Macross Plus/7 FAQ [SPOILERS - TURN BACK! ^_^]
Keith Rhee
0. Who's Keith, and what's with this FAQ crap?
Me. ^_^ rabid Gundamaniac and Macross fan.
Since the release of this show, we had quite a few people asking
what the show is all about, including the question "...but where does
that leave Macross II? And what's this about Macross 7?"
Since I got tired of typing up a response each time someone makes a
post asking for info, I compiled the info available so far and wrote
this FAQ.
Thanks to Egan Loo and others for providing the background info
on the various Macross installments.
--- 8< cut here ---
1. Where does Macross Plus fit in? Where does that leave the
movie and Macross II?
Release Dates:
-------------
Macross TV Series October, 1982
Macross "Do You Remember Love" July, 1984
Macross II OVA Series July(?), 1992
Macross Plus OVA Series August, 1994
Macross 7 TV Series October, 1994
Official timeline:
-----------------
1999-2012 Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series
2012 Flash Back 2012 (music video of farewell concert)
2040 Macross Plus
2045 Macross 7
Alternate Universe:
------------------
2009 Macross - Ai, oboeteimasuka (Love, Do You Remember?)
(movie based on the TV war)
2012 Flash Back 2012 (music video of farewell concert)
80 yrs. later Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again (OVA)
As you can see, the movie and Macross II have been bumped to form
an alternative timeline, in order to pave way for the new Macross
Plus OVA and Macross 7 TV series.
Let's put it this way. We Real Lifers (tm) look at Macross TV and
say "Wow, a SF anime."
Macross TV people look at Macross the movie and say, "Cool, a movie
based on our experiences during the war (the tv war, that is)."
In a similar fashion, they'd regard Macross II as a second, fictitious
installment to the movie timeline, which to them is fiction.
2. Ok, so now I know how Macross Plus fits in with the other Macross
stories. What's it about?
Story thus far (in a nutshell):
Two new Valkyrie test fighters, the YF-19 and the YF-21, are being
bid to the UN Spacy. UN Spacy assigns two test pilots to each of the
prototypes for test pilot duty.
The two pilots are former friends, and now rivals/enemies. They share
a love interest in Myung, a manager for the virtual singer, Sharon
Apple. Years back, something happened that got between the threesome;
the trio's relationship now is awkward at best.
Isam is very much the Top Gun fighter jock type - cocky and confident,
he's an excellent pilot, and his dogfighting skills are top notch.
He's also very reckless and has a very casual attitude towards his
wingmen, constantly putting them in unnecessary danger. This is what
gets him reassigned to test pilot duty, which Isam doesn't seem to
mind at all; he loves to fly.
Guld is a micronized Zentran, and the test pilot of the YF-21. Usually
much more calmer than Isam, he tries too hard to be the cold, detached
type, but is prone to bursts of anger (especially around Isam). His
duties in the YF-21 seems to further compound this (more about this
later).
Myung is the manager for the popular virtual singer, Sharon Apple, who
made her debut in 2039 (the actual story takes place in 2040).
Virtual as in, Sharon's not human. She's basically a robot/AI.
Myung has had a tragic experience (won't go into what - go watch the
video!), and now both Isam and Guld blame each other for what happened
to her.
Tech info:
The YF-19 isn't very dramatic. It looks to be an improvement on the
Valkyries seen in the beginning of the series (which at this point
is the main Valkyrie type used, and looks similar to the YF-4 seen
in the Flashback 2012 video). It has forward-swept wings,
apparently to increase the negative-stability factor. It also allows
for an additional booster attachment on the back for increased speed.
The YF-19 needs this real bad, too, for...
The YF-21 is the other top contender, sporting a slew of radical
improvements over the previous Valkyrie fighters. It has tremendous
thruster output -- the YF-21 regularly outruns the YF-19, even
with the additional booster attachment on the latter. The usual
complement of missles are there, and the guns are mounted on its fore-
arms, obviating the need for a gunpod attachment.
