Media Coverage
Photo posted on Twitter by Koromo
January 1: Asahi Shimbun article
Readers of this newspaper were treated to a full-page article titled Why 50 Year Masterpieces Never Fade Away, written by anime commentator and original Yamato superfan Ryusuke Hikawa. It was almost exactly the 50th anniversary of Heidi Girl of the Alps (Jan 6) with Yamato to follow in October. The ratings rivalry between the two is well-documented, with Yamato decidedly on the losing end, but history wrote a different story afterward.
At the bottom of the page was, naturally, an ad for Farewell to Yamato in 4k, just four days away from its premiere.
January 3: Magmix article #1
Obviously, Yamato wasn’t the only classic anime series to hit 50 in 2024. We’ve already been reminded that it’s a golden year for Heidi as well, but there are others to consider. A writer for the Magmix website gave us an entertaining rundown of five titles to be aware of.
Read it here
January 4: Magmix article #2
The second Yamato article in as many days popped up on Magmix, this one asking (for about the millionth time) why a spaceship would keep the shape of a seagoing ship. This time, however, it also provided some thoughtful answers.
Read it here
January 5: Farewell to Yamato Movie review
Writer Yoshinori Nozawa was the first to pen a review of Space Battleship Yamato in 4K, and he was also first out of the gate when Farewell followed. His article on the NOTE website took an insightful dive into the media environment that followed Farewell in 1978.
Read it here
(And if it whets your appetite, you can always take an even deeper dive in the Cosmo DNA Vintage Reports here)
February 16: Anime Herald article
The Anime Herald website did us all a favor on this day when they published an extensive in-depth interview with Robert Fenelon (cosplaying as Dessler in the photo). Rob was an active member of the first “anime generation” in America with a special focus on Star Blazers and Yamato. He was an organizer and a publisher, a participant in early Star Blazers projects, and even personally met Exec Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki. He also loves telling stories, and now they’re on the permanent record.
Read the interview here
April 16: News from Tsuruga
What connection does Yamato have to the port city of Tsuruga? It’s the home of the Leiji Matsumoto Symbol Road, which was the site of a Yamatour pilgrimage back in 2009. In April, it was the subject of a Nippon TV news report which can be seen here.
The accompanying transcript reads as follows:
Monetary offering to a monument? A rare phenomenon with Space Battleship Yamato‘s “Sakezo Sado” in Tsuruga Station shopping district
Tsuruga Station, the immediate terminus of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line extension, is bustling with tourists. Amidst this bustle, a strange phenomenon has been occurring at the familiar monuments lining the shopping street in front of the station. They are Maetel from Galaxy Express 999 and Susumu Kodai, the main character of Space Battleship Yamato. Twenty-eight such monuments line the sidewalk between Tsuruga Station and Kibi Jingu Shrine.
They were installed in 1999 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of Tsuruga Port, and their colors were repainted when the sidewalk was widened to accommodate the opening of the Shinkansen bullet train. They have also become a photo spot, but one of the monuments is said to be experiencing a strange phenomenon.
Reporter Momoka Fujiwara: That’s the monument, isn’t it? At first glance, there seems to be nothing unusual about it, but there are coins in the bowl. Sakezo Sado is a character from Space Battleship Yamato. He is a doctor with an unparalleled love of sake, holding a bottle in his left hand and a bowl in his right. It is said that people put coins into this bowl. I waited nearby with my camera ready, and saw tourists taking pictures and patting him on the head. I waited a little longer, and then an elementary school student began to put coins in. I asked him why…
Elementary school student: “I thought it was like a god. Everyone else was putting money in the bowl, so I thought I’d put some in too.”
Student’s mother: “I hope something good will come out of it.”
Some people who did not put coins in the bowl peered into them curiously.
Tourist from Kyoto: I thought they were praying for Leiji Matsumoto, who passed away.
The coins are managed by a store in front of the station. They have been put in for several years, and the number has increased dramatically over time.
Store owner: “The age of the customers varies from elementary school children to the elderly. We’ve done things like refurbish the statues and cleaned them up. We also put flower pots there, so if we could use the money to maintain the flowers and clean up the space and the streets, that would be great.”
Holding a bottle of sake, the monument has a somewhat lovable expression on its face. It seems to have become a new landmark in Tsuruga, a city that has been enlivened by the opening of the Shinkansen bullet train.
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 19: More from Tsuruga
After the statues made the news in April, 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
August 26: Keisuke Fujikawa profile
Every Yamato fan worth their salt can name the primary creators of the original TV series: Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Leiji Matsumoto, and maybe Director Noboru Ishiguro. But there’s a fourth name that belongs in that elite lineup: Head Writer Keisuke Fujikawa. As an alumni of Keio University’s Department of Literature, he was profiled in the online Keio Student Newspaper in a biographical account that itself reads like one of Fujikawa’s own heartfelt stories.
