Answerman: Concerto

Alright, Answerman has a concert to go to, so let's get this over with, capice?

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Dear Answerman

Recently, Anime Newsnetwork posted a review of the orignal Macross series.
What is exactly difference between the Macross and Robotech? Are story or plot
entirely different?

Thank you,
John

There's a wealth of information out there on this subject and I'm pretty sure whatever answer I give will be nit-picked to death by the hundreds of thousands of diehard Macross fans out there. Basically, Robotech is Macross (and two other series: Southern Cross, and Mospeada), hacked up badly and dubbed by ex-supervillain Carl Macek back in the 80's. It introduced a lot of people to anime and the bulk of older fans you see today were made fans by early exposure to Robotech. Then, of course, they all found out that it was really “Macross” and started seeking the original version out. AnimEigo recently released the entire original Macross series, digitally restored, and made many fans very happy. ADV released Robotech, not restored at all, for a very low price on DVD and made many fans happy. Both versions are available at this point. Watch one, then watch the other, laugh at the differences, then put them on the shelf.

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Hi Answerman,
I love reading your article! Now I have a question. A little while ago I bought a Newtype magazine, and one of the photographs in it was credited to Kanno Yoko. Does Ms. Kanno, the composer, do photography as well? Or is this just a really common Japanese name?
Thanks for your time. I'm really curious about this.
~Hitomi

I'm pretty sure it isn't the same person, although it very well could be. I did a little research on the famous Mrs. Kanno and didn't find any photography credits to her name. She's a multitalented woman, so it wouldn't surprise me if she did do some photography when she wasn't composing, but there's probably a zillion Kanno Yokos in Japan, and I'm sure more than one of them work in the entertainment industry. I've seen that name listed in production credits countless times, usually during series I know the famous Kanno had nothing to do with.

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Hi,Answerman,
I was looking through your old columns to see if my
questions were already answer and they were, but i can
still squeeze something out of the idea I had,
I heard there's a X OAV, is the movie a compalition of
the ova(like Endless Waltz was a ova then compile
into a movie)or something different, if so is the ova
out here in the states?
Also, I read somewhere recently that there's a Dual
Ova, is that true?
Is there a Macross 7 series out there ?
Thanks for reading this, more thanks for answering it
if you do
Michael

There's an X 1999 OVA but it's just a commercial for the TV series. Basically it covers what characters will be in the TV series. It's beautifully animated and is a wonderful piece of eye candy but it doesn't really amount to anything more than a 22-minute commercial. CLAMP produced it as a way of generating extra interest in the show before the series was released. The OVA isn't out here in the states yet but I'd imagine Pioneer will be releasing it as part of the TV series soon enough. The movie is it's own thing, and was made long before the TV series was even conceived. Most people think it sucks pretty hard compared to the TV series, and for the most part, they'd be right. As for Dual, there's an extra “special” episode that's included on the final disc of the series. It was released as an OVA in Japan, but came out as part of the regular series here. There is indeed a 49-episode Macross 7 series, as well as a movie, the 3-part Dynamite OVA series, and a bunch of unaired episodes released as “special” OVA episodes. Hope that answers your questions.

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I am the big anime fan and I am also a big Primus fan.
I have noticed that on the credits for anime dubs I
have seen "Les Claypool" under the sound mixing-type
catergories. I was wondering if he is the same Les
Claypool of Primus. Also I was wondering what in the
world an Inbetweener is.

Thanks for time,
Vaughn

It isn't the same guy. As cool as it would have been to see Primus' Claypool doing sound mixing for anime series, there's more than one Les Claypool out there. As for the inbetweeners, basically, here's how it goes. Animation is done (not so much these days anymore) by hand. Now, depending on the budget of a show, you have a certain number of ‘key’ cels. These cels are ‘key’ points in the action of a character and are usually better painted and more detailed than many of the other cels. They are painted and drawn by specific people. They are intended to keep the flow between cels, keep the characters on model and keep the animation routine smooth. The animators who paint these cels don't do most of the grunt work that needs to be done to fill out the animation between these key frames. “Inbetweeners” are people who fill in the gaps between key frames. Usually there are entire studios in Korea that will take a series and do nothing but inbetweening. Usually it's work done by the lowest bidder and you can tell when the inbetween work is shoddy; look at series like Lost Universe and Record of Lodoss War TV to see examples of bad inbetween work. The characters are hardly ever on model and the motion is extremely jerky.

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Got a burning question that you can't seem to answer? Maybe the Answerman can help you! Contact the Answerman at answerman (at animenewsnetwork.com) with your questions, and read his new columns every Tuesday and Friday! Maybe your question will be answered!

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