As of the date this report was published (December 15), it’s been a year since Ark of the Stars gave us the single busiest month in Yamato history (just revisit reports 39-41 for the proof) and about six months since it arrived on video. Activity dropped after that, but has remained pretty stable ever since even with no new anime to continue the story.

November 2015 was a particularly good month on the fan activity radar, and the latest issue of Ship’s Log brought us some more official news about Series 2. But the real winners this month were players of the Battlefield Infinity mobile game. Here’s the full rundown.

November 1: Game news

Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity has definitely picked up the slack in anime production with one campaign after another over the summer months. The game went into overdrive this month with new announcements every week, starting with this one:

Beginning of November project: Start Dash Building with “The Melancholy Engineer”!!

In the November 4 Melancholy Engineer event, compete for “damage ranking” with the amount of damage given to the enemy! Elite units play an active part with “rare building” and “normal building” preceding the event!

Nagato (Sukeji Yabu) and Shikinami (Kaoru Niimi) from the UN Cosmo Navy, and Haizerad Class (Gol Hainy) and Dimension Dive Ship (Berun) from the Garmillas Imperial Army, appear in different illustrations!

Strengthen your units in conjunction with the “Long Nights of Autumn” campaign, and get ready before the start dash event begins!

November 4: Game news

The next Battlefield Infinity announcement came just three days later:

New feature, new product added! One-day “Melancholy Engineer” event held!

Limited time “Melancholy Engineer” event!

A limited time event narrates a day in the life of two people(?) starting at the same time for both the UN Cosmo Navy and the Garmillas Imperial Army!

They work hard every day in the engine room and fall sick from fatigue and stress. This time, two(?) engineers are suddenly ordered to take the day off and get some rest. What will these two people(?) find on their vacation…?

In this event stage, compete for a damage ranking based on the amount of damage done to the enemy! Win the ranking by using your maximum firepower! During this high-reward period, Hikozaemon Tokugawa appears from the UN Cosmo Navy and Sukeji Yabu appears from the Garmillas Imperial Army in different illustrations!

New features and products appear!

New “stop battle” feature now available! Good news for busy commanders who don’t have time to compete! A new “stop battle” feature makes it possible to interrupt a battle at any time. On the train or on a lunch break, let’s play without worry!

New “novice commander support pack” product! Every 30 days, you can purchase relief supplies such as “energy” and “performance enhancement”! New commanders recently deployed at the front should not miss this chance!

November 5: Yamatalk event

The “last ever” Yamatalk was held back in January. Then another “last ever” Yamatalk happened in May. At this point, they seem to be back in fashion. Here are a pair of reports for this new one, titled Yamato Sound Chapter.

Yamato Crew Official Report

(See the original post here.)

On the night of November 5, “Akira Miyagawa Yamatalk ~ Yamato Sound Chapter, First Part” took place at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater. On stage were Akira Miyagawa, who took charge of the music for Yamato 2199, and Ryosuke Hikawa, a scholar of anime and tokusatsu (live-action special effects). Yamatalks are special events that started with the theatrical showing of the first chapter of Yamato 2199, and this time it accompanied a film of Yamato 2199 Concert 2015, which will be released on December 24.

On this evening, the first half of Concert 2015 was shown, the 42-minute Voyage to Remember segment. Miyagawa gave a greeting prior to the screening of his first concert film. When a performance is over, they don’t often appear again on television or elsewhere.

“Even if you’ve heard it on CD, Concert 2015 is wonderful,” Mr. Hikawa said. “Personally, I’m very satisfied. Now there’s a picture to go along with the CD, and it’s in a form that will go down in history. Now you can properly see which musical instruments are playing, and it looks great as a picture.”

As someone who has been a Yamato fan for a very long time, he was immersed in deep emotion. “I’ve been looking forward to a concert like this for 41 years. I’m really grateful that I could hear it in its original state by the people who actually played it for the film.”

After the screening, both men took the stage for a Yamatalk program, praising the concert film by saying, “the 5.1 ch surround system gave it a huge sense of presence.” When it was mentioned that this feature would be released in all its glory on Blu-ray disc December 24, surprised voices rose from the audience.

