After that nice bump in August, Yamato world settled back down in September to match the slow pace we saw in July. However, fans must have sensed something in the air, because they came out in droves with live events and online activity to fill in the gaps. Here’s what it all added up to…
September 2 & 3: Otaru Anime Party 2023
Otaru is a port city in the northern region of Hokkaido, and for the past several years it has been the site of an event called the Anime Party. It is sponsored by a coterie of city organizations to promote tourism, and live events are held at multiple venues.
One of those events is a plastic model exhibition, which gave the members of HOBAS (Hokkaido BBY-01 Assocation) a golden opportunity to strut their stuff.
See photos of their display here
See more photos from Anime Party 2023 here
September 6: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 233
Hachette started September with the 63rd weekly volume for their giant Hyuga model. Construction continued on the interior hangar, which included the installation of metal magnets. As we learned on their 1/350 Yamato model, this enables panels to be removed to reveal the ship’s inner workings.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
See a modeler’s blog here
September 8: Emotion 40th Anniversary Youtube special, Ep. 6 part 1
Emotion is a division of the many-tentacled Bandai Namco company, specifically devoted to home video releases. Since 1989, the majority of Yamato LDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays have been released under the Emotion label, which first appeared in 1983. That makes this the 40th anniversary year for Emotion, and it’s being celebrated with a series of video talk shows documenting its most significant products.
Space Battleship Yamato is significant enough to earn three parts in this series. The first part, titled “Q&A you may not have heard before,” is an 18-minute conversation with Scriptwriter Hideki Oka and Domon’s voice actor Tasuku Hatanaka, and can be seen on Youtube here.
A lot of it will be opaque to you if you don’t understand Japanese, but you shouldn’t have much trouble with this impressive image, a single snapshot of all the productions from the “original era” (right side) and the “remake era” (left side).
Visit Emotion’s 40th Anniversary website here.
September 9: Giant Robots of Japan museum exhibit
No way around it, THIS is the type of event designed specifically to make anime fans stuck in other countries grind their teeth to powder.
It opened September 9 at the Fukuoka Art Museum, giving lucky visitors a beautifully-crafted immersive experience into the art and design of anime mecha. If you can get yourself on a plane, it will be there through November 12.
Yamato didn’t have any giant robots in it, but since the works of Studio Nue are well-represented, it was only fitting to include a nod to Yamato in their history.
These photos were posted on Twitter by fwks7841.
Dig deeper into the exhibit at the Twitter page here and the official website here. Both include promo videos and the website has a page devoted to goods for sale. Yes, there is an exhibition book. No, it’s not available elsewhere. Yet.
September 13: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 234
BIG MOVES in this volume! The circuit board for the display stand finally arrived, allowing modelers to finish it off and seal it up. This cleared the way for the final pieces to be added to Hyuga‘s underside and for the entire completed hull to be mounted. The upper decks were previously completed, but cannot be attached until the interior section is filled up.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
See a modeler’s blog here
September 16 & 17: Yokohama Modeler’s Club Joint Exhibition
The second hobby-related event of the month was a grand gathering of 27 different clubs for one giant blowout. Naturally, there was a strong representation of Yamato models; so strong it requires a separate photo gallery. See it here.
September 18: Series 1 on BS10 Star Channel
Viewers of the satellite TV channel BS10 got to start everything over again from the top when the HD remastered version of the original TV series began a new rebroadcast on this day. Yamato 2 would follow in October and Yamato III in November. Or you could just do it the easy way and watch all three series on demand on Amazon Prime from the start of the month (Japan platform, of course).
See a Star Channel promo video here
A nice side-bonus was a free remastered HD version of the original TV Episode 1, which was shown for a limited time on Youtube. Click here to see if it’s still available.
September 20: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 235
This week’s volume was considerably less sexy than last week’s, just the installation of a distributor box inside Hyuga‘s forward section. But it’s a necessity; this is a hub through which power is distributed to various internal lighting components.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
See a modeler’s blog here
September 22: Emotion 40th Anniversary Youtube special, Ep. 6 part 2
Two weeks after the previous special, Emotion continued the Yamato discussion with a primer titled “Quick Manual for starting with zero prior knowledge.” See it here,
This episode was also sort of a countdown; the third part would be released two weeks later on October 6 to mark Yamato‘s 49th anniversary.
September 23 & 24: Hama Exhibition
Three hobby events in a single month may be a record. If that record is ever broken, we all win. This one took place at the Washington Hotel in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture. See a huge photo gallery on Facebook here.
September 27: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 236
The last Hyuga volume for September returned to the interior hangar section and gave us something to gauge its scale; tiny, intricate stairs and safety rails around the edges. There’s been no indication that human figures will be offered, so some builders may have to go the DIY route.
Just 14 volumes remain after this one, scheduled to finish in the first week of January 2014. Hachette hasn’t yet said anything about a new 1/350 model to follow Hyuga, but if there is one it will likely be announced in November.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See an unboxing video here
See a modeler’s blog here
Also spotted in September
Fan art
With the tremendous amount of fan art posted online in September, you’d think there was an anniversary coming up. The volume of work was truly remarkable. You might say it went up to 11.
See a character gallery here and a mecha gallery here
Fan models
It’s amazing to consider that the hundreds (possibly thousands) of models that have been presented over the years are still around, but aren’t all in a museum somewhere. Anyway, their number only grows as amazing new variants are built month after month.
See the September discoveries here: Gallery A | Gallery B
Photos posted on Twitter by zakkaokusama
Dreamland
This is your periodic reminder that you share a planet with the greatest bicycle ever conceived. Pictured here is the May 1979 issue of Kindergarten magazine (published by Shogakukan) with a very special ad on the back cover.
