Yamato 2205 Report 4, part 2

Back up to part 1

October 8: Theater goods

The selection of theater products had less variety than we’ve seen in the past, giving us an indication of what kind of merch continues to sell. It’s always a guessing game on the part of the manufacturers, but many items vanished from shelves as the weeks continued, so at least some guesses were correct.

It was notable that both of the new calendars only went through June 2022. That almost certainly means additional calendars will pick up from there in the Part 2 collection. It’s very rare for one of these to offer a different image every month (as opposed to a single image for two months), so this is a welcome change.

Another interesting point is that the apparel collaboration between 2202 and Under Armour has expired, and another company called Descente has stepped in with some very cool activewear.

See the whole Part 1 goods collection here.

October 8: Week 1 theater handout

If you bought a ticket but didn’t go for any merch, you still didn’t leave theaters empty-handed. This free set of art images, packaged up in a facsimile production folder, were given to every ticket holder as they entered their screening. This was the first of four sets, with a new one handed out every week.

October 8: Mecha Collection model 01

Deusula III was the first model kit of the 2205 era, and once everybody had the chance to study it in three dimensions it became evident how much the design has evolved since the similar Darold model from 2199. It’s larger, heavier, and many details differ from its predecessor.

It maintains a feature that has existed on the “red battle carrier” from the early days, the rotating deck plates that transform it from a flattop to a gun platform.

See a gallery of finished kits here.


October 8: OST announced

The bad news: we didn’t get a new soundtrack album with 2205 Part 1. The good news: we won’t have to wait much longer for it. It is scheduled to be released with Part 2, and will include the full version of the new ending song. (It remains to be seen if there will be a second ending song, but don’t put it past them.) And speaking of Part 2…

October 8: Yamato 2205 Part 2 announced

Its name is “Darkness” [Dezarium]

An encounter with an unprecedentedly powerful enemy brings out a brutal truth

STASHA (Starsha) is the title, and February 4 is the target date. The striking teaser art showed up on posters and flyers with the following story information to whet our appetite:

In 2205, the people of Garmillas begin migrating to their new home planet of Galman, leaving their motherworld as it approaches the end of its life. But before the transfer is even halfway complete, Garmillas is attacked and cruelly destroyed by an unknown enemy.

The twin planet Iscandar, which deviates from its orbit due to the explosion, is towed away by the mysterious Dezarium fleet that schemes to abduct it. In order to rescue Queen Starsha and the 100,000 or so surviving Garmillans, Dessler and his former enemy Space Battleship Yamato challenge Dezarium in battle.

But there is something they don’t yet know; it is not victory or defeat that awaits them, but a confrontation with a brutal truth…

Believe it or not, you can already preorder the Blu-rays for Part 2, which are scheduled for release on March 29. Get your order in at Amazon.co.jp here. or CD Japan here.

Click here to see a larger version of the teaser art.

October 8: Star Blazers Lambda Chapter 18

If you got to the end of premiere day and did everything you could possibly do with 2205, there was something else waiting for you: the latest chapter of the Space Battleship Yamato Next manga took a long-awaited dive into the past and began to unlock the secrets of Yu Yamato’s mother Maya.

See this intriguing chapter with complete description here.

October 8: Star Blazers Lambda Vol. 3

And that STILL wasn’t all! The third collected volume of Lambda manga brought everyone almost up to date with chapters 11-16 on paper for the first time. Order a copy here.


L to R: Eriko Nakamura, Tasuku Hatanaka, Kikiko Inoue, Koichi Yamadera, Kenji Yasuda, Harutoshi Fukui, Shoji Nishizaki

October 9: Stage greeting

The second day of 2205 Part 1’s theatrical tenure opened with the customary stage greeting at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater, which was well-populated with some very high-end voice talent. Here’s what the media had to say about it…

Yamato 2205 Part 1, TAKE OFF commemorative stage greeting report

Posted by Aniverse (see the original article here)

Space Battleship Yamato 2205, The New Voyage is the latest in the Yamato series, a new work in two chapters based on The New Voyage TV special that was broadcast in 1979 and won high ratings. To celebrate the release of the film, a stage greeting was held at Shinjuku Piccadilly Saturday, October 9.

