#that created the zentradi

[cantsayidont]

March 1992. Probably the most interesting change the ROBOTECH storyline makes to the plots of the three Japanese anime series from which it's derived is that in ROBOTECH, the Invid, the snail-like alien race that conquers the Earth at the beginning of the NEW GENERATION/GENESIS CLIMBER MOSPEADA storyline, are a colonized people, interstellar refugees. As explained in the Jack McKinney novels and later dramatized in the six-issue miniseries ROBOTECH GENESIS: THE LEGEND OF ZOR, based on Carl Macek's story notes, centuries ago, the Tirolian scientist and explorer Zor visited the Invid homeworld, Optera, and discovered that the Invid "Flower of Life" could be used as the basis of a potent form of bio-energy he called Protoculture. Zor stole the secrets of the Flower and took them back to Tirol, where Protoculture soon sparked a technological revolution that created space fold travel, reflex weaponry, and bioengineering. The lords of Tirol, calling themselves the Robotech Masters, used this power to annex their neighbors, and created the giant Zentraedi to police their new empire. The Masters then ordered the Zentraedi to defoliate Optera to monopolize their control of the Flower. The surviving Invid split into two factions: one, led by the Regent, fixated on vengeance against Zor and the Masters, and the other, led by the Regiss (or Regis), determined to find a new home and a new evolutionary form that would enable their survival. The Invid later killed Zor, but not before he sent the last Protoculture factory to Earth (as shown in the 1986 ROBOTECH graphic novel), hoping in vain to put it beyond the reach of the Masters.

When Zor Prime, a clone of the original Zor, destroys that factory at the end of the ROBOTECH MASTERS/SOUTHERN CROSS segment of ROBOTECH, it effectively seeds the Earth with the Flower of Life and draws the attention of the Regiss, who invades in hopes of finally reclaiming what had been stolen from her. (This isn't the case in the original MOSPEADA storyline, where the Inbit simply invade Earth because it seems like a habitable spot for their eugenics project.)

This is a clever amalgamation of ideas from the original shows, and it gives ROBOTECH a very different perspective on colonialism than the original series. MACROSS says explicitly that the devastation of the Zentraedi holocaust makes the colonization of other worlds a moral imperative for the human survivors; the original SOUTHERN CROSS storyline is about defending a human colony world (established after a nuclear war devastated Earth) against the return of that world's weird and malevolent original inhabitants; and MOSPEADA ultimately suggests that the Regess has been a more-or-less benevolent, religiously motivated colonizer who leaves the Earth better than she found it. The ending of ROBOTECH is a series of moral reversals: The Invid Regiss has gone from refugee to conqueror, doing to the humans what the Masters and the Zentraedi did to her, but at the same time, the human survivors of the war with the Zentraedi have in effect become the new Robotech Masters (something the Regiss says pretty explicitly in her final monologue), prepared to replicate the devastation of Optera and the Zentraedi holocaust to keep the Regiss from winning. Her ultimate departure, which also destroys the attacking REF fleet, is driven by shame, and a desire for a very literal kind of restorative justice that seeks to redress the humans' sins as well as her own, which makes for a morally complex and bittersweet finale for the saga (the misbegotten SHADOW CHRONICLES notwithstanding).

#comics #animation #carl macek #robotech #robotech ii: the sentinels #super dimension cavalry southern cross #genesis climber mospeada #jack mckinney #zor #zor derelda #invid #tirol #jason waltrip #john waltrip #the shadow chronicles tries ineptly to claim the regiss #meant something quite different than she clearly says #and shifts moral responsibility for the genocidal final assault #to one of the REF's sentinels allies #in a way that makes no sense even on its own terms #macross fans are annoyed by the use of the term protoculture #which in macross refers to the ancient galactic civilization #that created the zentradi #not a power source or a specific technology #robotech protoculture is an amalgamation #of the hbt fuel in mospeada #and the plant that southern cross calls protozor

[hambrababy]

The Importance of Big Cool Sci-Fi Stuff

(This was originally posted on Blogspot on March 13, 2023)

I finished watching Turn A Gundam recently, and it’s already cemented itself as one of my favorite Gundam shows and anime in general. But one detail I appreciate is that, even with its Americana setting, it still works in some interesting, immense technological set pieces that give a great sense of scale to the show in the portions where it heads to outer space. To put it bluntly, I appreciate it when science fiction has what I like to call “Big Cool Sci-Fi Stuff,” both for the novelty but also realizing the unique potential the medium has to create a unique sense of wonder. 

