Welcome to the Feedback section!
The Macross Compendium presents a sample of correspondence from you, the readers. That includes questions that are not asked enough to be earn the title "Frequently Asked Questions" (as well as the answers provided by the Macross creators).
The video game that has recently been released in Japan, entitled Another Century's Episode 2, contains Macross characters, and although the designers have been diligent in finding the corresponding voice actors for other series in the past, I was wondering if Kenji Nojima (who played Hikaru Ichijyo in the recent PlayStation 2 Macross game) was selected to reprise his role or if another voice actor has been selected to play him. (I suppose that, on a related note, perhaps a better question would be to ask if Mr. Nojima has an unofficial title of "Hikaru's New Voice" or not.) :-)
Thank you for keeping the Macross Compendium going. Congratulations on your ten year anniversary!
Adam Schiller (a.k.a. Khyron_Prime)
That's right — Kenji Nojima played Hikaru in the Another Century's Episode 2 (A.C.E. 2) game. He played the same role in the Super Robot Wars α series and every new recording since the untimely 1996 passing of Hikaru's original voice, Arihiro Hase. Bandai re-edited and reused Hase's original dialogue recordings for the new animation in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Do You Remember Love? game releases of 1997 and 1999, but the games since then have Nojima speaking entirely new lines. Similarly, Ryuuzaburoh Ohtomo now plays Vriltwhai Kridanik since his original voice, Eiji Kanie, passed away in 1985. On the other hand, the original cast members for the other Macross characters have reprised their roles in A.C.E. 2, such as Show Hayami for Maximilian Jenius.
I have a question: Would you happen to know where on the timeline that episodes 50 ~ 52 ("Fleet of the Strongest Women," "On Stage," and "Which One Do You Love?") occur? I was under the impression that there were only 49 episodes of Macross 7.
Thomas Butler
Unlike the aired episodes of Macross 7 and even Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy's Calling Me!, these three (initially) unaired episodes haven't received an official date in the Macross Chronology yet. (There are speculative clues about the time frame, based on the appearances of certain characters and mecha seen earlier in the seiries.)
So what happens to Misa and Hikaru — they just disappear in the middle of the Milky Way with the kid Miku and no one finds them ever? And do you have a pic of Miku or of the many many Jenius children?
Alana Roberts
The best place to see an (outdated) picture of Miku Ichijyo, two of the Jenius children, and all of their parents is the Best Hit Series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Macross Graffiti book. For just the Jenius daughters, the animators added a mounted "photograph" of all seven of them and their parents to Emilia's cabin in Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy's Calling Me!
As for the fate of the Ichijyo family and everyone else on the Megaroad-01…. For all intents and purposes, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 music video was their proverbial ride into the sunset.
There was a mail-in gift for The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? video game that offers one what-if scenario. The gift was a music-playing card in the design of the crucial Protoculture music plate that Misa found in the movie. On this card was the purported last message from Lynn Minmay aboard the Megaroad-01 colonization ship. The message says that the ship was about to investigate a black hole at the center of the galaxy.
However, given that this story comes from a not-for-sale extra for a game based on what is considered a "historical" dramatization within Macross, it is not the final word on the trio's fates.
Shoji Kawamori probably summed it up best at Anime Expo 2002's Macross Panel when he gave the closest thing to an official answer:
"God knows."
I've heard there is a book on Macross Zero who has been cancelled, but perhaps I'm wrong.
akim mehamel
There were discussions on publishing a book devoted to Macross Zero, but the potential publisher tabled those plans in 2004. For now, the main Macross Zero print items include a series of photo cards and a running feature of design essays in the Character Model magazine. (Both are out of publication.)
I would like to know if a video showing the marriage of Hikaru and Misa … exists? I saw in the Chronology that they are married and that there is an image — a photo showing the two marrying. I want to know if a video showing this also exists. Much obliged,
Elaine Cecília Gatto
There is no video footage of Hikaru Ichijyo and Misa Hayase marrying, although several of the Macross animators did create drawings of their wedding. Specifically, character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto drew the one in the Chronology.
I wanted to know if you have any information regarding how well DYRL did at the box-office and how it ranks with other movies, be they anime or other types of Japanese films. Thank you for your time.
Eric M.
Warning: heavy math ahead. 252 theaters screened The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? nationwide for 857,582 theatergoers during its initial 1984 Japanese theatrical run. With 1,100-yen pre-sale tickets and higher at-door prices, the creators easily recouped the 200,020,000-yen production costs several times over. (That production cost total was only about $1 million in US dollars twenty years ago, but several times higher now due to inflation and the yen's rise.)
While the movie earned less than the #1 movie at the Japanese box office in 1984 (Ghostbusters with an estimated 6.2 billion yen), it compared well with other Japanese live-action and animated movies then. The #1 1984 domestic film (The Legend of the Eight Samurai) earned an estimated 3.5 billion yen, while the #1 1984 animated film (Doraemon: Nobita's Magical World Adventure) earned an estimated 2.5 billion yen. The Macross movie earned in the same estimate range at the box office as 1984's Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (1.1 billion yen), 1986's Laputa, The Castle in the Sky (870 million yen), and 1988's My Neighbor Totoro/Grave of the Fireflies double-billing (890 million yen).
I've checked the FAQ and didn't find an answer. It's probably on the site somewhere, but I still didn't see it so sorry for asking. But where did your information come from to compile the Timeline? Is it the official word from the makers?
Isamu1701
Story co-creator Shoji Kawamori wrote the first full Macross Chronology for the Macross Perfect Memory book in 1984. He based the chronology on pre-production notes that initially indicated a July or October start for Space War I, but he established the date as February 2009 for this book and thereafter. In 1994, he and setting collaborator Masahiro Chiba made a major revision of this chronology which eventually found publication in several pamphlets, magazines, and books of the time. There have been several minor updates since then, with the last version of the chronology being Ver.02.1 in 1999 before Macross Zero.
Almost all the entries from Kawamori's first chronology over two decades ago still remain intact in the later ones. The main changes that Kawamori and Chiba made to previous entries were updates to reflect changes in the real world; for example, "Russia" and "St. Petersburg" replaced "Soviet Union" and "Leningrad." (These changes are noted in brackets and italics in the chronology on the Macross Compendium.)
The chronology on Macross Compendium has been further updated with material created since 1999, particularly with information on Macross Zero personally passed along by Kawamori.
Who designed the Ground Patroid from Macross 7? I do not believe it was Kawamori or Miyatake.
Ben Man
Munehori Nawa, one of animation mecha designers who worked with Shoji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake on Macross 7, designed the City Police Patroid. (Kawamori designed the separate City Police Machines.)
In the episode "Viva Miria," they showed something somewhat like the SDF-1 (ASS-1), the ASS-2. I'm not sure what the ship is or anything, since we viewers didn't get to see what it was. What is this ship exactly? What does it have to do with the ASS-1 with its similar design and the Supervision Army, as it was their ship? I really want to know more about this ship and why it was left out of the Saga as it could have changed everything.
Dean Seirafi
For the episode "Viva Maria," the creators say this unnamed ship is thought to be of the same size and gun destroyer type as the SDF-1 Macross. The ship is important for setting up Exsedol's narrative of the Zentradi-Supervision civil war in the following episode ("Satan's Dolls").
Just as crucially, Exsedol's suggestion that the wreck is recent and boobytrapped also drives home the threat of the ongoing battles between the two factions. This foreshadows Global's reason for spreading humanity throughout the galaxy with a colonization plan in episode 36. (Incidentally, the episode "Viva Maria" is named after Komilia Maria Fallyna Jenius as opposed to her mother Milia, and the derelict ship is never called "ASS-2" in Macross.) Macross 7 offers more details about the origins of the different factions in the galaxy.
Can you please tell me more about what Matsuzaki (sp?) wrote about the First Defensive Battle of Ataria in "The Plundering Fleet," esp. who was on the Fort Smith/Manchou submarines, the Intrepid/Sentinental carriers, and Minsk battleship? Also, if the Pochov [class] submarines and SV-51 were made by Russia, does that mean Russia is part of the Anti-U.N.?
Mike S.
Kenichi Matsuzaki (script supervisor of the first Macross series) did write about the Fort Smith in "The Plundering Fleet" short story, but not the "Manchou," Intrepid, Minsk, or "Sentinental." (In Macross, there is no ship called the "Manchou" or "Sentinental." Centinental is a weapons manufacturer. It is not stated that the Minsk is specifically of the battleship class.) Mr. Matsuzaki also did not write about the First Defensive Battle of South Ataria Island in this story, and did not say that these ships were directly involved in that battle. (There is no battle called the First Defensive Battle of Ataria.)
Also, despite their names, the creators did not state that the Pochov class submarines and SV-51 were made by Russia itself. The creators have noted that Russia (or the former Soviet Union) is part of the new U.N. government -- although Russia had separatist elements and rebellions like other countries. Accurate information on the above craft can be found at the following:
Prince Marco Attack Submarine (Fort Smith and Michishio)
Pochov Class: Attack Submarine
Sukhoi/Israel Aircraft Industries/Dornier SV-51
We're currently having a debate about whether or not the VF-1 has the SWAG energy armor and what technology from the VF-1 was used in the VF-0 construction and vise versa. Knowing when the VF-0 was made would also be a big help.
Nathan
Macross co-creator and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori said that variable fighters in general employ surplus energy to strengthen armor in Battroid mode. The designation SWAG was specified for Macross Zero's VF-0, although Mr. Kawamori publicly described the general technology of energy converting armor before Macross Zero and actually conceived it longer before.
The VF-0 pre-dates the VF-1 Valkyrie in both development and deployment. At the time of the first Macross series, Shoji Kawamori did write in the first version of the Macross Chronology that the VF-1 Valkyrie was to have started production in November of 2007, However, at the time of Macross Plus and Macross 7, the creators wrote in version 2 of the chronology that the VF-1 Valkyrie did not actually start production and fly until late 2008 -- despite being scheduled to mass-produce in 2007. Later, Macross Zero gives the explanation that the thermonuclear reaction engines were not ready in time. Therefore, the earlier VF-0 (which could accomodate the large conventional engines that the VF-1 Valkyrie was too small for) was deployed first into actual combat on a provisional basis.
On the Compendium listing, it makes no mention of the VF-11 Thunderbolt's internal missile launcher mounted in the leg. I'm not sure which episode that was taken from, although I think it was from Operation Stargazer. Is it an animation error, or does the VF-11 really have missile pallets inside its legs, much like the Y/VF-19?
Charles Felts
Leg weapon bays are not part of the published official specifications for the standard VF-11 Thunderbolt. According to Shoji Kawamori's design works notes, the animators in a Macross 7 episode used a draft design of his that was not originally drawn for use in the series. (Shoji Kawamori did make leg weapon bays part of the official specifications for the VF-11MAXL variant, as well as the General Galaxy VF-17 Nightmare and Shinsei Industry VF-19 Excalibur.)
Shinsei Industry VF-11 Thunderbolt
Do you know any of the dimensions of the Boddole Zer base as it appeared in the movie The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? I have used a 1400-km width which has appeared in several online sources, but I doubt the accuracy.
Jeff Russell
The Fulbtzs-Berrentzs mothership seen in the first Macross series is 1400 km long. However, the Gol Boddole Zer mobile fortress seen in the The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? movie is 600 km at its widest point. (Golg Boddole Zer is the full name of the Zentradi Boddole Main Fleet commander in the first Macross series, whereas Gol Boddole Zer is the full name in the Do You Remember Love? movie.) A page about the movie's mobile fortress will be added in the next update.
42101 Fulbtzs-Berrentzs Class: Mothership
I would be immensely grateful if you could provide information on the Asuka II class vessel, and the Illustria.
Daniel Henwood
What little information offered for the Illustria can be found the current entry in the Macross Compendium. Fortunately, there is more information for the more prominent Asuka II. (The class of the Asuka II has not been specified yet.)
Would it be possible to update the Compendium on the Varauta capital ships with the information provided in This is Animation Special: Macross 7?
R
There is actually more information on those ships than what is listed in the This is Animation Special: Macross 7 book:
Additional ships will be added during later regular updates.
Why does it say that Guld Bowman designed the YF-21? I thought Algus Selzer did.
Also, can there be any clarification on what the Roy Focker Prizes are from Isamu's personal file? He won it 3yrs in a row.
Xv Isamu Dyson vX
Guld Goa Bowman was a designer (and pilot) on the YF-21 Project Team, while Algus Selzer was the head of the entire design team.
Unfortunately, as for Isamu Dyson's personal file, that's all she (or rather the Macross creators) wrote about the Roy Focker prize.
