Unprecedented box-office success of an anime movie, but a conflict between the original author and the producer…?
Space Battleship Yamato is in danger! Is a second sortie possible?
Inset caption: A great success at the box office, but things are shaky behind the scenes.
The animated film Space Battleship Yamato which was a huge hit this summer, is now being rocked by a big wave of turmoil.
What is the big wave? Leiji Matsumoto, who was the “director” of the TV version, but was reduced to a mere “concept designer” for the new movie, is now saying, “If things continue as they are, it would be better to let Yamato sink. Even if we plan a second film, I’m not going to say ‘yes’ if things go on like this. Just thinking about it makes the blood rush to my head.”
For the mild-mannered Matsumoto, this was a very serious statement. It is said that his words are also the sentiments of the staff who worked on the project.
The anger is directed at Yoshinobu Nishizaki, who sold the film to the mass media. The poster states that he “planned, conceived, produced, and directed” the film.
On November 15, Nishizaki is scheduled to hold a grand launch party with the media at the Imperial Hotel’s Peacock Room. At this party, Nishizaki will announce the production of a sequel to Yamato. Matsumoto is not satisfied with the news.
“How can I go out and say ‘congratulations?’ You say you made hundreds of millions of dollars, but what are you talking about? Anime is a collaborative effort of many people, and if you take all the credit yourself, anyone would get upset. I haven’t even seen the movie. There is ‘design’ and ‘story,’ but who made it? To be clear, the Yamato movie is totally unauthorized.”
Normally, if a movie is an unprecedented hit, everyone would be happy, happy, happy.
“We are now working on the second film!” Why do the original author and the producer have an irreconcilable conflict?
Without a contract, the dispute becomes a quagmire!
To understand this conflict, we need to go back to the birth of the masterpiece Space Battleship Yamato.
The first draft was written by science fiction-author Aritsune Toyota.
“I was asked to write a science-fiction-type story titled Asteroid 6. Based on the problem of pollution, I came up with the idea of going from the radioactive Earth to the planet Iscandar to retrieve a radiation removal device.”
At this stage, however, as the title indicates, the full-fledged science-fiction story plan was to hollow out a small asteroid and turn it into a spaceship. Matsumoto was asked to provide the backgrounds, colors, and mecha for the project.
“I accepted on the condition that I would not only be the art director, but also the general director, so I could create the film in my own image. I came up with visual effects, the Magellanic Clouds and twin planets. Yamato‘s design was reworked. I also changed the crew and named the ship myself. I even wrote the opening sentence, ‘In the year 2199…'” (Matsumoto)
At this stage, the prototype of Yamato was completed for the first time. The film was broadcast on TV as a Leiji Matsumoto work. He was supposed to be the creator of Yamato, but on the movie billboard he was made to look as if he only worked in the background. He was not even shown the film, and a regrettable export version was made without his knowledge.
“In addition, people have been misled into thinking that I have made millions of dollars. But the money I received was the equivalent of one month’s earnings from drawing manga. And that too after much protest.”
Mr. Takekawa of Studio Nue reworked Mr. Matsumoto’s rough and created about 70% of the original mecha.
[Translator’s note: “Takekawa” is likely a typo, since the Studio Nue artists who designed Yamato mecha were Kazutaka Miyatake and Naoyuki Katoh.]“It’s been in the red since it was on TV. The pay was very cheap. If I left, Mr. Matsumoto would have been in trouble, so I had no choice but to continue. Also, our art was taken to a magazine and used as the poster without permission. Of course, there was zero money, zero credit, and I didn’t even get a ticket for the preview.”
It seems necessary to hear Mr. Nishizaki’s side of the story here.
“I admit that there were many things I did not do well as a freelance producer in Japan. For example, the treatment of Mr. Matsumoto. I should have said, ‘From the TV Series Space Battleship Yamato, Directed by Leiji Matsumoto’.”
In addition to copyright honor, this trouble also involves money.
“The final distribution revenue is expected to be around 820 million yen.” (according to Toei’s publicity department) But when I asked Mr. Nishizaki about this point, he replied, “If the distribution revenue is 500 million yen, 10% will be returned to third parties to leave 450 million yen. 150 million yen would cover the production cost, and the remaining 300 million yen would be the remuneration for the two years spent on the project. 50 million yen is allocated to Mr. Matsumoto and the others as a merit payment, and after taxes are deducted, how much is left? After that, we have to come up with 300 million yen for production of the second film.”
I am concerned about discrepancies in the figures. But then again, it is not every day that contracts are exchanged despite the fact that many people are involved in the joint production of a film. The industry’s archaic practices may also be at the root of the problem. As in this case, once trouble occurs, it is like poking a hornet’s nest.
This problem surrounds the second film, but Mr. Matsumoto has already received a letter from Mr. Nishizaki asking for permission to proceed while crediting him for the original work.
“We are trying to normalize the rights issues, and if you agree to all the conditions that clarify your position on Yamato as a director and author…”
He has come to terms with this. However, Mr. Matsumoto said, “I can’t trust them until it is clearly written in the contract.”
Nishizaki is proud to say, “We have reached a mutual agreement on the second film.”
Now, will Yamato succeed in taking off again? The handiwork of these two maestros is a sight to behold.