Behind the boom of the revived Battleship Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato, also popular among adults with nostalgia for the Battleship Yamato, encouraged young people to rediscover the old and new theme of “love.”
Hitoshi Suzuki
(journalist)
On September 7, five days after the rerun of Space Battleship Yamato finished airing on TV, the Yomiuri Shimbun‘s morning edition carried the following article in its radio TV column Broadcasting Tower:
“The rerun of Japan TV’s Space Battleship Yamato has come to an end. No animation has moved me as much as Yamato. Created with the theme of “love,” Yamato has taught me the strength of love and how wonderful it is. Thank you to the staff of Yamato. I look forward to the day when it will be broadcast again.”
(Tomoko Yoshida, 15, junior high school student, Machida City, Tokyo)
The article mentioned receiving 30 similar letters, an uncommon response to such a column. What is even more unusual is the fact that it was for a rerun. This rerun began on July 27, and the feature film Space Battleship Yamato premiered on August 6, ten days later.
Screenings were scheduled to be held at Shibuya Tokyu Rex, but the advance tickets sold out in no time after they went on sale on July 2. On the day of the screening, they were unable to handle the continuous stream of viewers, so they had to make a sudden change of plans to the schedule. They added Yamato screenings at three affiliated theaters: Tokyu Pantheon, Tokyu Meiga-za, and Tokyu Bunka Kaikan.
This was the first time that all four theaters had screened the same film at the same time. It is said that the total number of viewers that month exceeded 10,000, and the film continued to be screened until October. Moreover, Yamato‘s audience of young people has been growing to include adults.
Although Yoshinobu Nishizaki, the producer of Yamato, has appeared in the Hanson Dialogue section of Weekly Bunshun and Human Series and Women Themselves magazines, the rest of the world is captivated by Sadaharu Oh and the “756 Commotion” (approaching Hank Aaron’s home run record), so an animated film aimed at children becoming a big hit was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. Adults must have thought it a mere “manga movie” and paid no attention to it. In this context, Space Battleship Yamato was a quiet boom.
Although it was popular among all generations, the overwhelming majority of viewers were teenagers.
Characterization that exploits generational differences
It was a Saturday afternoon on September 10 when I personally met this “quiet boom.” It was not at Shibuya, the place of its origin, but at a secondary Tokyu theater in Ueno.
The reason I was so interested was, of course, at the request of this magazine, but above all, I was drawn by the title, Battleship Yamato. For the adults, this means Yamato off the coast of Kyushu, on its way to participate in the Battle of Okinawa. It was attacked by a total of 1,000 U.S. task force planes and sunk by the U.S. Navy after being fatally damaged. There were probably no young people or adults at that time who did not know the name of the unsinkable battleship Yamato. Its ignoble sinking, which was so unbecoming of the ship, evokes an inexpressible sense of tragedy and nostalgia.
After the war, Yamato‘s final days were made into a work of art titled Warship Yamato by Mitsuru Yoshida, a former naval reserve lieutenant, and it became well known. This work was written in a literary style. It is a highly elegant piece of writing that matches content with style. It is a masterpiece of postwar war literature, a fitting narrative to tell the story of the terrible end of those who fought on board Yamato. The story of Yamato‘s final days is filled with a sadness that befits the original text of Biwa-houshi’s Tale of the Heike.
It is a strange idea that Yamato would be resuscitated as a space battleship 254 years later. At first, it must have shaken the fatherly generation deeply in their psyche.
Moreover, the captain of the ship is named Juzo Okita. I couldn’t help but to chuckle at this. The Shinsengumi boom has already been going on for a long time. The popularity of the young warrior Soji Okita is especially high, and the number of books on him alone has reached 35. Also, Shinsengumi Aftermath, currently airing on TBS, is highly acclaimed as a serious drama about the period, based on the masterpiece by the original author, Hiroshi Tsugasawa.
The final moments of both Yamato and Okita are truly tragic. Okita’s life was short in comparison with his abilities. The fate of the battleship and the fate of Okita as a warrior are so similar that one cannot help but be moved by sad sentimentality.
Soji was afflicted with an incurable disease called labor cough, a form of radiation sickness. The more one learns of this approximation, the more one cannot help but admire the knowledge of the person who touched upon it when drafting this project. And this is only a small part of the idea behind Yamato.
Let’s look at the characters who appear in the film, since characters are a crucial factor in popularity when animation is targeted at children. Even from the standpoint of conventional wisdom, the creation of these characters seems to be a virtuoso art. Of course, in terms of the total popularity that supports Yamato, this is only one part of the story. For example…
Susumu Kodai, the leader of Yamato‘s battle group, is 18 years old and can be considered the hero of the story. He is a hot-blooded space warrior. Daisuke Shima, the operation team leader, is Kodai’s classmate from the Earth Defense Training School. At the same time they are best friends and rivals in love with the captain’s granddaughter Yuki Mori, the life team leader. In contrast to Kodai, Shima has a calm personality.
