Part 1: Prehistory

Photos by Carlo Savorelli

The story of Star Blazers in Italy begins the same way as it did in the rest of the western world: with the export of the compilation film that traveled under the title Space Cruiser Yamato. This is the one that was cut down to about 90 minutes and dubbed in English before Star Blazers existed. (Read all about it here.)

The film was subtitled in Italian and screened on July 9 at the 16th International Science-Fiction Film Festival held in the city of Trieste from July 8-15, 1978. Its title was Incrociatore Spaziale Yamato, which simply means Space Cruiser Yamato.

An Italian blog named Imago Recensio [Image Review] offers some enlightenment on this particular subject. The author, known as “Stengo” has this to say…

The organization of the Trieste Festival in July 1978 (in the wake of the success of Goldrake) had immediately grasped how revolutionary and varied Japanese animated science-fiction could be, but in the following years they lost interest in the subject. Japanese science-fiction cartoons were massacred in print, accused of the worst crimes against us children.

Those who were qualified to defend them dealt with science-fiction from other nations except Japan. This is a factor that I have also noticed in our local science-fiction magazines, in none of those that I have consulted can one read even a shred of analysis on the phenomenon of Japanese science-fiction animation. (See examples here).

The running time of the film screened in Trieste is confirmed as 98 minutes, therefore not the 145 minutes of the original 1977 Japanese film, but not even the 85 minutes of the English version. The names and plot of the film presented are those of the American version of the film, but missing some parts, probably the 13 minutes that would bring the film from 85 to 98. The question remains whether the journalists who wrote reviews and comments on Nishizaki’s film saw the feature film in Trieste or based their comments on the synopsis in this catalogue. Perhaps some saw it, but I think most did not.

Photos by Carlo Savorelli

Following the film festival appearance, this 60-page hardcover storybook became the first Yamato product to be produced in a western country. Published by Salani, the book’s indicia said it was based on the film Space Cruiser Galaxy, distributed in Italy by Evi Film. However, the film never did get distributed in Italy, and “Stengo” has some thoughts on the name change…

Obviously I can’t give certain answers, only hypotheses, however moderately logical. I imagine there could have been some question about the rights or more simply the name “Yamato” was considered not very science-fiction, and not without reason.
Unfortunately, the month in 1978 in which the hardback was published is not specified, which is not a small oversight. January is very different from December, especially because in the middle (more or less) Goldrake was broadcast.

(That’s the Italian version of Grendaizer, which single-handedly ignited anime fandom there.)

It can be reasonably assumed that after the success of Atlas Ufo Robot, Salani noticed the sales of the Giunti Marzocco hardback published in April 1978 , and therefore tried to ride the animated science-fiction wave. Of the animated science-fiction films immediately available in some warehouse was Space Cruiser Yamato, which Salani then acquired to package as a hardback. It is worth noting that this publication won the silver medal on the podium of anime-inspired hardbacks, arriving in bookstores most likely just after Goldrake. The proof that Salani used the reworked American version can be read in the hardcover, both in terms of the plot development and the names of the characters.

Salani added another layer of confusion to the already existing mess; the American reworkers left the original name of Captain Okita, and we know that in Star Blazers it was changed to Avatar. Salani renamed him Robin. Same thing for Yuki/Nova who became a dull Mary… and for Doctor Sado/Sane transformed into a ridiculous Ippo. Susumu Kodai/Derek Wildstar was kept in the 1977 US film version as Jason Kodai, although in the hardcover version you can also read Jason Kodar… (typo?) Same fate for Daisuke Shima/Mark Venture, left as Shane O’toole.

Click here to continue Stengo’s detailed investigation of this book (use your browser’s translator if Italian off your language radar)

Click here to see it from cover to cover