Macross F (Frontier) information and preview video.

[VF5SS]

Images from Macross the First. There's a few changes to the story. Minmay was at the air show to be a model and they now use the DYRL flight suits. The next issue is due out in June.

[Parallax]

I'm finally getting around to watching this series. So far it's pretty good.
Just some general comments and questions arising from earlier in this thread:

VF-X 2 is actually my favourite Macross based game. Wide variety of missions and even wider variety of VFs to choose from. Macross VO would be next.
VF-X, of course, is unholy mess that should be wiped from history.

The device that destroyed the planet in episode 13 has huge military potential; creating planet swallowing size fold faults... nasty.

When the Global fell in episode 13 and all the Vajra ships appeared, what exactly happened? Alto said something along the lines of "so that's how you get such huge numbers". Did the Vajra cannibalise the SDF-4 or something?

Alto's VF-25 losing power and crashing into the ground (twice!) without sustaining any actual damage seemed somewhat impressive.

I'm quite enjoying all the nods back to previous Macross series from the shooting of a Macross Zero movie, to the shape of the school, even to the way Ranko arrived in the speaker pod equipped VF. However, the lack of VF-19s and VF-22s disturbs me a bit though the inclusion of the Ghosts was nice.

Has anybody tried to work out fire power levels for any of the reaction weaponry or even ship battles?

[VF5SS]

The device that destroyed the planet in episode 13 has huge military potential; creating planet swallowing size fold faults... nasty.

Recent translations from the Blu Ray notes say that they are recovered Overtechnology and that originally they could swallow even larger bodies.

When the Global fell in episode 13 and all the Vajra ships appeared, what exactly happened? Alto said something along the lines of "so that's how you get such huge numbers". Did the Vajra cannibalise the SDF-4 or something?

Alto was referring to the size of the Varja mothership. Also, the Global's designation is SDFN-04. It is one of five replica Macross ships that are assigned to research fleets.

Alto's VF-25 losing power and crashing into the ground (twice!) without sustaining any actual damage seemed somewhat impressive.

Valkyrie have always been incredibly tough. They have been seen smashing through buildings (while transforming) and even getting buried by gigantic boulders without damage.

However, the lack of VF-19s and VF-22s disturbs me a bit though the inclusion of the Ghosts was nice.

The real reason for this is that both of those designs are too "heroic" looking to be used as generic cannon fodder.

I recently found this interview that has been translated by Akiba-Station. It gives some insight into the Macross universe from the creator Shoji Kawamori. From Otona Anime #09

[Darwin]

When the Global fell in episode 13 and all the Vajra ships appeared, what exactly happened? Alto said something along the lines of "so that's how you get such huge numbers". Did the Vajra cannibalise the SDF-4 or something?

Yeah, they were basically nesting there.

Alto's VF-25 losing power and crashing into the ground (twice!) without sustaining any actual damage seemed somewhat impressive.

overtechnology materials engineering is tough stuff.

I'm quite enjoying all the nods back to previous Macross series from the shooting of a Macross Zero movie, to the shape of the school, even to the way Ranko arrived in the speaker pod equipped VF. However, the lack of VF-19s and VF-22s disturbs me a bit though the inclusion of the Ghosts was nice.

19's and 22s are still superior to the 25's and definitely the 171's. The VF-27 Lucifers on the other hand, well, they appear to be based on reverse-engineered Varautan variable fighters, which were themselves based on VF-14 Vampires (which likely would have made the reverse-engineering much simpler). Anyway Excaliburs and Sturmvogels were always deemed too expensive for mass production. The VF-25 was developed to approach the performance of the 19 at a much lower cost, and the 171's are re-engineered VF17's, which weren't half bad to start with..

[Nephtys]

The 'in-universe' explanation I heard was that the VF-19 and VF-22 are too complicated and overpowered for most pilots to effectively use, while the far-more economical VF-171 was an upgrade to the VF-17, which was easier to fly. Also, all colony fleets aren't exactly standardized, and SMS being an irregular outfit had their own next-generation fighter in the same manner that Galaxy had the VF-27.