[Regarding Vrlitwhai's name Romanization]
As for the "Vrlitwhai" and other romanizations of their ilk... I agree to disagree on this issue. There is a reason why I am bothering to learn the Japanese language, and that is that in a lot of cases the translation into English simply doesn't capture the original Japanese presentation. Given what I understand about Katakana, I cannot accept those names, even if they are officially sanctioned by Studio Nue. My main reason is that the era in which those romanized names were produced is an era of error prone renderings of Japanese in English, by the Japanese.Regarding the Hollywood ship. We are in agreement that it is an "Amusement Ship." As you mentioned, Hollywood is the name of the ship in the M7 fleet. Nevertheless, in the line art for this ship, there is both "Hollywood" and "The Spectacler" written on this ship. It is arguable to refer to this as either a "Hollywood Amusement Class" or "The Spectacler Amusement Class."
Aaron Sketchley
The important thing to note about Vrlitwhai, Exsedol, Nousjadeul-Ger, Quitra Queleual, and other similar alien names is that they are not meant to be Japanese or English names in the Macross universe. The Macross creators deliberately gave these names unusual Romanizations to befit their alien nature.
According Kazutaka Miyatake's design notes, the name of the amusement ship in Macross 7 is Hollywood, and "The Spectacler" (sic) is just writing on the ship, like the "U.N. Spacy" on the Beginhill and "E=mc2" on the Einstein. The class name of the Hollywood has not been specified.
Is there a specific "canon policy" regarding information on the Macross shows? (I.e. the show is canon while the written sources are official but can be overridden by the visuals of the show when necessary.)
Second, is your site considered an official resource, or more precisely, is the information on the different vehicles and such official information that can be used for the purposes of debating and such?
Icehawk
The Macross Compendium is sanctioned by Bandai Visual and Manga Entertainment, Inc. The information on the Macross Compendium come from the official sources listed below.
My friend (now elected to best friend status) lent me Macross Plus. I am now totally hooked. I have bought my own copy of Macross Plus and have ordered all 52 episodes of Macross 7. Please, can you tell me what other series there are? I know of (in chronological order) Macross Zero, Macross, Macross II, Macross Plus, and Macross 7. Are there any others? And can you tell me more about them (the ones I don't know and the ones I know)?
Tim Rushton
The list above is not entirely accurate, since there is both the chronological order of production and the chronological order of story. Here is the former:
For the latter (specifically, a chronological list of Macross stories in animation and other media), you may look at the following:
I was thinking, maybe you could put a brief note or something of where Macross II fits with the rest of Macross? I always believed that Macross II was at first canon, until Macross Plus came out. Now I'm being told Macross II was never canon to begin with, and is a sequel to Macross DYRL? Do you suppose you could help clear this up for me, please? Thanks in advance.
Oyan B.
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again was, and still is, an official Macross release from Big West. However, Macross II was not, and still is not, a story conceived by Studio Nue, the original creators of Macross.
Macross II has always been officially part of Macross -- it is just separate from the stories created by Studio Nue.
Big West had conceived Macross II to be a sequel to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?. However, Studio Nue does not consider it as such.
Next time on Feedback, look for info on enemy warships (delayed from the last update), YF-21 designers, and more. See you in two weeks!
The SV-51's design seems to have been inspired by the F/A-18 Hornet rather than the Su-27 since the images of the SV-51 seems to have more in common with a heavily modified F/A-18 as opposed to a Su-27. I am uncertain whether it is a mistake by the creators/writers of Macross Zero or the writers intended that the Su-27 in the Macross world would strongly resemble an F/A-18. Thank you for examining my inquiry and I appreciate the reply.
zfuryz
According to designer Shoji Kawamori himself, the Sukhoi Su-27 of the real world is one of the design inspirations for the SV-51 of the Macross universe. He will describe more inspirations for its design in the future.
I'm sorry for bothering you. I have a question regarding the ASCA Aircraft Carrier. Do you know what the ASCA acronym stands for?
Windjammer
As with the ARMD name, the creators didn't originally coin the name Asuka as an acronym and haven't officially made the letters ASCA stand for any phrase yet. The explanation for the Asuka name can be found in the following link.
sir iam studying second year mechanical department,in v.l.b janakiammal college of engineering and technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. sir iam in need of more details about the self guided missiles like how it is working?, how to design it and the other basic refrences of the self guided missiles please send me the details about these things. i will be very oblique to you sir.
BALAMURALI.A
Since it is not specific to Macross, this information is not on the Macross Compendium. If it did, it would probably violate several munitions export and espionage laws ....
Next time on Feedback, look for info on enemy warships. See you in two weeks!
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