It is presented here to signal-boost his name in the minds of Yamato fans everywhere.
September 22: Space news
It doesn’t happen often, but every time it does we charge all the way up to 120%. Space Battleship Yamato has had an influence on real things actually happening in space exploration, and thanks to an ongoing NHK series titled Project X ~ Challengers we learned of a Yamato connection to the real-life Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission operated by JAXA from 2003-2010.
Want to know more? Click here for the full story.
September 29: Political news
Don’t worry, it’s still the policy of this website to keep a thick wall between Space Battleship Yamato and the daily mudfights. But when Japanese politics step over that wall, it’s usually worth a moment of our time. Japan got itself a new prime minister in September named Shigeru Ishiba. He’s a self-professed Yamato fan and claims to have seen Farewell over a hundred times.
Does this sound like someone worth getting to know? If so, click here. (You won’t regret it.)
October 18: Nikkei Business article
The October 6 announcement of Hideaki Anno’s forthcoming Yamato remake got a LOT of people talking. Mixing that up with the 50th anniversary inspired plenty of introspection and brought people to the mic with their own personal takes. One was writer Shinya Matsura, who penned an essay for Nikkei Business that takes a critical look at the past (with some VERY deep cuts) and a hopeful nod to the future.
Read it here
October 21: Daily Cyzo article
The next commentary on Hideaki Anno’s Yamato popped up on the entertainment website Daily Cyzo. This one offered an observation of how Anno’s previous projects have been merchandised and wondered what might come next.
Read the article here
October 21: Daily Sports article
On the same day, an entertainment reporter for the Daily Sports website shared observations of rewatching the first episode on the 50th anniversary and noting Yamato‘s relationship to the world we currently inhabit.
Read the article here
October 28: Futaman article
The last article of October published in response to Hideaki Anno’s announcement was this one from the entertainment site Futaman. In it, writer Rinko Takato took a walk down memory lane to recount samples of the “absurd strategy” seen in Series 1.
Read the article here
November 20: The Bob Cesca Show podcast
Bob Cesca is the host of a political podcast that goes out twice a week with a special interview episode every Wednesday. In addition to his degree in political science, he also has an honorary degree from the University of Geekitude, being a fan of Star Blazers (and Yamato by extension) since watching it as a youngster in first-run syndication. He and I (Cosmo DNA editor Tim Eldred) have wanted to do a Yamato interview for some time, and it finally happened today!
Click here to listen (And don’t worry, US politics do NOT interfere)
December 1: Kia Asamiya interview
It’s well known that the artists and writers responsible for the Yamato remakes were “baptized” as kids by watching the original on TV, and Kia Asamiya (also known by the name Michitaka Kikuchi) was absolutely one of them. Mantan Web kicked off the month with an interview that explored his dual role as a fan and a creator.
Read it here
December 13: Magmix article
Fifty years since the original broadcast, and all the questions about Space Battleship Yamato have still not been asked. Here’s one: what was the food situation during the voyage to Iscandar? Writer Seiichiro Hayakawa took a look at it in an article published on the Magmix website.
Read it here
December 26: Minpo Online article
Anyone on the lookout for a primer for the Yamato phenomenon got it today from Minpo Online when writer Tatsuya Masudo raced through the high points and added some of his own personal insights as a viewer who grew up on the original. For example:
I myself watched the first TV series when I was in the 5th grade, and my father, who grew up during the war, would immediately change the channel to NHK when an anime started. (At the time there was only one TV in the household and fathers had control over the channel.) Thus, it was strange that he allowed me to watch Yamato, saying “This anime is good.”
Read the entire article here
Fan Activity
Fan manga
There was something extra special to be found in January, and Cosmo DNA is pleased to bring it to you in English. Fan artist Yayayanoya published a 10-page story titled Homecoming, which imagines a moment between Sanada and Saito on the way home from Telezart.
It is presented here by kind permission of the author.
Shinya Takahashi art
Sasha’s character designer returned to the pages of Yahoo Japan’s online auctions to offer many new original pieces in 2024. See a collected gallery of them here.
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
July 20: Anime Royalty
This astonishing photo was posted on Twitter by voice actor Katsuji Mori (pictured at far left) July 20 with the following caption:
Tonight is a dinner party with some amazing ladies. Mari Shimizu from Mighty Atom is in the foreground on the left. On the right is Michiko Nomura from Sazae-san. In the back is Isao Sasaki, Condor Joe from Gatchaman Fighter. Next to him is Miyuki Ueda, Dr. Pandora from Gatchaman II, and Yoko Asagami, Yamato‘s Yuki Mori.
There is simply no higher voice acting pedigree in one room, anywhere. See the original post here.
