Countless young artists were inspired by Yamato in their youth, but only a few rose to the ranks of those who would keep it alive as adults. Masahiko Okura is one of them, having contributed from 1983 to the present day, and as you’ll see in this interview, he hasn’t lost an ounce of passion in all that time.
From Tim Eldred’s 2013 Yamatour, a detailed conversation with the talented director of Yamato 2199 episodes 9 and 19 with scene-by-scene commentary, inside stories, exclusive artwork, thoughts about the future, and much more.
Hideaki Ito and his peers are all dismissive of praise and humble about the roles they played as fans in Yamato history. But the simple fact is that without them doing what they did precisely when they did it, it is doubtful that we could call ourselves anime fans today since anime as we know it would probably not exist. [2 pages]
Five Yamato fans from all over the world (USA, Australia, and Russia) converge on the home of Leiji Matsumoto in December 2010 and ask him everything you probably always wanted to ask. What were his answers? Find out right here. [3 pages]
Mr. Kobayashi has also enjoyed a unique Yamato career, having been a major participant in the new projects of the late 80s/early 90s. He then returned to get Resurrection over the finish line and take the lead on the 2012 Director’s Cut. This interview took place the week of its premiere in February 2012.
Nobuteru Yuuki grew up with TV anime, drawing everything he loved, publishing fanzines, and taking part in his school’s “anime/manga study group.” He got into anime at just the right time to land some of the biggest credits anyone could ask for, including the dream job of designing the characters of Yamato 2199.
Elsewhere on this site is one of the rarest Yamato artifacts of all time, the “lost” manga adaptation of Series 1 by Yuki Hijiri. but even rarer was the chance to meet Mr. Hijiri himself. Mangaka is the Japanese term for a creator of Manga. As you will see, Mr. Hijiri is as Mangaka as they come.
For years, his work in Japanese doujinshi earned him the title of premiere Yamato fan artist, and when the time came to choose an artist to adapt Yamato 2199 into manga form, there was no better candidate. Here, Mr. Murakawa speaks at length about this amazing project for the first time anywhere.
Nobuyoshi Habara is one of us. By that, I mean that he is a dedicated fan of Space Battleship Yamato who would be following it avidly if he didn’t happen to be working on it. As a contributor to both Resurrection and 2199, he has the unique distinction of bridging Yamatos old and new.
Mr. Tenjin resides in Japan’s elite category of go-to painters for package design and anime production art. Best known for his long association with Macross, he also holds a record for most Yamato mecha painted by one artist. Here you will find talk of robots, model kits, and what it’s like to be Tenjin.
