Yamato world stayed just about as busy in November as the previous few months, always a good sign when there’s no new anime to supercharge things. News announcements, music performances, and online activity kept the heart beating as we got another month closer to 3199. Here’s how it played out…

November 1: Nobuhiro Okasako art exhibition

Nobuhiro Okasako’s name didn’t end up in the Yamato credits, but should still be known to every devoted fan. He was the first animation director for Series 1, tasked with refining the character designs. Unfortunately, he contracted a severe ulcer during the preproduction phase and had to step aside (replaced at the last minute by Noboru Ishiguro). But he went on to a thriving career, as you can see here.

For the first ten days of November, his work could be seen in an exhibition at his hometown. Here’s what the news media had to say about it:

Animator Nobuhiro Okasako, who spent his childhood “at a creative starting point,” returns the favor with an exhibition of his works

Sanin-Chuo Morning Edition, November 2
See the original article here

Nobuhiro Okaseko, 80, an animator and character designer of many anime masterpieces, including Astro Boy, is holding an illustration exhibition in Misumi, where he spent his childhood. A total of 45 works are on display, depicting his hometown memories as well as anime characters representing Japan. There were no bookstores in the mountain village, so he drew manga and showed them to his friends, which was the starting point of his creative activities.

Mr. Okasako said, “I put my feelings of gratitude to my hometown into this exhibition. I want young people to see it, too.”

The exhibition will run until the 10th.

Born in Tokyo, Okasako was evacuated at 3 years old to the Ino area where his father was born, and lived there for 12 years. After graduating from the former Ino Junior High, he entered Toei Doga Studio, where his uncle worked. He also worked at Mushi Productions, which was founded by Osamu Tezuka. Currently, he is training younger artists at his own anime studio.

Sixteen works, including Captain Tsubasa and Dokaben are on display at the Ino Machizukuri Center, the venue for the exhibition. In 1974, he worked as an animation director for Space Battleship Yamato and designed familiar characters such as Susumu Kodai

“I fell ill during the production of this work, and it was a very difficult time.”

He also displayed a memorable scene from the Ino district, where he and his friends used to spin tops and play in the river. He said that he had a yearning to be a cartoonist and often drew cartoons based on historical dramas and showed them to his friends. There were no bookstores in Ino, so everyone wanted to read the rest of the story as soon as possible.

He recalls, “My animation work is the extension of my drawing since I was a child.”

The exhibition was prompted by a request from an alumnus of his elementary and junior high school. He has been drawing for the exhibition for about five years.

Yamato and Captain Tsubasa animator’s illustration exhibition in his hometown, Ino

Asahi Shimbun Digital, November 5
See the original article here

Nobuhiro Okaseko (80) is an animator from Misumi Town, Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture, who has been involved in the creation of many anime masterpieces, including Space Battleship Yamato and Captain Tsubasa. An illustration exhibition is being held at the Ino Community Development Center to commemorate the 65th anniversary of his activities.

In 1945, when he was 3 years old, he evacuated from Tokyo to his father’s hometown, Ino Village (now Misumi Town, Hamada City). He returned to Tokyo at the age of 15 and joined Toei Doga (now Toei Animation). In 1963, he was invited by Osamu Tezuka to join Mushi Productions, where he worked on Japan’s first full-length TV anime series, Astro Boy.

He has been in charge of drawing direction and character design for numerous works including Cutey Honey in 1973, Space Battleship Yamato in 1974, Dokaben in 1976, and Captain Tsubasa in 1983. Currently, he is the representative of his own production company.

The exhibition venue is the former Ino Junior High School, Okasako-san’s alma mater, which closed in 2001. 21 of his character illustrations are on display, including Susumu Kodai from Yamato and Tsubasa Ozora from Captain Tsubasa. The illustrations are accompanied by “Memories of Ino Village in the past,” which depicts memories of family meals and playing.

November 2: Concert news

“Yamato Meets Classics” was first announced for April 2020, but a global pandemic rudely got in the way. Now, finally, it’s back on the calendar. Scheduled for February 23 at the Acros Fukuoka Symphony Hall (way down at the southern end of Japan), it will bring together Composer/Conductor Akira Miyagawa, his daughter pianist Chiko Miyagawa, violinist Fuminori Shinozaki, and vocalist Michiko Hayashi with a full orchestra to perform both the Yamato Suite and the Grand Symphony, a gigantic undertaking.

Here’s hoping someone remembers to press the “record” button.

November 2: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 189

The first Hyuga volume of November delivered a set of hull plates for the underbelly that turned into a satisfyingly large piece when mated with previous sections and outfitted with a number of fiber optics.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

November 2: Online game announced

Path to the Future is the next Yamato online game coming our way, to debut on Japan’s G123 platform in 2023. It’s the first to incorporate elements from Yamato 2205 and promises access to over 200 characters and battleships. The announcement was accompanied by a promo video and a Twitter page with some gorgeous new art, which can be seen in a gallery here.

Mysteriously, the game is also being promoted in English under the name Voyagers of Tomorrow. See the English promo video here and visit the English Twitter page here.

You can register for the game in English here, but specific information about access it is not immediately obvious. Perhaps one of our readers will volunteer to become a field reporter on this subject. Comm lines are open!

To keep things lively throughout the month, beautifully-made character vignettes with minimal animation were posted every day on the Twitter page. See them all here:

Captain Okita | Kodai | Yuki | Shima | Sanada | Tokugawa | Niimi | Dessler | Hyss | Domel | Melda
Keyman | Starsha | Yurisha | Miki | Misaki | Yamamoto | Todo | Elsa Domel | Kiryu | Domon

November 3: Yamato 2199 manga announcement

The rumors are true! Michio Murakawa’s Yamato 2199 manga adaptation, suspended since June 2016, will resume publication in December! Monthly chapters will begin free serialization at Comic Newtype on December 16, and the next collected paperback volume (shown above right) will be published December 26.

