August 10: Mandarake Zenbu #117

Mandarake (pronounced Mon-da-RA-kay) is a legendary chain of stores in Japan, the deepest vault you can find of second-hand products for anime, manga, and all things that share their orbit. (Find out for yourself at their website here, and click on “Earth” for the English version.) Zenbu is their monthly catalog of auction items, which all by itself is a fantastic way to immerse yourself into the world of collectibles and almost as much fun to browse as the stores themselves.

Mandarake often publishes “themed” issues of Zenbu, as well; the October 2019 edition had a huge Yamato section, as you can see here. This month’s volume was essentially a tribute to the late great Leiji Matsumoto with all the chain’s Matsumoto-related products pooled into one place.

The catalog runs over 660 pages, and around 300 of them are packed full of merch from all over the Leijiverse: products in multiple categories from Yamato, Galaxy Express, Captain Harlock, and many others. This auction event was significant enough for the Akihabara store to customize itself for window shoppers as seen in the photo below.

Photo posted on Twitter by keiichifukuoka

And, of course, all the products up for auction could be viewed in showcases at every participating store. These mouth-watering (possibly eye-watering) photos were posted on Twitter by GTO.

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. It stayed open 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.

Photo posted on Twitter by the Yamato Production Committee

October 21: Be Forever Yamato screening at Fukuyanime 6

Big screen revival of Be Forever Yamato, complete with the Warp Dimension effect? Yes, please!

That’s what awaited fans at the 6th annual Fukuyanime convention in Fukuya Japan. The film was screened exactly as audiences saw it in 1980, hosted by remake writers Harutoshi Fukui and Hideki Oka. This audience was also treated to a new Yamato 3199 promo video and told to expect more news online November 14.

It turned out to be a substantial collection of new mecha designs, which can be seen here. The next day, some new character designs were posted here.

Oka and Fukui in the lobby, photos posted on Twitter by the Production Committee

Fan reactions (from Twitter):

The time has come for one of my dreams to come true again! To watch Be Forever on the big screen for the first time. – S Meijin

Photo posted on Twitter by Aoi2199

I’m glad I convinced my family to come see Be Forever at Fukuyanime. I heard various stories from various people!! I’m glad I still like Yamato!! – hamachan2001

For the special screening of Be Forever, apparently a blackout curtain that was thought to have been discarded was found, and the Warp Dimension was hurriedly recreated! Thank you to everyone involved! – Roward

Yamato decor at a local restaurant, photo posted on Twitter by the Production Committee

When the screening began, monaural sound could be heard. Then there was the sound of a dark curtain opening after Kodai’s line about passing through the dark galaxy! The double galaxy appeared before us with a stereo blast on a screen expanded to 16×9! For the second time in my life, I couldn’t help but cry out. It felt like a dream to experience it in a theater again. I’ll never forget it. – chin7chun8chun

It was an incredibly happy time. Cheers to everyone for good work. – kuro

November 3: Yamato Dawn Chapter continues

“A new story that heralds the dawn of Yamato‘s resurrection…”

September 2021 gave us the first new story from the original timeline since 2009. It was Aquarius Algorithm, the first novel in a series called Dawn Chapter that will fill the 17-year gap between Final Yamato and Resurrection. On this day, it was announced that the second novel is on the way for 2024 (exact publication date TBD). The promotional illustration above is by Umegrafix, the illustrator of the first book.

Read about the making of Aquarius Algorithm here

Read the first chapter here

November 22: Series 1 Blu-ray box reissued

Originally released in July 2012, this glorious box set has yet to be topped as the best way to watch the original 1974 TV series. Some episodes are accompanied by digital storyboards and scripts, and one option even puts a vintage TV screen around the video picture.

Read more about the 2012 edition here

Order it from Amazon.co.jp here or CD Japan here

A limited edition of this set sold by Yamato Crew included two bonus items (shown at right): a framed image of the original presentation booklet and a replica acrylic badge; both of these items were originally given out only to broadcasters.

December 7: Final Yamato LD game, download version

Not a dream! Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! After 38 years of obscurity, this astonishing artifact lives again! As of today, fans could download it directly to their Switch consoles from the Nintendo store in Japan. If they held out for another week, they could obtain the physical version.

Here’s what the Nintendo store had to say about the game:

Yamato launch! Fire the Wave-Motion Gun and save the Earth!

The laserdisc animation game Space Battleship Yamato was released by Taito as an arcade game in 1985. This game is a port of the arcade version with HD remastering and higher image quality.

Space Battleship Yamato is launched! This time, the mission is to destroy the invading enemy fleet, reach the water planet Aquarius, and stop its warp. Repeat the warp to Pluto, the space cavity, Aquarius, and Fortress Uruk, avoiding obstacles and enemy attacks while shooting them down and firing the Wave-Motion Gun to save the Earth!

What is an LD (Laser Disc) Game?

One of the game genres played in arcades in the mid-1980s, LD games used a laser video disc to display images. Because they displayed live-action and animated footage over an extended time, they were characterized by their ability to present detailed and beautiful images, which was not possible with video game graphics of the time.

In LD games, the game progresses when the player takes action in response to instructions that appear on the screen at certain moments. If the player misses an action, the game switches to a failed image, and after a certain number of misses, the game is over. This system is still used in some games as a quick time event (abbreviated as QTE).

December 14: Taito LD Game Collection

The physical version of this milestone set was released today with the Final Yamato LD game sharing space on a tiny cartridge with two of its contemporaries: Time Gal and Ninja Hayate. It’s a definite measure of our times that games that once required a sitdown booth to play in 1985 can now fit on something no larger than a sim card.

For the truly hardcore, a deluxe version was also released with a book and a Blu-ray detailing what must have been an intricate making-of process.

Rather than requiring players to run through all of Final Yamato in timeline order, all four stages of the game are accessible from the start. Scenes from the film are appended by a lot of new animation created specifically for gameplay. If you want to know more, and see how those scenes play out, read a detailed article here.

The website Famitsu had this to say about it:

The game begins, of course, with the scene of Yamato‘s launch. Of course, since this is a game, you have to avoid obstacles or you will end up wrecking the ship before it leaves on its journey, which is a rather uninteresting outcome. After the launch, the player has four scenes to choose from. All of the scenes have many highlights, but the scene with the Cosmo Tiger (fighter plane) is particularly interesting.

One element that is not present in the other two games is a 3D shooting element. The directional buttons (or analog stick) are used to aim and shoot enemy aircraft and bullets, but the judgment is not very strict, so it is very exhilarating.

The Cosmo Tiger scene is a mixture of QT and 3D shooting, where the player follows the arrows displayed on the radar screen. The sense of speed of the images experienced from the pilot’s viewpoint matches the music titled FIGHT Cosmo Tiger II played in the background, which is very good! I can assure you that it is worth buying the Taito LD Game Collection just to play this scene.

Unlike some game systems, the Japanese version is 100% compatible with US-based Switch consoles and there’s plenty of English text to ease you through it. Order it today from Amazon.co.jp here or CD Japan here.

To see the game in motion, here are clips players have posted on Twitter: