Roboculture

I don't know why I didn't make an article of this earlier. It's actually weird since I've been posting non-stop since I've opened this crazy blog.

Anyway, Behold! For this is Razor X's Robotech art! All in glorious Flash-style!

What is this project about? Well, it's called Robotech GP I think... And Razor claimed that it was...

"... a fun spinoff story about how the Alpha Fighter won the contract to become the next air /ground superiority Veritech fighter."

Sounds a lot like Macross Zero, huh? Well it's not! So bugger off if you don't like it!! Actually, don't do that. I think the project was canned because there hasn't been an update in a very long while. Well, such is the nature of a dying franchise like Robotech. Now take NOTE, dear reader, for I could've said that this is the sad nature of fan projects, but I said Robotech. Yeah, I'm still a whiny, cynical bastard. (Which explains my low view count everyday compared to most fan sites) (Another note, I'll refer to Razor's project in the past tense due to this fact)

I encountered the man's stuff way waaaay back when I was making Robotech: Sentinels Part 1 (March 2006 to be exact). I have to admit, the style is done in a very fanciful, modern anime style and its pretty impressive!

SAMPLES OF THE MAN'S MECHA DESIGNS

NOTE: IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE DETAILS CLEARLY, RIGHT CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND SELECT VIEW IMAGE

I mean, look at those completely whacked out designs. It's great. It's like Razor took the original fighter and battroid designs of all three generations (or two) and mashed them together to make some of the most American looking mecha youll ever see. I like the bottem left fighter design a lot, because it looks like it could exist in the universe, and the corporate stickers add a sense of believability.

The top left's design does remind me of the bastard kid of a robot from a show called Megas XLR and a Valkyrie Battroid or something (That's twistedly sick), but I think it's just me. Still it makes sense cuz' it's like they the military saying they want to keep the ol' Valk design but decided to update it or something (Forget Macross Plus and 7, please).

The bottom right is a little funky. It's like the United Earth Forces saying, hey Lockheed, "We want a Bionicle for the next generation fighter!" Still, while it's the most derivative design, there's no harm in that.

Now here's a big fat panel of the man's comic. It looks like great fun and I am saddened that this project seems to have been cancelled. Truly a damn shame.

Look at his character designer! (By Cher, big surprise if you didn't see it in the image) This 'Cher' seems to capture the anime style much better than I ever could in my entire life!

This is really one of those times when you wished Robotech was something like Starwars, or even Transformers... I mean, you wish it had the strength and popularity of those properties! I mean, the fanbase there is just so dedicated that they create fanfilms that look like THIS:

STARWARS: TYDIRIUM FANFILM TRAILER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajU69palO7A

Frickin' amazing. Do you have that for this franchise? Yeah, yeah. I'll stop now. I know we ain't never gonna be that popular.

But wow man, what I'd give to have this Robotech show try to reach the popularity of say... Evangelion! That show has it's own frickin' Hentai! HAHAHAHAHA!

Crap. Where the hell am I? Oh yeah, Cher's a great artist.

OTHER UNIMPORTANT NEWS

The blogs have been making their rounds that the Shadow Chronicles sequel is in preproduction. Now I'm either speechless, or I don't really care at this point. Zing!

LIVE ACTION NOVEL AIN'T DEAD!

Well well... Aaron Cole, creator of the Live Action Novel (LAN) aint' leavin' the Robotech world just yet. The guy just had an update two weeks ago. Yeah, I only check the place now. Seems the lucky dad is so busy with his baby he forgot his real priorities!

Well, here's a nifty shot from his blog - What can I say? Pairing up Alphas with Valkyries is just deadly for the Invid.

LINK
http://robotechlagnovel.blogspot.com/ 

MACROSS GAMMA CRISIS VOICE CAST

Not much happening to this project at the moment since the last trailer. Thought I'd mention that all the guy's voice actors have been cast. Check out the link, who knows? Maybe you could voice some background character for his lil' film!

Cali Minra, female Zentrodi, pilot
Captain Leon Eastridge, Human Male
Anna West, Human female singer
Chase Blacksmith, male hunan
Amria Eastridge
Shvall Hinderstein (The Deterran loyalist)
News Anchor
Deterran Pilot 01 (This name has not been finalized)
Sebastian Stangle Jove

LINK
http://voiceacting.proboards62.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1164671128

This weeks has been so slow in the Robotech world that I've taken upon myself to "draw" my feelings. And this goth girls from different anime series pretty much sums it up (This chick being from Ergo Proxy).