A key plot point in the middle of Turn A is an orbital base called the Sackträger, which functions as a giant rotating space catapult flying around the Earth that docks and launches ships with enough momentum to overcome the Earth’s gravity and maintain inertia to reach the Moon. It doesn’t feature for many episodes, and in hindsight it mostly exists to set up the need for the journey to the Moon to take some time and thus more episodes.

But as a setpiece on its own, it’s really fun. There’s drama as the ship tries to position itself so the speeding catapult can catch it, which it only manages as Loran and Harry use their mecha to boost the ship’s thrust. The rest of the episode deals with the tension created by two enemy ships being docked so close that neither can risk attacking without destroying the station and thus their chance to get to the moon first. There are even moments where Loran and Sochie explore the size of the station with their mecha, with them and enemy mecha holding on to belted handles to traverse the immense structure. These details make the Sackträger a more unique and even characterized location with its different rules that affect the way the characters act, which also makes the episode more memorable on its own despite the location not getting revisited afterwards.

The show has similar setpieces in the later episodes, from a drifting agricultural colony to giant lunar data pods, and this got me thinking about what these design choices all accomplish; it’s all Big Cool Sci-Fi stuff. Sci-Fi is easy to do as a generic coat of paint where there’s some futuristic vehicles, spaceships, or robots. But one potential that I love, most so with media dealing with space, is the freedom to play around with massive structures and scales, technological or otherwise, that are much harder to do in other genres. Fantasy comes close at points, but visual science fiction has the added benefit of getting to use advanced technology to add to the size of these things that makes them more distinct. Space stations and larger ships, advanced towers and fortresses, natural megastructures, ruins, or even astronomical phenomena like nebulae can all fit under the umbrella of Big Cool Sci Fi Stuff, though from my view it best fits more with technological structures.

A similar anime example that stands out to me is the Sveto city from Heavy Metal L-Gaim. Without getting into too many spoilers, the enemy capital of Sveto is a giant floating city that shifts around the surface of the oceanic planet Gustgal, but it also has huge sprawling foundations and corridors that give off a great sense of scale. Again, there wouldn’t be that much difference to the broad strokes of story if this was just a tech city on a continent, but these facets of its design give a great sense of the city’s technological and size scale.

Big Cool Sci Fi Stuff is fairly common across science fiction and especially mecha anime, from the Zentradi fortress in Macross, and even the Macross itself, the Babylon project in Patlabor, the space elevator in Orguss, the Buff Clan’s Gando Rowa from Ideon, and the Iserholm Forteess from Legend of the Galactic Heroes to name a few. It’s not just any regular space station or structure, but one whose size is made a point within the story and used to stage different situations. The technological-enabled size of all of these structures makes them interesting locations on their own and also gives way to many different aesthetics used to render their scale compared to everything else.

My personal favorite example from growing up was seeing the myriad illustrations from the Terran Trade Authority books at my grandparents’ house. I mostly didn’t bother reading the actual stories or descriptions a lot of the time because I was so enthralled by the detailed and colorful illustrations on their own, and many of them conveyed that sense of wonder to me by how immense these varying spacecraft and stations were.

Aside from just wonder, Big Cool Sci Fi Stuff can also evoke larger feelings of mystery and dread as well. From the immense size and near endless internal rows of the Borg Cubes in Star Trek, the hulking derelict ship at the start of Alien, the unknown giant lenses from Story of your Life/Arrival, or the immense innards of the Citadel in Half Life 2, these all use the smallness of the humans present to instill the size of the forces within that could possibly wipe out mankind. Even the Death Star in Star Wars works on that same logic in-story as a symbol of fear by being a massive, moon-sized station that dwarfs every possible challenger and can annihilate civilizations.

