This Is My Life In The Crazy Robot Man Reservation

Something that I stumbled upon while browsing the Contemptible Cover article on TV Tropes. I was reading about Boris Vallejo doing art for FASA's Battletech sci-fi wargaming franchise's tie-in novels. And one link, mentioning how Vallejo's approach to the 'Battlemechs' of the series wasn't exactly detailed... or realistic... Well, the below cover caught my eye, but for no reason that involves Battletech whatsoever. 

The 'mech' on the left, I have no idea what the fuck it is. (Realism, Vallejo, realism!) But the 'mech' on the right... it's a dead ringer for the Glaug Officers' Battlepod of Robotech/Macross fame. What the fuck is a Macross mecha doing on the cover of a Battletech novel?

It's actually quite simple. When Battletech was being developed, the designers 'borrowed' giant robot and mecha designs from various anime series including Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which had not been licensed in America at the time. Speculation abounds (though I can find no hard reference) that there was a lawsuit brought or threatened by Harmony Gold, owners of the Robotech franchise (which included the original Macross series) which prompted FASA to abandon the 'borrowed' material. A later owner of the game property claimed that they had secured the rights to all of the so-called 'Unseen' mechs, except for the Macross properties. Harmony Gold put paid to that.

Train Of Love's A-Leavin', Leavin' My Heart Grievin'

As an addendum to the previous post on the animesque anthropomorphic personifications of the iron horse...

I'm especially intrigued by the incorporation of the headlight as the 'cleavage window' on her shirt, and the marker light mounts with painted stripe as the epaulets of the jacket. Her belt also appears to be patterned after the pilot truck. 

Japan is weird. 

Upstarts Are On Their Way

Just when you thought Japan couldn't get any crazier, the hairdressers get in on the act! You'll Never Forget Japan's Tomato Hairdo

WHERE IS MY SNOW SHOVEL LEGO Spill Shuts Down Highway Lane In West Virginia

These reviews are insane. Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer

More video strangeness:

The Passengers Will Please Refrain

Japan is weird.

That's a heads-up for those of you, reading this post now, who feel some measure of cultural Japanophobia. However, for those in that group who are also railfans, you may be interested (disturbed) by what follows.

Japanese popular culture has had two oft-maligned trends in recent years which I'm about to discuss: moe anthropomorphism and obsessive fandom (the otaku). I'm mainly going to discuss the former, and yes, I will get to the latter and railfans in good time.

If you ever needed a name for the trend of things Japanese to end up indisputably cute even when it's unnecessary, you'd be best served by the term 'moe anthropomorphism'. It's the trend of personifying inanimate objects as incredibly cute ladies, such as 'Mecha Musume' which features fighter aircraft. Also of note are the 'OS-tans', who are a group of characters first personifying Microsoft's operating systems, and later some programs and websites including Firefox and Wikipedia.

You know that header indicating a Wikipedia article needing cleaned up? Guess how and when it goes away. 

There are many examples in popular anime series, but one notable title consists entirely of this by way of nations; this would be the infamous Axis Powers Hetalia. I have no idea what it's like, but any nation-state entity you can think of seems to have been personified somewhere in its canon. An aside; Hetalia's personifications are all male.  

And, apparently, Japan has its share of railfans. Guess what they do to their beloved trains?

You guessed it - they picture them as incredibly adorable girls. I picked this group to represent this phenomenon because the trains they personify are depicted alongside, and you can see the resemblance. I do recall a few American railfans attempting to personify the EMD F40PH, but I also recall being unimpressed with the result.