Fan Artist Profile
Time to meet another of the talented and dedicated Yamato fans who delivers some of the amazing artwork we see here month after month. (Hot tip: enter the words “character fan art” or “mecha fan art” in the search bar to bring all the galleries to the top.)
Mudani178cm
1. What was your first Yamato experience?
When I was in elementary school, I bought a model magazine for the Gundam series, and it had a special feature on 2199. At the time, I only knew the title Space Battleship Yamato, and due to its limited theatrical release, I only came into contact with the main story when the TV broadcast of 2199 began.
2. What is your favorite aspect of Yamato?
The story takes place almost 200 years in the future, but even in the huge space battleships that do not exist on Earth today, there is a human presence that is no different from our own. That is my favorite part of Yamato.
3. Are you a Yamato collector?
I used to build models, but I don’t collect physical goods much anymore. I collect books of setting materials for my creative activities.
4. What is your most treasured Yamato item?
It is a poster with the signatures of the staff and cast that I received two years ago as a prize from the “Yamato Support Coloring Book” campaign. It still hangs in my work space.
5. What are your favorite drawing tools?
A wacom LCD tablet I bought a few years ago. It was not a cheap purchase, but I don’t think I would be where I am today without it.
6. Where can your work be seen?
I mainly post my illustrations on Pixiv. On the other hand, I frequently update my illustrations on Twitter (X), such as back stories, doodles, and various fantasies.
7. Does your family share your hobby?
I have told them “I love Yamato,” but I don’t know if they’ve ever seen it because we haven’t really talked about our hobbies. However, I am and always have been grateful to them regarding their affirmation of me living my hobby.
8. Please tell us something about your life outside your art.
I still keep in touch with friends I met through video games I played in high school, although many things have changed. I’m grateful to have hobbies other than Yamato so that I can live in peace even when there are no new releases or when the atmosphere in the fan community is uneasy (although this is a situation I don’t really want to imagine).
9. Are you involved in Yamato activities with other fans?
Lately, my work hasn’t been progressing well, so I haven’t had many opportunities, but I have two partners with whom I sort of share my worldview. They are both more knowledgeable in the military field than I am, so they give me advice on the concepts. We enjoy working together in a relaxed way. I also know several people with unique personalities, whose appearance and quirks I’ve borrowed for my art.
10. What do you hope to see in a future Yamato anime?
I’m looking forward to seeing a new “original experience” for fans like me who have never seen the original series.
11. What is your favorite anime after Yamato?
The Mobile Suit Gundam series is a milestone in TV animation, and I think it is unique in that it continues to evolve without being bound by tradition. People sometimes whisper the heartless comment that “Yamato could never become Gundam,” but I don’t think there’s any superiority or inferiority, just a difference in the direction of their evolution.
12. What would you like to say to Yamato fans around the world?
As a fan and a Japanese person, I’m very happy that Yamato, a work with extremely strong Japanese flavor that could only come from Japan, is loved beyond national borders. Nowadays, we can communicate across borders through the Internet, and I hope my activities will be of some help in spreading the wonders of Yamato throughout the world.
13. What should everyone know about Japan and its people?
I’m not in a position to say anything grand, but I believe the Japanese are a humble people, and that there is a strong tendency for them to not be very outspoken about things they like. This is especially true for so-called “otaku” hobbies such as anime and manga. However, at least on the Internet, they can say, “I love XX!” I would like you to actively communicate with them. As I mentioned earlier, the Internet is a wonderful tool for transcending language barriers. I hope to continue to communicate with as many people as possible through Yamato.
Yamatunes for September
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As a big fan of the original show from 1979-81, I would love to get some of the ship models. However, I’ve found it pretty confusing trying to find the differences between all the different product ranges. Maybe it’s because I can’t read Japanese. In any case, is there a guide somewhere that explains the differences between the different product lines? I had some Cosmo Fleet ones years ago, but I’d like to find something bigger (which I thought Mecha was, but it didn’t look much bigger when I saw in person), without having to glue a million pieces together. Any help?
One of the purposes of this website is to help you sort through the thousands of products made since the beginning. Each of the classic model kits is examined chronologically and by faction. Everything starts with Series 1, so if you go to that section of the site and click on “Merchandising,” you’ll find the starting points. The “model catalogs” are organized by faction. The “model kits” series is the chronological version and links forward.
If you’re talking about models and toys from the remake era, go to the 2199 and 2202 sections of the site.
The rule of thumb is that larger = more parts, so the scales will tell you the story there.
Thank you for that response, it was helpful. I guess what I’m trying to find are Yamato ships that don’t require any assembly at all, similar to the Star Wars Action Fleet. I’ll take a look through the site in the meantime!
There are lots of miniatures that fit that description. Look through the “merchandise” portion of the “Legacy Years” section and the sections for 2199 and 2202. Most of these went out of production long ago, but it will at least give you something to search for.
“As we creep slowly toward Yamato‘s 50th anniversary next year, reruns, concerts, and other events are on the rise.” I really, really, really hope Bandai keep making more 1/1000 kits. I know it’s hard to sell any ships other than the Yamato, Andromeda, or any of the Garmillas ships but I hope with the recent release of 2205 and said 50th anniversary, we get some more pre-painted 1/1000 kits of the background ships. (aka those ships that lack plot armor and are apparently built of explodium) I need to expand my model fleet!
Looking at you EDF patrol cruiser and destroyer, your molds exist, been waiting since 2019!!!
link below are the ships I’m referring to.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EFiP2v2U4AIZNVw.jpg