It Lives by Chris 6:15 P.M. EST
After a week of downtime, the Forum is finally back. During that week, we migrated to a new server and updated the Forum software to the latest version of phpBB. Also, Ben created a new set of custom buttons to complement the Forum's theme. Thank to hard work by Dale and Ben, the migration process, though difficult, was a success. All posts and member accounts have been preserved, so it's back to business. Thank you for your patience.
Mecha Musings: Penultimate Edition by Chris 5:55 P.M. EST Today, Ben presents the second-to-last edition of Mecha Musings, with the final column coming next Friday. By the way, there's no Mailbag for this week. All the questions I was going to use were on the Forum, and I didn't have to foresight to copy them down before the Forum went offline. Either way, watch next week for the return of both the Forum and the Mailbag.
May 24, 2006
Space trash by Chris 5:54 P.M. EST For today's update, Scott has sent in reviews for episodes 8-10 of Planetes.
May 23, 2006
Forum downtime by Chris 4:52 P.M. EST At around 10:00 P.M. EST tonight, the forums will be shut down for several days while we migrate to a new server. We don't have an exact date for when they will go online again, but more news will be posted as it becomes available.
Lots of stuff by Chris 4:34 P.M. EST Today's update is rather large, so let's get right to it. The following profiles from DESTINY-MSV and DESTINY are now in Burke's Mobile Weapons format:
Finally, there's new lineart from Deacon Blues for Le Cygne from Ecole du Ciel.
May 19, 2006
The Trials and Tribulations of a Small-breasted Girl by Chris 4:43 P.M. EST For today's update, it's back to Gundam with my review of Ecole du Ciel volume 1. Also, Ben returns with the third-to-last column of Mecha Musings. What, third-to-last you say? Read on in the column for more, and expect an announcement from Ben soon.
May 18, 2006
Durandal's Perversions by Chris 6:20 P.M. EST Today's Thursday, so it's time to dip into the Mailbag and answer some questions.
May 17, 2006
Attack of the Space Ninjas by Chris 7:00 P.M. EST No, this update has nothing to do with the Aztec Space Ninjas from Gundam ZZ's Moon-Moon colony. Scott has sent in new reviews for episodes 5-7 of Planetes.
May 15, 2006
Fun with Daba Myroad by Chris 11:20 P.M. EST Today's update kicks off with Brian's review for episode 2 of the L.Gaim OVA series. Next up, new lineart. First, Deacon Blues sent in images for the Duel Gundam Kai and Buster Gundam Kai from Stargazer. Next, crashandburn has more Gundam X lineart with the Daughtress Weapon, Estardoth, Correl, Gable and Britova. Finally, Benjamin Wright sent in lineart for a non-Gundam mecha that is nonetheless a mobile suit, the Zura, which has been placed in Okawara's Miscellaneous Variations (for lack of a better place).
Lots of lineart by Chris 12:24 A.M. EST There's a lot of lineart in today's update, so let's get right to it. First, Deacon Blues sent in new lineart for Mobile Suit Gundam. There's no need to list anything, because almost everything is new. Also, Mark064 sent in a large batch of lineart covering almost every Gundam anime.
The next part of today's update is a major overhaul of the Macross mecha section. Several things have changed. First, all the mecha and ships from the original series and the DYRL?movie that were redesigned have been separated (i.e. VF-1S Valkyrie, Macross, Regult, etc). This is basically to streamline everything and have it be more functional. In addition, the Macross Plussection once included units from the OVA/movie and the PS1 game. Now, the game has its own section with all the game-only units moved there. The same thing has been done with the DYRL? section - the game units are in their own section too. Also, there's new lineart for both the TV and movie versions of the Queadluun-Rau and Nousjadeul-Ger.
May 5, 2006
Do the Planet Dance by Chris 1:14 P.M. EST Exactly six years ago, the Macross anime section first opened on MAHQ (then FAHQ). Since then, I've gone and re-reviewed most of the series to bring them up to my current reviewing standard. The last series left to cover is Macross 7, and that kicks off today with my re-reviews for episodes 1-3. Now, since I'm basically treading over things that have already been covered, the re-reviews will be mixed in with new content, such as the upcoming Gasaraki and Megazone 23 sections. Also, I forgot in yesterday's update that it was Mailbag day, so it's up now.
May 4, 2006
Under the Moonlight by Chris 1:55 P.M. EST Today's update once again focuses on Gundam X. First up, there's two new profiles in the Under the Moonlight section, with lineart courtesy of AmuroNT1. Next, the following units are now in Burke's Fighting Ships format:
Of Wikipedia and Gundam by Chris 9:30 P.M. EST Many of you probably saw the editorial I wrote last week about a one-man crusade to delete substantial amounts of Gundam content from Wikipedia. Well, his effort ended in failure, and Gundam is safe on Wikipedia for now.