Koichi Yamadera (Abelt Dessler), Kikuko Inoue (Starsha), Tasuku Hatanaka (Ryusuke Domon) took the stage, as well as Director Kenji Yasuda, Writer Harutoshi Fukui, and Shoji Nishizaki, who is in charge of production and general supervision. Eriko Nakamura, who plays the role of Mikage Kiryu, served as the MC. The seven members of the group celebrated the release of the movie with many Yamato fans.

The event started with greetings from the speakers.

Yamadera said, “I’ve been watching Yamato since I was in junior high school when the first episode aired. I want to be in the audience with the people of my generation who have been supporting the show.”

Inoue said, “I’m glad the film is finally being shown. I put my heart and soul into my performance. I hope many people will enjoy it.”

Hatanaka said, “I got to know Yamato through this film. I love the enthusiasm, and I’m happy to be able to travel with Yamato.”

Nishizaki said, “I was worried about the situation with the Corona virus, but thanks to Captain Okita’s guidance, we made it successfully to the premiere.”


Harutoshi Fukui and Kenji Yasuda

Regarding the film, Fukui said, “The script was completed before the Corona pandemic. I think it is eerily linked to the present. I think we were able to embody the anxiety of the current era through Domon.”

Yasuda added, “While adding new elements, I was conscious of the direction of the original work. I hope that fans of the original will enjoy it with their memories. Yamato‘s music in particular has a strong presence. I considered it to be one of the main characters and placed great importance on it.

Next, MC Nakamura asked each cast member about the character they played.

Yamadera said, “Dessler is a character who doesn’t show his emotions. In this film, Garmillas is in trouble, but I played the role with an awareness of the feelings he keeps bottled up inside.”

Inoue talked about her feelings at the time of recording: “I played the role of Starsha, who is suffering and fighting alone. I thought to myself, ‘Hang in there!”


Kikuko Inoue and Tasuku Hatanaka

Hatanaka gave his impressions of performing as Domon: “It was difficult for me to play a character who is straightforward and clumsy. I hope the audience will understand Domon’s feelings and accept his honest charm.”

In response to this comment, Yamadera said, “Domon is a perfect match for Tasuku (Hatanaka).”

Talking about the new rookie crew, Fukui said, “Since Yuki and Sanada, Kodai’s emotional support, are not on the same ship, he must confront Domon. There are a lot of harsh events, but it’s a refreshing film worthy of the title New Voyage.”


Koichi Yamadera and Shoji Nishizaki

Nakamura said that the many conflicts and growth depicted in the film were like a coming-of-age story.

Nishizaki said, “This has become one of my favorite films in the series. Director Yasuda’s visual expression in this film was new to Yamato, so it was a fresh experience for me.”

Finally, Director Yasuda ended the stage greeting with, “In taking charge of a big title, I was conscious of inheriting the worldview that you cherish and making it enjoyable. Please enjoy it on a big screen and with great sound.”

Koichi Yamadera reveals his love for the role of Dessler and his sense of fatigue!

Text by Nobuko Yamazaki, posted by Movie Walker (see the original article here)

A stage greeting was held at the Shinjuku Piccadilly on October 9th to commemorate the opening of Yamato 2205 Part 1, and was attended by elite voice actors, Director Kenji Yasuda, Writer Harutoshi Fukui, and Executive Producer/General Supervisor Shoji Nishizaki.

This work takes place three years after the battle against the White Comet Empire. A territorial conflict has broken out in the galaxy that will inevitably involve Earth, which has a security treaty with Garmillas.