We’ll happily cover every new chapter right here in the continuing reports. Meanwhile, if you want to reacquaint yourself with the series, all the previous chapters can be found here at Cosmo DNA; just enter “2199 manga” in the search bar above and start digging.

November 8: Dream-Science Laboratory

Researcher Rikao Yanagita put some more thought into Yamato matters and came up with an answer to this little-asked question: Why do villains such as Dessler in Space Battleship Yamato speak in “old-fashioned language?”

Curious? Read Mr. Yanagita’s theory here.

November 9: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 190

Two side panels were added to the growing belly structure this week. Overall, this covers about half the length of the aft section. Now at 20 volumes in, the model is 25% complete.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

November 10: Star Blazers Lambda Volumes 4 & 5

Could this be the last word on Lambda? Not quite. These two volumes collected the last 12 chapters of the manga, but there’s still more to learn about this fascinating alternate universe story. Click here to visit the Star Blazers Lambda hub, featuring easy access to each chapter and all the extra material presented at Cosmo DNA since it started over two years ago. Also included is a new post-completion interview with creator Ryuko Azuma.

Meanwhile, order your copy of Volume 4 here and Volume 5 here.

November 16: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 191

Another big chunk was added to the belly section in this volume, extending it forward to the point where the “Dreadnought” portion of the ship blends into the “carrier” portion.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

November 16: Shinya Takahashi art auctions

The character designer of Be Forever and Final Yamato returned to the online auction world to unveil four new renderings of his beloved Sasha. All four were the subjects of fierce bidding with three of them closing well over $1,000 apiece.

This was definitely not Shinya Takahashi’s first auction offering. See his 2020 artwork here and his 2021 artwork here.

November 17: Music special

Showa Songs Best Ten DX is a weekly TV Series that looks back at the vast and deep music catalog of the Showa era (1925-1989) for discovery and nostalgia. A different theme is chosen for each episode, and the theme for November 17 was a good one.

The website Note had this to say about the show…

The Great King and Queen of Anime Songs descend! The Top Ten Best Anime Heroes & Heroines of the Showa Era

The guests were Isao Sasaki, the “Great King of the anime song world,” and Hiroko Moriguchi, the “Queen of Gundam!” Midori Oka also joined in. They sang and talked about the nostalgic anime heroes and heroines that were popular among children in the 70s and 80s.

Star singers of mood songs and enka who sang “anison”

In 1963, Astro Boy was the first anime program that started in Japan. A children’s choir, called Kamitakada Boys’ Chorus, sang the theme song for it and many other hero theme songs of the time, such as Super Jetter.

Around 1965, there were some unexpected star singers who sang anime songs. For example, 8 Man by Shigeru Katsumi and Kamui Gaiden by Hiroshi Mizuhara. In this best ten, Tiger Mask by Hideyo Morimoto and Inokappe Daisho by Yoshimi Tendo were also ranked.

The King and Queen of ANISON descend!

Ms. Moriguchi, who made her first appearance on the program, sang her debut song from the second half of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, With Love to the Stars of Water. Previously making her mark as a balladeer, she gained immortal status as an anison singer when the genre became a major player in the music market. When the “All Gundam Poll” was held in 2018 to commemorate Gundam‘s 40th anniversary, Moriguchi’s song was voted No. 1 out of more than 360 theme songs.

Isao Sasaki sang a special medley of Space Battleship Yamato and The Scarlet Scarf. Both songs were written by Yu Aku and composed by Hiroshi Miyagawa. The songs were not for children, as in the past, but are big works full of male romance and adult moods. Isao Sasaki’s dandy voice and overwhelming vocal ability were a perfect match, leading to a huge national hit.

Condor Joe gave birth to the king of anison

Sasaki, a singer, voice actor, and actor, made his way into the anison world. The big turning point was his role in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.

The theme song was sung by Masato Komon, but at the time Sasaki, the voice of Gatchaman‘s subleader “Condor Joe,” sang this song at a party. After that, he began receiving invitations to sing anime songs. In the special, Mr. Sasaki also shared a story behind his dubbing for Sylvester Stallone, saying Condor Joe gave him hints when he was recreating Stallone’s roles.

Watch Sasaki’s performance from the show here.

November 18: Blu-ray news

A new Yamato 2202 box set was announced for release on March 24. This one will contain all the bonus features that were available on the original seven volumes, newly augmented with stage greetings from each premiere, live Yamatalk events, and more. It will also be sold in a new slipcase with Andromeda art. More news on this one as it happens.

November 18: JSDF Music Festival ’22

The Yamato theme has been a standard for many years at JSDF music events, but this year’s annual festival (titled WITH) was something special. This was the first festival in three years due to reasons we know too well, so the Maritime Band unleashed a dramatic windup and a rendition of the 2009 Resurrection version of the Yamato theme.

See it for yourself at these links:

Select performances (Yamato theme at 22:10)

Complete concert (Yamato theme at 1:08)

November 17 rehearsal video (:45)

November 23: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 192

Attention returned to the bow of the ship with a new hull segment for the port side that extends back to about the middeck. The photo shows it attached to the portion completed so far.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

November 30: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 193

The last volume for November provided the same hull segment for the starboard side and all its attendant fibers for lighting.

See Hachette’s instruction video here

See an unboxing video here

See a modeler’s blog here

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