Presenting historical research in timeline form is always a tricky undertaking, because history seldom reveals itself in chronological order. New stuff always pops up after you thought a subject was closed, and your original mission statement demands that it be accommodated. In the Vintage Report series, this was handled with occasional roundups of accumulated backlog. The series has run its course, but the backlog still rolls in.
If your preference is to see it in historical context, no worries; all of this has been threaded into the Vintage Reports. But if you just want to browse what’s been found since your last check-in, this page is here to serve.
1974
September 6: Fifth Grader, October issue
It may not look like it, but this is one of the places where the rubber actually hit the road in terms of marketing. “Student digest” magazines had been a staple in Japan since the 1950s, and if you wanted to reach school-age kids (outside of manga publications) this was the place to do it. There was a different magazine for every grade level, and three different publishers to supply them, which made for a target-rich environment.
Shogakukan publishing gave Yamato its first exposure on this platform when they started a “Picture Story” serial based on the TV series, one month before the premiere. This added yet another monthly deadline to the already-overworked Leiji Matsumoto to provide illustrations, accompanied by text from scriptwriter Keisuke Fujikawa. The art style was “aged down” to make the characters more childlike, but it was still unmistakably Matsumoto.
Read part 1 here
Read an interview with Matsumoto about the project here
September 6: Fourth Grader story serial begins
After reading the above, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that Shogakukan also published a magazine called Fourth Grader, which featured its very own Yamato picture story serial over six issues (October ’74 through March ’75, all shown above).
From Chapter 1
This version (even more simplified) was also written by Keisuke Fujikawa, but since Leiji Matsumoto was “booked,” this one was illustrated by Shigeto Ikehara, who was known for Thunder Mask and Little Witch Meg.
From Chapter 2, photo posted on Twitter by y_sirais
His art strongly resembled the Yamato manga of Akira Hio, which had not yet been published but was conceivably made available as reference along with animator’s model sheets. Limited to 2-4 pages an issue over six months, the story definitely required abridgement, but Ikehara produced a fine, elegant rendition of the characters within that brief stretch.
From Chapter 4
Now the bad news: this serial has never been reprinted, and since copies of the magazine are extremely rare it’s difficult to collect a complete run. The images shown here have been scavenged from various sources.
From Chapter 6. In this version, Starsha is not the only living Iscandarian left.
September 28: TV Guide
“TV Manga” wasn’t yet considered appropriate fare for adults, but that didn’t stop Japan’s TV Guide from indulging the kids with a monthly promotional spread. Yamato didn’t earn a spot here in its first week, but this would be corrected soon.
The listing for the first episode didn’t exactly pop out, but there it was in the 7pm block for airing at 7:30.
New Series: Space Battleship Yamato
SOS Earth!! Revive, Space Battleship Yamato
Voices: Kei Tomiyama, Ichiro Nagai, Takeshi Aono
(These were the actors for Kodai, Analyzer, and Sanada. However, Sanada did not appear in Episode 1.)
October 6: Fifth Grader, November issue
The second installment in Shogakukan’s picture story for 5th graders got Yamato through its first battle and warp all the way to Mars. It was published on the very day the TV series made its debut, but nobody was particularly concerned about spoilers at the time.
Read it here
November 6: Fifth Grader, December issue
Part 3 of the picture story serial, still ahead of the TV series, got all the way through the content for Episode 5 and the first firing of the Wave-Motion Gun.
Read it here
November 16: TV Guide
Six weeks into the broadcast, both Kodai and Yamato had earned their spot on the monthly anime promo spread.
December 6: Fifth Grader, January 1975 issue
Despite starting a month ahead of the broadcast, the picture story serial in Fifth Grader had now fallen behind, covering the first Pluto episode three weeks after it aired.
Read it here
1975
January 8: Fifth Grader, February issue
The picture story serial continued in Shogakukan’s monthly student digest, but only covered TV Episode 8, which was now six weeks in the past. And with only one month left in the serial, what could they possible do to make up the time?
Read it here
February 6: Fifth Grader, March issue
The sixth and final installment of the picture story serial made up for lost time by leaping far ahead in the TV series, skipping months of drama to breeze through the final episodes in a single chapter. This would certainly have been a major spoiler for readers, but then again, knowing the ending of the series has never discouraged anyone from watching it.