More notable is the thought control system, which basically integrates
the pilot and the Valkyrie into one. The wings have no flaps, instead
being shape-adaptive, and respond to the pilot's "imagination." All
Guld has to do is imagine spreading his fingers out on his hands, and
the wings increase in width. By twisting his "feet" around (in his
mind, that is), the pilot can control the nozzles on the thrusters as
well. The cameras mounted on the plane become his "eyes;" Guld keeps
his eyes closed during flight, seeing everything thru the camera feedback,
which is fed directly into his optical nervous system. This also allows
for arbitrary choice of the spectrum - visible light, infrared, thermo-
graph, x-ray vision, etc.
The thought control system goes so far as to allow the pilot to imagine
a scenario/situation, which the control system picks up and interprets
into suitable commands. This is made evident when Guld imagines himself
soaring straight into the sky -- the place just goes ahead and _does_ it,
going from 0 to breaking the sound barrier in a vertical (speak: 90
degrees) climb -- in 4 seconds flat.
Unfortunately, it also seems to pick up ramdom thoughts of the pilot
and interprets those as well. After being rescued by Isam after a
plunge, Guld imagines how nice it would be if his plane were to force
Isam's YF-19 into the ground, eliminating both Isam and the YF-19 as
contenders. Lo and behold, the plane picks up the imagination of
the scene, and forces Isam's Valkyrie into the ground, trashing it
badly. Even Guld is surprised that the plane picked it up; as far as
he's concerned it was a thought, not a direct order.
The thought control system also puts a sizeable strain on the pilot,
apparently, as Guld sometimes has trouble using his hands and takes
medication to control his nervous spasms.
3. Ok, I'll go watch the video. Tell me something about Macross 7.
Sure! This part is quoted verbatim from Egan Loo's post (Thanks
Egan).
The Macross 7 Fleet's flagship is made of two "blocks," Battle 7 and City
7. Battle 7 is front-end battleship which can separate from the City
block (a la Star Trek's Enterprise-D). It has at least 6 catapult
launches on its forward deck and massive thrusters in the stern. However,
the City 7 block dwarves Battle 7 with its multiple-layer bulbous form.
It looks like a daikon radish after it's been in a microwave a few
milliseconds too long. It is one of 7 such city ships in the fleet whose
total population is approximately 1 million people.
Characters:
Clarification: The names "Mireina," "Basera," and "Iwarn" are better
Romanized as "Mireinu" (or "Miraine" or "Melaine"), "Basara," and
"Iwarno" [Iwaano].
Basara's last name can be pronounced as Netsuki, but it's an unusual
pronounciation, to say the least.
Some magazines say Mireinu is the Fire Bomber's lead singer, and others
say Basara is. The band hasn't had a major debut, but through live house
performances, its popularity has grown. Besides playing the keyboards,
Ray LaBrock is the band leader, music arranger, and a "nice guy." The
members of the Fire Bomber band (except Mireinu, presumably) live in a
literally bad part of town called Akujo.
Max's hairstyle has subtly changed; I won't spoil the surprise. =P Out
Magazine suggests that Mireinu may be only child that Max and Miria
brought on board the Mac 7 Fleet. Some mags say Mireinu is the 7th
daughter and others say that the parents had 7 kids, but none
specifically say that 7 kids are all daughters. Mireinu joined the Fire
Bomber band against her parents' wishes. By the way, Miria happens to be
mayor of City 7.
Mecha:
The common designation for the "stealth" VF-17D mecha is Nightmare. I
don't know about you, but that brings to my mind a certain fantasy novel
and certain present-day fighter plane unofficially nicknamed Nighthawk.
Kawamori says in a B-Club interview that the recent public disclosures of
stealth technology have influenced his current designs (IMHO, a little
too much, but that's okay).
The Baroeta Fleet (and one of its pilots, Gigil) uses a gargantuan,
top-heavy purple mecha that doesn't look too different from the original
movie's Meltrandi female power suit or some of Mac II's Marduk designs.
But hey, for the first time in Macross, the enemy mecha transform! It
apparently has only a human form (term used loosely) and flying form. It
is designated Elgarzoln [Erugaazorun] FZ-109F.
