2205 activity for the final month of 2021 exactly matched the amount we saw in November, highlighted by a brand new trailer and announcements that Part 2 successfully wrapped production. Here’s everything that brought the year to a close…
December 1: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 149
Hachette’s first volume of the month allowed builders to assemble Andromeda‘s bridge tower. Or so it seemed. Right after this volume was issued, Hachette announced that a part had been “misprinted,” and that everyone should wait for a replacement in a future volume. If you’re wondering how serious this could be, here’s how:
The base part under the bridge was originally issued with the ship number “0005”, which would be correct if this was a model of Antares, but it’s 0001 Andromeda. The corrected part was issued with “0001” properly stamped on it.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video (with the replacement part) here
See a modeler’s blog here | Revised version here
December 5: Model exhibition
The dedicated modelers in the Hokkaido-based club HOBAS have been all over the place in recent months, displaying their works for all interested parties in public spaces (we’ve seen them here in these reports). They did it again on December 5, though the location for this setup was not divulged on Twitter.
Nevertheless, the pictures do the talking. See a gallery here.
December 8: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 150
More of bridge tower parts arrived in this volume, but had to be put on hold until the replacement part was shipped. Hachette promised it in either Vol. 152 or 153. Until it showed up, anyone who had made this a weekly ritual had to find something else to do.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
See a modeler’s blog here
Photo by friend-of-the-website Minoru Itgaki
December 9: Lawson magnets delivered
Prior to the premiere of 2205 Part 1, those who bought advance tickets at Lawson convenience stores were awarded a prize of two magnets featuring Dessler and Starsha. Delivery was promised in December, and they showed up right on time. They’re packaged with a blank timing sheet used by animation studios.
December 10: Star Blazers Lambda Chapter 20
In this stunning chapter of the Space Battleship Yamato Next manga, reunions bring us two MAJOR revelations; Alexei learns of his brother Mikhail’s secret agenda and Linne finally divulges her deepest secret to Yu. After this, nothing will be the same!
See the chapter with description here.
December 12: Netlab poll ~ Kei Tomiyama
Netlab closed out the year with another reader poll that put Yamato on top. Here’s what was learned:
First place goes to Susumu Kodai! The latest voting results for 2021
From November 28 to December 5, 2021, the Netlab Research Team conducted a survey asking, “What is your favorite anime character played by Kei Tomiyama?” We received a total of 1467 votes. Thank you very much!
Kei Tomiyama is a famous actor who played an active role in many anime productions from the Showa era to the early Heisei era. He regrettably passed away in 1995 at the young age of 56. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the Voice Actor Award (now the Kei Tomiyama Award) for “person who made the profession of voice acting the most popular that year.”
Let’s take a look at the ranking of the most popular characters played by Mr. Tomiyama.
No.3: Banba Ban (Samurai Giants)
No.2: Yan Wen Li (Legend of the Galactic Heroes)
No.1: Susumu Kodai (Space Battleship Yamato)
The first place went to Susumu Kodai, with 474 votes. Kodai is the main character of Yamato. In the first series, he was the leader of Yamato‘s battle group. He is an intuitive character. At first he does not like Captain Juzo Okita, who was in command of the battle in which his brother was killed. Starting with this role, Mr. Toyama appeared in many of Leiji Matsumoto’s works such as Galaxy Express 999 and My Youth in Arcadia, and established his position as a voice actor.
In the comments, many people recognized his work as the narrator in the Time Bokan series. To see the full rankings, start here.
December 15: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 151
This week’s volumes put the rest of the bridge tower together and prepared its base for mating with the hull. It may not look like much in the photo, but there’s a rat’s nest of fiber optics tucked underneath.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
See a modeler’s blog here
December 15: 2205 OST promo video
Part 2 will be with us soon, and so will the soundtrack album covering both parts. On this day, a promo video was released on Youtube with samples from several tracks. Give it a listen here.
In related news, this impressive cover art for the soundtrack by Kia Asamiya was revealed on December 24.
December 16: Nobuteru Yuuki on Twitter
Character Designer Nobuteru Yuuki posted this image on Twitter with the following caption:
Finished fixing everything on Episode 8. My work on the main story is now all done. Thanks to all the artists for their hard work. I’ve done all I can do, and I just hope the fans will enjoy it. Now I have to get the packages done before the end of the year. (^_^;)
By “packages” he meant illustrations for merchandising, like the cover art for the storyboard booklet to be sold with the theater Blu-ray. He Tweeted that it was done on January 4. Visit his Twitter page here.
December 18: Shinya Takahashi art auction
Speaking of character designers, Shinya Takahashi re-emerged for the fifth time in 2021 on Yahoo Japan to auction off three new watercolor originals of his most famous creation, the original Sasha. That made it quite a productive year for him.
See all of his 2021 originals here.
Revisit the 2020 gallery here.
December 19: RIP, Sayaka Kanda
Sayaka Kanda was the voice of Teresa in Yamato 2202 and sang the second end title song Mirror of the Moon in character. Her career breakout was as the dub voice of Anna in the Japanese version of Frozen, which included singing. She had been cast as Maetel in a Galaxy Express 999 musical that would have opened in April 2022.
She died at the tragic young age of 35 when she fell from the upper floor of a hotel in Sapporo, Japan. She was meant to appear in a stage performance of My Fair Lady that same day, but her role was taken by an understudy when she could not be contacted. She was later found and taken to a hospital where she was confirmed dead.
It is speculated that emotional distress drove her to take her own life, but this is unconfirmed. In the wake of this news, Japan’s health ministry called on people with emotional difficulties to reach out for help.
December 21: Production wrap
A big day! Scriptwriter Hideki Oka Tweeted this classic image with a caption saying that Director Kenji Yasuda finished his work on Yamato 2205. Co-writer Yuka Minagawa Tweeted that the program book for the film should not be read BEFORE seeing the film, which means they can’t say much without spoiling it. That’s a sign of a densely-packed story.
December 22: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 152
This must have been a satisfying week for builders. Not only did the replacement part for Volume 149 arrive, they got to load up the gun deck with all three of the turrets. Now that’s progress!
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
December 24: 2205 Part 2 trailer
Christmas came a day early with a highly-charged trailer for Part 2! See it on Youtube here and follow along with these lines of dialogue, provided by friend-of-the-website Minoru Itgaki…
Starsha: Do you still want to save me?
Kodai: Dessler!
Dessler: Hmm…
Domon: What do you mean, we all carry it?
Yuki: Iscandar has changed course?
Meldars: Do not forget our purpose. We must bring Iscandar back as soon as possible.
Kodai: I’ll pull the trigger! I can’t let the chance Iscandar has given me go to waste, even at the cost of my own life!
Domon: Please lend me your strength. There’s a way to save us all.
Dessler: What are you doing here?
Starsha: Eternity does not save a man.
Dessler: You once told me to grow up fast. To make me shoot myself?
Kodai: There are some things that are absolutely non-negotiable. Fight your way through it so you can continue to be you.
Dessler: Fire the Wave-Motion gun at the Deusula, Kodai. Shoot me!
Meldars: That’s it.
And then there’s this shot. We know that guy, don’t we…?
December 24: Part 2 flyer and advance tickets
The trailer was accompanied by a flyer with fresh artwork that also graced a new round of advance ticket vouchers (shown at right). The presence of a glowing light from Starsha’s womb pretty strongly hints that someone special is on the way. On the other hand, the blurbs on the flyer indicate that we’re in for a rough ride:
I never wanted to be an adult.
A holy planet’s crime and punishment revealed at the end of a fierce battle.
What are the final decisions made by men who have lost sight of their lives?
The “holy planet” is almost certainly Iscandar, and it sure sounds like an old debt has come due.
See the art enlarged at the bottom of this page.
December 24: Official site update
The art also took over the the official website, fronting for some new content to be found within.
First, a page of downloadable wallpapers featuring art from 2205. Find them all here.
Second, a couple of new updates to the mecha guide:
AAA-21 Alpheratz
Alpheratz is the 21st Andromeda-class ship, designed and completed as a crewed vessel. It is one of the very few Andromeda-class ships that survived the fierce battle against Gatlantis unscathed. After the war, Alpheratz underwent extensive repairs. As of 2205, the ship is investigating the wreckage of the Gatlantis fleet left behind near the Eleventh Planet (and monitoring its reactivation).
In addition, the original markings during the Battle of Gatlantis were in formal mode to show off the Wave-Motion Gun Fleet concept to the world. The current markings are in service mode (normal operation).
