Super Dimension Fortress Macross discussion thread

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

My first sentence referred to the humans. In a normal demographic distribution, there won't be all that much difference between the numbers of male and female survivors.

Just how much of Earth had been mobolized? You'd expect most of the fighting to be done by men.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

Just how much of Earth had been mobolized? You'd expect most of the fighting to be done by men.

You know, Earth was also wiped out. Aside from Macross' 50,000 people, there just weren't much left on 'Earth'. At that point, male or female really doesn't matter. Unless of course, you include the Zents, then there might be more male than female survivors. Although we never know for sure, but the Meltlandis did not join the fray until quite late in the game.

- Tak

[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

Just how much of Earth had been mobolized? You'd expect most of the fighting to be done by men.

... which is why the bridge was all women, versus on current carriers and other craft where women are still a minority? Kawamori DID state he'd wanted to originally make the captain a woman, but got shot down which is how he came up with Misa Hayase instead. From what we can tell, there's a lot of women in the forces especially to judge by the people seen in the base as well as who delivered Global his marching orders after Toronto got nuked.

Basically, the thing is this - population areas tend to be fairly even in gender ratios in most countries except those where gender-motivated abortion and infanticide occurs due to a cultural bias towards men (which is resulting in a serious imbalance in China and India as a result). Thus, with the way Earth got nuked by the Zentradi, any surviving populations would generally be on a one-to-one ratio as far as male versus female survivors are concerned; military or civilian wouldn't matter in this case, due to the way those ratios are maintained in their general populations as a whole. In the case of the Macross military, we see a lot of women in support and rear-line roles, but given that combat isn't being done hand-to-hand (remembering that they're fighting giants), physical strength or lack of isn't a big requirement or a stumbling block with regards to recruitment.

Now, with the Zent fleets allied with Earth, most of them were male due to the way the Zentradi and Meltlandi populations are gender-segregated... and as far as we know, most of the Meltlandi at that climatic battle were with the enemy. That, and most anyone on Earth except those in deep shelters or in REALLY isolated areas who managed to get help or rescue quickly (and stayed clear of radiation) got wiped out.

[Cadorna]

The only people who survive in the earth were the people hiding in the Grand Cannon 's bunkers, The SDF-1 and the lunar base (about 1.000.000) that's all, and this is canon

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Cadorna

The only people who survive in the earth were the people hiding in the Grand Cannon 's bunkers, The SDF-1 and the lunar base (about 1.000.000) that's all, and this is canon

According to the original program, even the Grand Cannon's bunker was assaulted by the Zent and eventually decimated. Misa Hayase was the only survivor. Her father and the other higher staff were killed during the assault.

- Tak

[Cadorna]

Originally Posted by Tak

According to the original program, even the Grand Cannon's bunker was assaulted by the Zent and eventually decimated. Misa Hayase was the only survivor. Her father and the other higher staff were killed during the assault.

- Tak

Not that grand cannon there were other four in constrution

http://macross.anime.net/wiki/2005

March

* Conclusion of Space [Stellar] War I. Earth atmospheric purification operation begins. A total of several hundred thousand [to approximately one million] survivors confirmed in the Grand Cannons [I,] III and V, the Lunar surface's Apollo Base, and the space colony clusters [bunches].

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Cadorna

Not that grand cannon there were other four in constrution

http://macross.anime.net/wiki/2005

March

* Conclusion of Space [Stellar] War I. Earth atmospheric purification operation begins. A total of several hundred thousand [to approximately one million] survivors confirmed in the Grand Cannons [I,] III and V, the Lunar surface's Apollo Base, and the space colony clusters [bunches].

If we are reading the same thing, then you will note that Grand Cannon II was destroyed in 2005, leaving Cannon units I, III and IV by Space War I. Although it was confirmed in the show that Grand Cannon I was decimated by the Zent attack, so I am quite sure if there were survivors, they'd come from the other two sites.

- Tak

[Cadorna]

yes, totally agree

[Onizuka-GTO]

I agree too.

dammn this topic is now officially boring. thanks for killing the debate.

[Blue Reverie]

The survivor gender ratio doesn't really matter too much since the human population was rebuilt via mass-cloning.

[Wesley84]

Did they grow people to adult-hood?

[Blue Reverie]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

Did they grow people to adult-hood?

I've never really seen the details given, but I would assume so.

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by Blue Reverie

I've never really seen the details given, but I would assume so.

That's sick.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

That's sick.

Well, they stopped it in the 2020s because kids were getting all kinds of hereditary diseases. Heh

- Tak

[Blue Reverie]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

That's sick.

Perhaps, but given the other choice is the probable extinction of your species, you do what you must.

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by Blue Reverie

Perhaps, but given the other choice is the probable extinction of your species, you do what you must.

They had more than enough people to repopulate. If they were worried about a second invasion, the number of clones they'd need to fight it off would endanger the gene pool, not to mention our identity as a speices. People born as clones intended to fight would be...distressed in all likely hood.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

They had more than enough people to repopulate.

But they didn't. With less than a million people LEFT in the world, how they are able to face the likes of another Baldoza invasion is questionable.

One thing for sure, they did not clone just to make 'frontline' soldiers. Repopulate the world was what UN SPACY had in mind. Although we do not know the details regarding how the cloning process is carried out. All we know is that by 2020s, the process stopped as kids were getting sick because as you said, there was a problem with the gene pool.

- Tak

[Wesley84]

So they did just want soldiers. A million people is plenty for a speices to sustain itself. Heck, we've made due with fewer than a couple hundred.

[Blue Reverie]

They also did it as part of the colonization project, to spread humanity amongst the stars so that all their eggs weren't in one basket.

You may not like it but thats what they felt they needed to do to ensure humanity's survival and thats what they did. And I'm sure many of the mass-cloned humans didn't, like it, the Anti-UN rebels that you hear about popping up (And seen at the beginning of Macross Plus) aren't all just Zentraedi who have turned their back on culture most likely.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

So they did just want soldiers. A million people is plenty for a speices to sustain itself. Heck, we've made due with fewer than a couple hundred.

If they just wanted soldiers, they could just do it the Zentradi way, and create an entire host of Storm Troopers. Obviously they didn't, and try to mix the genes as much as possible so that a certain degree of individualism would be preserved.

The primary objective of the cloning process, which the UN SPACY thought would be perfect since it was pure protoculture technology, was to repopulate the world, that and to spread culture throughout all corners of the known galaxy.

- Tak