Animage magazine #51, Part 2

Back up to part 1






Record of Glory

It has been with us for ten years, but Space Battleship Yamato reaches its conclusion next March, a great work that has come a long way. To understand this work and enjoy it more deeply as we approach Final, we look back with the staff on this ten-year achievement.

1973: Proposal Presentation

1. The theme of “Love” written in the proposal was the beginning of everything.

At that time, Mr. Nishizaki was a producer of Wansa-Kun for Mushi Productions, and he floated the idea of “a huge ship flying in space” as the plan for a new TV anime. The work was boiled down by Eiichi Yamamoto into a plan book 2cm thick, for Space Battleship Yamato.

Concept of Yamato (from the plan book)

While floating in space, it normally has the figure of an asteroid covered in rock (figure 3).

In fights against a powerful enemy, Yamato blows off its rocky shell to reveal its full appearance as a battleship. The splinters of stone form into a ring that rotates around the ship like the rings of Saturn. When the fight is over, the rocks return to their original positions (figure 1).

During a battle, the ship is seen in two stages. In the first stage, only the top portion of the rocky shell is blown off but the large bow gun turret does not appear (figure 4).

In the second stage the rest of the shell is blown off and a huge turret rises from the deck. The big gun turret on the bow is exposed, along with an large amount of missile ordnance.

Character Concepts (from the plan book)

Shinobu Kotake: Staff Officer, will later be promoted to Admiral. 18 years old, the hero of the story. A trim and handsome man with large eyes, thick eyebrows, tight lips. Medium height. Trained as an elite Space Soldier, a highly intelligent man with an RNA factor in his brain.

The collected knowledge of many scientists who died has been transplanted into him, and his scientific know-how is prodigious. When he was a child, his parents died in an attack from the Rajendorans. Therefore, his grudge against them is deep. He is courageous and full of curiosity; his quick judgement is exceptional. The Earth is saved by his tenacity and indomitable fighting spirit. He falls in love with the one female on the crew, Masako Jin.

This description of the hero character is considered to be the prototype for Susumu Kodai, extracted from the plan book. As for character design, the note was “character design is not done yet, but here are studies for costume design.”

LOWER PORTION OF THESE PAGES:

Concept planning and staff

In support of the above photos and text details extracted from the plan book, here is an excerpt from the “Project Goal” that supports Yamato‘s 10-year history

This year (1973) the American movie Poseidon Adventure was a big hit. It is the miraculous story of a few men and women who escape from a capsized luxury liner and return home alive. The reason it is such a hit is that it symbolizes the end of an era with the capsized ship and the belief that it is possible for humans to escape.

Today, Japan is experiencing a wave of earthquakes. There are theories that the Japanese islands are struck by a major earthquake every 69 years. In this dangerous period, Sakyo Komatsu’s novel Japan Sinks is selling like hotcakes. This boom is not just based on a scientific issue; it reflects the deadlock of our lives and the wish for social reform.

(Omission)

History has proven that it is possible to overcome conditions like these. The human race has been confronted with crisis many times, but people have continuously prevailed, even to today. The important thing is to not allow oneself to become dehumanized by a vast industrial organization.

We rise above this by telling ourselves, “we are human beings.” We have planned Space Battleship Yamato to help not only adults but also children in particular to recognize this dream. This work is an SF adventure drama that tells the story of boys and girls who stand resolutely against the extinction of the human race in the year 2XXX. What we want to demonstrate through their actions is the meaning of the human word “love.”


[Note: the entire plan book is translated in our Yamato Origins series here.]

[NOTE: the blue portion at the bottom of the above spread contains a separate article, found farther down this page.]

FAR RIGHT COLUMN:

1974: The Space Battleship Yamato TV broadcast, October 6 1974 – March 30, 1975 (Yomiuri TV Network)

2. “A realistic battleship and characters that move,” a fresh surprise for people interested in anime

“It is true that I love my work and don’t want to leave it to other people,” says Leiji Matsumoto, “But when I saw the warm, generous characters [designs] of Nobuhiro Okaseko, I let things take their own course.” The appeal of the characters also helped Yamato‘s popularity go through the roof in TV reruns.