By now you must've heard Darkwater's going to 'shutdown' his blog. Oh, great! Well, one less bookmarked site to go to. Damnit. Now where will all the cynical Harmony Gold reporting come from? What are we supposed to do? Rely on the Harmony Gold website?? Unspeakable! (Which incidentally is where my pitifully small audience comes from)

I'm really just hoping this doesn't become a trend and good folks like Cap'n JLS follow suit... This is the blogger generation and here we have folks deciding that real life's more important. What the heck is up with that?! (Med's sanity is in question -ed)

Hey, here's something - I pulled in my two lowest ratings yesterday (following my highest three days ago). I've developed some theories as to why this happened, number one being that people rarely check out the RT: Fandom Forums anymore - but that's okay. Even when that place was brimming with activity (Shadow Chronicles theatrical release last year) no one cared to comment about my work or what I've been doing. Really, if you invest your time in the Robotech, PREPARE TO GET DISAPPOINTED. (Thanks Sgt. Jones for commenting)

Anyway, this new bloghas just come up... Kastle-something... I'll check it out.

LOCAL EBAY NEWS

Ah! A new item? A New Generation 'manga'. And it's being sold about as dirt cheap as the Robotech: Southern Cross special book! How interesting... Anyway, I'm still eyeing that Robotech Bikini Special. What's great about all of this is that nobody's bidding on them! Ah, the joys of a dying fandom...

FUTURE UPDATES

Since I don't have a script yet or anything for my fanfilm, and I'm too lazy to draw Robotech stuff, I'll be branching out to other anime shows - with a possibility of posting my stuff on Tokyopop or DeviantArt. Both markets are tough to penetrate if you post Robotech art because, hell, who the fuck knows Robotech there?

I could post pencil sketches of my drawings here though... At least I won't have to ink them...

This is part II of my Pre-Production diary! I'm definitely not happy that none of you, my dear readers, cared to comment or offer feedback, so I kept Maia's clothes on. A damn shame I would say.

"Hello, it's me again! Maia Sterling. Sorry for the fairly if I'm a little underdressed - It's just that the weathers so hot here that I just had to get out of that skintight jumpsuit they make us wear! Those dirty old men... Okay! I might get fired by saying that...

Today we'll be talking about what Mr. MapGuy wants to see in a Southern Cross fanfilm. Since nothing has been written on paper as of yet except for a very rough 'story treatment', I guess now would be a good time to speculate on what Med's hopes and dreams are for this film (sheesh...).

The most obvious would be Armored Gyro Assault Choppers (also known as AGAC, the Transformer-the-movie-like mecha sketch above) fighting Invid. I can imagine it now - These little space copters (the AGAC) whizzing by firing their multi-rocket weapon systems against hordes of these parasitic scum. That would be a Southern Cross fan's wet dream (gosh, I hate saying stuff like that). I would love to see Bioroids fighting alongside the Southern Cross Defence Force in a desperate attempt to halt the Invid Invasion. Why would the Masters fight the Invid? Because it was sorta mentioned in the show - that the Invid is an enemy to all. Med's pretty sure when he speculates that the Masters would eventually stop fighting the Southern Cross when they realize that it was pointless, and that they would have to join forces to survive the Invid invasion. It's something Med's wanted since he drew this poster in 2006.

As you can see, the red guy on the left is a Robotech Master's Invid Fighter. Now it makes one wonder if this little plot detail will be shown in what is essentially a five minute fanfilm, but that remains to be seen.

Of course, Logans could also be around to put up a fight. Yes, they may have been phased out during the Second Robotech War in favor of the AGAC (sketch above), but that doesn't mean they won't be recommissioned to fight the new alien threat... (Now Med could be mistaken, but he doesn't care cuz' it's essentially a fanfic anyway)

Space battles are also something Med's looking forward too, but more on that next time. Let's focus on ground battles.

Maybe a Destroid Monster could make an appearance? Or that Hovertank you see Love & War? I heard it said that it was an anti-aircraft mecha, which is ideal against the Invid. Imagine this - a night sky filled with booming anti-air fire, as thousands of Invid cover the sky. Fantastic! It would be a scene that would somewhat similar to the Aircraft Carrier Attack Sequence found in Macross Zero. Now that would be a sight...

The only problem to all of this is if Med's good enough to pull of the animation for such complex scenes. Maybe he isn't, but he assures me he'll certainly try!

