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The VF-25 Messiah (VF-25 メサイア), sometimes referred to as the Messiah Valkyrie (メサイアバルキリー), is a series of variable fighters first featured in the Macross Frontier television series. They were used by the Strategic Military Services who were testing the design around 2059 before the fighter was adopted more widely by the New United Nations Spacy.

In 2014, a life-size VF-25F Messiah model was unveiled at Tokyo Skytree, designed by Shōji Kawamori, in partnership with Future Robotics Technology Center (fuRo) at the Chiba Institute of Technology (CIT) for the "Macross Feature CIT Project".[1]

Variants

Production Remarks

With the announcement of the Macross Frontier television series in 2007, there was much speculation as to how the VF-25 would look. After months of rough sketches from Japanese anime enthusiast publications, a trailer was released that debut the Macross series’ flagship Valkyrie. Its brief appearance marked endless online speculation by longtime fans. Some looked at upper chest and compared it to the VF-5000B Star Mirage, while others freeze-framed the seemingly bizarre transformation and feared the Valkyrie was coming apart as it shifted between modes. Discussion turned towards the SV-51γ retconning the developmental history of Valkyries, which made some fan feel soured at the prospect of the upcoming series.[2]

Some fans grew concerned that Kawamori’s extensive work on the Armored Core game series had begun creeping back into Macross. The modular and perceived throwaway nature of the AC designs made some fear the same thing would happen to the Valkyries, which many revered as carefully constructed works of art. The loudly unspoken disdain for retcons also brewed negativity to a Valkyrie that barely existed for more than ten seconds.[3] More dedicated fans perused Kawamori's Macross Design Works art book and design compendium for hints as to the fighter's origins. Rough sketches showing the incomplete transformation diagram of early VF-19F Excalibur design reveals the VF-25’s true heritage.

Gallery

References

  1. Anime News Network - Full Size Macross VF-25 Valkyrie on Display.
  2. Veef Files - Origins of the VF-25
  3. Online discourse at the time took place on forums and image board sites

External Links

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