Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Report 51

September was just about as busy as August in Yamato world with a steady patter of activity leading up to the long-awaited announcement of the Yamato 2202 compilation movie premiere in 2021. And seemingly at random, a lot of events added up to make it a month of Yamato music, which is always a good thing.


Photos posted on Twitter by cigarette0819 and peneloperx104

September 2:
1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 84

Hachette kicked off the month with parts to complete the smokestack missile launcher and the platform for the rear of the superstructure. However, none of the mid-deck parts were ready for installation onto the hull, so builders were stuck holding a very complex glob of plastic and wires for a while longer. (Photo at right posted on Twitter by hanamaru916).

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here


September 3: Prime Minister candidate Shigeru Ishiba

Before Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party chose Yoshihide Suga as the nation’s new Prime Minister in September, one of the leading candidates was Shigeru Ishiba, who endeared himself to anime fans as one of the chief advocates of the “Cool Japan” policy. He re-established his bona fides in a September 3 interview with this simple statement: “I like Space Battleship Yamato.” This was his fourth unsuccessful bid for party leadership.

Back in April, he made a public appearance dressed as a Dragonball character (above right) and said that, “If it were up to me, I’d have chosen Captain Okita of Space Battleship Yamato. Earth…such good memories. That line makes me cry.”



Stills posted on Twitter by jtwk14

September 6: Anison General Election

“Anison” is a portmanteau of “Anime Song,” and this year TV Asahi held a prestigious nationwide poll in which 130,000 anime fans chose their 30 favorite theme songs. Comedians and voice actors appeared on the TV Asahi broadcast to count them down, and Space Battleship Yamato clocked in at number three, topped only by songs from Evangelion and Devil’s Blade. While readers of this website would no doubt have voted it number one, it is a huge testament to its staying power that it scored that high against such a mountain of competition, especially when modern songs tend to crowd out the classics.

Pleasingly, a few more classics made their way into the list: Touch (#5), Get Wild/City Hunter (#8), Galaxy Express 999 (#16), Tetsuwan Atom (#19), Zeta Gundam (#24), Lupin III (#25) and Mazinger Z (#26).

See the top 12 on Youtube here

Read another report on Crunchyroll here

Visit TV Asahi’s website here

September 7: Family Theater reruns

Satellite channel Family Theater delivered plenty of Yamato to lift quarantined spirits in September. There were marathon screenings of the original series (on the 7th), Yamato 2199 (on the 12th) Yamato 2202 (on the 19th) and Yamato 2 (on the 29th) and another chance to see the 2019 Close to You Tonight concert (on the 19th). The older TV series were split up into batches of three episodes and run over several days in late night slots.



Photos posted on Twitter by hanamaru916 and TakeChannel36

September 9: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 85

This week’s volume added the rear mast parts and their fiber optic cables to last week’s platform. (Yep, the rear masts have their own running lights.)

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

September 9: Maeda Construction Fantasy Marketing Department Blu-ray

The title makes this sound like a business presentation, but that’s just part of its genius. It’s actually a comedic feature film that was released in Japan back on January 31, which made it one of the last theatrical events before Corona lockdown. Maeda is a real construction company and it actually has a Fantasy Marketing Department. The purpose of that department is to capture the public imagination by working out what it would actually take to build the fantasy structures seen in various anime. They’ve already turned their attention to Yamato, publishing a thorough essay on what it would take to recover and launch the original battleship (read it in full here.)

The film is loosely based on a true story. The Fantasy Marketing Department is founded by an out-of-the-box salaryman who wants to figure out how to build the launch facility for anime super robot Mazinger Z. His proposal is met with a wall of skepticism that gradually gives way as one participant after another is seduced by the concept. What we get from it is exactly what the real-world Maeda is after: fascination and awe with the scientific know-how that suffuses our daily lives. When the film reaches its climax, you will be as seduced as anyone in the story.

There’s a surprise Yamato connection that brought the film to our attention back in Report 43 and Report 44, but it won’t be revealed here in case you want to savor the surprise. However, there’s another surprise you need to know right now: the Blu-ray has English subtitles!