More than anything else, just seeing small humans or even large spacecraft and mecha dwarfed by these towering megastructures is an engaging experience because it’s something far beyond the normal scope of humanity. Even without going into the precise scientific details of how they work, and perhaps not all of them are entirely plausible, the sense of scale alone gives a great sense of wonder that’s really only possible in science fiction. Not every science fiction work needs Big Cool Sci Fi Stuff to achieve wonder on its own, but it’s always something I appreciate whenever it's worked in. 

#science fiction #gundam #turn a gundam #l-gaim #worldbuilding

[mintytealfox]

I was in a writing mood today so I started this mess lol the opening from the 'da capo zentradi au' that needs a new name 😂 I didn't edit much so good luck LOL

Some background:

Two species of humanoid now inhabit the same planet. One from another dead planet and seeking refuge and a new place to live (the humans). This was met with hostility from the original habitants (the larger one). A war broke out for 10 years, for the humans to come on top in the end. The larger species are now used as a sort of work horse in most cases. Some manual labor, others protecting the area and hunting, etc. there are still Nobels and high ups in politics but the less well-off tend to be put to difficult work and conditions. Even though the humans have the tech to make it easier, just don’t want to waste resources.  It’s a political way to keep them down, busy and obedient basically. 🙃

Norton, of course, works in the mines.

——

He awoke in a jolt as lights flashed on with what seemed like the blinding power of the sun. In an attempt to shield his eyes, he found that his wrists are bound behind him in the chair he is…tied to? Norton’s senses aren’t returning fast enough to get a decent grasp on what is happening here. Then a muffled sound hits his ears and his left one flicks in intrigue, trying to make out what it is…a voice? Maybe this voice has answers…

“…what’s going on? Where am I?”

A muffled response, he assumes that is what it is. The timing checked out for it to have been someone responding to him. He groans, irritated that his ears can’t make out what’s being said. Bobbing his head down and lightly shaking it, maybe this useless motion will bring back his senses.

The sound of fingers snapping brings him to attention, this being the first thing of clarity. Blinking his eyes, he is finally able to see a blurred individual come into clear view. Norton squints, “who are you…where am I? Why am I bound?”

“It’s me who should be asking questions Mr. Campbell…”

Norton arches a brow; he is only ever referred to this way when he’s in trouble. He looks around the clearing room, finding it blindingly white, every corner of it, with blaring lights above. There’s a window where he can only see himself but feels peering eyes watching him from the other side, then the sound waves from the wretched machine that dampens his enhanced hearing. Norton grits his teeth, the situation becoming more unideal the clearer the picture gets.

The only other individual in the room is seated across the table, studying Norton, patiently waiting for his ‘guest’ to get his bearings. “Judging by your jaw clenching, you’ve realized where you are…”

“Your kind had no right to do this. Take me….forcing me here…”

The individual shakes his head, “don’t be angry with me, I am the one trying to help you.”

Norton scoffs, “help me? Why would a human possibly help me?”

The man in white smiles, “well, I’m not fully human you see.” -he points at the slight point his ears come to-

“Is that supposed to comfort me? Finding out you’re half of two worlds? You’re associated with the people who took me, forced my body into this weak size, and hold me captive!” Norton yanks at his bindings in frustration. In this situation he should be doing all he can to keep his emotions in check, but the constant bombardment of: blinding light, deafening sound waves, and tight painful bindings on his body that was forced to biologically mutate in those stupid machines created to help his kind integrate with humans (make them human sized, the same process can return them to normal), if wished….All of this clashing together to make self-control difficult…purposely so….

The man in white remains silent as he carefully unfolds a loaf of freshly made bread and uncapping a jar of milk. This action alone bringing silence and potential obedience back into the room.

“Mr, Campbell…you can have this and your freedom if you answer some questions for me.”

Norton’s ears flick in curiosity, the scent of the fresh bread calming him, “about what?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten? Maybe you hit your head harder than originally thought…” the words trail off as he adjusts his monocle.