Read the last part here
1976
August 14 & 15: 15th Japan Science Fiction Convention, Tokon 6
Tokon was a sci-fi convention in Tokyo, and Tokon 6 featured a panel presentation called “Yamato Hour” with key staff members providing conversation with a slideshow. It was one of the very few occasions they appeared in person to talk about Yamato, which would have been a singular experience for loyal fans who were still carrying a torch. Incidentally, the program book cover art (above left) was by Studio Nue’s own Naoyuki Katoh, who still produces Yamato art today.
Since there was no anime journalism to speak of in 1976, Yamato Hour went undocumented. But fans ultimately came to the rescue; individual eyewitness accounts were preserved in two doujinshis, published in 1977 and 1978, and we’re fortunate enough to have access to them now.
Click here to read their coverage.
1977
July 14: High 1st Course, August issue
During its first year on Earth, Yamato only managed to score a single run in the quest for publicity in student digests, that being the Series 1 picture stories in Shogakukan’s magazines for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. It finally happened again with Gakken’s student digest for 10th graders (first year of high school), and essentially by stealth.
This image in the “Pops Corner” section may have been the first Yamato fan art to appear in a mainstream magazine, credited to Makoto Mishima of Miyahara High School in Hiroshima. With the movie about to surprise everyone in under a month’s time, readers of High 1st Course were in for quite a ride.
July 17: Miyazaki Nichi Shimbun [Newspaper]
Readers in Miyazaki may have enjoyed reading another “those crazy kids” article about activist fans bombarding their local TV station for a rerun, but here’s the thing – the kids won that fight. The account was short, but early signs of the coming storm were there.
Read the article here
July 20: Young Comic, July 27 issue
Despite the name, this weekly magazine from Shonen Gahosha was decidedly for men with lurid manga and lowbrow advertising. However, tucked into this issue was a 4-page article with a headline reading Do You Know Space Battleship Yamato!? It was a good time to ask, since all of Japan would know in just two more weeks.
Read the article here
August 13: High 1st Course, September issue
Gakken’s monthly magazine for 10th graders was the next student digest to give Yamato some ink. This time it took the form of an ad for the Sonorama novelizations (center) and this brief description of the film:
The familiar Yamato from television has been made into an animated film. The year is 2199. Earth is contaminated with radiation, and humanity faces imminent extinction. This is the work of planet bombs used by Gamilas, who is plotting to invade Earth. Susumu Kodai, Daisuke Shima, and the other space warriors embark on a journey to the distant planet Iscandar in search of a radiation removal device.
This is a science-fiction journey of 296,000 light years, to be completed in one year by faster than light travel. Upon learning of this, a fierce battle for the fate of the planets, unfolds between the Gamilas and Yamato…
Through a fierce battle, the film also seems to aim at prompting viewers to reflect on “love” from a broader perspective. The director is Toshio Masuda.
(Now showing)
August 21: Weekly Myojo No. 35
As proof that the Yamato tide was lifting other boats, this entertainment magazine promoted an upcoming film festival for Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Productions. Yoshinobu Nishizaki had served as its office manager before the company went into decline, so it was fitting that his later efforts would help to buoy its fortunes.
Read the article here
September 1: DONDON No. 21, October issue
Yamato founds its way into the pages of yet another men’s magazine, this one published by Nippon Journal Press Co. There was a blurb on the “soundtrack” album and a splashy 4-page article that made a favorable comparison with Star Trek.
Read the article here
September 14: High 1st Course, October issue
Gakken’s student digest for 10th graders featured a multi-page pictorial titled Nostalgic Youth Graffiti that examined pop culture high points from 1961 through 1977. Yamato landed on this list, but rather than the movie they chose instead to highlight the premiere of the TV series in 1974.
See how it landed in that context here
October 14: High 1st Course, November issue
It shouldn’t be forgotten that Leiji Matsumoto had earned fame separately from Yamato as a manga artist, so it wasn’t surprising at all that Gakken’s student digest for 10th graders would line him up for an interview. After talking briefly about Yamato, he delivered a whirlwind description of his past with some charming anecdotes.
Read the article here
December 18: TV Anime Review Space Battleship Yamato
The cover of this doujinshi, published by “Story Manga Research Group Pua Korpo,” got right to the point: “Yamato Fans! Weep for Gamilas!!” In the manga panels, Kodai and Yuki ask pointed questions about whether anyone can talk about a love for humanity after wiping out an entire civilization.
That topic drove the analysis in this 24-page fan discussion about the circumstances and ramifications, signaling that doujinshi publishing was moving past the curation of Yamato content into discussion of the deeper themes.