While we're on the subject, I'd like to raise a related matter. I've been browsing many of Wikipedia's Gundam pages to see what's new, and I found some things I didn't like. Mainly, people lifting passages word-for-word from MAHQ, or changed a word or two. There's even content lifted from the old Gundam Project site. Now, I'm no stranger to this, as I've seen it happen on many other sites. Still, I don't like it when I encounter it. To illustrate my point, here are a few examples:
MAHQ's description of G Gundam:
"Premiering in 1994, G Gundam was the first alternate universe series, and perhaps one of the most controversial. Directed by Giant Robo's Yasuhiro Imagawa, this series takes a vastly different approach to the Gundam saga. Instead of having wars between the colonies and the Earth, a fighting tournament is held to determine the ruler of the colonies. Called the Gundam Fight, it is held once every four years by the United Colonies Federation. Each country has its own representative Gundam (some of which are really ridiculous looking), and the Gundams fight on Earth until only one is left. Set in FC 60, this series chronicles the 13th Gundam Fight and stars Neo Japanese Gundam Fighter Domon Kasshu, who is in the fight as much to win as to fulfill a personal quest."
Wikipedia's description of G Gundam:
"Premiering in 1994, Mobile Fighter G Gundam was the first non-Universal Century animated Gundam series, and one of the most controversial. Directed by Giant Robo's Yasuhiro Imagawa, this series takes a vastly different approach to the Gundam saga. Instead of having wars between the colonies and the Earth, a fighting tournament is held to determine the ruler of the colonies. Called the Gundam Fight, it is held once every four years by the United Colonies Federation. Each country has its own representative Gundam, and the Gundams fight on Earth until only one is left. Set in Future Century (FC) 60, this series chronicles the 13th Gundam Fight and stars Neo Japanese Gundam Fighter Domon Kasshu, who is in the fight as much to win as to fulfil a personal quest."
As you can see, it's pretty much word-for-word what I wrote, although I'll note it has a typo that's not in my original copy. Another example:
MAHQ's profile of the RMS-019 Crouda:
"The RMS-019 Crouda was the first mobile suit the SRA mass produced after the war. This next generation mobile suit replaced aging models like the RMS-006 Jenice. Aside from being highly maneuverable, the Crouda's armor was powerful enough to withstand a direct shot from a beam weapon. The Crouda carried fairly standard armament consisting of vulcan guns and beam rifles, but its main innovation was its beam cutter. Mounted on the back, this knife-like cutting weapon could cut mobile suits in half or slice into the hull of a battleship. The Crouda did however have one fatal design flaw: it could be destroyed by a direct shot to its front exhaust port. When hostilities began anew between the SRA and New UNE, the Crouda proved highly effective against its New UNE counterpart, the NRX-018-2 Daughtress Neo."
Wikipedia's profile of the RMS-019 Crouda:
"The Crouda was the first mobile suit mass produced by the Space Revolutionary Army after the 7th Space War. This new unit was not only highly maneuverable but also heavily armored. Although it was equipped with standard weapons like vulcan guns and beam rifles it was also equipped with the new beam cutter. With this weapon the Crouda could slice through a mobile suit or in the hull of a battleship. The Crouda did however have one fatal design flaw: it could be destroyed by a direct shot to its front exhaust port. In AW 0015 when the war broke out anew between the SRA and the New Earth Federation, the Crouda fought well against the NEF’s new mobile suit NRX-018-2 Daughtress Neo."
Again, this is almost the same as MAHQ's profile, but it's been slightly reworded. I could go on and on, but there's no need. And just for the heck of it, here's a line from Wikipedia's policies on copyrighted material: "Never use materials that infringe the copyrights of others. This could
create legal liabilities and seriously hurt the project. If in doubt,
write it yourself."
That last sentence sums up perfectly what I want to say. MAHQ is often used as reference material, and everyone knows that things like specs and lineart are public domains. But any written content, be it series descriptions, episode reviews or mecha profiles is absolutely off limits. This is the way it's been for six years, and this is the way it will always be. If people want to write Gundam articles for Wikipedia or other websites, I'm all for that. The same goes for if they want to use MAHQ as a reference. If someone wants to take what's on here and completely rewrite it in their own words, nothing's stopping them. But just copying what's on here or slightly rewording text isn't a contribution to anyone - it's just pure laziness. Now, I'm not going to go and correct all these articles, because I shouldn't have to waste my time doing that. If you're a contributor to Wikipedia and have used content from MAHQ, please do me the courtesy of removing the content and re-writing it as your own work. The many hours that are spent working on this site aren't so that what's here ends up on Wikipedia or other sites.
Cleared for launch by Chris 1:45 P.M. EST
Today's update focuses on a re-launch of the Planetes section. Scott Richardson is coming aboard to take over that section, and he's starting off with new reviews for episodes 1-4.
