Total Eclipse - General Anime Discussion

[DoomRavager]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

Well, if there's supposed to be a better TSF unit than the ones used by the girls during the massacre, then what is the point of showing them?

Well, even if there's better TSFs out there, it would be quite a waste of resources to just chuck out all your old perfectly serviceable TSFs immediately. Not to mention that it takes time to build new TSFs and phase out the old ones, it's not like the entire USAF is flying Raptors. So you still have plenty of Gen 1 stuff in use at that point in time.

The Imperial Royal Guard in particular are still waiting on the development of the 3rd generation Takemikazuchi that they ordered (which although we saw one in 1998 this episode, won't be fully completed and properly rolled out until 2000), while the Imperial Army has been deploying 2nd generation F-15Js since 1989 and 3rd generation Type-94s since 1994, but alternate universe Japan being the backwards nepotistic country that it is, heaven forbid the nobility of the IRG use the same machines as the peasantry, hence they were still using their Zuikakus while the Takemikazuchi was under development. (Which then turned out to be so expensive to produce and maintain thanks to all the exclusive high performance parts that they couldn't even build enough of them to arm the entire IRG within a couple of years even when cutting corners to produce lower performing variants, such that the IJA looked into adopting the Type-00 then decided it wasn't worth the time and expense, opting to launch the XFJ program to develop the Shiranui Second instead)

I guess we mostly saw the old, unwieldy 1st generation stuff this episode to contrast with the cutting edge super maneuverable prototype TSFs we'll be seeing tested at Project PROMINENCE after the 3 year timeskip?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Well it was known for a while now but still, this ep deserves the title of Battle for Macragge, Japan style....


That Takemikazuchi = Marneus Calgar

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

Well, if there's supposed to be a better TSF unit than the ones used by the girls during the massacre, then what is the point of showing them?

They were basically caught with their pants down. Remember that supposed defense line in Asia that was meant to hold off the BETAs, and talked about in TV news in the first episode? I am sure the frenchmen thought that it was a good idea.

They never expected BETAs to overrun so fast, and never had the time to equip recruits straight out of school with superior state-of-the-art TSFs. So the girls stuck in inferior redshirt units were ripe for BETAs like lolis in Fate Testarossa cosplay in the middleof Pedobears Alley.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by potchip

Now...we have girls who train for years due to supposed male shortage. Average lifespan on first actual battle is 8 min. Unless it costs next to nothing to make TSFs, you'd think the girls would be better utilised to raise the Japanese birthrate above 1.1 and replenish the depleted population than to be thrown away for a glorious 8 minutes! (wait did I just say something controversial? no offence intended, just an example, there are better ones I know) but that's the situation.

Well, the impression I took from these first two episodes is that the girls were the absolute last line of defense (which is also why they were using lower grade mechs, I'd suspect), a line of defense that Japan would prefer not to have to go to at all, and that the girl's male peers were already out there fighting the war. Remember how that one girl already lost her boyfriend to the BETA? Yeah, I think that all the male teenagers (and also most able-bodied adult men below a certain age) have been fighting for awhile now, and that Japan was going with the old classic approach to war of favoring male soldiers between late teens and late thirties/early forties. But once that demographic range is totally used up, going to girls next might be the wisest course (they'd likely do better in battle than old men, lol).

[Candyshark]

Somehow this thread feels more like a summit of giant robots specialits than discission about the series.

To me it was irrelevant wether girls died because of bad tech, inexperience or bad odds. This is good wakeup call from other mecha series where protagonist do flashy manuevers or lay invaders in packs without breaking a sweat.

[maximilianjenus]

I don't perfectly get yoru question, but making an effort.
They have a smaller number of the better mech, so they only give those to more skilled/valuable soldiers, eventually, hint timeskip, they will have a higher number of more modern mech and we will see more of those.

[klare]

at least they showed different type of BETAs, but i hope the reason they attack humans is not about food

so i guess the bombardment by the ships did stop the BETAs but with the cost of sacrificing the capital?

[AmeNoJaku]

Originally Posted by Candyshark

Somehow this thread feels more like a summit of giant robots specialits than discission about the series.

To me it was irrelevant wether girls died because of bad tech, inexperience or bad odds. This is good wakeup call from other mecha series where protagonist do flashy manuevers or lay invaders in packs without breaking a sweat.

Originally Posted by maximilianjenus

I don't perfectly get yoru question, but making an effort.
They have a smaller number of the better mech, so they only give those to more skilled/valuable soldiers, eventually, hint timeskip, they will have a higher number of more modern mech and we will see more of those.

There was no question, rather two assumptions with which I also agree

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Candyshark

Somehow this thread feels more like a summit of giant robots specialits than discission about the series.