--- end of file ---
Well, that's it, folks. After the failure that was Macross II, this
series has the potential to become a success. Go grab it while it's
hot!. ^_^
--
Keith Rhee
A boss says "Go." -- A leader says "Let's go."
qua...@netcom.com
John A. Kilpatrick
> The YF-19 isn't very dramatic. It looks to be an improvement on the
> Valkyries seen in the beginning of the series (which at this point
> is the main Valkyrie type used, and looks similar to the YF-4 seen
> in the Flashback 2012 video). It has forward-swept wings,
> apparently to increase the negative-stability factor. It also allows
> for an additional booster attachment on the back for increased speed.
> The YF-19 needs this real bad, too, for...
Hmm...they weren't following in YF-19's...they were using regular fighters.
I don't think that we can say that those thrusters go on the 19's. I think
that the designation for what Isamu was flying was a VF-11.
--
******************************John A. Kilpatrick*******************************
*"I gotta fly like a duck.......... | Alternate lyrics for "Back to Paradise" *
* I gotta run like a wounded badger"| from Gundam 0083: StarDust Memory *
*************************jaki...@taco.engr.ucdavis.edu************************
Profess'nal Agitator
> Macross Plus/7 FAQ
> Official timeline:
> -----------------
> 1999-2012 Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series
> 2012 Flash Back 2012 (music video of farewell concert)
> 2040 Macross Plus
> 2045 Macross 7
This should really include 2031: Macross '84 theatrical release.
Agitator
#->
*Bubble Gum Crisis-K.Orange Road-Dirty Pair-Kurenai no Buta-Macross-Tenchi*
*Muyo!-VGAi-Riding Bean-NOT Sailor Moon-Venus Wars-Honneamise-//-M. Ikkoku*
*------------- R E M E M B E R B E I J I N G --------------//-----------*
*IBM PC - Who wants a politically correct computer? \\ // Only AMIGA!*
*================================= Bring Back the Caltech \X/ Cannon!! ===*
*Roderick Lee, HMC '91 "The Professional Agitator" agit...@kaiwan.com*
Ronnie Kwong
wrote:
> Alternate Universe:
> ------------------
> 2009 Macross - Ai, oboeteimasuka (Love, Do You Remember?)
> (movie based on the TV war)
There was a new explanation concerning the movie at the end of Macross
Plus. It was made in 2031 to commemorate the war. All the characters were
played by some other actors. A movie within a movie so to speak, not an
alternate universe.
> 80 yrs. later Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again (OVA)
Macross II was said to be a "Parallel story." In other words, they were
so ashamed of it, they threw it into the Ethereal Void.
> Tech info:
>
> The YF-19 isn't very dramatic. It looks to be an improvement on the
> Valkyries seen in the beginning of the series (which at this point
> is the main Valkyrie type used, and looks similar to the YF-4 seen
> in the Flashback 2012 video). It has forward-swept wings,
> apparently to increase the negative-stability factor. It also allows
> for an additional booster attachment on the back for increased speed.
> The YF-19 needs this real bad, too, for...
>
In Isam's first briefing at New Edwards, he was told the YF-19 needed
another week before test can be run. The three Valkyries accompanying the
YF-21 were the same VF-11's you saw at the beginning. Watch it again,
those three do not have forward-swept wings. They aren't even called
Valkyries anymore. The official code name is VF-11 Thunderbolt. They
were there to escort and/or provide "coverage" of the YF-21 during the
test, but Isam...
Think about it, will they make **three** of their prototypes escort their
competing model? They are going to test it separately at another time(to
give you a reason to buy #2 (^_^) )
--
Ronnie Kwong, Director of R & D--Shinohara Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
ra...@rahul.net
"Sensou ga heiwa o umu youni,
heiwa mo mata sensou o umu." --Shigeki Arakawa
"As war leads to peace,
peace also leads to another war."