[Translator’s note: the above information was interpreted as written, errors included.]Hikozaemon Tokugawa is a veteran engineer with a mild-mannered personality and is the oldest at 57. Shiro Sanada is Yamato‘s factory manager at 28. A genius inventor, he is largely responsible for the creation of combat weapons and the reinforcement of Yamato. Shiro’s name changes to Sasuke on TV. There is also a crew member named Kenjiro Ota.
Needless to say, the naming of Kodai and Shima is related to “Yamato (the nation),” making this a science fiction story that looks toward the past. During the “Yamataikoku boom,” Tokugawa, Hikozaemon, Sanada, and Sasuke were all famous generals, intellectuals, administrators, and ninjas from the Toyotomi period to the Tokugawa period. The character names are composites, and Ota may be a modification of Kenzaburo Oe. In any case, these synthesized names seem to have contributed greatly to the heroic image of the characters.
This kind of drama can be read in different ways depending on the age and experience of the viewer. Because of this, it is possible to draw out a wide variety of meanings, both broad and deep. In this respect alone, just as the classics bring new understanding to readers according to their age, Yamato also seems to have the qualities that fulfill such classical functions, woven deep into the project.
Amazing fan club “activities”
What is the result I draw from the role names in the previous section? I have already mentioned that this is only a small part of Yamato‘s appeal, but what I am discovering in the process is that the ambiguity Yamato offers its audience is probably the root. Yamato has a structure that touches each age and interest of the audience.
Producer Nishizaki says that Yamato is not only a TV show or a movie, but also a totality that includes both. In addition, there are three new tie-in manga books published by Asahi Sonorama (currently 60,000 copies), a two volume novel (currently 300,000 copies), and several other types of paperbacks, as well as graphic magazines.
To be honest, when I started working on this article, I had no idea what the original story was. To elaborate on Mr. Nishizaki’s words, it is not a single original work that has branched out. Rather, each of them is independent and at the same time, the totality of such mediums is also “a work of art.” Yamato exists as integrated multiple art forms. This is how we should understand it. Moreover, the structure of each Yamato has its own ambiguity. As I see it, the animated TV version is a typical example of this.
According to what Nishizaki says, he already has an intention to re-express the TV version in a traditional novel suitable for boys and girls. It is said that a famous writer has agreed to the project. [Translator’s note: this is the first mention of the “Hot Blood Novelization” that would be published in 1979.] In this case, a so-called “original work” will be created later. Those who write about Yamato in the future will likely be more perplexed than I am.
The “quiet boom” of Yamato began after a rerun on NTV. It made its first Cathode-Ray-Tube appearance as a new program three years ago, October 6, 1974, and ran for six months. At the time, it was overwhelmed by a rival program called Girl of the Alps Heidi and only achieved an average viewer rating of 7%. That made it a non-starter topic in the TV world, where ratings are everything.
However, when the series was rerun, it skyrocketed from a low of 12% to a high of 22%. The program captured younger viewers in the weekday time slot of 5:30, and the program occupancy rate was an astonishing 40-50%. In other words, half of the viewers tuned in to Yamato. As I gradually learned in the course of my interviews, the fans that followed it instead of Heidi was a small but extremely powerful teen generation.
Currently, there are about 650 Yamato fan clubs throughout Japan. In Tokyo alone, there are some 45 organizations. The earliest club was founded in 1974, and its journal was already published in the same year.
It was on May 15 of this year that Tokyu Corporation decided to distribute the Yamato movie. The company had been in business for forty-seven years and had a total of forty employees. They were short on staff, so they asked the fan clubs to cooperate with the promise of providing them with Yamato materials after the film’s release. 70 people gathered on behalf of each club.
Many of the representatives were women, accounting for two-thirds of the total. The age range of the participants included junior high school, high school, and university students. They were asked to put up posters, and they easily mounted 100,000 posters in Tokyo alone. I’m sure politicians who get headaches at every election would be envious.
These fans were already obsessed with Yamato before the rerun began. Before the recent “quiet boom,” there was another one that spread throughout Japan over the past two years, as if soaking into the ground. Mr. Nishizaki and others were aware of such signs, but they had no idea that such a groundswell of energy had been building.
After the film opened, the number of fan letters, inquiries, and direct visitors to the company rose day by day. Finally, they had to set up an office for this purpose. I was shown a copy of the club’s magazine, and it was amazing; very professional.
