Revisit: Robotech 1E's "Japanimation Side Notes"

[Seto Kaiba]

Since their contents have come up in a few threads recently, I thought taking a look at the old books and their "Japanimation" notes would be a good way to continue what I've started in the Thoughts from the Rewrite: Macross II thread.

Oh yes, there WILL be red ink.

[taalismn]

You're taking the 'crowbar hands' kinda personally, aren't you? It was a joke in response to the line 'everything that can be crowbarred loose', with reference to a line that some of us old-timers with dog-eared copies of the 1st edition RPG would recognize.

[Seto Kaiba]

Robotech 1E Core Book

Page 102

Destroids
This is the original term for the non-transformable Mecha.

Not the term... one of them. The two different families of non-variable mecha that were developed in the years immediately after the Macross's explosive arrival on South Ataria island were designated Destroid and Battroid.

2) Main engine manufactured by Glance McFay.

It's spelled Kranss-Maffai... and it's a thermonuclear reactor, not an engine.

4) Particle beam manufacturer — MAULA.

Mauler, a non-infringing "bland name" version of real-world manufacturer Mauser... divisions of which now belong to Rheinmetall and SIG SAUER.

5) Air-cooled, machine gun top mount produced by Laminton Co.

Ramington, which is an obvious bland name version of Remington.

7) Leg missiles by Biforze.

Bifors, a bland name version of Swiss arms manufacturer Bofors AB.

8) Tomahawk used by the U.K. SPACY and local Earth governments.

... UK SPACY? The Tomahawk series was used by various branches of the UN Forces, including the UN Spacy and UN Army. There is no canon indication that the Tomahawk was used by any regional forces that were not part of the UN Forces.

) The hands are called crow hands (crowbar hands?).

Claw hands. The Spartan has two Norman Banks CH2-typeD claw hands with five finger manipulator.

1) The original Japanese name for the M.A.C. II was the Monster HWR-00-MK II (HWR = howitzer?).

HWR = Heavy War Robot.

3) Secondary engine was a heavy industrial CT8P Thermonuclear Reactor; output = 890 SHP. Manufactured by Shin-Nakasu.

The reactor isn't a heavy industrial model, the manufacturer's name is Shinnakasu Heavy Industry.

4) The four guns are 40cm, air-cooled, liquid fueled cannons.

The four guns are, in fact, 40cm, liquid-cooled, liquid propellant cannons.

5) The arm weapons were LSSN-20N Triple-Barrel, anti-ground missile launchers.

Raytheon LSSN-20G 3-barrel ground-to-ground missile launchers.

At the time of the SDF-1's launching, only two working Monsters had been built.

At the time of the Macross's launch, only two Monsters (one incomplete) had been stationed aboard the ship... a third, unassembled one was also aboard.

2) Main engine manufactured by Glance Fay.

Kranss-Maffai, a bland name version of Krauss-Maffei Wegman BmgH & Co... the main engine was likewise a thermonuclear reactor.

4) Only weapon system were two pair of rapid fire, 78mm, air-cooled auto cannons called Dual Type 966-PFG; manufactured by Contrabess.

Main weapons system was Erlikon's liquid-cooled high-speed Type 966 PFG Contraves II 78mm automatic cannons.

6) Used by the U.N. SPACY and local Earth governments such as the USA and Canada.

Used by the UN Forces, no evidence or mention exists for use by local governments.

7) The upper half of the Defender/Spartan was seen mounted at the waste as gun turrets on the SDF-1.

No such thing ever occurred, the Defender was shown standing in elevator pits on the outer that allowed destroids based inside the ship to fire from the outer hull as CIWS turrets without being totally exposed to enemy fire.

2) Main engine manufactured by Glance McFay

Kranss-Maffai again.

[Seto Kaiba]

You're taking the 'crowbar hands' kinda personally, aren't you? It was a joke in response to the line 'everything that can be crowbarred loose', with reference to a line that some of us old-timers with dog-eared copies of the 1st edition RPG would recognize.

Nope. Just thought I'd dig my old books out for the first time in about six years and continue what I'd started in the other thread. I've never actually gone over the notes in these books in detail, since I never used the books to play the game.

[taalismn]

[

8) Tomahawk used by the U.K. SPACY and local Earth governments.

... UK SPACY? The Tomahawk series was used by various branches of the UN Forces, including the UN Spacy and UN Army. There is no canon indication that the Tomahawk was used by any regional forces that were not part of the UN Forces.
.

"We wouldn't use the dreadful U.K. SPACY moniker anyway, old chap. It's properly the RSFN---Royal Space Force Navy for our spacecraft and RAF for Royal Aerospace Forces for our fighters and other craft."

[Seto Kaiba]

Page 103

The Lancer I
There is very little actual data on this particular space vehicle, which is seen in fleeting glances in one eqisode of the animated series.

Might have something to do with being misidentified... there's nothing that looks even remotely like the word "fighter" or "Lancer" on the Oberth-class space destroyer's art or data entries.

What is known is 1) It is a space vehicle.

Spaceship... the caption is actually "Space Destroyer", and it's a 200m long starship.

2) It launches 18 missiles.

18 anti-capital ship thermonuclear reaction warheads.

3) It fires some sort of energy weapon.