Keith Rhee
>In article <quattroC...@netcom.com>, Keith Rhee <qua...@netcom.com> wrote:
>> Macross Plus/7 FAQ
>> Official timeline:
>> -----------------
>> 1999-2012 Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series
>> 2012 Flash Back 2012 (music video of farewell concert)
>> 2040 Macross Plus
>> 2045 Macross 7
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I forgot! ^_^ I had to put that in there so
the people would understand it's a _fictional movie release_ ^_^;;;
Keith Rhee
>qua...@netcom.com (Keith Rhee) writes:
>Hmm...they weren't following in YF-19's...they were using regular fighters.
>I don't think that we can say that those thrusters go on the 19's. I think
>that the designation for what Isamu was flying was a VF-11.
Sorry about the mistake. Someone already pointed this mistake out to
me. At least that means we can look forward to the YF-19's debut in
the next episode. ^_^
Keith Rhee
>There was a new explanation concerning the movie at the end of Macross
>Plus. It was made in 2031 to commemorate the war. All the characters were
>played by some other actors. A movie within a movie so to speak, not an
>alternate universe.
Point taken. I'll incorporate that into the FAQ
>> 80 yrs. later Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again (OVA)
>Macross II was said to be a "Parallel story." In other words, they were
>so ashamed of it, they threw it into the Ethereal Void.
i.e. Alternate Universe.
>In Isam's first briefing at New Edwards, he was told the YF-19 needed
>another week before test can be run. The three Valkyries accompanying the
>YF-21 were the same VF-11's you saw at the beginning. Watch it again,
>those three do not have forward-swept wings. They aren't even called
>Valkyries anymore. The official code name is VF-11 Thunderbolt. They
>were there to escort and/or provide "coverage" of the YF-21 during the
>test, but Isam...
I should be ashamed of this blunder. ^_^;;;
I only watched the video once. I should watch it at least 3 times more
to catch all the details. You're right; they saved the yf-19's debut
for OVA ep. 2.
Thanks for the corrections. Time to go watch that OVA again.
Jow-Vui Lim
> Two new Valkyrie test fighters, the YF-19 and the YF-21, are being
> bid to the UN Spacy. UN Spacy assigns two test pilots to each of the
> prototypes for test pilot duty.
> The thought control system goes so far as to allow the pilot to imagine
> a scenario/situation, which the control system picks up and interprets
> into suitable commands. This is made evident when Guld imagines himself
> soaring straight into the sky -- the place just goes ahead and _does_ it,
> going from 0 to breaking the sound barrier in a vertical (speak: 90
> degrees) climb -- in 4 seconds flat.
I have seen the Macross Plus anime, like it, love it and cannot
forget about it. Since we all know that there are two new fighters and
the VF-19 is yet to be seen, any idea what this new fighter's control
system is going to be like? (since it is biding against something like
the VF-21, it has to at least match the capability of the VF-21 to be in
the bid)
--
? ^ ^ ? li...@tartarus.uwa.edu.au
? (..) lim...@swanee.ee.uwa.edu.au (<-- prefer)
__ ? "If Batman is so smart, why does he wear his underwear
? ? outside ?"
Andrew John Brewer
Both planes, according to Miller, "must be able to phase into
beyond-space" and "be able to close in at the closest possible
point to its target." Whether this implies stealth, I don't know.
Keith Rhee
>Grabbing this off my database:
>Title Release Date
>Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross October 3, 1982 - June 26, 1983
>Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross [Gekijouhan]: Ai * Oboeteimasuka July 7, 1984
>Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross Flash Back 2012 June 27, 1987
>Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross II: Lovers Again May 21, 1992 - December 24,
>1992
>Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross II 1993*
>Macross Plus August 25, 1994 - Spring 1995 (rescheduled)
>Macross 7 October 16, 1994 -
Consider the FAQ data updated. ^_^
>Guld has a micronized Centrady father and a Human mother. Hence, he's
>actually shorter than Viffidas. =)
Ah, the things you can't catch when you've only watched the OVA once
and haven't read the Newtype mags regarding this stuff. ^_^;;
Thanks.
