Translation and comments (in blue) by Anton Mei Brandt
It’s only a minute long, but you can easily feel how action-packed the next four episodes will be from the sheer density of the shots contained herein, some of which last only a few seconds. Based on the previous teasers, it’s evident that the Yamato crew will lose their first faceoff with Dezarium’s fortress Digabelas, then gather support from Earth and Galman for an all-out assault. Most of the scenes here seem derived from that rematch. We’ll have to wait for the episodes themselves to see what order they appear in.
Watch the trailer on Youtube here, then dig into this breakdown. There’s a LOT going on…
We kick off in pitched battle with an opening line from Dessler.
Dessler’s voice: If this operation fails…there is no future for us. The enemy is a witch who’s freezing the cosmos. As determined as we are…she shall be vanquished.
The following scenes fly by as we hear that line, accompanied by a rousing track from Be Forever titled Soaring Yamato…
A Cosmo Tiger II streaks by. Kodai looks determined on Yamato‘s bridge.
A UNCF escort ship fires at off-screen targets as missiles fly in. Dagon prepares to fire the Dessler Cannon, probably from the bridge of Deusula III.
Melda Dietz readies for launch in the cockpit of a Czvarke. A fighter takes off, but look carefully — it’s not her Czvarke, it’s a Bolar plane.
Alphon reacts to something off-screen. A Domelaze battleship leads a fleet away from Planet Galman.
Ranbel looks flustered. Tigers and Pythons accelerate away from Galman’s new Shalbart-class battleships.
Kodai and Alphon face off as the battle boils space in the distance. Sasha surveys the battle from Yamato‘s observation room.
Both of these shots were seen before, but take note of the surface Kodai and Alphon are standing on. Put a pin in that one.
Deusula III in battle. Yuki Mori, wearing some sort of bodysuit, looks off as twin jets of energy streak past her.
Commentary: Yuki’s wearing a Dezarium bodysuit, partaking in what looks like a VR-simulation of sorts, being shown the stark contrast between Dezarium’s red beta particles and Iscandar’s blue Wave-Motion Particles. The presence of a duality is stark and apparent, following up on hints laid in 2205 by Mother Dezarium, who described Iscandar as “the dark” to their “light”.
Yuki gazes off into the distance. Note that her body suit appears to have a comm badge on the neck.
Bolar Federation High Commissioner Berm Von Bemlayze appears on a comm screen. The design suggests that it’s Galman.
Commentary: We see what may be an on-screen call between Dessler and Bemlayze, likely to discuss the potential of uniting against a common foe. My personal theory is that Darya (the latter’s secretary) is a Zaltzian refugee, from whom much of the story of the Garmillas Empire has been conveyed. Since Iscandar and Shalbart are one and the same in the reboot, the confusing persecution of Galman in 2205 suddenly makes sense, if one recognizes the legitimate fear the Bolars have of “The Witch of Uralia” and her red “light.” It would also explain their desperate attempt at blowing up the entire planet in Chapter 4 once the Shalbart ships were activated.
Shalbart-class battleships in battle. On board one of them, Keeling shields his eyes from the glare.
Yamato and a Galman fleet exchange fire with off-screen targets. Dessler looks intensely into the camera.
Sada rises from the “dead,” dripping with what is probably revival fluid. Yamato accelerates off to join the combined Earth/Galman fleet; Hyuga is visible at the far right.
Sada’s voice: “They’ve become aware of it…the true identity/appearance of that which is freezing this universe.”
Commentary: Unsurprisingly, it appears Sada’s ‘death’ in Episode 13 was one big ruse, given another body could be made for her. I say ‘another body’ instead of her ‘true’ body, because the general aesthetic and appearance of the room she’s in looks like an Akerian cloning vat, as seen in 2202 for the Sabera clones. She’s drenched from head to toe, completely naked and surrounded by pink pulsating crystals. Surely this can’t be a coincidence. Also, her line harkens back to one of the few ones she has in Be Forever, where she turns to Skaldart and says “They’ve become aware of our play-acting! / They’ve seen through our act!”
Fire main guns! At right, we get a new look at the creature glimpsed briefly in the last teaser, possibly the “Witch of Uralia” itself.
Commentary: This time we get a new, better look at what appears to be the witch having regenerated itself since the Bolars discovered it. It’s no longer slack-jawed, curled up or exposed to a cocoon of sorts. Instead, it’s upright, surrounded by a green ball, perhaps alluding to the way in which Planet Phantom’s true identity was depicted in Yamato III.
A closer look at the creature’s face. Elsewhere, a mobile space armor unit, perched on top of a Cosmo Python, exchanges fire with a Bolar fighter. A Galman transport ship is in the background, suggesting that this is a Bolar attack on the refugee fleet coming from Earth.
Domon: “Wave-Motion Cartridge Shells, fire!”
Yamato‘s main guns belch smoke, indicating the firing of solid rounds rather than beam energy.