Norton tilts his head, then looks down at the human clothes he is wearing, he grimaces, well now he can’t check to see the state his work clothes were in, could have been a clue, and tries to wrack his brain for any memory of what happened before this. He catches a glimpse of the man across from him and is confused by the expression. This expression of joy?

“This memory loss can work in our favor.”

“Our—?”

“Yes~ Here” he scoots the bread and milk over to Norton’s side and snaps his fingers. Two guards enter and undo the bindings and take their new posts on either side of the suspect.

Norton watches this situation play out with palpable confusion, then lightly flinches as a hand is suddenly extended towards him for a shake.

“Call me, Orpheus. Shake my hand if you agree with this simple term, ‘I help you, you help me’ how does that sound?”

“What would you helping me entail?”

“? That memory loss is doing a number on you~” Orpheus smiles, “I’m getting you out of here and back home”

“Wh—“

“Just shake my hand so we can get on with it”

This has something suspicious written all over it, but honestly, he would do anything to never be in this situation again and this guy seems like someone who could ensure that. “Fine.” and takes his hand in a firm shake.

———

5 years later

Norton is in his small living quarters. Exhaustion dripping from him as he sits in silence after a long day. It’s frustrating how the humans call him and his colleagues in for every little thing. You’d think the species would be more capable since they are the ones who won the war all those years back. He takes a towel and wipes the coal from his face as best he can without water, not having much energy to care about fully cleaning up at the moment.

A chime plays, signifying someone is outside. Dumbfounded, Norton gets up and walks over to press the button to open the sliding metal door, but…no one is there. Looking from side to side he suddenly hears a voice clearing itself from below. His eyes shoot downward and spot the man from 5 years ago.

“You..?”

“My, my, forgotten my name have we. We really should have gotten that head of yours checked more thoroughly.” Orpheus just walks under Norton’s legs and enters the living quarters.

“Sure…just come in then…” slightly annoyed, Norton closes the door and turns to face him.

“Do you at least remember the deal we made?” His voice nonchalant as he cleans his monocle.

“Yes, I recall, Orpheus…”

He smiles, pleased and looks all the way up at his friend returned to his proper height. “Fantastic, how do you feel about getting rid of someone for me?”

Norton’s brows furrow, “‘get rid of’?”

“Yes, I need you to kill someone.”

#this will turn into nortalice lol #norton campbell #orpheus #there will be a flash back of what happened before later #identity v #idv prospector #idv #idv norton #idv au #identity v au #da capo au #zentradi au #identity v orpheus #idv norton campbell #identity v norton #identity v novelist #idv novelist #identity v prospector #idv fanfic #👀

[badragonplays]

Last week I created a Battletech/Mechwarrior of this fancy dual rack laser model Zentradi officer pod from Macross Delta. But those were for 3055 and later but I realized some of you don't go past 3025 so here's your new oven enjoy!

#battletech #mechwarrior #macross #macross delta #ttrpg #robotech

[xbuster]

Macross as a franchise usually has anti-military themes despite being a mecha anime. The New UN in the original is willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands to get the Zentradi away from Earth so despite how throughout the show you see Minmay being used as a propaganda tool to get men to enlist as Valkyrie pilots and Hikaru Ichijo goes from a reluctant pilot to a dedicated soldier, Captain Global and the other military stationed on the Macross don’t want to fight the Zentradi anymore. They would rather share human culture with them and build a new civilization along them. It’s such a good way to ease people into what seems like a standard mecha only to completely throw away most of what drives those shows.

Long rant below

Whenever Macross product recalls the events of the original series, they always make it a point that it’s not military might that brought peace between humans and Zentradi, but the sharing of culture (primarily through song). Even after the main conflict is solved through this way, there are still insurgents that can’t give up their warfaring ways. And the genius behind how the humans are able to end the rebellion is in the fact that they don’t. All they do is try to stop any uprisings when they happen, and even choose to reason with the Zentradi over fighting with them whenever they go rogue. Eventually, it’s the insurgents that doom themselves because they get consumed in their unreciprocated war. Kamujin and Lap Lamiz suicide bomb the Macross and the rebellion dies with them. It seems like such a cop-out when you watch it, but it connects with the themes of Macross so well. Fighting doesn’t lead to a permanent solution.