To me it was irrelevant wether girls died because of bad tech, inexperience or bad odds. This is good wakeup call from other mecha series where protagonist do flashy manuevers or lay invaders in packs without breaking a sweat.

Hey man never underestimate the power of a giant mech to have a certain pull on people. There's a reason it's been such an enduring concept.

Also those mecha are just far more advanced typically (Gundam) and/or Super Robots (Getter Robo, Gurren Lagann, Mazinger Z) where the whole point is that they are super powered and/or capable of such dazzling feats. In the case of Gundam and Mobile Suits for example their main upside is that they are just so absurdly maneuvarable and versatile that a lot of ace pilots who are used to them are able to are able to pull off dazzling feats like circling around an enemy battle ship, going full 180 and shooting the bridge of another and then reversing thrust to avoid countering fire in one swift motion. Getter Robo on the other hand just overpowers everything with it's Getter Beam, cuts planets in half, and tanks hits through guts.

I think in other robot shows they just have done a better job of showing why the mecha ought to be the preferred form of combat. Again I'm going to use the example of mobile suits. They're more maneuverable than tanks, more versatile than ships, more durable than fighter craft and more adaptable than even the human body. Possibly their only drawback is they need some sort of carrier ship to keep them maintained and refueled in the field. Here though I can't say the mecha fare that much better than any of the other ways in which humanity tried to fight off the Beta, but I assume that will change before long as newer ones get deployed.

Originally Posted by Mizuno

I thought they had Jam Project to do the OP? What happened to it? That was the thing I looked forward to the most.

That seems to be the rumor every time. People said that about Gundam AGE too and of course that never happened. The only time it usually seems to be the case if with the Super Robot stuff.

[germanturkey]

well, i was not expecting this out of the promotional poster. highly enjoyable. killing off named characters, and in that manner too, puts it a few steps above other shows of this type.

[Marcus H.]

Regarding my last question, I was wondering about the souped up "old and busted" TSFs' appearance because they could have gone for another approach with Yui (if I remember the name correctly) and her PTSD following what happened here. I mean skip the "three years ago" part and go straight into the present time.

Besides, it might have given some additional cash for that Jam Project OP some people are requesting.

[DoomRavager]

...Hey, my deleted post wasn't spoilers at all, it was basic backstory. It's just something that happened during the 3 year timeskip this episode but wasn't mentioned.

[Silvance]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Well it was known for a while now but still, this ep deserves the title of Battle for Macragge, Japan style....

That Takemikazuchi = Marneus Calgar

I wonder how much of their budget was used for that scene. It was kinda worth it though since that was a spectacular sight to behold. lol

Originally Posted by DoomRavager

...Hey, my deleted post wasn't spoilers at all, it was basic backstory. It's just something that happened during the 3 year timeskip this episode but wasn't mentioned.

Actually, that wasn't basic backstory since such information wasn't revealed until near the end of the novel. I posted in your user page to elaborate more about it.

[DoomRavager]

Originally Posted by Silvance

Actually, that wasn't basic backstory since such information wasn't revealed until near the end of the novel. I posted in your user page to elaborate more about it.

Hold on a second, my post only talked about the fact that they lost Japan and then retook it later. With regards to the BETA, all I said was "that's something I'm not sure I can talk about here with the no spoiler policy". I didn't talk about their purpose at all.

[Silvance]

Originally Posted by DoomRavager

Hold on a second, my post only talked about the fact that they lost Japan and then retook it later. With regards to the BETA, all I said was "that's something I'm not sure I can talk about here with the no spoiler policy". I didn't talk about their purpose at all.

Ah, never mind. That one was Xezexal, not you. Sorry about that. As for why your post was deleted, I don't know.

On the side note, I couldn't keep myself from chuckling after seeing this image.

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Sheba]

Even better with Benny Hill theme playing in your head.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Silvance

I wonder how much of their budget was used for that scene. It was kinda worth it though since that was a spectacular sight to behold. lol

That 30 or so seconds probably ripped a major hole in their wallets....its fluidity was like an actual person in real life.

[Yuutsu]

Hope this doesn't bomb so I can see Muv Luv: Alternative get animated.

[SolarAquarion]

Originally Posted by Yuutsu

Hope this doesn't bomb so I can see Muv Luv: Alternative get animated.

I want to see the muv luv trilogy get animated especially when alternative increases the enjoyability of extra.... And makes me cry.

[creb]

I want to see this get its own subforum so we can have a thread for everyone who's read the novels/played the games, and one for the rest of us, because as it is, you can just feel the barely repressed urges of many posters to talk about things virgin Muv-Luv viewers don't need to be exposed to.