>Uh... booster attachment? That's the VF-11 Thunderbolt, the
>standard-issue fighter of the 2040s. The Thunderbolt can accomodate
>either a Super booster system or a single rocket booster. It's funny to
>think that we have seen the VF-19 Custom already (in the Mac 7 Special),
>more than three months before we'll see the YF-19 in flight. Heck, we've seen
>Sharon Apple's face five months before her anime debut. By 2012, the YF-4
>had been redesignated VF-4 (Can't have prototypes running the frontlines.
>=P).
See above. I already had those mistakes pointed out to me. And yes,
that should read VF-4, not YF-4. Y is a common designator for
experimental craft, no? ^_^
Haro-chan
Peter Evans <pe...@ryutai.co.jp> wrote:
> as to "a day or two ahead" the stuff is shipped from the wholesaler
> between 3 and 1 day ahead of actual release. the shops aren't
> _supposed_ to put them on the shelves until release day.
I like that emphasis on "supposed." =P
> Mac+ 2 is now JAN 1.
And Mac+ 3 & 4 "in Spring of 1995 or later." =/
> You should have gone to the Macross+ event ^_^
[My right hand lets loose with sadomasochistic fury on my poor head]
<WHAPPP!>
Imbecile!
<WHAPPP!>
You had a Mac + pass. Did you go?
<WHAPPP!>
Nooooo, you just *had* to go to cram school.
<WHAPPP!>
Hitoshi got Minmay cels. Did you? DID YOU?!?
<WHAP-WHAP-WHAPPP!>
....
=P
> I have some pictures of the mecha for Mac7 at home, (transparencies
> from Bandai) they look rather average ...
Chara pictures, too? Please tell me that you have pictures of Milene, Max,
and Basara.
Just being me,
Egan Loo
--
_______ Haro-chan! Daremo anata no seishun wa ubaenai
/\ /\ Egan Loo No one can steal your youth
/_/ i i \_\ Cal-Animage Alpha Freelance Specialist --Mari Iijima,
|___________| ega...@uclink.berkeley.edu or @ocf.berkeley.edu "Love Letter"
Haro-chan
> movie and Macross II?
>
> Release Dates:
> -------------
> Macross TV Series October, 1982
> Macross "Do You Remember Love" July, 1984
> Macross II OVA Series July(?), 1992
> Macross Plus OVA Series August, 1994
> Macross 7 TV Series October, 1994
Grabbing this off my database:
Title Release Date
Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross October 3, 1982 - June 26, 1983
Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross [Gekijouhan]: Ai * Oboeteimasuka July 7, 1984
Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross Flash Back 2012 June 27, 1987
Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross II: Lovers Again May 21, 1992 - December 24,
1992
Chou Jikuu Yousai Macross II 1993*
Macross Plus August 25, 1994 - Spring 1995 (rescheduled)
Macross 7 October 16, 1994 -
These are only the scheduled release dates for Japan; sometimes, the
anime comes out a day or two day ahead of the appointed day. *I've never
seen this, and I think the Macross II movie was never released in Japan,
so I have no idea when that debuted.
> >2. Ok, so now I know how Macross
Plus fits in with the other Macross > stories. What's it about?
>
> Story thus far (in a nutshell):
> Guld is a micronized Zentran, and the test pilot of the YF-21. Usually
Guld has a micronized Centrady father and a Human mother. Hence, he's
actually shorter than Viffidas. =)
> Tech info:
>
> The YF-19 isn't very dramatic. It looks to be an improvement on the
> Valkyries seen in the beginning of the series (which at this point
> is the main Valkyrie type used, and looks similar to the YF-4 seen
> in the Flashback 2012 video). It has forward-swept wings,
> apparently to increase the negative-stability factor. It also allows
> for an additional booster attachment on the back for increased speed.
Uh... booster attachment? That's the VF-11 Thunderbolt, the
standard-issue fighter of the 2040s. The Thunderbolt can accomodate
either a Super booster system or a single rocket booster. It's funny to
think that we have seen the VF-19 Custom already (in the Mac 7 Special),
more than three months before we'll see the YF-19 in flight. Heck, we've seen
Sharon Apple's face five months before her anime debut. By 2012, the YF-4
had been redesignated VF-4 (Can't have prototypes running the frontlines.