So don’t delay, order it today from Amazon.jp or CD Japan. This film is highly recommended, especially to longtime anime fans. You won’t regret one penny of the cost.


September 11: Mecha Collection model kit #17

Just over six months had passed since we last saw a Bandai model kit for 2202, which made this mini-kit of the BBB (Black Berserker Battalion) Andromeda a welcome surprise.

It’s basically a recasting of the previous Andromeda in black, but it’s the first time we get one with those alluring decals. No further 2202 models have been announced, so unless we’re due for some more recastings it looks like we’ll have to wait for 2205.

September 11: Star Blazers Lambda Chapter 5

This chapter of the Space Battleship Yamato NEXT manga stayed clear of the battlefield, but brought us some interesting details on the lives of our crew, further developments in the Seireness DNA discovery, and another twist in the backstory of Yu Yamato’s mother.

See it all with a full description here.

September 13:
Space Battleship Yamato databook

This marks another first in Yamato history, a textbook in pure electronic format. It bears the unwieldly, antiseptic title of Space Battleship Yamato • books • videos • music • sheet music list 1974-2020: Aggregated Data Analysis and is only accessible on Amazon Kindle in Japan.

Amazon’s description states that 711 Space Battleship Yamato items were examined from the bibliography of the National Diet Library (Japan’s version of the Library of Congress) and analyzed to make them easier to grasp. The researcher was able to confirm the existence of books, records, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, game books, “mystery” books, and more. They even identified a Korean publication. (Hope someone told them about the American comic books.)

This is purely a research volume, a presentation of data running 184 pages. The publisher’s promise from PD Co. Ltd. is “you can read it as material for Yamato research, but of course you can also read it to discover something new.”

That, of course, has been the mission of Cosmo DNA from the start, so hopefully this book will get a paper edition to expand access outside of Japan. For now, it’s simply another item for our own database.


September 13: One-man opera

“Olange Channel” (a respelling of “Orange Channel” is a Twitter user who devotes most of his activity to Mobile Suit Gundam videos, but he took time off to record a very impressive one-man opera version of the Yamato theme that really should be heard by you, right now. He recommends earphones for best results.

Find it here.


Photos posted on Twitter by Cigarette0819

September 16: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 86

Guns, guns, guns! This volume was all about assembling the remaining guns, large and small, surrounding the superstructure. In the end, modelers finally had the whole thing in one giant piece (still not attached to the hull, though).

See a pulse laser turret-rotation video here

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

September 19&20: Daikaiju TV marathon

According to the description on their website, Daikaiju TV (or DKU-TV for short) is an online streaming channel that started in 2015. The channel streams Tokusatsu films and shows (such as the Godzilla films and episodes of Ultraman), vintage anime films and series, Asian drama and horror films, European sci-fi films and shows, animated films from around the world, vintage B-films and Saturday morning cartoons.

Under the fair use umbrella, DKU-TV operates outside of licensing agreements and is strictly non-profit (just like the website you’re reading now), which makes it a by-fans-for-fans proposition until further notice.

For the weekend of September 19 and 20, DKU-TV did what no one has done before, even in Japan: streamed a 34-hour marathon of all three Star Blazers series and the two Yamato 2199 movies. It was all in observance of Star Blazers’ 41st anniversary, which was a A-plus gesture.


September 21: Yamato theme by Aloha Band

The Aloha Ensemble Band is based in Nishinomiya, a city near Osaka. Formed at the turn of the century, they are well known for their colorful Hawaiian shirts and stage presence. Rather than Hawaiian music, however, they go for exciting and dramatic scores from all over the world, which puts the Yamato theme right in their wheelhouse.

They scored a hit with a Yamato performance in 2013 (see a sample of it on Youtube here) and brought it back in a 2017/2018 New Year’s performance, but the onset of Corona cut off any chance of another stage performance this year. Once again, the stage’s loss was the internet’s gain; Aloha outdid themselves with TWO new versions of the theme, both recorded remotely and assembled with terrific production values.

Quarantine has brought us some amazing Yamato performances in 2020, but none are more spirited than these.

Concert band version | Solo & chorus version | Visit the band’s official website here.


September 23: Akiba Souken music popularity polls

Following the mecha popularity polls from August, entertainment website Akiba Souken hosted two music polls that closed on September 23. For one month, fans were invited to vote on their favorite BGM tracks and Yamato songs. Results were posted every day, so it was interesting to watch the top choices battle it out. Crimson Red from 2202 climbed the charts with a bullet, even knocking the Yamato theme out of the number 1 position for a while before things settled down and sanity reasserted itself. As we saw with previous polls, it’s an arena for otakus to push at the edges, so be prepared for unconventional choices.

See the BGM list here and the song list here.

See our translated versions here and here.

Next month’s polls: favorite singers and voice actors!


Photo above right posted on Twitter by TakeChannel36

September 23: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 87

This week’s volume was a simple one, the rear deck plate with its attached lighting and a socket for the number three Shock Cannon. Still no master assembly, though. More hull needs to arrive first.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

September 25: Movie premiere announced

As of this writing, it’s been just over a year since we first learned that a Yamato 2202 compilation film was coming, initially announced for release in fall 2020. COVID-19 threw that prediction into the wind, but all things of gravitas must eventually return to Earth. On September 25, this one finally did.

The full name of the film is The Age of Space Battleship Yamato, Selections from 2202 AD. The premiere in Japanese theaters is now set for January 15, 2021. As with prior releases, it will be accompanied by a special-edition Blu-ray and theater merch yet to be revealed. A standard-edition Blu-ray will follow February 25.

The first element we saw for Age of Yamato was teaser art by the great Naoyuki Katoh, which encapsulates both 2199 and 2202 in a single image. Fans who ordered advance tickets got a poster version with added graphics. The ticket itself had a slightly different version of the art with more ships, as seen below right. (Larger images can be found at the end of this page.)

The vertical caption on the poster reads: Over the centuries, a legendary ship has continued to illuminate the light of hope — complete record. The “complete record” part of that caption refers to the format of the film; rather than a straight retelling of 2202, it is constructed as an in-universe documentary with newly-created scenes and narration to observe the history of Yamato from a wider perspective.

A dedicated website was launched with the announcement, which can be seen here. Text translation follows…

INTRODUCTION

This project is a special work in the grand Space Battleship Yamato series. It’s called a “compilation (special edition)” for convenience, but it is not just a digest. As the main title indicates, it is designed to feel like a “documentary film.”

While it is centered around the seven chapters of Yamato 2202, new visuals are added everywhere, with the novel approach of sincerely questioning the “history of Yamato” from one point of view. By staying objective and shining a new light on the events that happened and the feelings of the parties involved, the audience will “rediscover the meaning.”

The time axis starts from the origin of the space pioneering era. While including the prehistory of Yamato 2199 and the voyage to Iscandar, there is also some reexamining of the “significance of people going to space” which gives it a personal perspective.

After seeing it, you will be stunned by the grandeur of Space Battleship Yamato history through 2202 AD. Once again, we’re certain you will be impressed by “the essence of what is depicted.” This summary of a “space epic” is necessary to take the next step.


CHRONOLOGY

1945: Battleship Yamato sinks, World War II ends
1969: Humans reach the moon
2011: International Space Station completed
2042: Humans reach Mars
2111: Settlements on Mars
2145: 200th anniversary of the end of World War II
2164: Outbreak of the First Inner Planetary War
2183: End of the Second Inner Planetary War
2191: First contact with an alien civilization (Garmillas), start of war
2198: Second Battle of Mars
2199: Space Battleship Yamato achieves humanity’s first faster-than-light travel
2200: End of the Garmillas War
2201: Time Fault existence confirmed
2202: Gatlantis War begins


STAFF

Original work: Yoshinobu Nishizaki • Executive Producer/Production Supervisor: Shoji Nishizaki
Story and supervision: Harutoshi Fukui • Screenplay: Yuka Minakawa and Harutoshi Fukui • Script cooperation: Hideki Oka
Conceptual advisor: Junichiro Tamamori • Director: Atsuki Sato • Production: Studio Mother

COMMENTS

Writer • Supervisor • Screenplay: Harutoshi Fukui

The world of the Space Battleship Yamato remake series depicted in 2199 and 2202 is not just an update of the original work, it is a “world” constructed of metaphors and allegories for reality. People’s lives are confused by division, misunderstanding, and unwanted changes. For us, stuck in these severe times, it is also a mirror that reflects hints and hopes for living.

Before you see the newest work, Yamato 2205 The New Voyage, we will take you on a journey to re-examine this “world” from scratch. Not from 1, but from 0. Reaching the moon, settling on Mars, the first contact with an alien civilization. It is an unknown journey that diverges from reality with a new image and leaps out of the galaxy. Fans, if you are given to dismiss this as a compilation, you should take another look. If you haven’t seen the series yet, don’t miss a great chance to board the legendary ship.

Ryusuke Hikawa (anime and tokusatsu researcher)

Every time I watched the Yamato 2199 series there was fresh surprise and joy. “I see, this is what you’re doing.” 2202 is a reconstruction of Farewell to Yamato, and no matter who did it, they had to break through difficult problems with suffering and present me with new intrigue and confidence. “Where are we going?” The mind-boggling physical warfare is still fresh in my memory, and now it has all been “gathered into one place.” I would like to thank everyone on the staff who cleared this challenge with an unexpected approach. Looking back, the first Yamato series was the product of a time when we had big dreams about space development. After a long period of stagnation afterward, it is “now” when hot eyes have returned to space. I am convinced that this has become a necessary work.

The Age of Space Battleship Yamato will play in 36 Japanese theaters for three weeks. We can fully expect the promo campaign for Yamato 2205 to finally begin during that time.

And as it turned out, there were more announcements to accompany this one…

September 25: Yamato 2202 Symphonic Suite CD announced

It’s official: Akira Miyagawa has completed his all-new Yamato 2202 Symphonic Suite, and it will be released on CD with the January 15 movie premiere.

The description at the official site was as follows: Akira Miyagawa, who was in charge of music for 2199 and 2202 and created Yamato music for two generations of parents and children, has reconstructed BGM used in the story into a new album that will be released as a Symphonic Suite. Along with the studio musicians who made the BGM, he will deliver a Reiwa-era “Yamato sound” while aiming for the Symphonic Suite Space Battleship Yamato made by his father Hiroshi Miyagawa in 1977!

Akira Miyagawa added this in a Tweet on the same day, seemingly speaking to his own creation: Coming out! Yes, you’re confirmed. A coming-of-age day, as they said in the old days. Now you can become an adult. No, go back to being a boy!


September 25: New box sets announced

It wasn’t enough to hear about a new movie and CD release. Bandai Visual also took the opportunity to plug new Blu-ray box sets for both 2199 and 2202, scheduled to arrive on March 26.

What makes them different from previous editions is that they preserve the theatrical versions of the both series. In other words, when you play the disc for a given chapter, it will not be broken into TV episodes with separate openings and closings. It will begin with a recap of the previous chapter and play the content unbroken from start to finish just as it was seen on the big screen.

Other than that, they do not appear to come with any of the extra features found on the previous editions, but a 3-channel audio option will be added. The tradeoff for fewer extras is a lower price point; about $30 per disc rather than the original $60 or so.



Photos posted on Twitter by Kazan00-zan and and Tano-san

September 27: Karaoke Battle

This is a talent show on TV Tokyo with an interesting twist; amateurs and professional singers alike perform karaoke to see how they measure up against the national average for hitting all the notes. In the episode broadcast on September 27, Isao Sasaki himself performed the Yamato theme, which has a national average of 83.6 points (out of 100). And he did not disappoint – his live performance scored 93.3 and earned him the title of “professional singer.” Because of course.