The voice actors on stage were Koichi Yamadera as Abelt Dessler, Kikuko Inoue as Starsha, Tasuku Hatanaka as Ryusuke Domon (a new character), and Eriko Nakamura as Mikage Kiryu, who served as MC.

Yamadera said, “Thanks to the in-depth portrayal of Dessler, I’m glad to be able to play the role at various ages. I know you think Garmillas is going to be in trouble, but…” then he clammed up. “You’re all about to see it, so I don’t want you to have any preconceived notions. It’s hard… I wondered if Dessler would show this kind of expression or adopt this kind of posture,” he said, striking a tired and exhausted pose.


Nakamura and Inoue backstage. Posted on Twitter by Inoue.

“Dessler is not an expressive or talkative person; he keeps things inside. So many things build up in his heart. I was exhausted all the way home after the voice recording. That’s how wonderful the images and the script are,” he said.

Inoue and the others nodded and said, “That’s right.”

Inoue explained the appeal of her character, Starsha. “She has beauty and an ephemeral appearance, but she’s strong to her core with passion in her heart. In this film, her feelings are even stronger, and she has to bear the pain and fight alone. I myself felt like, ‘Hang in there somehow.’ I played the role with that feeling.”

She continued, “I call Dessler by his first name, Abelt. The reason why I call him that is revealed in a later chapter. There are many things waiting to happen.”

Hatanaka spoke about the new character, Ryusuke Domon. “In a nutshell, he is very straightforward, clumsy, and sensitive, so there are many moments when his heart is in turmoil. What is he angry about, and what is his purpose in getting on board Yamato? I can’t say until you see the movie. You may think he is a little difficult, but he is kind of direct, and he’s honest. So I hope you will accept him.”

Yamadera said, “Domon is very different from the original, isn’t he? I don’t often call my younger colleagues by their first names. The second time I met Mr. Hatanaka, I did. He is a beloved character. But Domon is the complete opposite of him. Mr. Hatanaka is always smiling. He seems to be singing.”

Hatanaka drew laughter from the audience when he said, “I’ve often been told that I look like [singer/songwriter] Naotaro Moriyama.”

Nishizaki, who has worked on a number of Yamato series, said of this work, “This is my favorite of all the works so far. The collaboration between Mr. Yasuda and Mr. Fukui has made this one powerful.” As for Yasuda’s unique visual beauty, he said, “He gave it a fresh expression that I’ve never experienced with Yamato.”

Fukui also praised the director, saying, “I think it has a completely different atmosphere from 2202.”

Finally, Director Yasuda said that he put all of his respect for Yamato into this film. “What I tried to keep in mind when I took on this big title was that I wanted to make it a film everyone could enjoy without breaking the world view of Yamato that you all cherish. I was careful about that.”


Backstage photo posted on Twitter by the Yamato Production Committee

See video clips of the stage greeting on Youtube: Clip 1 | Clip 2 | Clip 3 | Clip 4

October 10: Kitahiroshima Hobby Festa

We haven’t seen any of the big perennial hobby shows since the start of the pandemic, but you never know where a little one will pop up. That’s what happened when a bunch of modelbuilders brought their treasures to a JR train station in the city of Kitahiroshima for a one-day exhibition that featured a Yamato centerpiece.

See a photo gallery here.

See more photos on Facebook here.

October 13: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 142

The parts in this volume were a bit scattered, and none got far enough to attach to the hull. However, once completed they could be identified as the ventral fin at the bow, part of the lower intake, and two temporary cardboard stands to support the increasingly heavy model.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

October 15: Making of special: The Beginning of a New Voyage

We’ve been getting promotional videos since the beginning of the remake era, but none that really qualified as a “making of” special until now. This program runs 24 minutes and covers a satisfying range of topics through on-camera interviews, on-site production footage, and some very juicy mecha design works.

See it on Youtube here.

October 15: Part 2 teaser

Already! Well, it’s not that much of a shocker. Those who got to see 2205 in a theater were treated to a short preview after they saw Part 1, so it already existed and was included on the Blu-ray. But on this day, a slightly different version popped up on Youtube for the rest of the world.