Yamato launched. “A great thing is moving,” was the impression of Yamato upon Nobuhiro Okaseko, who did the character design. But the reaction of the audience was a cold 5% in the ratings. The broadcast was terminated halfway.

Auditioning the character designs

Nobuhiro Okaseko, character design

While designing the characters, I thought, “how would Mr. Matsumoto draw them in a manga?” and I made use of line work Leiji Matsumoto preferred. I heard that during the character design audition, Mr. Matsumoto recommended my pictures over the others. Oh yeah, though it is said that Mr. Nishizaki was the model for Dessler, it was actually for Dessler’s subordinate, General Domel.




CENTER COLUMN

1977: Space Battleship Yamato movie premiere, August 1977 (Tokyu, Toei system)

3. 1.8 million people mobilize, the most in anime history.
The anime boom expands.

Yamato‘s popularity increased as middle school and high school students formed fan clubs all over the country. As a result, the compilation movie of Yamato Part 1 was released on August 6, 1977. It was a great success that grossed over 900 million yen.

In the wake of this big hit, a voice actor boom also arose. The heat around Kei Tomiyama in the role of Kodai erupted at a stretch. “By the last recording for Part 1, around 30 fans came to the studio.” (from the Yamato 2 Roman Album.)

I was surprised by a sudden increase in fan letters

Yoko Asagami, voice of Yuki Mori

When the Yamato movie finished, there was a sudden increase in fan letters from middle school and high school students. I also got about 1,000 New Year’s cards for the holidays. Yamato was just one of my two anime works, so I was quite surprised.

In the letters, many were convinced that I was the same kind of Yamato Nadeshiko [graceful Japanese woman] as Yuki Mori. I remember being confused; “Waaah – I’m a completely different person entirely, what should I do?”

FAR LEFT COLUMN

August 1978: Farewell to Yamato movie premiere, August 1978 (Tokyu, Toei system)

4. A song by Kenji Sawada, costume design by Yukiko Hanai,
a big staff participates in a big hit. 4 million people mobilize!!

As you can tell from the title Farewell, this really is “the end of Yamato” (said Mr. Nishizaki at the time). It was supposed to be. Therefore, the last scene is meant to imply Kodai and Yuki’s “death.”

Of course, it was a huge box office hit. A number of reasons can be considered for this, but the idea of it being “the last time” was the big one. Although many anime movies were released in the anime boom that followed, the record for attendance and box office income has not been broken yet.

I was in charge of the animation for the last 80 shots.

Yasuhiko Yoshikazu, storyboard

My responsibility on this work was supposed to be only the storyboard. But unofficially, I did the key animation for the last 80 shots.

Even though there was a director for the animation, I didn’t receive many corrections, since it was based on Mr. Nishizaki’s way of life. I think there may be some misunderstanding about the way Mr. Nishizaki displayed his passion.

FAR RIGHT SECTION:

October 1978: Space Battleship Yamato 2 TV broadcast, October 14 1978-April 7, 1979 (Yomiuri TV network)

5. The revival of “Kodai and Yuki” who died in Farewell.
Complex fan reactions.

“It’s wrong for young people to die. Because this is my fundamental belief, I want to depict young people who do whatever it takes to live on at the end of the TV series.” (Animage, December 1978 issue) [See the entire article here]

Based on Leiji Matsumoto’s basic policy, Kodai and Yuki survive in the TV series. Although fans from TV series 1 greeted the ending with complex expressions, it was a great success with an average rating of 22%.

The work that gave me a chance to enter the anime world

Katsumi Itabashi, design collaboration

I was an assistant of Leiji Matsumoto, and one day my sensei asked me for help. I knew that since I had a day job it was going to mean some evening work, and I remember that it was very difficult. But it was the work that gave me a chance to enter this world, and it let me practice my discipline.






CENTER RIGHT SECTION:

1979: The New Voyage TV Special, July 31 1979 (Fuji TV Network)

6. 30% in the ratings. The new voyage of Yamato has good prospects!!

The New Voyage was broadcast with these words from Mr. Nishizaki: “This movie is a strategic step toward Part 3.” Although he went back on his word that he wouldn’t make a movie after Farewell, he offered two points as his reason for doing it; that “Yamato also belongs to the fans” and that it was to “correct the differences in theme between Yamato 2 and the other works.”

Confused by the American production system.

Mitsuki Nakamura, mecha design

I had heard before that the typical American production system was for a producer’s influence to be carried out deeply in the content of a work, so I wanted to participate and experience it once. But I was very confused. Each staff member was connected vertically to Mr. Nishizaki, but not horizontally to each other. While I exchanged opinions with the other artists, they seemed to be the type of people who worked in silence. I can’t say it was a production style I felt comfortable with.




LEFT SECTION:

August 1980: Be Forever Yamato movie premiere, August 1980 (Toei system)

7. Incredible experiment. The screen suddenly changes from Vista to Cinescope. It was called Warp Dimension.

“At first I wanted this movie to be shown on a big screen in 70mm,” said Mr. Nishizaki, “but I gave up because of various circumstances.” The technique he took in this work was Warp Dimension – an experiment in which the screen suddenly expanded from Vista to Cinescope. With the adoption of 4-channel sound, the effect surprised fans, and the film was also a big hit with box office of 1.35 billion yen.

My desk was next to Yoshinori Kanada’s, and it was my first movie experience

Takashi Nakamura, production assistant

When Mr. Kazuhiko Udagawa talked about a movie being made, I had a chance to participate and I immediately decided to do it. When moving to a big movie screen, you can use more [animation] sheets. Could we make it more intricate!?

[Translator’s note: in this context, “sheets” refers to any layered material shot by an animation camera, be it cels or background paintings. Movie budgets allowed for more “sheets” than in TV, so the end product usually had higher quality.]

I’m glad I could participate. Also, I’d always been interested to work with Yoshinori Kanada. Would he be good!? He just draws whatever pops out of his head, right!? At the same time, I was also able to work in the dignified atmosphere of Toei Animation Studio.


RIGHT SIDE:

October 1980: Space Battleship Yamato III TV broadcast, October 11 1980 – April 4 1981 (Yomiuri TV Network)

8. The caption of the last episode flowed into The Final Chapter production schedule in 1982!!

Yamato III began as a TV series of Be Forever Yamato. In the last episode, Yamato, Shoot the Sun! the following caption was seen at the end:

Although the story of Yamato III is over, Yamato‘s battle for peace continues. In 1982, it will be almost ten years since Yamato was born. To commemorate these ten years, there will be one more story of Yamato. After a brief parting, look forward to the summer of 1982.

The Final Chapter was delayed to appear 7 months after it was intended in 1982.

To honor the previous image, I tried to avoid Sasagawa style

Hiroshi Sasagawa, storyboards

I can’t keep up with the inner drama that always causes a face to frown. I’m cheerful at my roots. In that way, the world of Yamato was a bit different from my sensibility. I was in charge of storyboards for 7 out of the 25 episodes, and to honor the previous image, I tried to avoid “Sasagawa style.”

LEFT SIDE:

1983: Ten years with Yamato

No matter what, I want to stay with Yamato to the end.

Kazunori Tanahashi

Just before I was an artist on the first TV series, I participated as the assistant to Chief Director Noboru Ishiguro on Yamato, and I’ve been involved with it ever since. Because I’m now participating in The Final Chapter, it could be said that it’s an inescapable relationship. (Laughs)

On the first series, Leiji Matsumoto was not as popular a figure as he is now, so he came into the studio every day, and each time a character was introduced he’d do the image boards for them. He even did the storyboards on episodes 1 and 2, didn’t he? Anyway, it was hard for everyone right from the start.

As for myself, the most pleasant memory was to edit the 26 TV episodes down to one at the request of Mr. Nishizaki. I liked it because I could work alone. In the first edit, I got it down to a long piece of six hours. (Laughs) I had director Toshio Masuda look at it, and did it over again 3 or 4 more times.

After being involved in this relationship for nearly ten years, I’ve come to understand how to make a work of Mr. Nishizaki. He recognizes that “Yamato is its own work.” In the past, my opinion has collided with that of director Masuda and composer Hiroshi Miyagawa. But basically, everyone understands that they can’t make this work alone, and I think everyone on the staff is very important.

Time is always lacking, and though The New Voyage was not originally perfect in terms of its drawing, it was a serious Yamato story with space adventure fight scenes. There are various regrets left over from other works, including Yamato III. But since we’ve been together so far, the feeling is that we want to stay together all the way to the end. I think I want another taste of the Nishizaki style after a long absence.

In addition, Mr. Nishizaki himself said, “If I make Yamato again, I want to use the elephant’s graveyard as a model.” This work is called The Final Chapter because it will truly be the end.

“My Yamato History” from fan to pro, Itaru Saito (21)

I first encountered Yamato in a rerun.

At the time of the original broadcast I gave in to family opinion and watched Heidi instead, but I saw every rerun. I was a freshman in high school at the time. Anyway, the mecha was elaborate, and it had the charm of an anime that Leiji Matsumoto worked on.

In the all-night vigil in front of a theater, I was top batter.

As the reruns accumulated, I founded a Yamato fan club and worked as the chairman. I helped out a lot with the public release of the movie. For example, there was the record request strategy – Office Academy sent a postcard to fan clubs saying to request the Yamato song on radio, and they also sent color posters.

Two days before the movie premiere, I got together with two of my friends and we lined up in front of the Shibuya Pantheon in Tokyo at 11:30pm. When I look back on it now, I think I lined up with the feeling of “I want to be popular,” and “I want to stand out.” But it was fun. I formed the head of a list of 120-130 fans who sang and generally carried on gleefully.

This work was the “peak” for me.

Farewell to Yamato was a well-made movie. It was not a compilation, it was made as a movie. I feel that Yamato ended with this work. Kodai and Yuki died at the end. I think most fans from the old days would agree. Oh, was there a lineup for this film? I stood in line two days before. But the first people lined up a week early…

A part-time job in Yamato animation

I took a side-job for the first time on this production. One day, when I wanted to draw comic strips, I had an opportunity to visit Ashi Productions and took advantage of it to get a part-time job doing Yamato animation. I saw what I had done on TV, I said “Ah!” and that was all.

I didn’t watch that work

The reason? Its reputation was not good. I heard that it was a very tight production schedule or the like. I thought I might get depressed if I watched it. That’s the only reason.

[Translator’s note: the writer is almost certainly talking about Yamato III.]

I focused on “movement” instead of content

A movie was released, but I didn’t do things like line up at night any more. I was 19 years old now, and it was shameful.

[Translator’s note: the reference here is to Be Forever Yamato.]

Of course, I saw it. But I was watching it more for “movement” this time rather than content. Although the overall impression was good, the motion of Yoshinori Kanada and Takashi Nakamura was especially great. “Mr. Kanada is an animation genius!” I thought.

I remember thinking the characters were well-presented, but for me the impression of the first TV series is stronger, and I like the characters of [animator] Toyoo Ashida the best.

But I want to work on The Final Chapter

I did a lot of animation for Part III, sometimes drawing 100 sheets per night. Because it was 140 yen per sheet at the time, I remember it being plenty profitable. But it didn’t stay that way. (Laughs) But could I get to work on The Final Chapter!?

As a fan, I think it would be quite a sight after all. Given sufficient time to do the drawing, I expect it would be a work that is completed properly this time.

As for me and Yamato!? If not for this, there would be no anime to work on now, and I suppose after graduating from college, I could not have become a pro animator.


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