Seeing a list of cuts that long and the words “unimportant scene” make it difficult to give the editors some slack, and to remember that they were simply doing their best to deliver a version of it that was acceptable under 1979 standards for children’s television. It also helps illustrate how very different the standards were in Japan, a country with significantly lower statistics for violence. It almost makes you wonder if maybe it has nothing to do with the entertainment we consume after all.
But, onward…
The fact that the opening narration is split off onto its own page with no page number suggests that it was written separately and inserted into the finished script. This further suggests that the body of the show had to be edited down before it could be known how long it could be.
The term “FI” at the first line stood for “Fade In.” Good thing it wasn’t “Fade Up.”
The “title shot” indicated near the bottom of the page refers to the episode title. In Yamato 2, the first segment of the episode would immediately follow the opening title, then the title of the episode would appear over a freeze frame leading to the first commercial break. It was a unique stylistic choice for an opening title to lead directly into a show.
The term “TB” in line 51 stands for “Truck Back,” another version of “pull out” or “zoom out.”
The first two lines on this page were cut from the episode.
From the bottom of the page into the next is a substantial deleted scene. We all lost a chance to see Royster again.
There are two mentions of “Black Tigers” on this page, both of which are incorrect, since Black Tigers haven’t been flown since the mission to Iscandar. However, the first mention didn’t end up in the show. Instead, Gideon’s line is, “Isn’t there any sign of the Star Force?”
The subsequent mention of “Cosmo Tigers” is interesting, because in dialogue they were referred to as “Astro Fighters.” This is what script editors are for.
Here, we see “Cosmo Tigers” and “Black Tigers” on the same page, referring to the same fighters.
Also, “the temperature is one hundred below zero”? That’s quite warm for space (which averages over 450 degrees below zero).
“This episode was done in halves” probably means the two halves were written simultaneously with writer B starting in the middle. (It’s a dense one, after all.)
The “JB Version” of Bleek’s line was not used in the show. “J.B.” in this case is Joe Bacal, one of the producers.
The term “TU” appears twice on this page. It stands for “Truck Up,” meaning to push in or zoom in.
The term “PD” in line 376 stands for “Pan Down.”
In this case, the “JB” version of the line was used in the finished episode.