They mainly discussed the configuration of the concert, introducing the performers that had been seen in the film, and Mr. Miyagawa’s attitudes toward music. The pieces for the concert had been selected by Miyagawa and sound supervisor Tomohiro Yoshida. Although anime footage was added for beginners, it was said that there were too many Yamato scenes to choose from, so great care was taken to preserve balance and not violate the basic concept of “listening to a music concert.”

Galactic Route, the first piece in the program, was chosen as a result of asking Houko Kuwajima (the voice of Yuki Mori) to provide narration. The theme of the Yamato 2199 concert unexpectedly synchronized with “a posture of handing things over to the next generation.” Many other topics were discussed for the first time.

Two surprises awaited near the end of the talk. One was a treasured sound source prepared by Hikawa, which was not released on any Yamato soundtrack or symphonic suite. When he visited the original production site, he asked the staff for a dubbed copy of a master tape. When it was played, it started with Hiroshi Miyagawa’s “one-two-three” count. His son Akira Miyagawa laughed and said, “I’m just like my father.” Many visitors smiled at this unexpected reunion of parent and child co-stars.

Just before saying goodbye, Mr. Miyagawa got out a keyboard harmonica and played the Yamato theme. It changed the atmosphere of the cinema into that of a concert venue, and the program came to an end.

Dengeki Hobby Web published a lengthier report on the event, translated below. (See the original post here.)

Yamato concerts scheduled for release on Blu-ray set! Film concert and Akira Miyagawa Yamatalk part 2 to take place December 18!

To commemorate the release of the 2012 and 2015 Yamato 2199 concerts on Blu-ray, a film concert and talk show event was held November 5 at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater, featuring Akira Miyagawa, Ryusuke Hikawa, and host Osamu Kobayashi.

Yamato 2199 Music Group Big Ceremony was performed November 2012, and Yamato 2199 Concert 2015 was held February, 2015. Both will be released on Blu-ray December 24.

At this event, the Voyage to Remember portion of Concert 2015 was appreciated on a big screen with 5.1 ch surround. A talk show unfolded afterward with 2199 composer Akira Miyagawa, anime and tokusatsu scholar Ryusuke Hikawa, and host Osamu Kobayashi.

A stage greeting was given before the screening in which Kobayashi introduced the others and set a good tempo for the conversation to follow. He began by asking Miyagawa how the 2012 and 2015 concerts differed. “I’m not sure what to say about that,” Miyagawa began, “other than one was in 2012 and the other was in 2015.”

In fact, though Miyagawa intended for the 2012 performance to be done by an orchestra, it became more reliant upon a brass band. Then, for a moment, would he make the brass band a blank page?　

“No, wait a minute,” Miyagawa said, “if I want to do a ceremony, wind music would be suitable.”

Mr. Hikawa agreed with Miyagawa’s satisfaction.

“I was impressed by it, too, and the 120-person symphony was very good.”

If it’s for Yamato, the story goes that it results in a full formation around violin and cello. In addition, studio musicians were used rather than an established symphony orchestra, and it was concluded that this has considerable value.

“It’s true,” Hikawa said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for over 40 years. The hope of the fans was to listen to the BGM without it being covered up with dialogue. Then there was a symphonic suite and live performances. Our last hope was to receive the whole body in the original state, and it came true, so thank you very much.”

In response to those words, applause resounded in the theater.

The stage greeting ended with an inside story about the concert, then the film began. Visitors watched it on the big screen and listened attentively to the big sound of the theater.

The Voyage to Remember portion of Concert 2015 was shown. Anime footage was projected on a large-scale panel in the concert venue with narration by Yuki Mori. This alternated with the expressions of Mr. Miyagawa and the various performers, an impressive means of “seeing Space Battleship Yamato through music.”

Deep contents and unknown stories were told in the Yamatalk

After the concert film ended, Mr. Miyagawa, Mr. Hikawa, and MC Kobayashi took the stage to get deeper into Yamato with a Yamatalk.

At Concert 2015, the organization had been taken care of, but when Mr. Miyazawa joined it as a staffer, he had already decided on the order of compositions and had pretty much organized it to a surprising degree.

“Because I think of it as a concert,” Mr. Miyagawa said. “Just like you arrange Yamato events, I think about programs for regular concerts with established orchestras, and I think as a musician.”

However, video images with narration by Yuki Mori also flowed through the concert. About this, Miyagawa talked about the process of groping for a Yamato 2199 concert.

“It has to be formed as a concert, but isn’t it also good to show pictures? I asked myself, ‘Don’t we need that picture for that scene?’ and in the end it needs to be good. But the pictures shouldn’t be excessive. If you put everything in, it wouldn’t be a concert. I’m sorry to be sensitive, but I think it’s the right balance of images and music.”

Another striking thing about the concert is that it opens with the piece titled Galactic Route.

“I’ve had experience with overtures for opera, and I understand how important they are. One piece is necessary to bring uniformity to the different temperatures of the guests. If you can, you want to start a concert with The Universe Spreading out into Infinity, don’t you? But if you do that, you’re setting a line at that point. Therefore, it was Galactic Route that popped in there. It captures the spirit of General Director Yutaka Izubuchi and I. When we started on 2199, we said, ‘We’re first graders! We’re freshmen!’ And that was the first piece I worked on. There are old fans and new fans alike in the venue, and studio musicians of different generations. So this piece was chosen to make everybody ‘one’ in the same place.”

At this comment, Kobayashi said, “That has the same characteristic as Yamato 2199.”

“When realizing a 2199 concert,” Hikawa agreed, “I think that answer is the correct choice.”

In addition to deep thoughts like this, Hikawa brought along a treasure to share, a tape recording of a dramatic music performance that included the natural voice of Hiroshi Miyagawa. In all, it was an informative hour.

From the stage, Mr. Kobayashi announced that it has been decided to hold a second part for this Yamatalk with Mr. Miyagawa at the Marunouchi Piccadilly on December 18, to look back at Yamato Music Group Big Ceremony 2012.

After taking in the nimble narrative and significant stories of Mr. Miyagawa, backed by the extensive knowledge of Mr. Hikawa and the clear explanations of Mr. Kobayashi, my own thought about Yamato 2199 was, “This is fascinating!” Even without deep knowledge, I was able to enjoy the content. I’ll surely be there to enjoy the next event!

After the Yamatalk ended, Mr. Miyagawa went out with a song instead of a farewell.

Twitter reactions

karapon2199

Akira Miyagawa gave an emotional live performance after the Yamatalk. I would have titled it, “Yamato dedicated to Mr. Miyagawa in heaven.”

popoki_cat

It was fun watching Akira’s expressions from the front row of the concert. I’m glad I can see more of them on the blu-ray.

shimashima_ru

I went to the concert and saw the players, but it’s impossible to see this kind of sound and picture at home. The concert film is wonderful! Can’t wait to see the second half!

mizunagi0905

The Yamatalk even ended with a live performance by Akira Miyagawa! The Blu-ray concert is great! We only screened half of it. I want to hear the whole thing booming in a movie theater! I want an event screening by all means!

ryota_ebinuma

Miyagawa’s live performance of Yamato on pianica [keyboard harmonica] was great! Maestros Hiroshi Miyagawa and Akira Miyagawa, I’m thankful for the wonderful Yamato sound by parent and child!

November 7: Ark of the Stars screening and special talk

On the periphery of Yamatalk events have been many personal appearances by 2199 cast members, especially Eriko Nakamura who played Mikage Kiryu. Another of these took place November 7 at Cinema Rosa in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. She and MC Osamu Kobayashi greeted the crowd before a screening of Ark and followed up with an on-stage discussion afterward. Regrettably the content went unreported, but the Twitter page for the Yamato Production Committee at least gave us the photo above.

November 8: Treasure Festa

“TreaFes” is a traveling hobby show, primarily attracting garage kit makers wherever it lands. This one landed in Kobe, and Yamato 2199 items could be found at the booth for garage kit maker On Air Works.

Visit the event website here and see more photos on the Twitter page here.

November 9: Yamato 2199 on Family Theater

Family Theater is a satellite network in Japan that has a long history with Yamato, and was the first satellite broadcaster to pick up 2199 in January 2014. They brought the whole thing back in November along with the broadcast debut Ark of the Stars.