The shells impact Digabelas’ defensive shield and start pushing their way through.
Sasha’s voice: “Oh Uncle, please, for me…don’t be reckless. You must come back!”
Sasha speaks to the pilot of a departing Cosmo Tiger II, most likely Kodai.
Tigers and Pythons fly over the hull of Digabelas. A deceptive edit cuts to a shot following a Cosmo Python flying past a Galman transport ship, taking us back to the other battle.
Boroze’s voice: “These guys…they intend to confront the Witch of Uralia!”
We follow the Python as it evades Bolar missiles. It’s hard to spot, but a mobile space armor rides on the back of the Python, likely the same one seen earlier.
A reverse angle clearly shows the armor as the missiles gain on it from behind. At right, Boroze finishes speaking his line.
Darya: “Shut up!”
Darya aims her pistol at someone off-screen. Boroze? Ram? Yamato and three Shalbart-class battleships fire Wave-Motion Guns in unison.
Commentary: You can tell how much fun the editor’s having by the tricks they pull off in this teaser. For one, there’s the blink-and-you-miss-it cut from the Cosmo Tiger II engaging Digabelas to a Cosmo Python evading Bolar missiles while defending the refugee fleet. Very subtle! For two, there’s Boroze’s only line in this teaser referencing the Witch of Uralia (which has been his thing in his only two appearances in 3199 so far), to which Darya tells him (?) to shut up at gunpoint.
The beams deflect off the shields of two Gorubas. On board the dimensional submarine Zerandal, the enemy is examined.
The screen image shifts to an energy reading of the “Dezarium Fortress.” The circles below it indicate Planet Galman and Planet Berth. Yabu describes what he’s seeing.
Yabu: “This right here is their power line for energy transportation.”
Commentary: Frakken’s crew is reviewing the readings taken from Pleiades, Grodez, Goruba and others, concluding with the fact that they all seem connected, with Digabelas acting as a giant battery or conduit linked to something beyond the Dark Nebula it’s currently situated in. This tendril-like network appears to stretch all the way to Berth, explaining the freezing phenomena reaching Ram’s home.
Pythons and Tigers launch missiles at an off-screen target.
Alphon’s voice: “It would appear the two of us have quite the connection.”
Missiles slam into more Dezarium defense shields, and we return to Alphon’s faceoff with Kodai.
Alphon finishes the line as he aims his pistol.
Ranbel’s Grodez battleship side-swipes Deusula III.
Ranbel: “Like hell I’m letting you do that!”
Sasha calls out for Kodai, and Yamato‘s main guns all fire at once.
Sasha: “Uncle!”
Here’s where we put the pin in; the cannon blasts rake across what appears to be the deck of Digabelas…possibly the same deck Alphon and Kodai are standing on.
Next, we see Ram yelling out loud.
Duke Ram: “Berm Von Bemlayze…the Bird of Revolution!”
The confrontation is happening in a Bolar stronghold. And Bemlayze does not look pleased by it.
Commentary: Is Ram referring to Bemlayze as the Bolar Federation’s “Bird of Revolution,” or is he pledging something for/to it? And will we finally hear Bemlayze speak? My bet’s on Jin Urayama voicing him this time around, given his excellent performance as Degwin Zabi from Gundam The Origin.
Two last shots of Sasha and Kodai, perhaps reacting to the same phenomenon.
Captain Yamanami’s voice: “I entrust you two with guiding the way…to a future one thousand years hence.”
Yamato leaps into hyper-warp. We’ve seen the first shot before, but not the second.
Title card: Chapter 5, The Incandescent Galactic War
And then…something wholly unexpected.
Yuki reacts just like us. The final caption reads, “And — everything changes.”
Young Alphon’s voice: “Everyone’s dead. They’re all dead.”
Commentary: In a shocking twist ending, the exciting Soaring Yamato theme cuts off mid-crescendo as the scene shifts to Yuki, still in her bodysuit, meeting the younger versions of Alphon, Ranbel and Maxim…the three surviving “wonder children” of Dezarium. Their faces are carved out, resembling Haniwa dolls.
What’s a Haniwa doll, you ask? They’re Japanese terracotta figures, made using water-based clay to stand the test of time. Haniwa means “circle of clay,” a name chosen since they were, in rituals, arranged in a circle above tombs. Their purpose is still debated today. Some believe they were meant to replace contemporary human sacrifices, as noted by Emperor Suinin in the second-oldest book of Japanese history, the Nihon Shoki.
Another theory, more fitting for 3199, is that the souls of departed people would reside in haniwa, which then would guard tombs and graves of ancient rulers, carrying weapons and armor, alongside other haniwa in the shape of horses. Final Yamato fans will have an inkling of what that could mean.
Haniwa are water-based containers for souls of the dead, guarding ancient rulers, their bodies mere shells, or perhaps…Golems, if you will. Just some 2202 food for thought. Also artificial horses. The horses matter. Ancient rulers too. Seriously, don’t mess with them.