Mecha Talk

It's hard to believe that I'm writing this post on April 1, 2007. When the Fantasy & Animation HQ opened seven years ago today, Dale and I had different goals in mind. The site would be a small-time hobby, covering some of our interests like anime, video games and fantasy novels. Obviously, a lot has changed in the seven years since then. As always, I'd like to thank all the visitors and contributors who help make MAHQ what it is. Since it's our seventh anniversary, we've got some new sections up today:

Megazone 23 anime section. Long delayed, I'm reviewing this series of OVA features. Since there's only three parts, it'll be completed soon.

Nadesico anime section. Having finished the Planetes anime and manga, Scott returns to review Nadesico, which kicks off with coverage for episodes 1-3.

Super Robot Wars mecha section. This one has been in the works for a long time, and it's probably the biggest mecha section we've launched since Gundam. Many people worked to make this section, so I'd like to extend our thanks to Peter, Kuruni, Outlaw, Orochi Kusanagi's Gate of Magus, Homeless, Wingnut, EFF Test Pilot, Bright Noa, Nightwing03, AmuroNT1 and Yuusha Tokkyu Might Gaine. This is a large project, and since there's still much to be done, expect more updates soon.

Now that I've announced what's new, here's what's on the horizon. I've been mentioning Gasaraki for awhile, so you can expect that in addition to these sections:

-Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. There will be an anime section with reviews by Rei Murasame, as well as a mecha section.

-Gaiking: Legend of Daiku-Maryu. Anime section with reviews by Ben. Also, expect the return of The Gunion soon.

-Mobile Police Patlabor. Anime section, reviewed by me.

-Super Dimension Century Orguss. Same as above.

-Round Vernian Vifam. Mecha section.

That's a pretty large slate, so expect these sections to appear across this year and in 2008. Finally, there have been announcements in the past about a complete re-design of the website that we've dubbed MAHQ 2.0. The reality of this project is that it's going to take a long time. With Dale and I working full time jobs and having other responsibilities, that's a given. However, we've come up with a placeholder in the meantime that we're calling MAHQ 1.5. This project is essentially a visual facelift for the site. All graphics and navigation will be replaced with a new design, but to the same dimensions. In other words, the site will be formatted the same way and still display at 640x480, but it will look a lot better. The design style will be similar to what we're planning for the re-design, so think of this as an extended preview. The plan is to have 1.5 premiere in a few months, with 2.0 coming next year. It'll be a long process, but it's something we definitely want to get out the door.

Finally, one more announcement. Dale and I will be hosting a mecha panel (surprise, surprise) at Fort Lauderdale's Anime Supercon, which runs from April 13-15. The MAHQ panel will run from 8:30 P.M. - 9:30 P.M. Friday in panel room 2. If you live in the area, stop on by and say hello.

"Can you escape the Hambrabi...AND THE GREAT CORNHOLIO?!"

MAHQ 2.0: April Fools. I'm calling it.

Yeah, the 2.0 definatley sounds like an April fools, along wiht 1.5

Like many, perplexed about what part of the update is the big April Fool's joke this year... @_@

ここに「MAHQ誕生7年記念スレ」ビーチパーティー!
∴・.ﾟ.・∴..*.+.::∴o*∧∧*o∴::.。.:*・゜.∴
ｷﾀ━━━━━━━━.(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━━━ ﾈｺ!!!!
∴・.ﾟ.・∴..*.+.::∴o**o∴::.。.:*・゜.∴*o
スペシャルゲスト情報よ!人気のブログのガノタヘッドラインズのネオ・エラさんが登場!そして、みんなに無料のビールを提供する!最後に約3.5分の1スケールでフロリダの上静止軌道にコロニーレーザーを再現!すごい!

じゃあ、本気で クリスとデールは最高だね!未来のプロジェクトを楽しみにしている。頑張ってぇぇぇぇぇ!!!!!

"Poor fool, ShadowCell!" you say. "You can't win against fandom stupidity with the Power of the Mod!"

Like many, perplexed about what part of the update is the big April Fool's joke this year... @_@

And this means what to us? The rules state we post only in english here so a translation or explanation is manditory.