1978
January 14: High 1st Course, February issue
Yamato made a few appearances in this issue of Gakken’s student digest for 10 graders, including the first image in an 8-page article titled SF World of Everything. The article was too wide-ranging to say anything specific about Yamato, but you couldn’t help but be drawn in by its intro:
Scientists who leap through time and dimensions, heroes who traverse the sci-fi universe, beauties from mysterious planets…this world is a realm of dreams, fantasies, and thrilling mysteries. Why don’t you take a journey into the world of science-fiction?!
See the article and other features here
January 28 & 29: Toei Anime Festival
For fans in Osaka, the first big event of the year was a Friday/Saturday festival held at Sankei Hall. Three films were screened on both days: Space Battleship Yamato (45 minute digest version), an episode of Rainbow Sentai Robin and Cyborg 009 Monster War. Also promised was a Yamato merch selection.
There were display panels showing the history and production process of anime, and two big name guests turned up to deliver lectures: Shotaro Ishimori on the 28th and Leiji Matsumoto on the 29th.
February 14: High 1st Course, March issue
Gakken’s student digest for 10th graders was on a roll with the magazine’s first all-up Yamato article, an 8-page “encore” presented as a refresher before “Part 2” arrived in the summer. It consisted mostly of synopsis, but one page was devoted to little-known production trivia.
Read it here
March 29-April 4: Children’s Cinema Theater
Daimaru department store in Tokyo’s Machida district was a haven for kids during spring break, since it offered a free week-long film festival packed with a variety of anime featurettes, many of which were TV episodes repackaged for festival showings. Rotating features included Mighty Atom, Triton of the Sea, Maya the Honeybee, Star of the Giants, Ultraman Ace, Heidi of the Alps, and more. The 45-minute Yamato digest film was the anchor that closed out each day.
April 15: Mother Town Vol. 3 doujinshi
Produced by “Yamato Fan Club Mother Town,” this 42-page doujinshi was a prime collection of fan art, commentary, and “rescued” production art from Series 1. A copy was provided to Cosmo DNA by friend-of-the-website Chris de la Bigne (Retroanimechris), who has this to say about it:
“Mother Town” refers to the port city in Iscandar’s ocean, though is a somewhat ambiguous reference to the group itself. The artists and organizers, while mysterious, appear to have been college age Yamato fans. The main editor of this particular issue was Hiroko Yamamoto and a member named Rafflesia (a penname) and “others.” Printing was paid for by Hirokazu Kihara and Yuki Yamato at Maruzen Jet Print (which is now a major company). Cooperation between certain groups is mentioned: YHC (Yamato Harlock Club) Starsha, Yamato Companion, and the Space Battleship Yamato Viewing Society.
See Mother Town Vol. 3 from cover to cover here
See more of Chris’ finds here
May 14: High 2nd Course, June issue
Gakken’s student digest for 11th graders found a creative way to harness the buzz that was building around Farewell to Yamato. They solicited readers to write about what they would do if they got to write Yamato Part 2. The submissions were…let’s just say, “imaginative.”
Read the article here
May 25: Parody Space Battleship Yamato Vol. 1 doujinshi
Yet another group calling itself “Space Battleship Yamato FC” (Fan Club) produced a doujinshi that put the crew through their paces in a manga parody of Series 1. This particular copy has a few pages missing at the start, but until a complete version offers itself up, we’ll go with it.
See the pages here
June 25: Fly! Son Goku picture book, Vol. 3
One glance is enough to see that this one needs some explaining. Fly! Son Goku was a puppet/variety TV series that ran for 74 episodes, broadcast from October 1977 to March 1979. Loosely based on Journey to the West, its narration was provided by pop stars Pink Lady, who also sang the opening theme. A few picture books were produced, and this one (the third volume) retold the story of Episode 23, which was broadcast on March 21. A demon appeared in that one, transformed into Yamato for some crazy reason.
See the opening and end titles from the series here
June: Operation Zero doujinshi #2
This 8-page ‘zine from Hamidashi [Split Off] Yamato Fan Club was quite a time capsule. It contained an eyewitness account of the Farewell to Yamato press conference held in May, providing a description unlike those found in mainstream magazine coverage.
Read it here
What’s next
The backlog continues into 1980 with doujinshis, magazines, and other print media appearances. Get your eyeballs on the next Cosmo DNA update for a whole new round (and that’s still not all of it)!