>>So, assuming that the political parallels stay the same in this AU, a
>>1890 launching would be just right for some smart kid who spent all
>>his youth traveling about Europe, learning lingua franca, and studying
>>the art and science of mechanics to turn into the first, great
>>Japanese pilot of his generation.
>
>Oh, I don't dispute the facts that it's possible for the individuals,
>but try to remember that this was a period of wanton western
>imerialism, which was then followed by a period of beating the
>re-emerging eastern powers down, basically stating "We've declared the
>imperialism game closed."

Beyond the standard "Don't investigate this too closely," there is a logical conclusion to consider. To wit, that for a Marvellous Sky-Fortress to have dropped from the sky, either God has created this as a rather strange gift to his creation, or there are other intelligent beings out there with technological superiority. And since all the signage inside the Macross is in some language which does not match any on Earth, the latter conclusion seems more probable.

At that point, mere global imperialism could be considered to have been kicked in an indelicate location, and it probably stopped gasping and whining five years prior to the launch of HMSF Macross.

Peter Eng
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I'm only a Charter Member because of the DCForum upgrade, and because there's no rank below "Clueless F!wit."