Back up to part 2

October 22: Animate Times review

It’s all well and good for O.G. fans to enjoy a retelling of beloved stories, but we seldom hear about the new generation of viewers who are discovering them for the first time. To address this, Animate Times turned its spotlight on a member of that generation. Here is what she had to say, and it’s everything we were hoping to hear.

A profound story that resonates with us today! The honest feelings of a 20-something

by Mina Sugimura (see the original article here)

The Space Battleship Yamato series is a very popular anime that has been aired since 1974, and has a deep-rooted popularity even almost half a century since its first broadcast. I think the reason it has been loved for so many years is the depth of the story. In this article, I’d like to share my impressions of Yamato 2205 as a 24-year old, the same age as Susumu Kodai was in 2202. I know I’m a bit of a novice fan, but the story of Yamato is one of my favorite works because I often think that it makes people grow up!

Some of you may be wondering why a 24-year-old woman who was not born in the Showa era would be interested in the Yamato series. Well, until a few years ago, I had never seen any of the old movies and only knew the name and the famous song. It was Daisuke Ono, who plays the role of Susumu Kodai, who inspired me to watch it. I got to know Mr. Ono through his role as Erwin Smith in Attack on Titan, and I started watching Yamato as well. The more I watched, the more I realized that I was fascinated by the depth of the story.

This time, Yamato 2205 depicts the story of Kodai and his friends who have accumulated six years of experience. Looking at the characters, who have grown up and are now in a new position, I realized once again, “That’s why Yamato has been loved for so many years.”

The first part of this article has gotten long. From here on, I will review 2205 as a viewer.

The attractions that can be enjoyed at all ages (1) Wonderful adults like Kodai

Kodai is a 27-year-old captain. It takes a lot of mental strength to be a captain at that young age. I can’t imagine being in charge of everyone myself three years from now. Of course, Kodai has had a lot of experience in space so far, and held conversations with his predecessor, Captain Okita.

Compared to the time of 2199, Kodai is more cautious about the impact of stating things from the captain’s point of view and is more prepared for Domon. I wonder if I could ever grow up to be that mature, but I thought that by being aware of what a good adult is like, I could reconsider and get closer to it in a few years.

I am still in my first year of working after graduating from university, so I don’t have any social experience. However, I was able to learn about social positions and how to have a mature mind.

(2) If you see it again in ten years, your views will change!

I think the beauty of Yamato is that you can see it many times over the course of your life. Especially for those of you who watched the old one in your childhood, I’m sure you feel different things about the same work.

Even though I feel Domon’s aggressiveness and Kodai looks like an adult to me, I’m sure he will look different in ten years. If I can handle everything without being overwhelmed, I wonder if there will be a day when I will recognize Kodai’s youthfulness.

In the scene where Yamato goes to save Planet Garmillas, the superiors know what Kodai and the others will do without giving a direct explanation. They were able to understand because they had their own experiences and seen the aspirations of their younger colleagues up close. They are wonderful adults who are able to understand the mindset of their juniors by comparing them to themselves.

I wonder if I will ever be able to gently watch over the actions of my younger colleagues. I think it’s interesting to watch the movie over and over again because it changes the way you see it. I think that’s why this has been loved for so long. I’m looking forward to seeing how it will look to me in ten years.

(3) Sometimes the correct answer doesn’t come from calculations by the head, but the passion of the human heart

This is something that can be said for the entire series, but the beauty of Yamato is that it has a passion in the heart that you can’t dismiss. In this work, there is a scene where people are forced to choose between peace on Earth alone and peace on all the planets of Earth, Garmillas, and Iscandar. In our minds, we all understand that if we want to be certain of our security, we should keep peace on Earth alone.

Even so, the kind feeling of not being able to abandon others, which sometimes leads to reckless actions, is what makes the story human in a good way. I think it’s the indispensable passion and inherent richness of people’s hearts that is so attractive.

(4) The opportunity to think about peace and social issues

The courage I talked about in (3) gave me an opportunity to think about how the courage to help other planets can build trust among various people and create peace in the universe. Garmillas once forced the destroyed Earth into war, and now Iscandar is in crisis. Each planet has its own problems, but the heart that wants us to trust each other has changed the behavior of each person, and has led to peace.

In Japan, we have so much peace that we really don’t have many opportunities to feel the problems that war brings. Through stories like Yamato, I have come to think about such issues close at hand. The problems of each planet are the friction between nations; the migration of Garmillas represents the immigration problem and racism, and Iscandar represents resource disparity.

I watched the movie thinking that there were some connections between the story and what we learned in school. We can’t solve all these global problems at once, but we can help each other to learn about the current situation and think about how we want to change it. This is a wonderful work that gives us such an opportunity.

I can’t wait for the next chapter, which I have a feeling will reveal a lot of things…! This may have been a bit heavy, but I realized again that it is a profound work that makes me feel something I don’t think about in my daily life.

I focused on the content this time, but I can’t say enough about the charm of the battleships and other cool designs and characters that have been loved over the years. Personally, I’m waiting to see what happens with my favorite characters, Yuki and Kodai! Yuki is so cute when she keeps supporting Kodai. It’s frustrating that in this story, she is watching over him with an exquisite sense of distance. I hope they can move things forward with their engagement and be happy.

The latest information is that Chapter 2, STASHA, will premiere on February 4, 2022. I know that winter will be here soon, but I’m so curious about the rest of the story that it’s a long wait until February!　

Space Battleship Yamato is determined to go save its friends, but will it be a good thing or a bad thing? The story is not a straightforward one, so I’m worried about how it will come out with Dezarium. In addition, the mystery of the planet Iscandar is about to be revealed, so I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for the next chapter!

October 23: Week 3 theater handout

The third week kicked off with the next round of art images handed out to ticket holders in participating theaters. Hopefully it took the sting out of not being able to buy sold-out merch.

October 23: Fukuyamanime 4

The name is a combo of Fukuyama and Anime, and the event was a weekend of anime love in the city of Fukuyama, located in Hiroshima Prefecture. This happens to be the hometown of 2202 Director Nobuyoshi Habara, so he was invited back again as a special guest.

Photo posted on Twitter by the event MC Ayaka Sumitani (center)

This time he was joined by Scriptwriter Hideki Oka (at right) to host a Saturday evening screening of Age of Yamato with an accompanying discussion on the history of the saga.

October 25: Model Graphix #445

It’s been a while, but the hobby magazines are always ready to pounce when a new Yamato kit is incoming. Bandai’s 1/1000 Asuka was five days away when this issue delivered a 4-page photo feature.

See all the pages here.

October 27: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 144

This must have been a very satisfying week for builders of; all the internal wiring of the ventral intake was completed, allowing it and the fin to be integrated with the hull. This in turn allowed upper-deck panels to be put in place so the guts could be covered over. Finally, grenade launchers were added and the entire assembly was placed on its temporary stand. 34 volumes down, 26 to go.

Twitter user Nepon posted this photo of the temporarily-assembled forward section, which now engulfs the giant box of the 1/1000 Domelaze. In case you don’t remember, that was a monster of a kit that was notorious for its display requirements. And here we are. Nepon’s comment was, “This is not good.”

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

Photo posted on Twitter by NyatchR

October 28: Yamatalk event

The month was drawing to a close, but the final weekend still had plenty to offer. The first post-premiere Yamatalk was a doozy with the director and writers unleashing the first 11 minutes of Part 2 for an eager crowd. We also learned that a key scene in Part 1 took its inspiration directly from fan art that first appeared over a decade earlier.