Autoplanet Goruba
A mobile fortress sent to transport Iscandar, also known as an “automated planet.” It uses field generators to control the inertia of celestial bodies, allowing them to move. They can control the gravity in any area around Goruba, generating multiple gravitational axes.
It also has a class of phase-transforming armor that can neutralize direct hits from Wave-Motion Guns, canceling out energy waves by means of reverse-phase waves. Its properties cancel out magnetic waves, allowing Goruba to be completely rendered in stealth mode. In addition, it can warp celestial bodies using the Dezarium Hammers as external units to supply energy.
Length: 10km
Aircraft : Marauder and Catarpillar fighters. Also equipped with a number of annihilation tanks.
Gunnery Equipment:
Ultra-large gravitational field convergence type beta cannon
Large-caliber heavy nucleon beta cannon x 8 (main gun)
Anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, heavy nucleon beta cannons, heavy nucleon alpha cannons, and many other defensive armaments.
See the complete Yamato 2205 character and mecha guides here.
December 25: Osaka Shion concert
When is a Yamato concert not a Yamato concert? When it’s a STEALTH Yamato concert. Akira Miyagawa arranges and conducts several concerts a year (pandemic permitting) with the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra and other ensembles, and when Yamato is the subject, they are promoted as such. But this one slipped under the radar.
Nothing about that flyer indicates Yamato does it? However, about ten days before the performance, the set list was published and eight of the fourteen tracks were from the Yamato score. This included Miyagawa’s Keith Emerson-inspired White Comet and the first known public performance of Love is Still Light, the end song from 2205 Part 1. Imagine finding yourself with the option of attending a Yamato concert on Christmas Day, and you can imagine what it’s like being a fan in Japan.
December 26: 2205 Episode 1 on TV
If anyone still hadn’t seen 2205 Part 1, they got the chance to at least partially rectify it on this day when Episode 1 (the first 25% of what was shown in theaters) was broadcast on Tokyo MX at 10:30pm. Then they got another chance on the 28th when it ran on BS11 at midnight.
The closest example of this in Yamato history goes all the way back to August 1978 when the first Yamato compilation film was broadcast on TV the night before Farewell opened in theaters. An anonymous fan who stood in that famous overnight line remembers someone bringing a battery-powered portable TV to watch it. If you consider the state of technology in 1978, that’s quite an effort.
December 29: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 153
The last volume of 2021 allowed builders to place Andromeda‘s completed bridge tower on its completed gun deck, and assemble some hull plates. At this point, there were only 17 more volumes to go, but Hachette announced that due to supply chain slowdowns (from China), the series would go to biweekly releases beginning after the next volume.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
Photos posted on Twitter by Kiyo1205
December 30 & 31: Comiket 99
Comiket (a contraction of Comic Market) has become famous as the largest event on Earth for comic fans. We don’t even have to make the distinction that they are there specifically for manga; it’s the biggest event of its kind anywhere. Comiket 97 took place in December 2019, and then – for the first time in its long history – it was cancelled in 2020 due to Corona. That would have been Comiket 98. (It’s held twice a year, starting in December 1975. See more info here.)
Comiket 98 was never held. Instead, they jumped to Comiket 99 and finally resumed at the end of December 2021. Entry was limited to a smaller number than usual (only 55,000 people per day) to reduce congestion. Yamato doujinshi (fanzines) always turn up there, but this time just one doujinshi publisher posted photos from the inside (shown above).
December 31: Yamato 2199: The Battle of Pluto fan film
When you just can’t wait for the next Yamato film to come out, you put your DIY pants on and make your own. That’s the spirit that led to this amazing effort, a complete remake of Yamato 2199 Episode 1 (with some modifications). The character animation is limited, but the CG approaches what we saw in the original. Music and sound effects are there, but voice acting is replaced by subtitles. The whole thing runs 27 minutes and can be seen here.
The lead animator and producer is fan artist Mudani178cm. Script and concepts are by a140yamato. And don’t miss the post-credits sequence!
Also spotted in December
Fan art
Somehow it just keeps getting better! See a character gallery here and a mecha gallery here.
Fan models
Output slowed a bit compared to previous months, which only means it returned to amazing rather than overwhelming. See them all here: Gallery A | Gallery B
And finally…
This comes a little late for New Year’s Eve 2021, but file it away for next time: Kiyo1205 posted these photos on Twitter, demonstrating a brilliant – and dirt cheap – way to toast the incoming year like a Gamilon.