[Translator’s note: this is probably a reference to the first issue of the Yamato Fan Club magazine, which was being prepared for publication in early 1978.]Most publications have been doujinshis (fanzines) launched or reprinted in the wake of Yamato. Some are mini-comics, and some are highbrow animation magazines, while others are hand-printed. The fact that this mountain of fanzines is all published through the medium of Yamato is a phenomenon, reflecting the professional media mix of TV, movies, magazines, novels, manga, new books, paperbacks, graphs, records, and handmade journalism as well.
Of course, it is possible to intentionally manipulate the media for money, and there have been cases of such manipulation. What separates the “Yamato boom” from the rest is the large number of participants in handmade journalism focused entirely on Yamato. This is a truly exceptional journalism phenomenon.
Why did this strange phenomenon occur? What is it about Space Battleship Yamato that led to the creation of this phenomenon? As mentioned above, it is not just nostalgia among adults. That alone is not enough to solve the mystery. Again, it is only one part of the story. But it is clear that there were glimpses of it in the character creation. I have a gut feeling that it was the “structural ambiguity” all along.
I have to trace this again from the beginning of the production to the release of the film. To do so, we have no choice but to directly contact Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, who planned, conceived, produced, and supervised the production of Yamato. It will be very interesting to see what more can be discovered.
The analogy of present history creates ambiguity
First of all, for those readers who have not seen the work, let me give you a brief synopsis. I will also explain the source of the work in which the “ambiguity” can be felt. I should point out that this is based on the plot of the movie. Therefore, this is just a rough clue for understanding Yamato.
“The year is 2199…”
Earth is being indiscriminately bombarded by planet bombs unleashed by the Planet Gamilas, an invader from outer space. The barely-surviving humans have built underground cities and are desperately trying to survive the attack. The radiation that has contaminated the entire surface of the earth is gradually beginning to penetrate underground, and the time of human extinction is only a year away.
Then a message is received from Iscandar, a planet in the far reaches of galactic space, 148,000 light-years away: “I give you the blueprint for a Wave-Motion Engine that will create enough energy to come here within a year and obtain the Cosmo Cleaner, a radiation removal device.”
Sasha, the sister of Starsha, the queen of Iscandar, happened to crash-land on Mars. Susumu Kodai and Daisuke Shima, space warriors of the Earth Defense Force, find her there holding the message capsule.
Iscandar is the twin planet of Gamilas. It is ruled by Starsha, a queen who believes in love and peace. She is the complete opposite of Leader Dessler, who wants to bring the entire universe under his control. She entrusted her sister Sasha with a message to save the planet Earth, which is on the verge of destruction due to attacks by Gamilas.
In response to this message, Space Battleship Yamato rises as the messenger representing the Earth. Yamato departs for Iscandar with a time limit of 365 days for the round trip. It is interrupted along the way by fierce battles with the Gamilas army, trying to sabotage the mission and fulfill its ambition to dominate the universe.
After a hard-fought battle, Yamato manages to conquer Gamilas, but the planet self-destructs and disappears from the universe. Susumu Kodai, the protagonist of the story, wins the battle, but feels the emptiness of war and abandons his weapons.
The rest of the way is to Iscandar. Yamato successfully obtains the Cosmo Cleaner and heads home. As Earth comes into view, the captain, Juzo Okita, who has been suffering from radiation sickness, dies.
On the verge of collapse, Earth barely escapes destruction. The reddened Earth will soon regain its green color. That’s the gist of the movie.
As the wise reader can see, the film depicts the future, roughly 200 years from now, but it is an analogy of present-day history. If we replace the universe with Earth and planets with nations, the sea and the sky become outer space. A Planet Bomb is a missile, and a Wave Engine is a nuclear power plant, which can be used as both a weapon or as a peaceful alternative to petroleum. It can create a source of energy for the round trip to Iscandar and also be used as a cannon to finish off Gamilas. Therefore, according to Mr. Nishizaki’s explanation, the use of the Wave-Motion Gun is a last resort until the very end.
Not only that. This “space war” is all based on the course of World War II. Therefore, 26 episodes were not enough for the original idea of Nishizaki’s TV anime. It would be a complete analogy of World War II only after 39 episodes. In episode 26, he had no choice but to omit the European and North African fronts. He said that disclosure of the details was a “trade secret.”
Therefore, with Yamato as a medium, we are presented with historical lessons from the past, present, and future, including historical facts and scientific nonfiction. It was conceived as an epic poem, and it would be unacceptable to call it a mere children’s manga film.
At the same time, it was difficult for Mr. Nishizaki to let his imagination fly free and unrestrained in a live-action film, no matter what special effects were used. And he did not have the funds to make a spectacle like an American movie. The fact that he chose to make an original “collective creation” (not based on a previous story) as an “anime” film can be chalked up to extraordinary intelligence.