Anyway, it doesn't really matter if it doesn't look totally up to snuff. As long as we get to see these fantastic battles, it'll be worth it. Well, that's all I'll say for now. I'll just go get some ice cream with Protoculture fillings - it's scorching in here!"

- Maia Sterling

Now this has sufficiently freaked me out. I was poking around my local eBay and I spotted four fairly interesting local items. One dude was selling a Southern Cross VHS (Yes! Amazing, huh?) for (converted to dollars from my currency) around 2 dollars. Freaky.

Another guy was selling this little item. I don't know what it is but it looks like a toy catalogue of some sort. Makes me wonder where the guy got it since I'm pretty sure not a lot of folks down here own Robotech merchandise. Anyway, it intruiged me since it's got Southern Cross stuff in the cover. You know me - I'm just nuts for that "crappy" show.

Well, it's selling for another 2 bucks so it makes me think - should I get it? The seller is known to be trustworthy so it's really an issue of should I throw my money away? But at the price it almost seems like a steal.

Another item of great interest is - get this - the Waltrip's Robotech: Sentinels Part 1 and 2 'manga' book! Wow! No matter what they say about that series, it's still Robotech so gosh. I'd love to own it. The only problem is that it's the priciest thing in the list - more than ten dollars (Maybe 11?)! Is it a steal? I dunno. At least I won't have to worry too much about shipping (it's a local eBay, remember?) but still...

The biggest drawback would probably be that it'll end up making me want more. I've heard it said these first issues are slow though... Oh well. I'll have to consider it. 

Now here's something I want! Yeah!!

How come I've never heard of this?? Grr.... Man, this is some freaky shit. I mean, wow, look at that cover. I have to have this. Where else would I find a muscular (or butch) Lisa Hayes lifting weights? Or two generic blonde Waltrip-style anime characters in bikinis? Nowhere! Exactly! I still can't get over Miria Parino's haircut (bottom left, greenish hair woman). The 80's (or 90's?) sure were weird.

As you can see, it's at a fairly high price of 200 (of my currency). That's around 4 dollars? Not exactly cheap for what looks to be a paper thin issue. But still, I'd love to see this... novelty item simply for its sheer... noveltiness (I'm an artist, not a writer).

Did I mention that all the items I mentioned have no bidders? 

After days of meaningless ranting, I think it's about time to pull myself together and begin drawing stuff for this Southern Cross project. I've enlisted the help of Maia Sterling, since Dana's out drinking herself out of her depression from the loss of Zor.

Before I begin, do you know what my fanfilm is all about? Okay, recap - It's set during the initial invasion of the aliens known as the Invid. That's about it.

FANFILM 101

"Hi! I'm Ms. Maia Sterling, but you can just call me Maia. Now who here's seen Studio MMG's latest fanfilm - Super Dimension Fortress: Macross? No one? *Hmpf* Frankly I didn't care much about that either. Who does in Robotech forums anyway?

Today I'm going to be talking about how to make a good Robotech fan film. Now what does it take to make a fanfilm these days?

A good story, That's what!
Action is the second major component.
Female leads with giant breasts.
The last and most important though, is length.

If you can successfully integrate them into a cohesive whole, then your audience will be hooked.

I'll discuss the first three later - for now we'll look at the "length". Flash fanfilms must at least be roughly around five minutes. I tell you, five minutes is not a lot of time to tell something worthwhile, and to have reasonably cool action to boot. But that is the reality in the fanfilm industry in which Studio MMG's working in. A leading flash expert by the handle of Depredation claims that a regular pre-pubescent audience wil quickly lose their interest after the two / three minute mark.

For Robotech fanfilms, one of the biggest challanges is to explain the entire backstory in at least less than a minute, or else there'll be a lot of "huh?" and "what??" from these whiny teens. Creating a short beautifully painted (and slightly animated) collage of events, with atmospheric music, and non-corny dialogue will help in sealing the deal with these punks.

We then come to introducing well-loved characters from the series (I think) in as little time as possible. This is where good writing comes in handy. Just a few lines of dialogue can make you hate or love a certain character. Since this film will be set during the Southern Cross period, my sister Dana might play a small but vital role. How does one introduce Dana? As a bratty, self-absorbed teenager? No! Frankly, I have no idea. It all comes down to the fact that artists cannot be asked to write stuff. You go to experts for that, and in this case - fanfic writers. They know a thing or two about writing stuff.

Once the screenplay is done, that's when artists swoop in to butcher the writer's work.