It has two large-bore and two medium-bore anti-capital ship beam cannons.

4) We have presumed that this is the Lancer I because there is definite mention of a "manned" Lancer vehicle being part of the A.R.M.D. Space Platform's assault fleet.

Dunno why... it's clearly captioned "Space Destroyer Oberth"... there IS a manned Lancer however.

The Lancer II
We were unable to find much data, even through translations of Japanese text, about this vehicle. The following is definite: 1) Unmanned drone.

Manned space fighter.

2) Equipped with "large-sized, twin machine (auto) cannon and targeting radar."

Large-bore beam cannons, two anti-warship missile bays, movable targeting radar antenna and nose-mounted camera.

5) Presumably, about one dozen of these drone space cannons were housed in each of the Armor (A.R.M.D.) Space Platforms.

78 Lancer II space fighters were deployed on ARMD-1.

The A.R.M.D. Space Platform
Our translations provided interesting fragments of data, but lacked real hard data for such things as size, dimensions, speed and exact weapon systems.

Almost every publication from the period has these, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't have them...

3) Gravitational Control System of Robotech/protoculture nature.

The word "Robotech" is never used in Macross, and "Protoculture" was an ancient civilization... this ship possesses an OTM advanced gravity control system.

4) Motive power system; Robotechnology, advanced heat-pile system.

Its main power system is two OTM thermonuclear heat-pile system clusters, they're not its propulsion.

5) Rocket propelling system; Robotechnology "main nozzle cluster OTMN-3T"

Overtechnology OTMN-3T main nozzle clusters.

6) Robotechnology, "guided converging beam cannon system"

Overtechnology. It has five of these cannons.

9) What I call the Space Cannon SPC-II is an unmanned drone fighter that appears to have been used exclusively by the A.R.M.D. carrier. Exact numbers could not be found.

Because those are the Lancer II space fighter, which the ARMD carries 78 of.

10) A.R.M.D. Carrier Spaceship was developed by the United Space Forces, Space Weapons Plant.

Developed by OTEC, manufactured at the UN Forces Space Weapons Factory at Earth-Moon L5.

1) Began construction at the underground plant of the United World, Apollo Lunar Base in the year 2003 A.D.

There's nothing that calls Apollo Base underground... also, "United World"?

Super Periodic Flight System and thrusters; all use the new, alien "Over Technology (Robotechnology).

I... don't even know what they're talking about here. There's nothing like this anywhere in there.

8) Totally self-sufficient.

No. After it was redesigned/repurposed as a colony ship it had a focus on long-term sustainability, but it was not totally self-sufficient.

1) The Zentraedi are apparently a warrior race, genetically designed and cloned for war. By whom is not clear.

... come again? The Zentradi are a race of biological living weapons created by the ancient Protoculture, the artbooks wax poetic about WHEN, even.

2) They are apparently part of "the Galactic Empire."

They were once the military of the Protoculture's now-vanished Stellar Republic.

3) Most of the Battle Cruisers, Battle Pods and Power Suits (combat armor) were developed for, and during, the Divisive War.

Schism War or Stellar Republic Dissolution Conflict.

4) Most of these instruments of war are ancient, with no further improvements since "500,0000 periods ago."

Approximately 500,000 cycles ago... though it's not ENTIRELY true that no further improvements have been made.

5) It seems the Divisive War of the Galactic Empire ended about 500,000 periods ago.

Well, yes and no... the Schism War is technically still ongoing (both sides are still fighting), though their actual governments collapsed about 498,000 cycles ago.

6) There were hundreds of millions of fully automated manufacturing plants scattered throughout the universe, so that they could not all be destroyed in a few attacks.

Tens of thousands... there are about two thousand main fleets left on the Zentradi side, and each has a support infrastructure of around 20-50 factory satellites.

7) "The Glaug (Officer's Battle Pod), Automated Production System had been destroyed 280,000 periods ago during the full-scale attack on the Roycommi Weapons Plant of the Inspection Forces.

The Roiquonmi Glaug (aka "Officer Battle Pod) manufacturing lines supplying the Boddole Zer forces were lost 280,000 cycles ago during a full-scale attack on the Roiquonmi Fully-Automated Weapons Development and Production station by the Supervision Army.

8) There is mention of, "The Inter-Planetary Republic breaks up. War begins between the Inspection Group and Zentraedi Group."

The dissolution of the Stellar Republic approximately 499,000 cycles ago (year 3,000 of the Protoculture's calendar) led to unrestricted combat between the Zentradi Army and the Protoculture's enemy/destroyer, the Supervision Army.

[Seto Kaiba]

1) Japanese name for pod is the Regult.

Esbeliben Regult.

4) There are about 300 million other automated weapons plants which mass produce the Regult. This makes it impossible to stop the flow of Regults to the battle front by destroying the factories.

Estimated 300 million units produced, actually... the number of factories producing the Regult is unknown.

5) In addition to radar, it utilizes a detection device refered to as the "Visible Ray Sensoring System." Unfortunately, no data is provided.

Actually, it has a standard all-frequency radar antenna and laser long-range sensor in addition to the Ectromelia infrared, visible, and ultraviolet frequency sensor cluster.

6) Sensing capabilities can not be considered superb.

No clue where this came from.