The seven theatrical chapters ran twice, November 9-18 and 14-28. Ark also ran twice, on the 19th and 28th.

November 11: Game news

More from Battlefield Infinity:

Building probability of elite units goes UP! Second half of the “Melancholy Engineer” game!

In the second half of “Melancholy Engineer,” the probability goes up of building elite units in the event area.

Improve special elite skills and acquire ranking points with two types of “rising firepower”!

Also! A high-difficulty level “EX stage” is added! As the enemy gets stronger, the durability level increases and a lot of damage can be given in one battle, so it becomes easy to earn ranking points! Master elite units and push other commanders! In addition, the rate of decal drops becomes higher in the first half of the EX stage, a chance to collect decals! This event heats up further in the second half!

November 18: Game news

Battlefield Infinity dialed it up again:

Yamato 2199 Third Anime Episode! Reviving the escape drama from the dimensional fault! Graveyard of the Universe is held!

Anime reproduction event Graveyard of the Universe

This third anime episode starts at the same time for the UN Cosmo Navy and Garmillas Imperial Army! The 10th episode of Yamato 2199 is reproduced, the escape drama from the dimensional fault!

The target point of this event is just outside the dimensional fault! The UN Cosmo Navy must escape after Yamato wanders into a dimensional fault and the scenario develops in which Yamato meets EX178 of the Garmillas Imperial Army! Can they safely escape from the dimensional fault?

Ranking points are won in this event by clearing the stage in a competition for a “stage clear ranking”! New limited units are the reward for a high ranking!

The dependable boatswain Isami Enomoto of the UN Cosmo Navy and Captain Valus Lang of the Garmillas EX178 both appear! Clear the event stage to win these two limited units!

Four lively characters from Episode 10 appear as elite units in this event!

Hostility rises as people from Garmillas and the UN Cosmo Navy see each other for the first time! Daisuke Shima (Kuroshio) and Susumu Kodai (Nagato) are worried when Melda (Haizerad Class) comes from the Garmillas Imperial Army to propose a method of escape from the dimensional fault. But Paren Nerge (Meltoria Class) secretly plots to betray Yamato and save only himself.

[Translator’s note: the ship names that accompany the character names are the ships that represent them. In order to expand gameplay potential, all these major characters command their own vessels. These are the so-called “limited elite units” that appear in various scenarios. On the UN Cosmo Navy side, they accompany Yamato as a fleet.]

Four major figures from anime Episode 10 appear in both “rare building” and “normal building”! Use their elite skills to acquire ranking points! Two kinds of “E save” reduce fuel consumption of the allied fleet! Use the elite skills of limited units to aim for higher ranking!

Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity one-year anniversary festival phase to be held!

Battlefield Infinity celebrates its first anniversary on December 1. With thanks for the many commanders who train hard every day, we’ll carry out a large-scale campaign for a limited time! During this period, new limited units come up in rare construction: Hiroki Shinohara (Cosmo Falcon) and Shulz (Kripitera Class) both appear!

Also! Units from Gatlantis come up that have appeared in the past, six very rare units that revive for a limited time: Kiska (Susumu Kodai), Lasceaux Class (Juzo Okita), Devastator (Akira Yamamoto), Megaluda (Dessler), Kukulkan Class (Domel), and Devastator (Melda)! New limited units and Gatlantis units are discharged in a state in which building probabilities go up! Don’t miss this golden opportunity!

November 22: Yamaket 6

Fans got together to do their fan-thing at this bi-annual event, a consortium of Yamato circles within a larger one-day con called Toriroji [Trilogy] in Tokyo. A fan artist named Kiyo is the regular organizer, and the Yamaket segment of Toriroji 9 brought 27 circles together to sell doujinshis and other handmade products.

See a gallery of them here.

Incidentally, there are other sub-groups at these events as well, dedicated to their own favorite topics. The largest by far is dedicated to Transformers. See the full sub-group breakdown for Toriroji 9 here.

Find more pics at the Yamaket Twitter page here.

November 24: Game news

Even more from Battlefield Infinity:

Probability of building elite units goes up! The second half of third anime episode Graveyard of the Universe begins!

