1. What was your first Yamato experience?
My first experience with Yamato occurred when I was about two years old. My parents borrowed a VHS tape from a cousin, and we watched The New Voyage.
Although I was only two at the time, the image, displayed on an old CRT television, of Yamato returning to Earth battered and broken after its battle with the White Comet Empire, and then standing majestically against the title background of The New Voyage, left an incredibly powerful impression on me. I remember it vividly to this day.
Since I was so young, I watched the series simply because I thought Yamato was cool. Consequently, I didn’t start with the original 1974 Space Battleship Yamato. Instead, I watched the films in the sequence of The New Voyage leading up to Final Yamato. Later, when I finally watched Farewell, even with my child’s mind I felt puzzled as to why characters who were supposed to have died in Farewell had suddenly come back to life in The New Voyage. It wasn’t until I reached elementary school that I finally understood the narrative mechanics behind that discrepancy.
In terms of my generation, I belong to the era of Resurrection and 2199. However, by the time I was born, the Yamato saga had already reached its conclusion. During my sensitive and impressionable childhood, a time when moments seemed to stretch on into eternity, I felt a deep sense of loneliness because there wasn’t a single friend around me with whom I could share my passion and talk about Yamato.
2. What is your favorite aspect of Yamato?
The premise: the battleship Yamato, which met a tragic end and sank to the ocean floor in the Pacific War era, is resurrected in the distant future as a space battleship, empowered by technology provided by the planet Iscandar, in order to save all of humanity and rescue the Earth. And time and again, whenever a new threat looms over Earth, Yamato finds a way to snatch victory from the jaws of death, battered yet undaunted, fighting to preserve peace across both Earth and the cosmos. It was this heroic spirit that truly moved me and made me fall in love with the series.
To me, Yamato is not merely an inorganic, cool, or purely mechanical starship; it is a distinct “individual” character, imbued with a living soul.
I adore every single element: the human dramas unfolding both within and outside the ship, driven by a cast of captivating characters, the universal theme of “love” that envelops the entire series, and the magnificent music and sound effects, still celebrated to this day, that harmonize with and elevate the Yamato saga.
Personally, the character in Space Battleship Yamato who holds the most special place in my heart, the one I feel the deepest connection to, is Sasha. Her presence stands out as something truly unique among the cast, and she serves as a major driving force behind my own creative activities as a Yamato fan artist. I believe this will become abundantly clear from the fan art I have created.
My first encounter with her took place in The New Voyage, a time when I myself was just a two-year-old infant. It feels as though I have grown up right alongside her. Among the female characters in the series, she is one of the very few with whom I am able to truly empathize on a deeply personal level.
For many Sasha fans, falling in love with her beauty and becoming a fan likely happened around the time they reached adolescence. However, having watched Sasha since my earliest childhood, long before I hit puberty, I feel a connection to her akin to that of a close childhood friend, a girl I’ve known and trusted for as long as I can remember.
Precisely because of this perspective, her ultimate fate in the original version of Be Forever came as a profound shock to me. Conversely, when she reappeared in the remake series more than a decade after its inception, I was moved to tears. As the story continues into the 3199 era and beyond, I can’t help but hope that she will be spared the short, tragic end she met in the original series, and instead find happiness through a new, hope-filled destiny.
I continue to create my fan art today with these hopes and sentiments in my heart.
3. Are you a Yamato collector?
While I wouldn’t describe myself as the kind of avid collector who feels the need to acquire every single piece of merchandise, I do invest without hesitation in items that serve as a positive source of energy for both my daily life and my creative endeavors. The format doesn’t matter to me, whether it’s plastic models, books, acrylic standees, or anything else.
Back when I was in elementary school, the Space Battleship Yamato saga had already reached its conclusion. Furthermore, living in the countryside meant that Yamato merchandise was nowhere to be found in local stores. Out of sheer necessity, I often ended up buying plastic models of the actual WWII battleship instead.
One day, seized by an overwhelming desire to finally get my hands on a model of the Space Battleship, I hatched a wild scheme in a moment of youthful recklessness. I decided I would attempt to modify a standard battleship Yamato model into the Space Battleship. I was attempting to carve out the opening for the Wave-Motion Gun using a utility knife when my hand slipped. I ended up slicing my left thumb deeply, a wound that required several stitches to close. That scar remains deeply etched into my thumb to this very day, and whenever I look at it, I am vividly reminded of that incident from my childhood.
Looking back now, all of those experiences, every single one of them, have become fond, nostalgic memories. Compared to those days, we truly live in a wonderful era now, one where an abundance of Yamato merchandise is constantly being released. I couldn’t be more grateful.
4. What is your most treasured Yamato item?
It would have to be the shikishi (autograph boards) and signed merchandise I’ve received directly from the Yamato creators I deeply admire. I keep them displayed right next to my desk, always within my line of sight, where they serve as a constant source of inspiration and creative energy for my work.
5. What are your favorite drawing tools?
During my student days, I preferred working with acrylic gouache and Copic markers. However, since transitioning to a digital workflow, I now primarily use CLIP STUDIO PAINT EX.
6. Where can your work be seen?
Currently, my Yamato illustrations can primarily be found within the doujinshi produced by the fan circle “KIYO CLUB.” Occasionally, I will select a few pieces from those collections to share on Twitter as a way of showing my support for the Yamato franchise.