Other anime songs on the episode included themes from Tomorrow’s Joe and Laputa.

Several viewers captured the performance and posted video clips on Twitter. Audio quality isn’t great on any of them, but don’t let that stop you.

Clip 1 | Clip 2 | Clip 3 | Clip 4


Photo above right posted on Twitter by TakeChannel36

September 30: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 88

Hachette’s last volume of the month was another unglamorous internal motor, this time for the rear secondary gun turret. Bigger things would have to wait for October.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here


Also spotted in September

Yamato Crew paper sets

The online shop at Yamato Crew added two more mini-color paper sets in the second half of September to follow the first two sets in August. As before, they are painted images printed on textured cards measuring about 5.3″ x 4.75″. See the product listings (with larger images) here and here.

Fan art

The volume of fan art went down a bit in September, but every piece is still worth your attention. See a character gallery here and a mecha gallery here.

Fan models

September modelbuilding was off the charts with enough new projects to fill a museum (including some rare character models). See them all in two galleries: click here for Earth ships and click here for fighters, other ships, and characters.

It belongs in a museum

Back in the 70s, Yamato fever was so contagious it spawned an entire sub-industry of Yamato knockoff products as catalogued here. Bandai’s model kits were flying off shelves, so model companies who weren’t Bandai found ways to capitalize on the rush.

One of those smaller companies was called Doyusha, and their attempt to cash in was this “Battleship Yamato” model. Inside the box was a run-of-the-mill World War II Yamato like countless others. But the box art on the outside told a much grander tale.

It comes up here because on September 7 a Twitter account called Doyusha Official brought this forgotten box art back into the public eye with a vellum overlay to prove its authenticity. The product may be forgotten, but the promise of the art is eternal.

Incidentally, Doyusha is still around and has come a long way since the 70s. Take a walk through their Twitter page and see what they’re up to today.


Continue to Report 52

7 thoughts on “Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Report 51

  1. Due to the fact that the Space Battleship Yamato databook has been added to worldwide Amazon online kindle stores, is there any chance we will see an article on this book in the near future?

    • Doubtful, because (1) I don’t have a Kindle and (2) even if I did, I don’t think I could download the text for translation. Unless both of those factors change (or the book goes to paper), you’ll just have to be satisfied with the exhaustive vault of information on this website.

      • Just for the record, I was only really concerned with the sheet music provided in the book, to see if it was worth a purchase. I didn’t mean to offend you or your site, if it came across that way.

        • Not at all, no worries. It didn’t sound to me like the book would include sheet music, just a bibliography of sheet music that’s been published (which is a lot). Vintage editions are insanely expensive, hundreds of dollars per volume. You’re better off scanning the “Yamato Years” articles to see what’s newer and more affordable.
          https://ourstarblazers.com/vault/2/

  2. Off topic but do we know who or what caused the Jirellians to become vagabonds in the universe and nearly go extinct. After re-watching Odyessy of the celestial Ark (for the 6th time). I’ve been thinking that it could be Gatlantis, their mission was the destruction of all Humans and Jirellians are human.
    We know Gatlantis had an Interest in the Seed sowing ark, from Dagarm to the Gatlantean soldiers found dead on it. But for what reason? The cloaking field wouldn’t or shouldn’t be enough to send what appears to be multiple fleets after it. But that with the Jirellians and their powers, could be reason enough. If they discovered they where there. (Personally if I were killing all humans, I’d take out the psychics and such first, the ones of most power effectively.)
    Its just a thought I had.

    • Based on what’s told in the picture book read by the Jirellan Lerelai, the Jirellans first contact with Garmillas ended with them being shunned and feared as the telepaths they are. They were presumably persecuted by Garmillas either just before or during Dessler’s galactic expansionism, until the brunt of their civilization chose to abandon their homeworld onboard the Ark of the Stars, becoming cosmic vagabonds forever.

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