Yamato Year 2022, Part 2
Events
April 8: Animage & Ghibli Exhibition
This event opened at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, a display of artifacts from Tokuma Shoten Publishing that presented the genesis of Animage magazine, which directly contributed to the rise of the world-famous Ghibli Animation Studio. Since Space Battleship Yamato played a pivotal role in the founding of Animage (learn more about that here), it was prominently displayed.
See a photo gallery of Yamato displays here.
The exhibition closed on July 10, then went on tour in Hiroshima, Fukushima, and Tokyo, where it opened on December 28. See photos of this version here.
April 25: Yakitori Yamato closes
Restaurant Covid casualties have been reported worldwide, but this one is especially sad.
Hakata Yakitori Yamato originally opened April 2013 in a Tokyo suburb named Sengawa, then relocated to the much higher-profile Shibuya district in December 2017. This move (not to mention its phenomenal cuisine) made the restaurant a gathering point for local fans and a destination for others from around the world. Since it was owned by Exec Producer Shoji Nishizaki, it was tastefully decorated with Yamato art and was occasionally used for special fan club events. And, of course, it would fill up every time a new movie opened.
This should have insulated it from Covid woes, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough; they announced early in April that there was no choice but to close at the end of the month. Once the word was out, fans trooped in for final visits and one more chance to taste that amazing food. See their photos here.
July 21: Mass Production Riko TV series
Even as Yamato approached its 48th anniversary on Earth, it still managed to squeeze out another first. This drama series on TV Tokyo, subtitled Plastic Model Girl’s Life Assembly, stars Yuki Yoda as Riko Komukai. In the first episode, a coworker derides her as “mass-produced” because of her average, unremarkable lifestyle. While wandering through a model store, she spots a “Mass-Produced Zaku” from Mobile Suit Gundam and investigates model-building as a path to something new. She learns life lessons through her new hobby and those she meets along the way.
In the fourth episode, Mr. Kimura, the 30-year deputy director at Riko’s company, begins to lose confidence as he approaches retirement. When Riko takes over some of his work, she wonders if she will follow in his footsteps, and decides to take on the challenge of a new model: a 1/1000 Yamato. As a former model buff himself, Kimura regains his passion as he advises her on the build, and the two of them find themselves capable of new things.
Bandai is a participant in the making of Mass Production Riko, so naturally the show is populated with Bandai models.
Fan art by Samurai
LINKS: Promo for Episode 4 | Modelbuilding scene from the episode | Creditless end sequence
September 3: Masato Ibu on TV
Dessler’s original voice actor made a rare and welcome appearance on a TV show…about cars. The show title is Ogiyahagi’s Car Pilgrimage: No Car, No Life and guests are invited on to discuss their history of car ownership and driving. Of course, the conversation drifts to other things, and when you get Masato Ibu on camera, you don’t let him go without a Dessler story.
Below is the portion in which he discusses Yamato, as reported here.
Film actor Masato Ibu (73) also worked as a voice actor, appearing on Space Battleship Yamato. He made his TV debut at the age of 17.
“There was a time when I had to re-enter a school in Nagoya from Tokyo because of my bad behavior,” he said. “At that time, I took an audition for a drama. There was an NHK program called Diary of a Junior High School Student, and I was on it as a delinquent for three years. That was my first regular role.”
Ibu has loved movies since he was a child and wanted to become an actor.
“When I entered the Gekidan Kumo training school, I saw my favorite actor, Tsutomu Yamazaki, and many others who had left the Bungakuza Company as shining stars. [Trivia note: Tsutomu Yamazaki would later be cast as Captain Okita in the live-action Yamato movie.] I naively thought that if I joined the company, I could be one of them. During my first year in the school, I suddenly saw a poster that said, ‘everyone on this list is ordered to leave the office.’ I was fired. I behaved badly, but I was forced to read Greek tragedies and Shakespeare. I thought, ‘Where is my path as a film actor if they make me read that kind of stuff?’ I was fired because of this bad conduct.”
“So I got together with people I met at bars in Shinjuku and formed a theater troupe. We sold our own tickets, performed twice a year, and worked part-time when we weren’t performing. It was during this time I was told that I had a good voice. The leader of the troupe said to me, ‘You have a good voice, but…’ So I had a complex about my voice. I didn’t think of my voice as a weapon, as people said.”
“In the midst of that situation, I was hired to play the role of Dessler in 1974, at the age of 25. I had never done animation before. They didn’t have all the footage done, so they projected blue lines on a screen and I had to speak until I saw a red marker. So when I said, ‘Hello, crew of Yamato, it’s nice to see you again,’ they would still say, ‘it’s already over.’ But if you don’t take pauses, you lose the flavor. Then the producer said, ‘I’ll extend the line, so you can do whatever you want.’ That made it easy.”
“I was also in a theater company at the time. Dessler was very popular. I got a lot of chocolate on Valentine’s Day.”
For anyone who doesn’t understand the “blue line” reference, it was a technique used for voice acting when animation footage wasn’t available. A strip of blank film was used; someone estimated the time it would take to say a specific line and drew a blue line on the blank film to match that length. The film was projected for the voice actor and they would use the blue line as a visual reference for starting and stopping. Any time a production had to rely on the “blue line” technique, it was a sure sign that they were in big trouble. Yamato Series 1 used it a LOT.
September 17 & 18: Doro Off Exhibition X: The Final
Since 2011, this annual hobby show has brought some of the most skilled and imaginative modelers together to reveal their dazzling creations. As of now, apparently, there will be no more under this name. Lucky for us, fans crowded in to capture it in photos and posted them on Twitter right away.
See a gallery of Yamato models here
See more photos on Twitter here and here, and on Facebook here.
You can find previous Doro Off galleries by entering “Doro Off” in the search bar at the top of this page.
September 18: PC game revival
Home computing was a thing back in the late 70s and early 80s, but it was strictly the realm of hobbyists, toiling away to create apps and games with very limited parameters. The very first Space Battleship Yamato games appeared at this time, examined in specialty magazines like ASCII and I/O.
The Fujitsu company published such a game, which was covered in the February 1980 issue of ASCII, shown above right. Today, it lives again thanks to a Twitter user named “Kushikatsu” who ported the data into a modern platform and translated it into English. It may be available online at some point in the future.
Meanwhile, view a short demo here.
October 24: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko awarded
On this day, the Japanese government’s Agency of Cultural Affairs handed out its Film Awards. Virtuoso illustrator and director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko received the Film Lifetime Achievement Award to honor his animation and character design work.
“Yas” served in the pivotal role of storyboard artist on all Yamato productions from 1974 to 1979, often contributing important plot points along the way. His greatest claim to fame is as one of the creators of Mobile Suit Gundam and subsequent installments in the Gundam franchise, including Zeta Gundam and Gundam F91. He was the creator of the Gundam the Origin manga, and went on to direct the anime version. His most recent anime project was the Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island movie, which premiered in June.
Many interviews with “Yas” can be found at Cosmo DNA. Read the most recent one here.
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.