Interview: Age of Yamato, The Choices of 2202
“I felt like I was confronted with the facts of history.” – Koichi Yamadera
“Yamato should be in a place Gundam and Evangelion can’t reach.” – Harutoshi Fukui
Interview, text, and photo by Kenichi Inoue
(See the original article here)
Yamato 2199 (2012-13) and its sequel Yamato 2202 (2017-19) are remakes of Space Battleship Yamato, a big hit SF animation that once caused a social phenomenon and gained huge popularity. These two series are reconstructed with a new perspective in a special compilation film, Age of Yamato, which opens nationwide on June 11.
Harutoshi Fukui, who composed, supervised, and wrote the film, and Koichi Yamadera, who voiced the popular character Dessler, talked about highlights of the film and their thoughts behind it.
Interviewer: Mr. Yamadera, what are your impressions of the film?
Yamadera: I was surprised from the beginning. “It starts like this?” Of course, the film follows the timelines of 2199 and 2202, making it a compilation of sorts. However, with Shiro Sanada (voice: Houchu Otsuka) as the narrator, I was able to say, “You’ve done a great job with a new angle, Fukui-san.” I was very moved at the end.
Interviewer: Why did you choose Sanada as your narrator?
Fukui: Sanada has been famous for the line, “This may happen…” since the old Space Battleship Yamato (1974-75). In fact, he never said it on screen.
Yamadera: Is that so?
Fukui: Yes. It seems that the legend has been walking around on its own. In other words, he’s a character who has been burdened with the role of commentator. In this remake series, the character’s personality is delved into a lot. In 2199 and 2202, he is gradually softened from a “pure science type who is not good at communication” into a human being. That’s why I thought, “If I’m going to put these two stories together, this is the only person who can do it.”
Interviewer: Why did you choose the “documentary touch” style?
Fukui: I thought, “What kind of era is the Age of Yamato?” It’s a time when new aliens invade Earth every year, isn’t it?
Yamadera: I’m one of them. (Laughs)
Fukui: In the old days, part of me was taken aback because I thought, “No matter what, that’s too cartoonish.” But in this day and age, new disasters occur every year, and conventional wisdom doesn’t apply at all. With so much going on, I wouldn’t be surprised if aliens attacked next year.
Yamadera: That’s right. I’m from Tohoku. When the earthquake hit, I really thought that Japan would never recover from that disaster. But then, just as we were recovering thanks to everyone’s effort, the crisis of the new Corona hit. Back when I was watching the old Space Battleship Yamato, I thought, “How can global crises come one after another?”
Fukui: We’ve all become “not so certain.” It’s a time when anything can happen, and we’ve had to live through those hardships for more than ten years. That’s why the time has come to portray Age of Yamato as a reflection of modern Japan. How could I capture this head-on and let everyone feel the story firsthand? As a result of thinking about this, I decided to create a “documentary touch” that dares to take a step back.
Yamadera: There are many works that depict Earth in crisis. But I don’t think any of them happen as frequently as this one. I’ve been thinking about this ever since I first saw Yamato in junior high school. In that sense, Yamato was the first to depict such things, and the remake series 2199 made it more realistic to fit the times.
Interviewer: Mr. Fukui, you worked on Gundam Unicorn (2010-14), and Mr. Yamadera, you were involved with Evangelion (1995-96). What do you think is the appeal of the Space Battleship Yamato series?
Fukui: Space Battleship Yamato was not originally titled Yamato. However, as the project progressed, the shape of the ship was decided upon, and the name Yamato was chosen. From that moment on, it took on an atmosphere of “carrying postwar Japan.” I think it’s fair to say that this is the ultimate in localism, something that Gundam and Evangelion don’t have.
Interviewer: I see.
Fukui: Such things were forgotten as “old-fashioned and tacky” in the 90s. After that period passed, it became necessary to reconsider postwar Japan. In that sense, I feel like Yamato should be in a place Gundam and Eva can’t reach.
Yamadera: It’s hard to sum up the appeal of Yamato in a few words, and I think the reason it’s gaining support again is thanks to Fukui and his team’s efforts to reconstruct it properly. However, when it comes to the “postwar Japan” Mr. Fukui mentioned, we may think that the war was a long time ago…
Interviewer: That’s right.
Yamadera: I used to think so too. But my parents experienced the war. Japan was at war until just a few years before I was born. Even now, war has not disappeared from the world. The movie’s narration begins with the words, “Since the end of the 20th century, humanity has overcome several crises and avoided world wars for more than 200 years.” I felt like I was confronted with a fact of history that I had forgotten. If you look at it from that perspective, you may be able to realize the deeper appeal of Yamato.
Interviewer: Following this film, your next project Yamato 2205 is scheduled to open this fall. Could you give a message to the fans in this regard?
Fukui: After the latest recording, Mr. Yamadera said, “I’m mentally exhausted…” and left the room. I was really impressed.
Yamadera: Oh no… (Laughs) We’ve already started recording 2205. But from the very beginning, something happened. After that, there was a glimmer of hope, and then a “creepy” feeling. So it’s an amazing thing.
If you have not been exposed to Yamato before, I hope you will watch Age of Yamato as an introduction. On the other hand, for those who have seen it before, not only will it bring back the excitement, but it will also make you think, “I never thought of it this way before.” I’m sure you will be able to enjoy it in many different ways.
Fukui: One of the great charms of fiction is that it allows us to rethink reality through stories. In this respect, Age of Yamato is a story that confronts the current times head-on. It is a work that reflects the mood of Japan about ten years after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The current situation is even more difficult, but the question of “how to survive in a time of uncertainty” is thoroughly explored in 2205.
So, after reviewing the current situation in this film, I hope you will reconfirm the importance of the word “hope,” which tends to spin out of control in the modern world.