I’m really glad to see Macross 7 follow through with these themes. Basara isn’t in the military and refuses to use his Valkyrie for fighting, only to share his song with the enemies. Whenever he’s forced to defend himself or someone else he makes sure to only do the bare minimum (like letting out one missile instead of a volley). When he’s cast as Hikaru Ichijo in the Lynn Minmay TV special, he quits when he finds out the special is only being created as recruitment propaganda for the military.

Frontier did a great job with that as well. When Alto Saotome is asked to join SMS, he says he doesn’t want to fly for the military so Ozma has to win him over by telling him that SMS is independent. Even when contracted by the military, if they want SMS to do something particularly atrocious, they can just end their contract. It’s a similar case with Delta, but Xaos is even further removed from the UN Spacy and actually headed by “Lady M,” whose true identity makes her immediately trustworthy as she has always been a peacemaker rather than a warfarer. And Hayate Immelman is even more against fighting than Alto was, as he never goes for any fatal shots and would rather practice using his Valkyrie to dance rather than fight.

Like it’s not immediately obvious how anti-military Macross is due to all of the protagonists being Valkyrie pilots, but each series does a great job of keeping the characters from being too close to the UN when you stop to analyze it.

#macross has really good themes honestly #i love analyzing this franchise #god i could talk about this for hours

[johns-anilog]

Post 7: Battleships for Fists

These last two viewings in particular have really struck a chord with me, and I’ve gotta say I’ve really been loving these classic mecha anime, with their high octane action and spectacle on the surface with more thought provoking messages still present underneath. The scene in the recap episode of when the crew was kidnapped and interrogated by the Zentradi was very fascinating, from the way they composed to themselves and their very existence. Without watching the rest of the series, it seems liked they’ve had interactions with or created human-sized life, but more of a “mini-me” type cloning situation. Also, the fact they were an all male, highly militant group devoid of any natural love, affection or sexuality was very interesting. The way they reacted to the kiss and their claims of humanity being the “protoculture” were rather captivating.

As for earlier on, the scene between Hikaru and Lynn right before the dud missile hit can’t help but remind me of something like a classic Japanese love suicide drama, fueled by Lynn’s desperation and desire to go out with a bang; though, this is immediately played up for laughs when she’s more than fine as soon as she escapes and reunites with her family.

#32

[mcollawn]

Sound Fighters in Anime

Sound is said to be vibrations where waves travel through matter or other mediums to a receiver of sorts. People perceive sound to be noise in some areas but most of the time it is natural or daily life. It is constantly ever present in life to the point it is second nature and can be taken for granted. When it comes to sound in anime, I refer to the Soul Eater quote, “A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body” This quote might not be directly related to noise itself but it provides an interesting balance the of the ‘soul’ and how it can be smoothed and perfect unionity. These wavelengths measure up to various levels just like anime characters using sound in many ways.

Miku Lzayoi (Date A Live) is the sixth Spirit to make an appearance in the show Spirits “they trigger Spacequake” when they enter from another dimension after crossing over. These beings are mysterious but things that are confirmed in every one of them cause great damage when they arrive and their unique qualities (personality, power and info about the world). Miku is a human who later became a Spirit who hates men. She hates men so much that Shido, the main character, has to cross dress as a girl and when he is found out the entire city is after him. Basically, Miku has lots of anger to where she releases the full city at large through hypnosis powers of sound against Shido. She uses long-range sound attacks like March (strength enhancement to listeners), Rondo (restrains movement), Solo (brainwashing people as minions), Requiem (a relaxing effect like painkillers), and Symphony (vibrations in a sword technique).

“Cobra” Erik (Fairy Tail) is a dark mage and is a former member of the Dark Guild known as Oración Seis. Oración Seis is made of six individuals including Cobra and is after the Nirvana, a powerful magic item which is long sealed away. As Erik’s codename, Cobra, suggests he uses Poison Slayer Dragon magic but his secondary magic is at question today. He uses sound magic and is said to read someone’s soul. Apparently, he hears your inner voice and determines what you are about to do something almost could be mind reading. This uncanny ability works best when the person’s “voice” has thoughts or processing memories. He can change the surrounding pressure around his body as a sound barrier or explosive power in the hands to send foes flying. The most useful ability is his advanced hearing and how his sensitive ears gives him more insight into the opponent's actions and conservations far away.