In the second half of Graveyard of the Universe, the probability of building elite units goes up! Also, the countdown begins to the 1st anniversary of our debut. Battlefield Infinity gets more exciting and delivers content everyone can enjoy! Stay tuned by all means!

November 25: Dengeki Hobby Web videos

We all miss Dengeki Hobby magazine, which ceased publication earlier this year, but it continues as a very active web community via Dengeki Hobby Web. Those who used to build models for the magazine still take part in other ways. Their resident Yamato expert, modeler Nobuyuki Sakurai, was back again in a marathon of video programming that went live November 25.

You can see the entire 10-hour program on Youtube here, in which he reviews Yamato kits for about half an hour beginning at the 29:00 mark. Interestingly, this segment is followed by the first of two toy reviews from friend-of-this-website Matt Alt.

Tune in to the full Dengeki Hobby Youtube channel here.

November 27: Manga chapter 41

This 27-page installment by artist Michio Murakawa launches his adaptation of Episode 16, and the ship is turning into a real powderkeg. Captain Okita is out of action, the Izumo conspiracy is blooming, Yabu lords it over Tokugawa (who’s in the brig for punching Shima), Niimi puts her uniform through its paces in an act of seduction, and Beemera 4 looms into view.

This chapter was published online at Comic Walker and Nico Nico Ace. See all the pages here.

November 27: Ship’s Log #12

The top headline for this issue of the Yamato Crew Premium Fan Club magazine (and the next several to come, probably) was “Producer Speaks” No. 2, the second release of official news on the 2199 sequel. As before, the interview has been completely translated for you and can be read here.

The rest of this 36-page magazine had plenty to offer, starting with the surprise announcement (above right) of a followup volume for Hyper Mechanical Detail Artworks, the phenomenal mecha art book that was published by Mag Garden in July. The new volume will pick up where the first left off in April 2016.

Centerspread from the magazine: Becoming New [Beginning] by Yoichi Fukano

The cover to this issue shows off the package art for the 2199 concert Blu-ray set, linked to an interview with composer Akira Miyagawa. Also offered were a report of the 54th Japan SF Convention (where Ark of the Stars won a major award), an account of Shoji Nishizaki’s fan club meeting in Nagoya, a bibliography of Yamato children’s books, and more. Ship’s Log #13 is promised for March, 2016.

November 28: Mecha Collection Model #20

With the release of the Gaiderol-class Astro Battleship, the Yamato 2199 Mecha Collection appears to have come to an end. No new mini-kits have been announced, but if all goes as planned and a new series goes into production, there will be some momentum for Bandai to pick up on.

Meanwhile, see a photo gallery for this model here.

The complete Yamato 2199 Mecha Collection (for now).

November 28: Megahobby Expo

Don’t let the looming lack of Bandai model kits get you down; Megahouse is still moving forward with Yamato 2199 miniatures in their “Cosmo Fleet Special” product line. The Gatlantis flame strike ship Megaluda (prototype at right) is due out January 31, and they finally put a release date on the next one in this display at the Megahobby Expo in Tokyo.

Mark your calendars: the CFSP miniature Dimensional Submarine UX-01 has been announced for March 31, 2016. Also on display were the two Garmillas carriers and a new version of Yamato from Ark of the Stars (no release dates yet). The photo above is by friend-of-the-website Hiroshi Ban. Find more photos at Dengeki Hobby Web here.

November 30: Game news

Battlefield Infinity’s not through with you yet:

Celebrate the approach of Christmas with “Messenger of Christmas Eve ~ the Holy Night”!

Christmas is just around the corner when “Messenger of Christmas Eve” begins simultaneously for the UN Cosmo Navy and the Garmillas Imperial Army! Collect “Christmas tickets” everywhere in the game!

During this period, get a present every day, every time you log in! Win tickets by successful searches in limited search stages! Win tickets by developing certain probabilities!

The “Christmas tickets” you collect can be used in “limited Christmas building”! It becomes possible to build elite units with special powers! This will become indispensable to the main story, so prepare for big events by reaching out before it’s too late!

Christmas elite units with special abilities appear!

During “limited Christmas building,” two beautiful Santa ladies board aircraft with Christmas specs. This becomes indispensable to the “Messenger of Christmas Eve” chapter, so try to get them by collecting tickets!

Elite unit details