September 6: Return to Earth
According to Yamato canon, September 6 (2200) is the date Yamato returns from Iscandar. Or is it? Here’s a Tweet from Japanese fan Hazuki to give us some schooling on the matter:
Today is the return day of the TV version of Space Battleship Yamato. In the movie version, there is no attack by Emperor Dessler right in front of Earth, so the return occurs one day earlier. This is a subtle but detailed piece of work.
September: historical archaeology
In the decades before social media, some questions were almost unanswerable. But now somebody can casually ask, “Whatever became of the Yamato time capsule that was erected during the Adventure Roman Voyage in the summer of 1980?” and get a response in short order. That happened in September.
If you read the Vintage Reports, you may remember this; in July 1980, Yoshinobu Nishizaki optimistically presided over the establishment of a small monument containing messages from Yamato fans to be opened in the year 2202. 44 years later, it’s still there. (Though its faceplate vanished over twenty years ago.)
Photos posted on Twitter by S Meijin
S_Meijin says: Yamato is alive and well! I came to the old Hyuga Ferry Terminal in Hyuga City, Miyazaki Prefecture in search of pieces of the Space Battleship Yamato. I hope that we will survive until the year 2199 and that the time capsule will be opened without being forgotten.
November 18: Yamato IRL
What’s that in the road? A head? Famed mecha artist Hidetaka Tenjin posted these photos on Twitter with the following explanation:
I heard that Yamato could be seen near Uenohara on the Chuo Expressway, so I waited a while and discovered it was a collaboration between nature and architecture. It’s quite big…!
The IT Media website, which follows up on online claims that go viral, added this:
It’s not actually a real battleship, but a steel tower and a tree happen to overlap, and when seen from the Chuo Expressway, it looks like the silhouette of Yamato. When seen from a distance, the antennas and hull are so realistic that you might find yourself exclaiming, “Yamato!”
They spoke with Tenjin and he added the following:
I was in the passenger seat of [my friend] Sayabu-san’s car, and he told me, “You can see Yamato around there,” so I was holding up my camera. I remember talking to him with great excitement when we recognized Yamato. He’s an expert on WWII aircraft and the like, so I mistakenly thought that there were still parts of the real thing left and that we could see it.
December 8: Museum piece
Today, an astonishing post appeared on Twitter from a user named Karzworks. It read as follows:
Space Battleship Yamato reminds me of this famous illustration. I have it at home. It was drawn by Toshio Sekiguchi. He gave it to me when I was close to Tatsuji Kajita through Tokuma Shoten (probably about 30 years ago) because he said he didn’t need it anymore. I was amazed and humbled. It’s quite big, about 40cm (15.75″) wide.
See the original post here
See how the art was used here
December 22: Ryusuke Hikawa on Twitter
As the O.G. Yamato superfan, Ryusuke Hikawa always has supreme trivia at his fingertips. Here is what he posted on this day:
The misconception that Captain Okita says “stone raccoon” in Episode 2 was spread via a doujinshi. Shortly after production, Noboru Ishiguro said in an interview, “That was because Producer Nishizaki didn’t like ‘duck floating in a pond’ as written in the script, so he asked if there was anything better, like ‘dying raccoon’, and we thought, ‘Oh, we’ll take that.'” After that, I obtained the primary source, the script with on-site corrections, and verified the fact. So the “stone raccoon” was a mistake based on interviews. However, the story of how it spread is interesting, so it might be a subject for research.
What line does this refer to? In the first half of the episode, Yamato is still mired in the ground with Gamilas bombers approaching and the engine isn’t starting up. Here’s the scene with fansubs by Central Anime:
The line is translated to “sitting duck” for Western viewers, but if you listen carefully Okita does say “dying tanuki” (raccoon). The reference to “stone raccoon” might have also worked since Yamato was covered with stone at the time. Ironically, “sitting duck” was the literal term in the script before it was changed to “dying raccoon.”
See? Supreme trivia!
December: Whose house was that?
Many of us (who have been in Yamato world for a loooong time) will remember this still from the first episode showing the Gamilas planet bomb attack on Earth. Seeing it again in the 50th anniversary screenings made a couple fans wonder if there was something behind the choice to show this particular house in the montage of destruction. Some have observed that it looks an awful lot like the house seen in Heidi, the infamous rival program on TV at the time.
Fan artist 94ragunso11 posted these cartoons on Twitter, saying, “That house was in Moomin Valley. Yamato had no interest in the rival program Heidi. (Pouring on the oil.)” The cartoon at right depicts Hayao Miyazaki being driven insane by Yamato in a pose lifted right out of Episode 24.
In response to this, another fan with the handle kerota3 posted a very interesting reply:
The storyboard and the script say “Moomin Valley,” but no matter how you look at it, it looks like the house on Alm mountain (from Heidi, above right). There’s a fir tree, too. Art Director Hachiro Tsukushima was in charge of the backgrounds for the first episode of Heidi, so I’m sure he had the materials on hand.
Don’t expect this dispute to be settled in our lifetime. Just enjoy it.