These two accounts let us all in on the details…

Yamato 2205 Yamatalk: The first part of Chapter 2 was screened, showing the Cosmo Python’s variable mechanism and mobility

Expressing mobility, and behind the scenes of a script meeting

Posted by Mantan Web (see the original article here)

On October 28th, a Yamatalk event was held with a screening of Yamato 2205, The New Voyage at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater. Director Kenji Yasuda, Writer Harutoshi Fukui, and Scriptwriter Hideki Oka took the stage. As a bonus, the first 11 minutes and 36 seconds of Chapter 2, STASHA, were shown.

Director Yasuda talked about the beginning of the second chapter: “In the last part of Chapter 1, Yamato made a cool appearance. In the beginning of the second chapter, I created shots with momentum, and I tried to show the mobility of the Cosmo Python, which also has a variable mechanism.”

Photo posted on Twitter by saiseiji

The backstage of a script meeting for 2205 was also revealed. In addition to Yasuda, Fukui, and Oka, mechanical designers, concept consultants, and producers also participated in such meetings.

According to Mr. Oka, “We had meetings of at least 15 people for a year.”

Mr. Yasuda said it was his first script meeting with such a large number of people.

Fukui said, “It’s not just a matter of doing what I want, I have to coordinate with the people who have supported the history of Yamato. We had the participation of Yamato sages. It was noisy, but it would be meaningless if it wasn’t. If I can do it again in the future, I would like to do it with this system.”

Photo posted on Twitter by NyatchR

Fan art was introduced that became a motif for the first and second episodes of Chapter 1. It was drawn by a fan named Admiral Kinoshita. Mr. Oka was deeply moved by the art, saying, “The scenery of Kure is depicted here, and the thoughts of the fan who drew it more than 15 years ago are reflected in 2205.” [Translator’s note: Kure is the port city where the original IJN Yamato was built.]

Photo posted on Twitter by keiyo201

Yamato 2205 Chapter 1 Yamatalk official report

Posted by Aniverse (see the original article here)

The event was held on October 28th, with Kenji Yasuda (director), Harutoshi Fukui (series composer/scriptwriter), and Hideki Oka (scriptwriter). The first 11 minutes of Chapter 2, STASHA, was also shown.

First, Yasuda talked about the response to the first chapter, TAKE OFF, which has been screening for three weeks. He looked relieved when he said, “I was worried about whether it would be accepted by fans who had seen the original work and the remake series, and I was surprised to see so many people watching it. It was a good ‘voyage’ for me.”

Hideki Oka, Kenji Yasuda, and Harutoshi Fukui

Next, they looked back at the production process of the film. In addition to Yasuda, Fukui, and Oka, more than ten staff members from the fields of concept design, mechanical design, etc. gathered at each meeting. It took a long time.

Yasuda was surprised by the extravagant format of the meetings: “I’ve never had a script meeting with such a large group of people before.”

Fukui said, “I invited ideas from ‘Yamato sages’ who know Yamato well, and discussed and compared them with my own ideas.”

Oka analyzed the results by saying, “The fact that fans who saw the film felt our sense of respect for the original may have been due to the presence of these sages.”

Next, they answered questions from fans that were solicited on Twitter with the hashtag, “2205 questions you can’t ask.” In response to the question, “How would you describe Director Yasuda’s strengths in one word?” Fukui replied, “He pays a lot of attention to every detail.”

“He’s like an aircraft on a ship,” Oka added. “Even when he gives retake instructions, he’s patient and watches the timing so as not to disrupt the scene. He’s like a captain who’s good at using Wave Barriers.”

When asked why Domon Ryusuke was unable to pull the stick during the scene where Yamato launches, Fukui revealed Domon’s heart: “The thought of running Yamato aground crosses his mind. But then he thinks about his father, and realizes that he wouldn’t feel any better if he did that. He goes into a kind of panic because of his various thoughts and conflicts. This is the moment when Domon returns to the root of the reason why he came to Yamato.”

Photo posted on Twitter by ymt1974

Then, the first 11 minutes of STASHA were shown.

Yasuda said, “After Yamato‘s dashing appearance at the end of the previous chapter, I was conscious of not losing that momentum. In particular, I tried to show the mobility of the Cosmo Python.”

