With the days dropping rapidly away until the Chapter 1 premiere, May activity picked up substantially with another wave of promotion from the head office and a general increase across the board. Here’s what the busy month looked like…
May 1: Yamato 2205 Episode 1 on TV
In the year 2205, Dessler searches for a planet for the Garmillas people to emigrate to, and finds Galman. On Earth, the 65th escort squadron is born with Yamato as its flagship. Among the young crew members training before launch is Ryusuke Domon, a young man with his sharp glare trained on Yamato.
Now here’s a great way to start a month; the broadcast debut of Yamato 2205. Episodes were shown weekly, Wednesdays at midnight on Japan’s channel BS11 starting May 1 and extending through June 19. For those who’d already seen it, there was an extra dimension on Twitter; live commentary by Series Writer Harutoshi Fukui.
See the Cosmo DNA commentary for this episode here
Read the Fukui commentary here
Photos posted on Twitter by elfriede
May 1: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 255
Hachette kicked off a month in which five new volumes of the Patrol Ship would be released. The first (volume 5 of 50) contained parts for the second gun turret, which were identical to the first.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
May 2: Shinya Takahashi art auction
Three new pieces by Sasha’s original character designer appeared on Yahoo Japan Auctions, adding to an already enormous collection. Get a better look at them here.
Promo art by Michio Murakawa for the May 18 rebroadcast
May 4: Radio Suite Yamato 1974
The sixth annual 4-hour Yamato radiopalooza took place on 775 (Nanako) Live FM with hosts Andro Umeda and Michio Murakawa along with some special guests. The theme this year was “back to the origin” with most of the attention on the original series.
Hour 1 was filled by a conversation with the most special of all possible guests: Harumi Ichiryusai, formerly known as Yoko Asagami, the voice of Yuki Mori herself. She discussed the full arc of her acting career from the very beginning, talking at length about memorable recording moments. The hosts did their usual deep dive, comparing TV episode recordings with the corresponding scenes in radio drama form. They also played some of Asagami’s solo songs, discussed her early 80s radio show Animetopia (sample it here), and finished with a taste of what she does now, rendering the story of Yamato in the form of a classical dramatic reading.
The second hour was a treasure trove of previously unreleased music, alternate arrangements that inject new life into nostalgic BGM tracks that have become familiar friends over the decades. Hopefully they will be part of the new releases being promised for the 50th anniversary.
The third hour examined the making of the original series, and the final hour was devoted to listener requests and rarities.
Time was also spent reviewing the impressive list of concert events being planned for the anniversary year, a total of 11 between now and October 6. The October 6 concert may in fact be the best of the bunch; a very rare full performance of the original Symphonic Suite Yamato to be held at Galaxcity Nishiarai Cultural Hall in Tokyo. (Promo image above.)
Listen to two vintage songs by Yoko Asagami: Sad Satin Doll | Street Corner Cafe (with Rihoko Yoshida)
Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s memorial service, photo by Anton Kholodov
May 6: Magmix article
Every few years, it seems, somebody discovers that the man most responsible for Space Battleship Yamato was a bit of an oddball who didn’t follow the standard cultural norms. Entertainment website Magmix is the latest, publishing a short article with the title The Inappropriate Life of Yoshinobu Nishizaki.
How can you resist a headline like that? Answer: you can’t. Read the article here.
May 8: 2205 Episode 2 on TV
On the day Yamato sets sail, it is learned that Domon used illegal means to board the ship. At the hands of its new crew, Yamato begins to move forward with Domon at the helm. Susumu Kodai, who has become captain, challenges his resolve by entrusting the ship to him.
See the Cosmo DNA commentary for this episode here
Read the Fukui commentary here
Photo at left posted on Twitter by elfriede
May 8: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 256
The second Patrol Ship volume for May jumped forward to the leading segment of the gun deck, along with a lighting box for the fiber optics.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
Photo posted on Twitter by Kota Aldebaran
May 11 & 12: Shizuoka Hobby Show 2024
As Japan’s leading plastic model manufacturer, Bandai had a major presence at the 62nd Shizuoka Hobby Show. For Yamato fans, it’s always a moment of truth; will there be something new for us this year? And the answer is…of course!
Photo posted on Twitter by Bandai Spirits
As this display attests, the Asuka variation set (which we already knew about) will be joined by a brand new 1/1000 Yamato with option parts to create either the 2205 or the 3199 version. There will also be a separate LED lighting kit. The official description is as follows:
Bandai Spirits announced that a plamodel of Yamato from REBEL 3199 will be released in November: a 1/1000 Space Battleship Yamato 3199 (3rd remodel type: Medal of War Award Ceremony Commemorative Paint). The anchor mark on the bow is expressed with a convex mold. Bow parts without the anchor mark are also included. The price is 6050 yen.
Representatives from Bandai were on hand to team up with a group called LINKL PLANET for a live 30-minute talk show on what’s happening in the world of Yamato models. They examined the kits in the display and announced that a 1/1000 Hyuga is finally in development.
Watch the talk show on Youtube here
See a photo gallery of the Bandai display and talk show here
See all the fan-made Yamato models here
See more photos of the forthcoming Yamato kit at the Bandai website here
May 15: 2205 Episode 3 on TV
Countless black spears pierce Garmillas, accelerating the melting of the planet’s core. Soon the planet begins to collapse, the ground cracks open, and the remaining people are swallowed up by magma. Dessler’s determination to save as many as possible is in vain, and now Garmillas faces its final hour!
See the Cosmo DNA commentary for this episode here
Read the Fukui commentary here
Photos posted on Twitter by elfriede and pipipi1014
May 15: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 257
The third volume of the month was the largest so far with the full stretch of the Patrol Ship’s gun deck. A lighting test confirmed activation of the optical fibers.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
May 19: Isao Sasaki on TV
A spry, energetic, freshly-82-year-old Isao Sasaki made another broadcast appearance, and sang exactly what the fans wanted to hear. See a clip here and enjoy this description from entertainment website Iza…
Fans are moved by Isao Sasaki’s live singing of Space Battleship Yamato!
Singer and voice actor Isao Sasaki appeared live as a guest on NHK’s Nodo Jiman broadcast on the 19th. At the end of the show, he entertained his fans when he enthusiastically sang his signature song, the theme for the anime Space Battleship Yamato.”
Sasaki appeared on the live broadcast from Kashima City, Saga Prefecture, with enka singer Fuyumi Sakamoto. Born on May 16, 1942, he had just celebrated his 82nd birthday three days earlier, but he sang the full chorus with a voice that didn’t make him seem his age. The powerful performance surprised many viewers, and after the broadcast, “Isao Sasaki” trended on Twitter.
Fans commented, “The great king of anime songs is on Nodo Jiman.”
“I was shocked by his powerful singing voice, I can’t believe he’s 82!”
“His voice is the same as always, and I can only say that it’s amazing.”
“Cool! I got goosebumps.”
“I’m so excited.”
“It’s been 50 years since this song was released. I was so moved I started crying.”
“I hope he stays healthy forever.”
Comments like these were posted one after another, creating great excitement.
May 19: Tsuruga article
After the statues on Tsuruga’s Leiji Matsumoto Symbol Road made the news in April (see Report 5), another news site named J-Town took a look for themselves and unearthed some of what makes Tsuruga an ideal place for such a unique attraction.
Read their article here
Photo posted on Twitter by Moyoco Anno
May 21: Hideaki Anno’s birthday
Filmmaker/anime auteur/Yamato superfan Hideaki Anno got some extra attention when his wife Moyoco posted this birthday photo on Twitter with the following caption:
“The director turned 64 today. He looks like he’s having fun.”
A nice enough post, but not one you’d expect to be newsworthy, right? In a world where only the slightest tweak gets fans gossiping, you’d be wrong.
Click here to find out what happened next.
May 22: 2205 Episode 4 on TV
The Dezarium fleet attacks! Dessler’s fleet continues to fight despite being isolated. Earth’s government, fearing that the war will spread, forbids Yamato to intervene. Domon and the other young people are not satisfied with the attitude of the adults and plan to revolt…
See the Cosmo DNA commentary for this episode here
Read the Fukui commentary here
Photos posted on Twitter by elfriede
May 22: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 258
The Patrol Ship’s third gun turret was the subject of this volume. Construction was the same as the first two, but the color change indicates this one goes underneath the hull.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
May 23: TV announcement
More 50th anniversary plans were announced today by Japan’s BS10 Star Channel, which is rolling out the full catalog of movies again for summer viewing through August. For the first time, it will also include the ultra-rare Yamato 2 and Yamato III compilation films.
Read the official announcement here and see a 30-second TV commercial here
May 24: Isao Sasaki profile
Propelled by Sasaki’s May 19 TV performance, a blogger named Mieko decided to dig up some history and unearthed quite a bit that should be new to his international fans.
Read Mieko’s blog entry here
May 24: REBEL 3199 Chapter 1 news
The biggest moment of the month brought us an exciting new wave of promotion. Chapter 1, Dark Invasion, opens on July 19. The image above gives us its ominous tagline: We Can No Longer Exist Together.
The spectacular new key art was featured on the next round of advance tickets with a bonus poster. It also showed up on a new flyer (presumably the last one before release) with a second tagline reading:
What will you tell your loved ones then?
The text at the far left reads as follows:
A time of endless calamity and suffering — with the will to “resist” in our hearts, the new Space Battleship Yamato is launching!
The word “resist” is appended by the word “rebel” in English, which gives us an explanation for at least part of the series title.
See a textless version of this art at the bottom of the page.
The back of the flyer gave us another new image, Yamato in drydock at Asteroid Icarus with text reused from the official website (see earlier reports for translation).
The official site delivered another stunning piece of art depicting the approach of Dezarium’s super weapon and an Earth fleet struggling to hold it off. The artist is the one and only Naoyuki Katoh, and this piece will adorn the Blu-ray slipcase.
The limited edition Blu-ray will be sold in theaters as usual when the film opens, and the standard edition is scheduled to go on sale October 30. The disc will come with 50 minutes of bonus features, and the first pressing includes a Ginga mini-model (shown at right). You can already preorder it here:
Amazon.co.jp version 1 (with Ginga)
Amazon.co.jp version 2 (with Ginga and acrylic stands)
Amazon.co.jp version 1
(with Ginga, acrylic stands, and character illustration)
CD Japan limited edition (available July 26)
CD Japan standard edition (no bonus items)
Next up, the official site added a substantial number of new entries to the character and mecha profiles, giving us a few surprises as the roster was filled out.
Read the new character entries here | See the entire collection here
Read the new mecha entries here | See the entire collection here
And finally, the best part of all: a new trailer! Despite being only a minute long, it’s packed with almost 50 shots and some juicy new lines of dialogue. Are you wondering if we’ve got a full breakdown with translations for you? Wonder no longer.
Click here to watch the trailer, then click here to get all the context!
May 25: Saga of a Space Battleship, Episode 1
Fans have been making their own CG Yamato films for many years, but until now they’ve always been on the other side of the language barrier. That finally changed on this day when Jeff Lincon’s Typhon Productions released the first episode of a whole new series.
Don’t waste another second reading this when you can watch it on Youtube here!
Learn more about the project here
May 27: Advance screening announced
If you were lucky enough to be in Japan at the right time, you had a chance to see REBEL 3199 Chapter 1 over a month before the rest of the world. An advance screening took place at the Shinjuku Piccadilly Theater (home ground for almost all Yamato events since 2012) on June 12 with an all-star stage greeting.
The announced lineup was as follows: General Director Harutoshi Fukui, Director Naomichi Yamato (yep, that’s his real name), Daisuke Ono (Kodai), Houko Kuwashima (Yuki), Kenji Akabane (Nanbu), and host Eriko Nakamura (Mikage Kiryu). Look for the full brace of media coverage in our next report!
May 29: 2205 Episode 5 on TV
After reaching Iscandar, Yamato and its two companion ships join Dessler’s fleet. In order to warp Iscandar further, Dezarium is targeting the planet Garmario in the Bolzon system as an energy resource. In order to block this strategy, Kodai decides to destroy Garmario with the Wave-Motion Gun…
See the Cosmo DNA commentary for this episode here
Read the Fukui commentary here
Photos posted on Twitter by elfriede
May 29: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 259
The final Patrol Ship volume of May hopped down to the lower bow with the first hull segment, allowing builders to mount last week’s gun turret. Just 41 volumes to go!
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
May 29: Ehime Shimbun article
The month closed out with some new words from lifetime Yamato superfan and writer Ryusuke Hikawa, who penned an article about the 2205 TV broadcast for the Deep Reading column in the Ehime Shimbun [newspaper]. Let’s see what he had to say about it…
The weight and maturity of half a century
Ryusuke Hikawa (Anime researcher)
Space Battleship Yamato, which revolutionized the history of Japanese anime, first appeared as a TV series in 1974. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the series, and Yamato 2205 (released in theaters in 2021-22) is being broadcast. This is the latest work in the series, which was rebooted with Yamato 2199 in 2012.
By deeply reading into the elements scattered throughout the original work, the story structure delves into human nature with the latest visual technology. It continues to attract interest by making efforts to be enjoyed by both new and old fans.
Just as the work itself has grown in depth over the years, the process in which the characters mature and change according to their age is a major highlight. For example, Dessler and the interstellar nation Garmillas, who were enemies in the first work, have come to make peace with the Earth side. Although grudges do not disappear, the focus is on how to act toward tomorrow.
2205 welcomes a new generation crew and depicts further turning points in all eight episodes. In the previous series, Yamato 2202, Susumu Kodai, Yuki Mori and others sacrificed themselves for the prosperity of humanity. In addition to carrying that heavy cross, they also have the responsibility of predecessors, guiding the next generation.
The situation enters a new phase when the mysterious force Dezarium attacks the planet Garmillas and destroys it. The story of Garmillas and Earth teaming up to rescue planet Iscandar and its refugees, adrift in the universe, should provide great hope to young viewers who will carry the future.
The story continues in Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199, which will be released in theaters this July. Will the enemy come from “a thousand years in the future”? The story of 2205, which bridges us toward that meaningful title, is sure to make viewers realize the weight and maturity of Yamato‘s half-century history.
Also spotted in May
Fan art
Since the start of the year, the quality and quantity of Yamato fan art have been steadily climbing in tandem. It’s almost like we’re in the midst of a golden anniversary or something.
See the latest character gallery here and mecha gallery here
Fan models
No ship model is too obscure to attract the interest of a dedicated fan, as they’ve prove time and time again with garage kits, custom builds, and mashups. See the latest photo galleries here: Earth mecha | Everone else
Jumbo soft vinyl sighting
What’s it like to bring home and unbox the largest Yamato ever sold to the public? Thanks to a fan with the Twitter handle “nether spirit,” we can get an answer without shelling out hundreds of dollars.
See a collection of photos and video clips on Twitter here: part 1 | part 2 | part 3
Fan Artist Profile
Time to meet another of the talented and dedicated Yamato fans who delivers some of the amazing artwork we see here in the character galleries 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.)
Kuroneko Works
1. What was your first Yamato experience?
I think it was a plastic model (Mecha Collection) that was sold for 100 yen at a local model shop at the time. I think my first visual experience of Yamato was when Farewell to Yamato was broadcast on TV.
2. What is your favorite aspect of Yamato?
Not only are the mecha cool, but I also like how the characters cooperate to overcome difficulties while each has their own conflicts.
3. Are you a Yamato collector?
I don’t collect items to the extent that I would call myself a collector. I enjoy Yamato mainly through making doujinshi manga and illustrations.
4. What is your most treasured Yamato item?
I had a chance to work with Yamato for the first time in the past. It was for Bandai’s plastic model 1/1000 Earth Federation Andromeda Class DX. I drew the SD characters in the instruction manual. (See it here.)
5. What are your favorite drawing tools?
I used to use poster colors and COPIC (color markers) but now I mainly work with a Wacom LCD tablet. I still draw rough sketches and manga roughs with pencil paper.
6. Where can your work be seen?
My work can be found on Twitter and Pixiv, as well as in doujinshi distributed at comic markets and doujin events.
7. Does your family share your hobby?
They don’t know enough about it to share, but they don’t deny me anything I like.
8. Please tell us something about your life outside your art.
I used to do character design for video games. My hobbies are watching F1 and motorsports, occasional model making, and video games. These days I spend most of my time in my vegetable garden. This is my Yamato farm.
9. Are you involved in Yamato activities with other fans?
I interact with people through doujinshi works at events such as Yamaket and Comic Market.
10. What do you hope to see in a future Yamato anime?
Whether it is a remake, spin-off, or a new story, I hope that they will continue to send out official works, even if it takes some time.
11. What is your favorite anime after Yamato?
I can’t put them in order, but my favorite anime that comes to mind are the Mobile Suit Gundam series, Spaceship Sagittarius, After School Pleiades, Fushigi Magic Fanfan Pharmacy, Cyber Formula, and Cowboy Bebop.
12. What would you like to say to Yamato fans around the world?
Since the birth of Yamato, many works have been produced over the past 50 years. There are many different values and interpretations between generations, and people have many different ways of perceiving, and diverse reasons for “like” and “dislike.” With the increase in interaction between many people through social media, there has been an increase in the number of people who are interested in Yamato.
I sometimes think it’s a shame that differences in each person’s feelings can lead to irreconcilable conflicts, and that people sometimes to reject things out of hand. I hope we can share each other’s thoughts and feelings, and deepen our mutual understanding of each other’s likes and dislikes, such as “Oh, I never thought of interpreting it that way.”
13. What should everyone know about Japan and its people?
I believe that people have a deep attachment to the things they like and cherish through the works, products, and tools they have created and accumulated over the years. I hope we can enjoy the things we love together.
Yamatunes for May
Click here
Click here
Click here
Click here
Click here
Click here
What’s Next
June was the last full month before Yamato world launched on a whole new voyage, and the anticipation just kept on climbing, especially with the start of concert season and the first advance screening. Head on back here next month to catch up on all the excitement! Until then, follow our Facebook page for daily posts and breaking news!
Meanwhile, thanks to a lucky accident in timing, the vintage reports will be in sync with the 3199 reports for several months to come. Click here to see the news from this time in 1980, and take a parallel voyage through Be Forever across 44 years!
Cosmo DNA writer/editor Tim Eldred here, inviting you to a party that’s just one click away. If you’ve enjoyed this website and my various Star Blazers comics, it’s my duty to tell you that they represent only a fraction of a career that spans more than 40 years. ARTVALT is where I open my archives and roll out all sorts of weird and cool things ranging from unknown to world famous! New updates happen on the first of every month!
And HEADS UP: a brand new sci-fi webcomic titled The Last Blue Eagle is underway! The first two chapters are ready for you RIGHT NOW! Click here to join the fun!