Lynn Minmei (Robotech) is a singer who was really known especially for her efforts in the First Robotech War. She won the Miss Macross Beauty Contest and this led to her pop idol status on stage. She was so much of an icon that she became a symbol of the struggle of the Zentraedi. Zentradi are artificially created in nature and are a warrior class of aliens who start to wage war who are clones of the Robotech Masters. She would take the Robotech Saga universe by storm in her part with Dalza and the 4.8 million armada of ships when she sang “We Will WIn.” Dalza does not understand the concept of music and as a result is a little bewildered and loses his edge in battle. Later, she proves that singing has the power to convince other aliens to join S-1 in battle against the Zentraedi. She is the perfect example of a character with many talents like singing by day and fighting aliens by night,

Zebra (Toriko) is one of Four Heavenly Kings in the Age of Gourmet. Toriko is a world of great food and as a result of this Gourmet Hunters like Zebra try these amazing ingredients and culinary miracles in the Age of Gourmet. Of the Four Heavenly Kings, Zebra is the troublemaker of the group and as such is incarnated for supposed actions. It is rumored that he devastated the Gourmet market with his gluttonous appetite and the Anti-Zebra defense movement is really big. Anyway, he has great capabilities for his voice is superhuman and has many attacks and benefits in life with a single voice. He is able to use moves like Noise Lightning, Echo Map and Voice Sonar. However, if he loses his voice by staining it or losing too many calories in attacks then it takes a long time to recover calories agian and get his voice back. According to Zebra, "I'm the rules!" You guys've gotta adapt to me!"

Sound is what comes in present life all the time in many ways. Sound can range from white noise to buffer other sounds to supersonic jets in the skies. Whether it is quiet or really loud, sound can vary in either capacity and be always occurring for vibrations are the main causes for it. On one final note, there is Exploud who is the Loud Noise Pokemon. It is said that it causes sound quakes with it loud vibrations from the body that can be heard from miles away. As a result, sound would continue to prevail in it's Implantations in physics and science.

https://i.imgur.com/Ovz5o6q.png

[darkmoonvapeprince]

This anime is crazy. I love it. It’s got the mechs and characters of Gundam, the scenes of star trek, the enemies of Alien and Prometheus, and the unnerving themes and ideas of a sci-fi film that would be created today. Super Dimension Fortress Macross takes most of the themes we explored in Gundam and expands them and/or darkens them. First off, we see a miasma of female characters enter the fray with the entire commanding deck filled with heroic and brave female leads, all with important roles; Very different from Gundam’s approach. As for the theme of death, it is far more loose and trivial in Macross. Civilians, soldiers, crew mates, and aliens die on a moments notice, usually in large, dramatic clusters too. The show is quite brutal, and it makes me wonder if this was even a “kids’ show,” really; especially with that naked Minmay fan service...Perhaps this studio was banking on receiving the grown up audience from Gundam, considering this was released about 3 years later.

And for our main hero, Hikaru, we have yet again another young boy who is reluctant to fight but loves the atmosphere that he is thrown into. Both he and his senpai even mention how taking lives is an unnecessary and unwanted thing.Though this time, at least, the lead isn’t really anyone special in terms of family name, unlike Tetsujin 28 and Gundam.

Overall, I really enjoy most aspects about this anime. The transformation was incredible and gritty, and the battles are intense and brutal. Once again, I get my mech fix (I can’t get enough). Also, I must mention how the Zentradi feel strikingly similar to the Engineers from the film Prometheus. In fact, the whole show has an odd Alien-esque vibe, in terms of the film, as well. It presents this dirty, grotesque space age where the enemies utilize these monsterish crafts with grimey colors and are horrendous looking, not to mention. Even the Macross is unrefined-looking, similar to that of original star ships in Star Wars. Oh yeah, this anime is funny too, so props for that!