As artists, the way to introduce characters would be to draw them with humongous breasts. I know it's demeaning, but that is reality! Even I get insulted... but when you cater to an internet audience like this, it's the only way to go. Even Harmong Gold did it in their first feature film "Shadow Chronicles" (expect more boobage in the sequel).

So once you nail the introduction of characters, you get to the story. Again, we're dealing with five minutes. In five minutes, you can show the Invid arriving, killing humans, destroying mecha and have the humans flee the planet. In between these events, you drop these heroic characters like Col. Jonathan Wolfe, who will do their very best to stem the invading aliens.

That would probably make for some great Robotech-type drama. Since Med's still struggling with animating action sequences though, I wonder if he'll be able to pull of the high-intensity anime action from the series...

Okay! Below is Med's first attempt at drawing a character lineup. It was really hard to nail the characters looks and armor. There's got to be a way to simplify the armor design seen in Southern Cross... According to Med, he's never done anything like this before and he doubts he'll ever again. As you can see, the only newest cast member for this film would have to be Wolfe (the guy with the mustache).

- Ms. Maia Sterling

Yey! There's going to be a Barbara Goodson interview on February 22, 2007! Aw, man, I really should not miss that. Arigato, Space Station Liberty! Arigato Chris Meadows!

Also, after today's entry, I might write more serious stuff regarding stuff from the fandom, as well as my Southern Cross project.

Always Proto-cola. You just can't beat the real thing.

*Sigh* Sometimes I wonder and worry about such trivial things... I mean... Really, what could Rook be so embarrassed about? Could it be because Robotech.com doesn't allow fan art of characters in bikinis? Perhaps... Perhaps...

Or maybe, just maybe... She's angry. Angry because I don't stick to one project. She's probably pissed that I'm so wishy-washy. I suppose we could also say that she's angry that there is no Asian Release of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles yet.

Yet it could just be that fantastic chest taking up half her body... Who knows?

*EDIT* Tweaked her figure a bit. Now she's starting to remind me of Tyra freakin' Banks.

First of all, today's entry might not have anything to do with Robotech. But I thought I'd just tell you who really affects me as an amateur animator.

After a desperate plea for some kind of feedback, I am answered with a way only Robotech.com does best - silence.
So shame on some of you. You'd reply to threads about fic-- Nevermind. I don't need this crap.

Okay! So where are we? Oh yeah, wow. Man, am I a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki! Although it hardly shows itself in any of my fan art or fan films (except that little pic of Sophie I made for this occasion, top), it really made my interest in anime increase tenfold. (but there's still a lot of that stuff I avoid)

I've seen a sizable number of Hayao's stuff - From The Cat Returns, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke to name a few. I haven't gotten around to watching my DVD of Nausica: Valley of the Wind and Whisper of the Heart, but I'll get there.

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention my fave Hayao film of all time, Howl's Moving Castle. I know, it's not his best, or that the ending is fairly disappointing, but who gives a flying bleep? It's just a joy to watch and I just love the art and music.

One of my favorite scenes in that film is the "Lake of Stars", I mean wow. That scene was just so darn beautiful it just left my mouth wide open. I wish I were that kind of storyteller!! But I'm not.

Grrr.... The other Hayao films were also really fun and cute, like Kiki's. Although I have my reservations on the Disney dub back in the 90's. Oh well - the new score recorded by Joe Hisaishi was well worth listening to that track.

I have yet to see other stuff like Future Boy Conan and all that, but from what I read, it's a nice post-apocalyptic piece.

I'm trying to gather as much interesting ideas from all of these anime films (beyond Hayao's too) to produce this new Southern Cross film, and its been great fun.

Now I'm sorry if this entire article was not to your expectation. I figured you'd hear me talk more about the films and the production behind them and other more interesting stuff, but I'm basically writing this crap without doing much research on them. Bah, that's why you got Wikipedia. Anyway, this is a blog, and since none of YOU ever reply (except for a few good souls), I don't know what y'all think about me anyway. (although I have a couple of ideas - nutjob)

Anyway, my true intention (gasp!) was to show my fan art for Howl's Moving Castle's female protagonist, Sophie. Indeed... the... plain *gulp* looking *hehe* girl...

I plan on doing a series (while Protoculture works on the Southern Cross screenplay) called "Destroying Your Childhood" which will feature Robotech characters doing this not seen in the show. Now if that doesn't generate any feedback, then... Screw this franchise! I'm going to Transformers! HAHAHAHAHAHA!