I am also currently exploring options for creating a dedicated online space where international fans, as well as those who may not have access to doujinshi, can view my Yamato artwork. For this feature with Cosmo DNA, I have provided some artwork that I haven’t previously shared on social media. I imagine the impression you get from seeing them in print might be quite different from viewing them online.
7. Does your family share your hobby?
Fortunately, my family is very understanding of my hobby. Since I reached the point where I could make a living through my art, at least to some extent, they have become even more supportive.
Recently, when they learned that I had started participating in Yamato fan activities, my parents, being part of the “Yamato Generation” themselves, were absolutely delighted. I am truly grateful to them for introducing me to Yamato when I was a child.
8. Please tell us something about your life outside your art.
I live in the countryside of Japan, specifically in a region called Takachiho-cho in Miyazaki Prefecture.
During my childhood, I practiced a martial art called Shorinji Kempo and even competed in national tournaments several times. At my parents’ suggestion, I also took piano lessons, though I never really made any progress. I followed in my parents’ footsteps and ran a livestock business for a time. However, unable to give up on the dream of making a living through art, I began seriously dedicating myself to artistic training in 2020.
My hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and watching YouTube videos. Lately, I’ve been so focused on creating illustrations that I haven’t really been able to keep up with new movies or anime releases. However, my creative work fills that void, so I am living a very happy life.
9. Are you involved in Yamato activities with other fans?
Recently, thanks to an invitation from the KIYO CLUB, I’ve begun participating in Yamato fan activities, which has given me many opportunities to meet and interact with a great number of fellow fans. To my past self from just a few years ago, this would have seemed completely unimaginable. It’s something I feel incredibly happy and grateful for.
I feel truly blessed right now to have found Yamato friends, ranging from younger companions to older mentors who are farther along in life, with whom I can connect and communicate through our shared passion.
10. What do you hope to see in a future Yamato anime?
Originally, the saga was intended to conclude with the film Farewell to Yamato. However, for various reasons, a subsequent series was produced that featured a different ending; one that diverged from the conclusion seen in Farewell. I’ve heard that many fans of that era were deeply disappointed by a narrative turn that seemed to effectively “undo” or negate the ending of the film.
As someone born after the original saga had already concluded, and who grew up loving the narrative arc spanning from The New Voyage through Final Yamato, I was quite surprised when I learned about the circumstances surrounding the series back in those days. Had I been living through that era myself, I might very well have been one of those fans who felt disappointed by the direction the series took.
However, because the production team chose not to end the saga with Farewell, and instead continued to produce subsequent installments of the series, we were gifted with the creation of characters like Sasha (whom I adore), as well as countless new iconic scenes and musical masterpieces. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the production teams of that era for their perseverance and dedication in continuing to bring the series to life.
Now, with the passage of time, a rebooted series is currently being produced. Young people who have grown up watching this series since childhood are now breathing new life into the franchise, including through their own fan activities. I truly feel that the baton is being passed on right now, in real time.
While it may be difficult for Yamato to expand into the kind of diverse, alternate-universe series that Gundam has, my sole wish is that it continues to be a beloved animated series that is cherished and passed down through generations, whether for its 100th anniversary 50 years from now, or even up to the actual year 2199.
11. What is your favorite anime after Yamato?
It is incredibly difficult to narrow it down to just one! A wide variety of anime series have played a role in shaping the person I am today.
If I had to pick the series I was most obsessed with during my adolescence, it would definitely be the Gundam franchise. As for the work that served as the catalyst for me to earnestly begin my own creative endeavors, that would be Mushoku Tensei (Jobless Reincarnation). I am also very fond of Zoids, Evangelion, and the Macross series.
12. What would you like to say to Yamato fans around the world?
I am profoundly grateful to Tim for granting me this incredibly honorable and precious opportunity. Through Cosmo DNA, you have a platform that allows Yamato fans across the globe to get to know me, and for that, I offer my deepest thanks. I truly believe this, too, is a result of the “bonds of fate” woven by Space Battleship Yamato.
As fellow inhabitants of Earth, and fellow members of the crew, who share a love for Yamato and live together in this present age, let us continue to watch over the voyage of the Yamato, resonate with its spirit, and work together to pass its legacy on to future generations.
13. What should everyone know about Japan and its people?
I believe there are no other people on earth who have learned as much about the past, specifically the folly and ugliness of war, as well as the kindness, resilience, and infinite potential of the human spirit, through the mediums of anime and manga as the Japanese have.
I attribute this to Space Battleship Yamato, a work created 50 years ago, back when Japanese animation was still dismissively referred to as “moving paper theater.” It was this series that challenged the public to reflect upon this very Japanese ethos, thereby helping to firmly root anime culture within the country.
The theme song for Yamato is so famous in Japan that virtually every Japanese person can hum it from memory. And today, the people who have inherited that Yamato spirit are the ones supporting modern Japan, making their mark in their daily lives. This is not limited to the creative industries; people across every conceivable profession, holding the lessons learned from Yamato close to their hearts, are striving every day to build a better future than the present.
The spirit of Yamato has undoubtedly been passed down and taken root within the Japanese people of today, even among those who might seem, on the surface, to have no connection to it whatsoever.
Through the craftsmanship and services provided by these Japanese people, who carry the very DNA of Space Battleship Yamato, I hope that people around the world will come to sense this Japanese spirit of harmony, and that it may help enrich your lives, both physically and spiritually.
