Anime Frontline
All 3 were huge hits!
“Yamato explodes! Armageddon is approaching! Space is hot!” An intense March saw the release of three blockbuster films that anime fans were excited about, each with a catchphrase. Each film was carefully made with unprecedented production costs and time. So what was the reaction immediately after the release? Let’s hear from the publicity people and the fans.
Spring’s Big 3 final round up!
Space Battleship Yamato, The Final Chapter
Thanks to the passion of producer Nishizaki and the rest of the staff, work on Yamato continued right up until the film’s release. There were also some delays, which are rare in the film industry.
The total number of spectators on the first day, March 19, across seven theaters in Tokyo was 17,190. The total for the first weekend reached 94,408. The fan base is broad, ranging from junior and senior high school students to people over 60 years old, demonstrating that Yamato‘s popularity has continued for ten years. The gender ratio is 60% male and 40% female. Advanced sales were estimated at 600,000 tickets.
Although there were hardly any promotional events this time, a grand Yamato farewell party was held at the Tokyo Kousei Nenkin Hall on March 15. Apparently, about 10,000 devoted fans applied after seeing the newspaper advertising. The event, which lasted about two hours, brought together voice actors and singers who had worked on Yamato.
Mr. A, publicity officer:
It’s been running for ten years now, and it’s the origin of theatrical animation, so it’s like the epic drama of the anime world. What’s great is that the content of the drama can be easily explained to people of all generations.
For a PR guy, the hardest part is that, like with any anime, the ending is kept secret. As the release date approaches, I can’t help but want to talk about it. With anime, I think the most enjoyable part for the audience is the end, so it would be unfair for a PR guy to talk about it. Another thing I struggled with was remembering all the mecha, the characters, and the relationships between them
Speaking of memorable scenes, it has to be the last scene, when Yamato splits in half and is pulverized. The first three films ended in a way that left the audience feeling unsatisfied, so I think this will be the first time they will see and hear the end of Yamato.
Now that I’ve safely graduated from the series, I feel like a generation has come to an end. Movies have a cycle of 3 to 5 years, so having it last for ten years feels like a milestone.
Motofumi Watanabe, 4th year university student:
This is the best of the Yamato series. There are a lot of cheesy lines, but the death of the young Dengil boy, Yamato‘s huge explosion, and Captain Okita‘s final moments were particularly moving. However, even though it was a flashback, I wish they hadn’t had Yamato take off during the end credits. Doesn’t it feel like they were really setting off for the next episode?
I think Kodai was a really terrible person in this one. If they hadn’t had that long conversation when Lugal and Kodai met after the forced landing on Uruk, Aquarius wouldn’t have warped, and Okita wouldn’t have had to die. The battle scenes were pretty good, and the explosions and warps were well done. I hope they make the next episode about three hours long with just battle scenes.
Harmagedon
This anime, produced by Kadokawa pictures and featuring a top-notch staff, including Director Rintaro, is sure to bring new power to the world of anime.
On opening day, March 12, the film attracted 70,481 viewers across 320 theaters nationwide. The total attendance by March 23 was 732,508. Advanced ticket sales were approximately 550,000. At this rate, the final box office revenue is sure to be ¥1.2 billion, possibly ¥1.5 billion. According to the data, the film seems to have been overwhelmingly more popular in the regions outside Tokyo.
As an event, they had people involved with the film write messages on a globe about 2m in diameter, then they took it around the country. Then they had a big party with a psychic. Everyone was stunned when he bent a spoon right in front of them. The globe from the nationwide tour is being kept in a safe place.
Mr. H, Toho Towa publicity department:
If we had any difficulties in terms of advertising, it was because, although it was an anime, we didn’t want to give the impression that it was an anime beforehand, so we didn’t do any real advertising until the new year. So, for a while advanced ticket sales were poor, and I had a constant feeling that no matter what we did, it wouldn’t sell. When I visited the production site at the end of the year, they were airing spots for Crusher Joe over and over on the radio in the middle of the night, and everyone was like, “it’s Joe again,” and I hated that.
Speaking of memories, there’s a scene in the movie where a sign saying “Genma” appears. When I was shown the art on set, the character for “Genma” had been misspelled. So I asked, is this a joke? And they said, “Oh, we need a retake!” It’s funny to think that if I hadn’t noticed, it would’ve been left in as a joke.
Also, promotional events for a film, and the film itself, are completely separate things. I’d like people who truly love film to see the film, not just see the promotion.
Golgo 13 will be released in late May. Harmagedon has captured the attention of audiences beyond anime fans, so I’d like to continue in the same vein with Golgo 13. It’s a work that combines hand drawn pictures with computer graphics. I hope you’ll all see it.
Katsumi Hashimoto, fourth year university student:
My impression was that it wasn’t that great. The characters were realistic, the movement was spectacular, and the art was technically fantastic, but the theme was so big that even in a movie that was just over two hours long, I felt it could only be taken in as part of the message. I also felt that it was lacking that the story didn’t fully portray the members other than Joe, Luna, Vega, and Sonny.
It’s also disappointing that the film didn’t feel like it had a long duration. I was so overwhelmed by the background that I didn’t have time to enjoy the visuals at my leisure. This was all the more disappointing, since the optical techniques and the fire dragon were shockingly powerful.
If they were to make it again, I’d like to see a film that’s about four hours long with intermissions, like Gone With the wind.
Crusher Joe
Sunrise, the Japanese studio behind the hits Gundam and Ideon released their first original feature length anime, which was a passionate message from the Yasuhiko/Takachiho duo!
The total number of audience members on the first and second days, March 12 to March 13, was 145,000 across 1,656 theaters nationwide. The ratio of men to women was 7 to 3. Approximately 600,000 advance tickets were sold. It seems that the attendance was higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
Advanced ticket sales began on January 20, and featured a stage greeting, a first time for a pre-sale event in film history. It was an unusual event with some people staying up all night to see it. Then from February 6, early screenings were held in Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Hokkaido, attracting an estimated 30,000 people at 40 cinemas. Final distribution revenue is expected to be ¥800 million.
Mr. K, publicity department, Shochiku:
I was a little worried because it wasn’t a film adaptation of a TV series like Gundam, but an animated feature film. But it turned out to be a hit, and the audience numbers were as expected, so as a publicist, I’m relieved.
The four person group consisting of Director Yasuhiko, original author Takachiho, and voice actor Run Sasaki toured the country. They called themselves the pandas. They got along well, and Sasaki in particular was very funny.
Speaking of memories, Mr. Yasuhiko’s characters were incredibly detailed and wonderful. It felt like a handmade animation. Devoted fans would lineup overnight for events, even a week in advance, and I vividly remember seeing them. I feel like Crusher was a film made for the fans. Never before has an anime been made with so much effort put into it. I think it’s probably one of the top 10 anime films in history.
Shigeru Yanagisawa, 3rd year university student:
I watched it all in one go. The Joes were moving all over the screen, just like they were in the manga. I was so moved! Having read the original manga, I was excited to see what would happen in the anime, and they recreated the world of Crusher Joe just as I expected.
Scenes of fighters and other mecha flying at high speed, fights on a pirate island, and a disco riot were all exciting and suspenseful.
The simple and clear story of a battle between good guys and bad guys, along with the gags and backstage jokes that within the story that moves along at a light pace, is irresistible to fans. It’s just over two hours, but it goes by a flash. There was applause when it finished. It’s truly the number one anime movie as entertainment!