=P).
Just being me,
Egan Loo
--
_______ Haro-chan! Daremo anata no seishun wa ubaenai
/\ /\ Egan Loo No one can steal your youth
/_/ i i \_\ Cal-Animage Alpha Secretary/Editor --Mari Iijima,
Peter Evans
>Macross Plus August 25, 1994 - Spring 1995 (rescheduled)
>Macross 7 October 16, 1994 -
>These are only the scheduled release dates for Japan; sometimes, the
>anime comes out a day or two day ahead of the appointed day. *I've never
>seen this, and I think the Macross II movie was never released in Japan,
>so I have no idea when that debuted.
There was no Macross ][ movie, just the OAVs here.
as to "a day or two ahead" the stuff is shipped from the wholesaler
between 3 and 1 day ahead of actual release. the shops aren't
_supposed_ to put them on the shelves until release day.
Mac+ 2 is now JAN 1.
... [munch] ...
>Uh... booster attachment? That's the VF-11 Thunderbolt, the
>standard-issue fighter of the 2040s. The Thunderbolt can accomodate
>either a Super booster system or a single rocket booster. It's funny to
>think that we have seen the VF-19 Custom already (in the Mac 7 Special),
>more than three months before we'll see the YF-19 in flight. Heck, we've seen
>Sharon Apple's face five months before her anime debut. By 2012, the YF-4
>had been redesignated VF-4 (Can't have prototypes running the frontlines.
>=P).
You should have gone to the Macross+ event ^_^
I have some pictures of the mecha for Mac7 at home, (transparencies
from Bandai) they look rather average ...
Peter
----*
--
Ai yo, yuki yo, chigau zo! It's blue, it's snowing, ^_^
Shibui de gozaimasu! waku-waku shichau!
My opinions are my own. My company is not capable of opinions.
Even if it was, they would be stupid. [Half-male, half-email]
Peter Evans
>Peter Evans <pe...@ryutai.co.jp> wrote:
more children playing ^_^;
>> Mac+ 2 is now JAN 1.
> And Mac+ 3 & 4 "in Spring of 1995 or later." =/
should get a preview tape soon. (waku*waku)
>> You should have gone to the Macross+ event ^_^
>[My right hand lets loose with sadomasochistic fury on my poor head]
><WHAPPP!>
>Imbecile!
><WHAPPP!>
>You had a Mac + pass. Did you go?
Yes. With Curtis Hoffman, Hitoshi Doi and George Arriola.
(late of AnimEigo ^_^)
Still have the pass.
><WHAPPP!>
>Nooooo, you just *had* to go to cram school.
You did?
><WHAPPP!>
>Hitoshi got Minmay cels. Did you? DID YOU?!?
No. No money. besides, don't like minmei.
><WHAP-WHAP-WHAPPP!>
>....
Ouchie!
>> I have some pictures of the mecha for Mac7 at home, (transparencies
>> from Bandai) they look rather average ...
>Chara pictures, too? Please tell me that you have pictures of Milene, Max,
>and Basara.
Of course. Going to send them to the UK for the magazine.
Peter
----*
only 2 days to ep2 -- waku-waku!
Hitoshi Doi
| ega...@uclink.berkeley.edu (Haro-chan) wrote:
| >Peter Evans <pe...@ryutai.co.jp> wrote:
|
| more children playing ^_^;
|
| >Hitoshi got Minmay cels. Did you? DID YOU?!?
|
| No. No money. besides, don't like minmei.
I don't like Minmei that much either.. but they transformed
into Belldandy cels, so I'm happy! (^_^)
| >Chara pictures, too? Please tell me that you have pictures of Milene, Max,
| >and Basara.
|
| Of course. Going to send them to the UK for the magazine.
After two episodes of Macross 7.. it looks pretty disappointing.
--
Hitoshi Doi, Toshi Nibunnoichi d...@tcp.com
half a UFO catcher doll, half a cel 801 tactical training squadron
http://www.tcp.com/doi/doi.html to...@cc.win.or.jp