Archive for Cho Jiku Yosai Macross.
Dated 14 February 2007: Everything I know about women I learned from Bing Crosby
She may be weary.
Young girls they do get weary
Wearing that same old shabby dress.
And when she gets weary
Try a little tenderness.
It's not just sentimental.
She has her grief and care.
And a word that's soft and gentle
Makes it easier to bear.
Posted in Cho Jiku Yosai Macross, E/N, Eureka 7, GIMMICK POSTS, Kaze no Yojimbo, Neon Genesis Evangelion, RECOMMENDATIONS | Tags: 1000 Words, Asuka, Gainax, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Plying Girls, Try a Little Tenderness | Permanent Link
Dated 21 September 2007: Needs more HD Macross
Hikaru Ichijyo.
I am geeking myself up for the new Macross by watching Macross Flashback 2012, like, every day. (Listening to it, really.) If you haven't seen Flashback 2012, it's basically a half-hour AMV featuring Minmay songs and video clips from Cho Jiku Yosai and Do You Remember Love? (Mostly from the latter, it seems.)
Lynn Minmay.
Ostensibly, the plot of Flashback 2012 involves the final concert of Lynn Minmay on Earth, and ol' Minmay showing that she can still work an audience and deliver a quality performance. (As an aside, it once seemed unlikely to American audiences that a 16-year-old could capture the adoration of the pop music world the way Minmay did, but in light of the slew of American teen pop idols in the last decade, perhaps past skepticism should have been reserved for the implication in Flashback 2012—that a teenage pop music superstar can escape the borders of washed-up Traumaramistan, and still electrify a war-weary crowd years later. But I digress.)
LISTEN TO MY SONG!
If you haven't seen any Macross, do yourself a favor and watch Cho Jiku Yosai. It's one of my Top Four Shows, and one of the few series that I heartily recommend without qualification. (And as much as I liked Robotech when I first saw it, it's an abortion compared to Cho Jiku Yosai.)
Miss Macross has still got it. And how.
Moreover, its non-pacifistic anti-war themes likely resonate well with first-time audiences today, given the current political environment. Then again, by recommending Cho Jiku Yosai, there's a chance that real-world pacifists may be offended by the underlying Macross theme: The best way to end war is via the Power of Song, and the power of kicking the shit out of the enemy with your giant robot. I, for, one, am willing to take that chance. (Oh yeah, and the Power of Love Triangles.)
Posted in Cho Jiku Yosai Macross, Flashback 2012, RECOMMENDATIONS | Tags: Giant Robots, Idols, Movies and OVAs | Permanent Link
Dated 27 October 2009: I like Minmay more each time I re-watch Cho Jiku Yosai Macross
Minmay shows unimpressed Hikaru a 900-meter-tall tower.
Dr. Sigmund Freud dryly responds, "Ooohhhh."
Macross Lynn Minmay among American anime fans carries a lot of undeserved baggage because of the Robotech Minmei. The original Cho Jiku Yosai Macross Minmay really is not the same person. The differences in the two scripts and in how Reba West interpreted the character compared with how Iijima Mari played her are pretty significant.
Minmay flirts with Hikaru in Yokohama, Chinese-style.
Macross Minmay is a lot less whiny and annoying than the Robotech Minmei. In fact, approximately halfway through my latest Macross re-watching, I haven't found Minmay annoying or whiny even once so far. She really is kind of a sweet kid, although Hikaru is a little too hung up on her.
Look at how smug this ass clown is.
However, one thing remains constant whether you watch Cho Jiku Yosai or Robotech: Lynn Kaifun A.K.A. Lynn Kyle is a total jackass. I mean, I guess he's supposed to be, but this is one time when a character plays his part a little too well. Lynn Kaifun is the biggest douche bag in the history of anime.
Posted in Cho Jiku Yosai Macross | Tags: 16-year-old love interests, Ass Clowns, Chinatown, Douche Bags, Freudian, Giant Robots, Romance | Permanent Link
Dated 1 October 2011: There is no need to watch Shakugan no Shana II before watching the third season
Shana scenes suck when her hair isn't on fire.
I generally strongly discourage people from skipping seasons. Typically they do it so they can follow something shiny and new and/or watch something at the same time as their friends so they'll have something to talk about. This can lead to very poor decisions, such as watching Diebuster before watching Gunbuster, or watching Shikabane Hime: Kuro without watching Shikabane Hime: Aka. I have less of an issue with people skipping previous Mobile Suit Gundam seasons (at least for series in different continuities) since there are so damn many of them, or skipping previous Macross iterations, although I do insist on people watching the original Cho Jiku Yosai Macross; do not be tempted to lean on Do You Remember Love? instead. Good movie, but really not a substitute for the original series—not at all.
Carmel's head thingy had the best lines.
But while I feel it is wrong on principle to skip seasons, especially when one's reasons for doing so fall in the "shiny and new" camp, I can make an exception for Shakugan no Shana II. I watched 24 episodes of this second Shana season because I enjoyed the first season and wanted to give the upcoming third season a try. This may have been a mistake. Shana II is every bit as awful as its reputation warned me. Shana II is 24 episodes of tedium occasionally interrupted by insipid fights. It is WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS, I finished Shana II with great reluctance. It was never ever actually BAD in the way Limeiro CROSS or Macademi Wasshoi! were truly bad; it just wasn't ever compelling, or even interesting.
Kazumi has a little trouble with her jeans.
To put things into perspective, the multi-episode climactic battle at the end of Shana II kept giving me flashbacks to the Demonbane anime. Now, Demonbane is by no means good, but I have to say that it was at least more interesting than Shana II. This is especially true of the fights. I've long harped on J.C. Staff and its poor track record when it comes to animating fight scenes (excellent Azumanga Daioh snowball fight notwithstanding), but I remember even the worst Demonbane fights against the shrieking mad scientist to be more engaging than climactic season finale fight scene against the shrieking mad scientist of Shana II. And I'm not just saying that because Mr. Eroge Protagonist from the Demonbane anime had to soul kiss a book every time to make his giant robot go. Well, he didn't have to, probably. He just did. But I digress. Shakugan no Shana II is a horror, and I will be amazed if Shana III requires any foreknowledge of its preceeding season's events. Yeah, I'll still at least start Shakugan no Shana III. It's too late to turn back now. Who knows, maybe the odd-numbered seasons will be good.
Posted in Cho Jiku Yosai Macross, Demonbane, Do You Remember Love?, RECOMMENDATIONS, Shakugan no Shana, Shikabane Hime: Aka, Shikabane Hime: Kuro, Top wo Nerae, WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS | Tags: Autumn 2011, AYAKO DOCTRINE, Built for Sin, Giant Robots, Harem Comedy, Kugimiya Rie, Movies and OVAs, Sequels, Shounen Jive, tsundere | Permanent Link