[Parallax]

I would also like to state that Macross Frontier seems to have struck the exact right balance, much like Macross Plus did, between song and mecha action.

Unlike Macross 7 which still makes me want to bang my head against a wall whenever I even casually think about it ... gah.

[Ford Prefect]

Alto's VF-25 losing power and crashing into the ground (twice!) without sustaining any actual damage seemed somewhat impressive.

Hikaru ploughs through a couple of buildings in his VF-1 with only relatively minor damage in the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and crashes from orbit at one point.

19's and 22s are still superior to the 25's

Actually, they aren't, according to some translated side materials. Their engineering is superior and their thrust output is much higher. It's either twice the overall thrust of the 19/22 or twice the output of the 19/22 per engine. Additionally, they're easier to pilot thanks to the addition of EX-Gear, which not only acts as a BDI-lite but contains an overtech acceleration compensator that allows pilots to go beyond the level that would kill people. Yes, this makes the VF-27 even more ridiculous, given that it would kill normal human pilots utilising EX-Gear anyway.

[Darwin]

19's and 22s are still superior to the 25's

Actually, they aren't, according to some translated side materials. Their engineering is superior and their thrust output is much higher. It's either twice the overall thrust of the 19/22 or twice the output of the 19/22 per engine. Additionally, they're easier to pilot thanks to the addition of EX-Gear, which not only acts as a BDI-lite but contains an overtech acceleration compensator that allows pilots to go beyond the level that would kill people. Yes, this makes the VF-27 even more ridiculous, given that it would kill normal human pilots utilising EX-Gear anyway.

wow, that's different from what I heard earlier, where it was stated that the 19/22 were basically as fast and powerful as something the size of a VF was going to get (the 22 with safeties off could accelerate hard enough to pulp its pilot) but I guess the new info and the EX-Gear fit with all that.

[Ford Prefect]

I wish I could provide the actual source for you, but I didn't save it. As such I'm not a hundred brocent on it, but the general gist is correct: the VF-25 is the pinnacle of UN Spacy transforming space ninja plane technology. Except for the VF-27, I guess.

[Vendetta]

Alto's VF-25 losing power and crashing into the ground (twice!) without sustaining any actual damage seemed somewhat impressive.

Hikaru ploughs through a couple of buildings in his VF-1 with only relatively minor damage in the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and crashes from orbit at one point.

Alto still totals every single VF he gets into. This one just took him a bit of extra effort.

[VF5SS]

Macross Chronicle Mechanical Sheet VF-25S

Mechanic Sheet
Macross Frontier: Citizen Sheet 02A: VF-25S

Pages 1 & 2

Crossing the limits of manned aircraft, HUMANITY'S "MESSIAH" against the Vajra!

Aircraft Introduction
The greatest shackle imposed on manned aircraft is said to be the pilot, but the VF-25 Messiah (used by the Civilian Military Provider SMS) sails past those limitations thanks to several technological breakthroughs. The Extended Gear System, a new type of piloting system, improves both piloting and survival ability by use of the ISC (Inertial Store Converter), popularly known as the "Inertial Buffer," which reduces the effect of Gs in the cockpit. Because of the limits of the pilot's body, it has always been nearly impossible for a fighter to reach its full potential. This problem, as addressed by the AVF Development Project in 2040, has finally been overcome. Moreover, the power output, armaments, sensors, etc. have all been completely integrated, resulting in greatly enhanced performance. Even the VF-171, the primary fighter of the the tail end of the 2050s, lacks teeth in comparison. Keeping with tradition, the S Type is for commanders, and it features more powerful communication systems, as well as an on-board AI equipped with battle tactic command programs for assistance.