Mr. Nishizaki, who participated in the planning
and conception of the film
Gathering the staff that brought Yamato to the surface
The introduction of the synopsis above is the hard part of Yamato, so to speak. That is the difference between the TV version and the movie.
In the TV version, the theme of love, which is persistently emphasized, runs through the entire story. Love comes up especially clearly close to the end, in Episodes 24, 25, and 26. In contrast to the love for humanity emphasized in the film, the love for comradeship, brotherhood, and ultimate love among the crew of the Yamato is seen on TV. Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori sing the praises of their love.
In this part, when the ship approaches Earth, Dessler (who was supposed to be dead) is still alive. With the survivors of Gamilas’ army, he launches a “final ramming attack.” They board the ship, fire radioactive gas, and the warriors of Yamato begin to fall one after another.
At that time, Yuki activates the Cosmo Cleaner, which has been assembled but not fully tested. Yuki’s sense of mission as the leader of Yamato‘s life team moves her to sacrifice herself to save Kodai, whom she secretly loves. The Cosmo Cleaner works brilliantly and clears the gas. The Gamilas, who can only live in the gaseous atmosphere, began a general retreat.
She collapses, exposed to toxic air due to an unexpected defect in the Cosmo Cleaner, which still had some flaws. The battle is over and Earth appears. The surviving Yamato warriors gather on the bridge with a rush. Kodai, who had not yet shared his love with the others, finally arrives at the bridge with the dead Yuki in his arms.
Juzo Okita dies with Earth within sight. At that moment, Yuki comes back to life, as if Okita’s life had been breathed into her. It is a moving moment.
In this last scene, Mr. Nishizaki emphasizes that what precedes all love is the love between a man and a woman. This was the first drama with a happy ending that I’ve seen in a long time.
“I have always thought that most of the TV anime I’ve seen were aimed only at pre-schoolers and early elementary school children,” said Nishizaki. “First, I wanted to make a drama for adolescent boys and girls. Second, I wanted to overcome the unscientific nature of so-called science-fiction children’s programs. And third, in my experience as a music producer in the past, I really wanted to make the best combination of anime and music come true.”
“Dreams, romance, adventure, and love (first love).”
He wanted to create a work that would satisfy all three of these elements at once, and began with works he created during his time at Mushi Pro. He had previously worked on Triton of the Sea, based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga, and a musical anime named Wansa-kun. These works were experiments to reach Yamato.
Therefore, in order to realize Yamato, he organized the staff of his choosing, composed of science-fiction writer Aritsune Toyota, anime guru Eiichi Yamamoto, and Keisuke Fujikawa, who writes screenplays to bring reality to science-fiction. Two more were Composer Hiroshi Miyagawa, who helped with Wansa-kun, and Leiji Matsumoto, the indispensable artist for planning and design.
Matsumoto was the director for the TV series, but Toshio Masuda was newly added as the director for the film. Mr. Nishizaki was the producer behind these leading directors.
As I listened to Mr. Nishizaki talk, I was reminded of the movie Seven Samurai. The battle scene in which they defeat a group of wild samurai is one of the highlights of the film, but it is also the scene in which Takashi Shimura plays the role of the captain, organizing the six men in such a way to achieve victory. The Seven Samurai are a functional group of warriors, each of whom excels in one art or another. In other words, the “battle” of the Seven Samurai is a “collective creation” of these seven men.
In his first words of our interview, Mr. Nishizaki said, “I guess I’ll have to tell you about the conception and development of the project.” However, it is strange to think of it as just an idea that was developed. I think it was both a developmental idea and a developmental production, the kind of work where you “close the coffin and then decide.”
From the first broadcast of the new program Yamato, through the process of creating the TV fan groups, making an overseas version with the money from selling rerun rights to Tohoku Shinsha, to being recognized by buyers in the US and Germany at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977, then making the film for the [Japanese] domestic market and gaining popularity; I can only say that it is not a mere progress, but development.
I said that the appeal of Yamato lies in its “structural ambiguity.” The fact that the producer was involved in the entire process of production, sales, and management seems to be a factor in this. Here, Mr. Nishizaki became a creative producer.
The unfinished Yamato drama
Space Battleship Yamato is a work of art in terms of its content, the way it is made, and the way it is sold. The fan club itself is an approach to various factors of Yamato, as expressed in its journal.
Mr. Nishizaki says, “They are studying Yamato, aren’t they? The more they go on, the more they understand the depth of Yamato.”
Yamato encompasses everything from space science to World War II history, from drama theory, anime theory, love between men and women, love for mankind, and criticism of modern civilization. It all originates from Space Battleship Yamato. With Yamato as a starting point, both the viewer and the creator embark on a “new journey,” and from the point where the Yamato journey ends, all those who involved in the Yamato project must have been inspired by a new “intellectual journey.”
I must say that Space Battleship Yamato is a mysterious medium.