Youth is a series of battles
Farewell to Yamato Director Toshio Masuda talks
How did you first encounter Space Battleship Yamato?
It all started during the production of the TV series on which the film is based. The producer, Yoshinobu Nishizaki, approached me through a former executive at Nikkatsu.
When I met Mr. Nishizaki, he asked me if I would be interested in directing all 26 episodes of the TV series. At that time, I was working on the movie Human Revolution Part 1, so I declined. However, I did show up several times for the first conceptual meetings. That’s why I’m credited for “supervision” on the TV series.
I was watching the TV series behind the scenes, hoping it would work out well. Then Mr. Nishizaki said he wanted to make it into a movie. Space Battleship Yamato was originally shot in 35mm, so it could be made into a movie. I started to reconstruct all 26 episodes of the TV series. This was very difficult. There were various scenes that were impossible to reuse. We had to add about 10 minutes of new scenes. In the end, a 2 hour and 8 minute film was completed.
The next step was to finally screen the film, but at the time we didn’t think it would be a commercial success. We were not able to do business in the state we were in at the time, so Mr. Nishizaki decided to invite the fans who enthusiastically supported Yamato to see the film in the summer. He was thinking of inviting them free of charge on a night after the cinemas had closed. However, the theaters refused, saying that there was no such a screening system. He put the film on the market here and there, but it languished for about a year and a half.
In the meantime, Yamato was rerun on TV, and merchandising, records, etc. started to sell. The fever for Yamato was gradually growing. Tokyu Corporation took notice of this and opened the film in four theaters in Tokyo, where it became an explosive hit. Movies are like water, after all. Space Battleship Yamato, which was not even considered before, became a huge hit.
As a member of the production staff, I can say that the foundation of Yamato is very well done. It was not just made to take advantage of the SF boom, but it matched the boom well and had enough built-in power to stand on its own.
It was a hit because of the wide range of Yamato fans, from elementary school students to young salarymen. So, if it had been released right after we completed the film, it would not have been a hit. In the end, it’s a good thing we sat on it. It’s the opposite of Star Wars. (Laughs)
Was it made as a children’s movie?
I don’t think of Space Battleship Yamato as a children’s film at all, and I wasn’t conscious of that. However, in making Farewell to Yamato, it is unique compared to other films. That is, we made it with Yamato fans in mind.
I’ve never actually met a Yamato fan, but Mr. Nishizaki has been in contact with them and knows how they think about Yamato, what kind of image they have, and what they dream of. So we wanted to fulfill their dreams as much as possible. That’s why we made it.
In the case of a normal movie, there are times when it is made because of box-office demands. Farewell to Yamato is not about the box office, but more about the dreams of these fans. I think that the effort to satisfy the dreams of this young fan base was ultimately a good thing for the production.
What were some of the difficulties in making an anime?
Each artist’s image is free-spirited and different. However, Mr. Nishizaki, the creator of the work, had a vague idea of the direction he wanted to take. Leiji Matsumoto is the one who embodied it in a science fiction way. I, as a film expert, dramatized it in a cinematic way. The discussion became heated at times, but it was an interesting combination, and I think it turned out well.
Let me tell you what was so interesting about doing anime for the first time. First of all, even though we’re in the same film industry, the anime world has a different way of thinking. In other words, there are a lot of restrictions in the live-action world. There are constraints on actors: payroll, schedule, etc. And then there is the stage, which is a very expensive issue. In live-action, you have to create the characters and the stage. It’s not just one dramatic space.
In short, you have to think about economics from the very beginning, such as planning and scriptwriting. There are times when you think certain things are impossible right from the start. This, in turn, affects the development of the plan and script. You can have a very good idea, but it just may not possible.
The image is inevitably suppressed and becomes regressive. And when it comes to film productions, the budget is set at a certain amount, and it’s very important to have a good idea of what kind of film can be made with that budget. This is the reason Japanese films are becoming worse and worse.
So, in that sense, anime is free. We can make a beautiful woman, a handsome man, or a crabby old man with a crabby face, exactly as we imagine them. The stage can leap freely from Tokyo to the Earth, to the galaxy, and so on. (laughs) Nothing is impossible. I couldn’t be happier.
When I’m told, “Masuda-san, there is nothing impossible in animation, so please create images as you like,” I say, “Oh, that’s fine, let’s come up an image.” Then, I suddenly realized that I’ve been doing live-action for too long, because I started making the compromises I mentioned earlier. I guess I’ve lost the sense of “image.” (Laughs)
Mr. Nishizaki sweated and said “hmmm” and thought about things. He’s not satisfied with, “Oh, that’s all there is to it?” This was hard, but very interesting.
Also, this may be a little off topic, but last year I went to America three times to work on a documentary for a TV station. It was very informative. It was an overview of America’s military power. It was my first experience as a documentary filmmaker. As a writer of stories, I learned a lot of methodologies from these experiences, whether it’s anime or something else.
What about the hit factor and the fact that it’s a war film?
I was prepared for the claim that the last lines in Farewell to Yamato are the same as the kamikaze attack force at the end of the Pacific War. But this is fundamentally different. Kodai and his dead comrades are going to blow themselves up. It’s completely different if you consider the content.
I am a pacifist myself, and although I have never experienced war, I have lived with death during wartime. I believe that war should never happen. Even the theme of the documentary was the denial of war. However, postwar education in Japan has also been somewhat skewed in its denial of war. It is said that fighting immediately leads to war.
However, not only human beings, but also the entire ecosystem of the earth, including animals, is in a battle for survival. The survival of even one human being in society is a battle. It’s a way of life. In a strange way, the denial of war has become too widespread.
Men are to fight fair and square, and women are to fight and live in a feminine way. I want more people to have the same feeling in their hearts. I have always had that feeling. When I filmed Yu-chan’s action, the main character was fighting in that way. I also had that feeling with Watari-kun, making him fight for what was right for him, even if it meant taking the form of a Yakuza. Youth is a series of battles.
Yamato is popular for many reasons. Just like our generation was raised on fairy tales and literature, children today are brought up on mechanical things. I think this is what makes Yamato a dream. Of course, it’s also connected to science-fiction and there are all kinds of hit factors. But Yamato itself is the most important part because it was Japan’s greatest tragedy at the end of the Pacific War. There is the drama of Yamato choosing to die on a one-way voyage. In it, the Japanese see the tragedy of losing the war.
Thirty-three years later, it’s a joy to see it come back to life strongly and play an active role for Earth and for mankind. Human beings are good and evil, right and wrong, without any logic. We have a great desire to be strong. Since our defeat in the war, we have been stripped of our military power, and have been made to reflect on our guilt. Now, Yamato, or Japan, appears correctly as a hero of Earth and saves the human race. This is a dream that makes me happy.
Finally, what do you have in mind for the future of filmmaking?
I’m going to do “The Russo-Japanese War” at Toei. (Laughs)
I’d like to do action as well. I’d like to extract the image of a young man without political or social backgrounds and show how he lives his life until the very last minute.
Another thing I’d like to do is to show the state of Japan during the turbulent Showa period in a very epic way. After all, an epic poem is a man’s dream.