Data (Data refers to fighter mode)
Owner: SMS
Length: 18.72m
Height: 4.03m (not including landing gear)
Wingspan: 15.50m (fully extended)
Mass: 8,450kg
Maximum Airframe Design Load [hi, Azrael!]: 27.5G+
Engine: Shinsei Industries / P&W / RR Company FF-3001A Stage II Nuclear Turbine Engines x2
Maximum Thrust in Space: 1,620kN x2
Maximum Speed: M5.0+ (Altitude 10,000m)
Armament: Rammington ES-25A 25mm machine gun / Mauler ROV-25 25mm Beam Cannon conversion equipped x2 / Mauler ROV-127C 12.7mm Beam Gun x4 / Howard GU-17A new design Gunpod 58mm x1 / Energy Conversion Armor SWAG System / Pin-Point Barrier System / Complete Chaff & Flare & Smoke Discharge System

Development Line
VF-19 -> YF-24 -> VF-25

Principal Pilot
Ozma Lee

Page 3

Documentation of Use
Using the YF-24 Evolution, jointly designed by Shinsei Industry and General Galaxy, as a base, the VF-25 was created specially by the Shinsei Factory on the Macross Frontier Fleet and the LAI Corporation. Although further developments of the YF-24 exist on other Emigration Fleets, Frontier's VF-25/MF25 is one that can truly be given a new model number. In 2057, the fighter's maiden flight was performed at the orbital base of Messiah025 (the third planet of the M55 System) by the Uraga Class Carrier "Shanghai III." In 2059, testing was conducted by S.M.S. on the Frontier Fleet. That same year, when Frontier encountered the Vajra, Skull Squadron was assembled to try the fighters in actual combat. Of the VF-25 models, the S-Type is the command unit, reserved for high-performance combat operations.

[Picture Caption] The VF-25 is used by Major Ozma Lee of Skull Squadron, which forms the nucleaus of the S.M.S. Wing.

[Picture Caption] Because it is the command type, it is frequently equipped with an Armored Pack (APS-25A/MF25).

Standard Equipment
Mauler ROV-127C 12.7mm Beam Gun
When in Battroid mode, the VF-25's monitor head block is equipped with beam guns. The guns may also be fired in fighter mode, but the aiming range is limited, being used mostly for rear defense. They can also function as a long-range laser communication device. The S-type has four barrels, the G-type has a single barrel, and other types have two.

Howard GU-17A New-Type Gunpod 58mm
The primary armament that has been adopted for the VF-25 is the new type of gatling gunpod manufactured by the Howard Corporation. Compared to the previous gunpods, it is larger, but the design of the front armor plate covering the barrel has evolved in order to increase firing time. Also, it is placed under the body in fighter mode (in the place for an engine nacelle), enabling it to be used by either arm. Later, as the battle against the Vajra continues, it is switched out for the upgraded GU-17V, which is fitted with MDE warheads.

AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife
For close combat operations, the VF-25 is equipped with a Ga-Bar OTEC Company Assault Knife (length: 1.65m, commonly stored in the shield block). Constructed of super-hard alloy, it can be used together with the fighter's pinpoint barrier.

Fighter Mode
The VF-25's fighter form draws from the same well as the VF-1's, in that it uses a blended wing body structure, where the wings fold back after transformation. Also, it can be said to have superior air power ability because, even if it loses its wings, it can still fly at subsonic speeds. In its goal of being the most maneuverable fighter, the VF-25 receives its greatest strength from from the benefit of the ISC Unit (TO21), which reduces the effects of the fighter's ability to maintain its highest acceleration force of 27.5Gs for 120 seconds. As such, it has enough agility to rival even unmanned fighters.

[Picture Caption - Screenshot] Many parts of the fighter's body have high-maneuverability thrusters, with variable nozzles on movable axes. Because of this, the VF-25 has excellent agility.

[Picture Caption - Front view, top caption] In the tip of the nose, there is an integrated Radar AA/AS/SF-06 Unit, and the ISC Unit is built into the avionics bay in front of the cockpit. The ISC Unit, being the most closely-guarded secret of the fighter, is fitted with a self-destruction device.

[Picture Caption - Front view, lower caption] The slits on the front of the fighter's body take in air and can also act as a Boundary Layer Control system, which lightens air resistance on the wings and body.

[Picture Caption - Rear view] The special characteristic of the X-shaped vertical tail and ventral fins is that even if one is lost, the plane can still fly with the remaining three. The rear section of the vertical tail fins also contain various antennae and radar systems.

[Picture Caption - Underside view] The stationary gun mount in the wing joint can be equipped with anything from beam guns to gatling cannons. In addition, the pivot under the wing is provided with three variable pylons for auxiliary weapons systems.

Page 4

Gerwalk Mode
The integrated flight computer loaded onto the VF-25 allows the fighter to be controlled by the Extended Gear. It can gauge the unconscious movement from the nerve impulses in the pilot's muscles, and it can allow the fighter to be controlled by a continuous link to the pilot's thoughts (the concept is similar to to the YF-21's BDI system). Because of the complex operations and aerodynamic control needed to transform even one part of the fighter mentally, there are a number of advantages using only gerwalk mode, especially in cases where mobility is most important.

[Picture Caption - Screenshot of Episode 2: Ozma fighting a Vajra] During close combat with the Vajra, Ozma performed the advanced skill of changing from battroid to gerwalk as an evasive maneuver against a point-blank attack.

[Picture Caption - Screenshot of Episode 2: Ozma being deployed] The characteristic function of gerwalk mode is hovering just above the ground at high speeds, with a greater level of control than fighter mode can provide. Of course the VF-25 can handle this easily.

[Picture Caption - front view] The VF-25's gerwalk form resembles the progenitor of all variable fighters, the VF-1 Valkyrie. But while it has a similar orthodox outer construction, everything on the inside has been massively upgraded, starting with the piloting method.

[Picture Caption - rear view] In full gerwalk mode, the shield on the right arm can be used. The skull marking on the back is Ozma's personal mark.

Battroid Mode
The VF-25 has adopted a newly developed structure for variable fighters, called the Linear Actuator. This is an improvement to the transforming system in which the majority of moving parts are never in contact, but shift electromagnetically. This shortens the necessary time for transformation by two-thirds. Also, many of the more fragile mechanisms have been abandoned, resulting in fewer malfunctions and less maintenance time. This is also connected to an improved durability for the battroid mode. As a result, because the VF-25 battroid has a high capacity for hand-to-hand combat, it has been equipped with the aforementioned assault knife, and has been spotted actively engaging in close-combat operations. In truth, battles against the Vajra are often hand-to-hand, and the two are evenly matched.

[Picture Caption - Ozma vs. Vajra] There have been many cases of pilots getting obsessed with fighting the Vajra, and frequent bouts of hand-to-hand combat (or, as they call it, "wrassling") have been confirmed.

[Picture Caption - Ozma's glowing knife] When it became clear that some weapons had become ineffective against the Vajra, Ozma in his Skull Squadron VF-25 confronted the Vajra alone with only a single assault knife.

[Picture Caption - Battroid Hand] Battroid Hand Parts.

[Picture Caption - Front View (Small] The Vf-25 has not only all the previous defenses, it also employs anti-optical-weapon armor, for a superior, completely integrated defense.

[Picture Caption - Rear View] In battroid mode, the majority of each wing is protected by being folded into the "Wing Grooves" on the back of the torso.

[Picture Caption - Front View (Large)] Also in this mode, since the protection of the cockpit and the avionics (particularly the ISC Unit) is given priority, all of the electronic mechanisms are collected in the cockpit block area, in the frame of the torso.

[VF5SS]

I would also like to state that Macross Frontier seems to have struck the exact right balance, much like Macross Plus did, between song and mecha action.

Except Plus's characters were a bunch of jerks engaged in the biggest douchebag competition.

Unlike Macross 7 which still makes me want to bang my head against a wall whenever I even casually think about it ... gah.

Bomba!

[tim31]

Except Plus's characters were a bunch of jerks engaged in the biggest douchebag competition.

Oh, pish posh. One of the triangle members raped another after having knocked the third out, then suffered amnesia as the result. Yes, Guld was a douchebag, but unwittingly. And the other two just never grew up at all. So in summary, you are completely correct. What a waste of words on my part.

[Ford Prefect]

Saying the Guld raped Myung is probably going too far. He assaulted her, but his flashback during his last dogfight with Isamu makes it look like he comes to his senses.

EDIT: It might be different in the movie version, I don't know.

[Vendetta]

Saying the Guld raped Myung is probably going too far. He assaulted her, but his flashback during his last dogfight with Isamu makes it look like he comes to his senses.

EDIT: It might be different in the movie version, I don't know.

That's what's in the movie as well.

He didn't rape Myung, but he was going to, which is why he repressed the memory of it and ended up blaming Dyson for some nonspecific "thing" where Myung was hurt somehow.

Dyson and Myung carried on letting him think that, for some reason, possibly because they suspected that he'd top himself (which, to be fair, is precisely what he did), so Dyson basically puts up with Guld's shit for most of the film.

[tim31]

Oh. I had interpreted the end of the 'flashback' slightly differently in that I thought Guld of the 'present' was simply channeling the self-realization through his youthful flashback self. I'm aware that this might seem a stretch to you guys, but that is how I had seen it.

[pj1351]

Oh. I had interpreted the end of the 'flashback' slightly differently in that I thought Guld of the 'present' was simply channeling the self-realization through his youthful flashback self. I'm aware that this might seem a stretch to you guys, but that is how I had seen it.

Well admittedly, I haven't watched Macross Plus in years (and back in those days, I haven't encountered anywhere close to the amount of wangst in anime as I have now), but I always thought that Guld's grudge against Isamu seemed disproportionately vicious, which finally made sense when the supposed root of the grudge was the rape of the woman they both love. It appeared to me that Guld's perspective in the final flashback was at least in part a representation (not just a literal flashback) of him finally accepting that he was the one who commited the deed, not Isamu as Guld had tried to convince himself for so long.

[VF5SS]

Trailer for the movie version of Macross Frontier. Not much new so far except for some scenes of Sheryl's new concert hall and Ranka's new song.

[tim31]

So what aspects of the story are likely to get cut in order to make this thing work?

[VF5SS]

Character designs for Macross the First. Haruhiko Mikimoto is hard at work drawing this manga. Hopefully this won't turn out like Macross 7 Trash.

[tim31]

Looks pretty good to me?

[Manus Celer Dei]

Nothing particularly outstanding, really.

[generator_g1]

Clearer version of the new Macross Frontier movie trailer: The False Songstress - showing on Nov. 11, 2009.

[VF5SS]

Here some new translations regarding the content of the movie. Provided by those tireless Macross translator fans who are all doing a great job bringing more information to our eyes. Someone even translated an old Macross light novel.

[Ghostcat]

Hey folks, first time poster.
Found this thread with google and it provided a lot of cool links
I noticed a lack of news on the games front though, so I made an account.
Macross Ultimate Frontier is now out, with the full frontier storyline as well as a bunch of Eras left out or stuck in extra missions in Macross Ace frontier.

The MAF Era select screen
The MUF Era select screen

Bunches of "new" Valkyries and other assorted craft are flyable, including Macross Quarter.
Few major changes, armour and speed packs now equip to the existing veritechs, instead of existing as completely separate ones, which saves a bit of grinding for tune points. They behave a little differently too. You can generally choose from two setups when you select a pack. Type A is pretty much the same as the packs in MAF but gives a second health bar and keeps the basic special attack of the veritech you're equipping it to. Type B gives you a new shot based special attack but purges after the second health bar runs out, or you use the attack, whichever comes first.

The Nyan Nyan shop features Sheryl and Ranka selling unlockables for those people who have a hard time SS ranking everything.

Yes Basra is in it, and yes he wants you to listen to his song. His whales are there too.

Here's a promo video or something. It's the best intro vid I could find on youtube.


Hope this helped >.>