The event concluded with messages from Yasuda and Fukui.

Kenji Yasuda: “I’m moved by the realization that Chapter 1 has been enjoyed by so many people. There will be many surprises in STASHA, so please look forward to it.”

Harutoshi Fukui: “How Kodai will achieve a human recovery is one of the pillars of STASHA, so please look forward to it. Thank you for your continued support.”

Backstage photo posted on Twitter by the Yamato Production Committee

October 29: Admiral Kinoshita responds

Like many of the fan artists whose work we’ve seen here at Cosmo DNA, “AdmKino” maintains a Pixiv page. The day after the Yamatalk revelation, he posted the following text. (See the original post here.)

Information was revealed at the Yamatalk event, so I would like to write about this picture. Let’s start with a brief history.

In 2004, this picture first appeared as a line drawing on the image board of the website Yamato Mechanics, which was run by Junichiro Tamamori. He has been participating as a mecha designer since Yamato 2199. Although it was still a line drawing, the concept of the picture itself was almost complete, and it has been 17 years since then. It was still difficult to do line drawings precisely on the computer, so I scanned the pencil drawing and cleaned it up a bit. After that, the colored version was finished in 2006.

Two years later, in 2008, when I uploaded it to PIXIV, which was still in its infancy at the time, I made some additions and adjustments, and this is the finished version. In other words, this picture was drawn before Yamato Resurrection and the remake series.

It is not based on any particular Yamato work. The main battleship is definitely after Yamato 2, but I didn’t use New Voyage or anything like that as a backbone. When I drew this picture, I hadn’t even dreamed that anyone would make a new Yamato. However, if I were to do it, I would have liked to see the ship in a peaceful state, since I had always drawn it in battle.

In the midst of all this, the scene gradually solidified in my mind when I took the ferry to Kure near Hiroshima, where my parents now live. When you say Yamato, it’s easy to think of Kure. (See more in our 2007 Yamatour travelogue here.)

Kure Port from the boat, taken in 2005. Around the pier of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The drawing shows an image of Kure, but not of Kure itself. Or it may be Kure after the terrain has been changed by a planet bomb attack. Today, Kure is also a military port with many destroyers. But unlike the time of the war, it is a quiet and peaceful port in the Seto Inland Sea. I think that is what I was trying to capture.

It’s been a long time since I first posted this picture, and I can see a lot of flaws in it. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t surpassed it yet, but I don’t want to remake it or redraw it. I’d rather draw a new one with a similar theme.

Finally, the finished port scene in 2205 was far more wonderful than I expected. I have nothing but gratitude and respect for all the staff involved. Thank you very much, and thank you for your hard work.

October 30: Week 4 theater handout

The last of the bunch. Three theaters would hold the film over for an extra week, but there would be no Week 5 handout. Imagine if there was, and only those three theaters had it! Guaranteed business from the super-collectors.

October 30: 1/1000 Asuka model

How long have we been waiting for THIS? Those who have been jonesing for a new version of the 1978 EDF carrier finally got their wish when the Asuka and Hyuga were revealed, and Asuka is the first one out of the chute in 3D.

At this scale it’s just under 10″ long and includes an LED lighting unit for the bridge. A 1/1000 Hyuga hasn’t been announced yet, but it sure would be nice to see one released with Part 2.

Click here for a gallery of finished kits.

October 31: Yamaket 18

October 2021 was without a doubt one of the best months on record to be a Yamato fan, as this very lengthy report should attest. What better way to end it than hanging out with other fans? A lucky few got to do just that at Yamaket 18.

Torilozi is a one-day fan-run event for doujinshi and craft sales that happens twice a year, and Yamaket is a sub-group that gets its own space for Yamato fan circles to offer their latest works. Many of the talented individuals whose art appears in our fan galleries every month make it their gathering point. And what a time to gather.

Click here for a photo gallery of what they shared.

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