See the theater version here and the Youtube version here.

Here are the voice-over lines in the Youtube version, graciously provided by friend-of-the-website Minoru Itgaki:

Domon: That’s the core of the enemy.

Kitano: Shoot!

Dessler: The enemy that destroyed Mother Garmillas.

Nagakura: Priority on castaways at sea. I’ll save as many as I can.

Domon: Please give me your strength. If there’s a way to save everyone, we’ll have to do it together.

Kodai: Raiden, don’t give up!

Raiden: Don’t underestimate me!

October 15: Week 2 theater handout

It’s been proven over and over again that a good way to get fans back for another viewing is to hand out more free stuff. The second week began with a new handout that contained three different art images. And there were still two more weeks to come.

October 15: Harutoshi Fukui on Anige Eleven

Fukui made another media appearance today, this time on a digitally-enhanced talk show called Anige Eleven (“Anige” rhymes with “Anime”). Rather than just giving the basic rundown of 2205, he got a chance to talk more about the craft of writing for the series. A Yamato blogger with the online handle “Ymt etc” saw the episode and had something to say about it:

The secret of clarity is to “skip setup”

Hello. This is ymtetc.

On Anige Eleven the other day, Harutoshi Fukui mentioned that Yamato 2205 features “no setup.” This, he says, “is inconsistent with Yamato‘s original flavor.” Today, I would like to think about “skipping the setup” in Yamato 2205.

Fukui’s words: The goodness of Yamato has been handed down from the Showa era. This work has incorporated that abundantly! But there are things that have changed from the previous works. It’s contradictory to the original flavor of Yamato, but we’ve skipped the setup.

Azumi Wake (host): Skipped the setup?

Fukui: For example, if there is a scene of “I stumbled” and “I fell down with a thud,” you know that the moment you stumble, you will fall down with a thud, right?

Wake: Yes, I can see that.

Fukui: If that’s the case, then you don’t need the scene where you fall down with a thud.

Wake: Ah!

Fukui: So I skip the “falling down with a thud,” which means skipping the wait and moving on to the next thing.

What is “setup”?

What does it mean to “skip the setup”? To skip a step means to prioritize “cause” and “effect” when selecting a scene. Let’s take a look at Mr. Fukui’s analogy: “I stumble, I fall, I get injured.” Let’s organize those scenes as an example.

Cause (why): tripping over a stone on the roadside
Process (how): You fall and land on your hands
Result (what happened): injured hands

The “process” part is what Mr. Fukui refers to as the “setup.” By omitting “setup,” you can depict the event using the shortest possible route. You simply need a criterion for making your choices. Mr. Fukui’s scripts are characterized by their length and the amount of information they contain. 2202 clearly struggled in this respect. 2202 had many scenes that were difficult for the audience to understand, and it was said to be making “poor choices.”

On the other hand, the strength of 2205 is that the content is easy to understand. The secret is not that it is good at making choices, but that it has clear criteria for those choices. In the process of visualization, the “cause” and “effect” are properly depicted. On the other hand, “process” should be limited to what is essential for the story. It was because of this thoroughness that 2205 was able to pack a lot of information into its 90 minutes while reducing the number of scenes that were “confusing” for the audience.

Tune into Ymt etc’s blog here. If your browser is Chrome, you can use its translator function to read it in English.



October 20: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 143

This week’s volume was entirely occupied with assembly of the cowling for the ventral intake, which used some of last week’s parts and was a surprisingly complex operation for such a simple-looking component.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

October 21: Official site update

With 2205 Part 1 about to finish its second week in theaters, the home office decided it was time to beef up the character and mecha sections of the official website, and boy did they! This expansion more than doubled the amount of existing information. Naturally, it’s all been incorporated into our new and improved character/mecha guide, which can be found right here.


There’s still a lot to see from October! Click here to keep going

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *