Yamato 2199 Discography, continued

Back up to the previous part

Part 6: Other Products

Over the course of Yamato 2199‘s tenure in theaters and on TV, fans in Japan had a parallel voyage available to them via the Onsen internet radio network: YRA Radio Yamato.

This was a weekly variety show starring Aya Uchida, the voice actress for Yuria Misaki with Analyzer’s voice actor Cho as co-host. Uchida’s fictional counterpart had the same job in Yamato 2199, entertaining the crew with an onboard radio show that became part of the ongoing story in Chapter 3. The real-world YRA program had several features, one of which was an actual radio drama starring Yuria Misaki. It followed her misadventures, escapades, capers, hijinks, and goof-ups on board the ship. Analyzer was there as a frequent foil, but most of the stories were told through her personal narrative or inner monologue.

This is, of course, difficult for a casual fan to get into since the language barrier is front and center with no visuals to aid the storytelling. But if you don’t mind hearing a squeaky-voiced youngster run around inside your favorite space battleship, it’s not a bad way to pass your time. It’s also interesting to note that the title narration is a dead ringer for that of the various Yamato radio dramas of yesteryear.

Three YRA CD’s were released, containing a total of 26 radio drama episodes averaging about 6 minutes apiece. Promotional text for each disc is translated below.

Volume 1

Tablier Communications Co. Ltd, TBZR-0069
Released Nov 21, 2012. First sold at movie theaters to accompany Chapter 3 on October 13

Yamato continues its desperate journey to save the Earth from extinction. In the midst of such a demanding journey comes a time of rest and relaxation with YRA Radio Yamato. Between her work shifts, cadet Yuria Misaki does a ship-wide broadcast, and this radio broadcast becomes a Drama CD! From their life-and-death struggles to day-to-day life on the sidelines to what’s currently on the ship cafe’s menu, it is full of information to help you enjoy Yamato 2199 more deeply!

…is it true?

Volume 1 contains episodes 1-10 with such content as the fuss of starting the radio program, struggling to make a preliminary test version, and various comings and goings from slapstick to serious! Yuria Misaki does her best to heal the hearts of Yamato’s crew via radio!

Ep. 1: A normal broadcast usually
Ep. 2: I can do it
Ep. 3: I will do radio!
Ep. 4: Operation Big Infiltration
Ep. 5: Let’s make a pilot!
Ep. 6: Knockin’ On My Door
Ep. 7: I can handle this
Ep. 8: Reading mail!
Ep. 9: Let’s go to the café!
Ep. 10: Rumbling
Bonus Track: studio guest talk with Yuki Mori

Cast:
Yuria Misaki (Aya Uchida)
Analyzer (Cho)
Bonus track guest: Yuki Mori (Noriko Kuwajima)

Volume 2

Tablier Communications Co. Ltd, TBCD-0124
Released June 26. First sold at movie theaters to accompany Chapter 6 on June 15

Yamato continues its desperate journey to save the Earth from extinction. In the midst of such a demanding journey comes a time of rest and relaxation with YRA Radio Yamato which broadcasts in peak form! Everything starts well, but somehow finishes in turbulence with an unexpected development…

Drama CD volume 2 includes broadcasts that were not heard in the anime with Yuria Misaki carrying out the second phase! It contains episodes 11-17 and takes on various challenges to finish with a secret of Yamato. There is also somehow a shower scene even though this is radio! There is also a bonus track included as an extra, and she even carries out her everyday duties properly! Yuria also reads a heartbreaking book and tries her best for the future of radio!

Ep. 11: Afternoon time
Ep. 12: The secret of Analyzer
Ep. 13: Midnight is the Golden Time of radio!
Ep. 14: House of Terror
Ep. 15: Starting a new menu!
Ep. 16: Alarm clock Yamato radio〜The New Day
Ep. 17: Looking into many corners!
Bonus track: Makoto’s counterattack

Cast
Yuria Misaki (Aya Uchida)
Analyzer (Cho)
Ep. 16 and Bonus track guest: Makoto Harada (Rina Sato)

Volume 3

Tablier Communications, Inc. TBCD-0125
Released Sept 11, 2013. First sold at movie theaters to accompany Chapter 7 on August 24

Yamato continues its desperate journey to save the Earth from extinction. And…Yamato is finally heading back to Earth! YRA Radio Yamato is here to talk all about it! However…these broadcasts were not part of the main story. There are a lot of broadcast accidents, but that’s the basic thrill of a live program.

This volume goes from Episode 18 to the end of the story. Lost memories return, there is a sequel to a popular segment, human limits are challenged, and Yuria Misaki delivers an outstanding performance! In the extra bonus track, the Captain finally appears as a guest! Radio reaches the heart of everyone!

Ep. 18: Keep on sailing
Ep. 19: Yamato’s library
Ep. 20: Yuri’s memo
Ep. 21: King of the frontier
Ep. 22: The end…?
Ep. 23: Refocus, Restart
Ep. 24: Big release! Turning the final corner!
Ep. 25: Songs change with time and people
Last episode: Nothing gonna stop us now
Bonus track: Studio guest talk: Juuzo Okita

Cast
Yuria Misaki (Aya Uchida)
Analyzer (Cho)
Bonus track guest: Juuzo Okita (Takayuki Sugao)

Volume 4

Tablier Communications, Inc. TBCD-0330
Released Dec 6, 2014. First sold at movie theaters to accompany
Yamato 2199 Ark of the Stars.

YRA’s original 26-episode incarnation ran concurrently with Yamato 2199 in 2012/13, then went on hiatus until September 2014, when it resumed with Episode 27. In this revamped version of the show, Eriko Nakamura (Mikage Kiryu) joined as a co-host. Like its predecessors, this CD collects the “drama” portion of the show, a side-story to the anime. The two characters team up with Analyzer for various escapades with these titles:

Ep. 27: Start the return journey, a new friend (I know)
Ep. 28: Confrontation and reconciliation and confrontation
Ep. 29: Yuria, Mikage, and Analyzer, all partners
Ep. 30: Listening message
Ep. 31: One-way radio,
Ep. 32: After talk till dawn
(Bonus) Kodai-kun’s close call (with guest star Daisuke Ono)

YRA Radio Yamato Talk Part complete CD

Tablier Communications, TBZR-0419/0420
March 25, 2015

The four previous YRA discs were numbered by volume and contained only the drama portions of the 37 episodes heard on internet radio station Onsen. By popular demand, this 2-disc set collects all the other content, referred to as the “talk part,” featuring voice actors Cho (Analyzer), Aya Uchida (Yuria Misaki) and Eriko Nakamura (Mikage Kiryu).

Disc 1 is an hour of special interviews with such VIPs as Director Yutaka Izubuchi, manga artist Michio Murakawa (who did the cover art this time), painter Naoyuki Katoh, singer Aira Yuuki, and others. Disc 2 is an archival DVD containing MP3 files of all 37 episodes. Their lengths vary from half an hour to a full hour owing to the removal of “drama parts.”

Winds Score book

Spielen Music, May 24 2013

Spielen Musik gave Yamato music buffs a new chance to stage their own live performance of the main theme when they published this elaborate collection of sheet music for an entire orchestral winds section. Music is arranged for 15 different instruments from piccolo to sax to Glockenspiel with additional parts for timpani and electric guitar, with an accompanying CD with an ideal recording. There is only one track on the disc, so unless you’re a Yamato music psycho-fan, you can probably afford to ignore it. But…for HOW LONG?

Yamato 2199 MV (Music Video)

Columbia COCX-1062 [Blu-ray], COBC-6481 [DVD] (Released July 24, 2013)

This one was a long time coming, and another welcome link to the past.

The original Yamato MVs were produced after the saga ended in 1983. Four of them were released in ’84 and ’85, one for each movie, and they provided a kind of epilogue with symphonic music artfully combined with footage chosen for its visual impact. The result was an elegant memoir freed up from the structural demands of a narrative. The series was only available for a brief time on VHS and LD, then vanished. (Read much more about it here.)

One of the best parts of the whole 2199 experience is watching elements of the past revived for the present, confirming that these things were remembered despite (perhaps because of) their fleeting presence.

The Yamato 2199 MV fits perfectly into the style of its predecessors, 45 minutes of music and footage that allow you to take in the artistry of both without dialogue or sound effects to override either. All the footage comes from the first half of the series, which suggests that another volume may follow.

See promo clips on Youtube here and here. See Columbia’s product page here.

The original Yamato MV was released on DVD and Blu-ray the same day as the 2199 volume. See clips from that one here and here.

Yamato 2199 MV [Music Video] Part 2

Columbia COCX-1073 [Blu-ray], COBC-6541 [DVD] (Released February 26, 2014)

This disc picks up where the first left off, specifically with Episode 14, and continues all the way to the end of the series in another 45-minute montage. More than half of the total run time is devoted to Chapter 7 (the last four episodes) where all the deepest drama can be found. Like all Yamato videos, it can be ordered from Amazon.co.jp or the more English-friendly CD Japan.

40th Anniversary Best Track Image Album

HATS Unlimited, HUCD-10172. Released December 3, 2014

Expectations were high when this new CD was announced, and it easily surpassed all of them when it was finally heard. Its 13 tracks reach back across the entire history of Yamato music, sampling liberally from the vintage catalog and rearranging the scores for new interpretations by some of Japan’s top artists. The most prominent among these is violinist Taro Hakase, whose rendition of the main theme provides the opening title for Ark of the Stars.

Stylistically, this collection is very reminiscent of the 1982 “Rhapsody” albums, which took the same approach for violin, guitar, and piano. In this case, however, each track showcases different instruments. Other than the new version of the opening theme, the real standout is a rendition of the White Comet theme with what sounds like a cathedral choir in full voice. Read much more about the project in Yamato 2199 Report 38 here.

Track list

01. Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Taro Hakase, Akira Miyagawa, Takefumi Haketa)
02. Overture (Takefumi Haketa)
03. Birth (Yuji Toriyama, Takefumi Hakata)
04. Scarlet Scarf (Nori Suzuki, Hirko Kashiwagi, Takefumi Haketa)
05. Iscandar (Hiroki Kashiwagi)
06. Hope to Tomorrow (Chisako Takashima)
07. Sasha (Yuji Toriyama)
08. White Comet (Takefumi Haketa)
09. Hero’s Hill (Weiwei Wu, Hiroki Kashiwagi)
10. Thoughtful people (Memories) (Iwao Furusawa)
11. Dessler the Rival (Takefumi Haketa)
12. Great Love (Yukie Nishimura, Weiwei Wu, Hiroki Kashiwagi)
13. From Yamato with Love (Yukie Nishimura, Yuji Toriyama)

The disc is highly recommend and can be ordered from either CD Japan or Amazon.co.jp.

One more bonus for listeners was a special tie-in episode of the streaming internet program YRA Radio Yamato that could be downloaded to mobile devices with a Japanese OS.


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