion and detail on the basis of 1/72 while, from the image which raises resolution. The number of parts we have become the eye relatively little, to unite at brief, they are the contents which can do to elaborate to paint. The main wing selective system of normal condition and high-speed form. As for head beam gun and vector nozzle working. As for cockpit with selective system of single seat and double seat, as for canopy opening and closing selective system. The pilot of arrival seat attitude belongs 1 bodies. As for the sensor of nose side the making being packed by the mechanic part of clear part + inside. Furthermore, the weapon bay cover of engine side to another part was converted as an element only of 1/48, the engine and the like inside was carved in the range which is visible. Package illustration the Tenzin English your person who adapts takes charge! Decare has adopted the silk screen decare whose coloration is good.

So basically, the wings are movable between noral and high-speed modes, there will be weapons bays, engine detail, the option to build single and twin-seat versions, one pilot figure, multi-piece canopy, plus actual detail under the spots on the nose for the translucent bits.

:D

Plus they're doing another production run of the SV51 Twinbooster and VF-2 VF-1 kits in 1:72.

Edited by sv51macross
Link to post
Share on other sites
That is a BIG difference in size between the two, I'm now a little scared to see what a 1/32 19 would look like.

I have a paper model of YF-19 (and YF-21,VF-25 etc) in 1:60.I enlarged it (by zoom in on adobe acrobat) and in 1:32 is reaaalyyy big!!!!!

Edited by artoor_k
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

thats a pretty big difference! 388mm wow, its a pretty hefty model for 1/48 scale. Any news on release dates?

How about a vf-25 in 1/48 scale from Hasegawa ? :cheers::salute: complete with a 1/48 Ranka too

But anyway... i didnt know about a 1/48 vf-19 until this post, thanks!

David

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...