First, the news you need to know RIGHT NOW:
On March 2, the Yamato Crew website announced the forthcoming publication of fan club magazine Ship’s Log #13 like so:
New series full-scale startup! A special interview you can only read here!! An exclusive interview with the person who holds the key to the new series! Stay tuned to find out the person! To be published at the end of March!
So that’s it. Series 2 is officially a GO! If all goes well, the interview will be part of our next update. And now back to your regularly-scheduled news feed.
February roughly matched January for amount of activity with some nice highlights: Wonder Festival 2016 Winter kicked off a new year of hobby shows, an unexpected new book was announced, the Battlefield Infinity mobile game expanded in both frequency and complexity, and a few more odds and ends made it another fun month to be a fan.
Here’s the full rundown…
February 1: Manga chapter 43
With this installment, Michio Murakawa unveiled the Izumo conspiracy and set the expeditionary crew down on Beemela 4 for an encounter we didn’t see in the anime. This 14-page chapter appeared online at both Nico Nico Ace and Comic Walker. It was bumped slightly forward from its scheduled appearance in late January to the start of February, which put it into a new monthly cycle; chapter 44 followed on March 2.
See the pages from chapter 43 here.
February 1: Game news
This was a banner month for players of Battlefield Infinity, with one campaign after another – starting with a Valentine’s theme.
UR Valentine limited elite units appear for rare buildup!
Limited “elite units” appear for Valentine “rarity UR” buildup starting February 1! Also, the passengers Mikage Kiryu and Melda Dietz wear sweet limited-edition costumes! These two are on board units with “special paint that is faintly sweet”!! These elite units appear only during the limited Valentine period!
Limited Valentine elite units:
UR Murasame/Valentine (Mikage Kiryu)
UR Meltoria/Valentine (Melda Dietz)
Elite skill:
In the area of the “Secret Chocolate Scramble,” armor improves 4000% UP!
Rare “Female vibe rate UP” campaign during rare buildup!
Valentine’s Day is coming soon! During the “Female vibe rate UP” campaign, the probability of buildup improves for units carrying females. Try to enhance these units in passing during the “reconstruction campaign”!
UN Cosmo Navy:
Akira Yamamoto, Yuki Mori, Kaoru Niimi, Yuria Misaki
Garmillas Empire Forces:
Female yeoman, Melda Dietz, Elisa Domel, Miezela Celestella, Mirenel Link
February 3: Game news
Two with elite skills! Niimi and Mirenel appear in sweet costumes!!
Only for Valentine’s Day! These two beautiful women full of mature charm wear sweet costumes, newly appearing for rare buildup! Kaoru Niimi from the UN Cosmo Navy and Mirenel Link from the Garmillas Empire Forces!
Also! They come with two special skills! Niimi and Mirenel in these limited costumes are only available for units during a rare buildup period! Aim for a high ranking in the Valentine event “Secret Chocolate Scramble”! Attempt to capture the limited units with “special paint that is faintly sweet”!!
Limited Valentine elite units:
Kiska/Valentine (Kaoru Niimi)
Shangri-la/Valentine (Mirenel Link)
Elite skills (common to both sides):
Skill 1 name: Improve armor
Skill 1effect: continuously affects movement skill. In the area of the “Secret Chocolate Scramble,” armor improves 4000% UP!
Skill 2 name: Raise points
Skill 2 effect: Continuously affects movement skill. In the area of the “Secret Chocolate Scramble,” acquire ranking points 500% UP!
Acquire sweet chocolate! “Secret Chocolate Scramble” is held!!
The “Secret Chocolate Scramble” event will bring high spirits to both men and women, starting simultaneously for the UN Cosmo Navy and the Garmillas Imperial Forces!!
A dispute breaks out over “chocolate”! Special ships from “the opposing fleet” appear in this stage with enhanced firepower! The armor of a normal unit can’t survive an attack due to heavy damage…However! You’ll be OK if there are “Elite Valentine Units”! These units have “special paint that is faintly sweet” and have extraordinary armor that can endure the attack of the enemy fleet!
Acquire “chocolate” while withstanding attacks on the “Elite Valentine Units”! During “limited Valentine buildup,” get the “Elite Valentine Units” by turning in “Valentine tickets,” or it’s possible to build up the most effective unit during “rare buildup”!
Also, a special bonus stage will be announced on certain days! A chance to earn lots of ranking points! Kick around the other commanders!
“Secret Chocolate Scramble” period: February 3-15.
Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity continues to present hot events during the cold winter months and provides content everyone can enjoy! Don’t miss it!!
February 7: Wonder Festival 2016 Winter
The 2016 hobby show circuit officially opened here with more Yamato 2199 garage kits from makers who continue to fill the gaps left open by mainstream licensors Bandai and Megahouse.
See a photo gallery of the newest finds here.
February 9: Game news
Great success in the event stage! The chance of building up limited Valentine units improves!
Limited Valentines! Four beautiful women in sweet costumes appear in the second half of the “Secret Chocolate Scramble” and the chances improve of building up rare elite units!
Four beautiful women appear in limited Valentine costumes during buildup! Mikage Kiryu & Kaoru Niimi from the UN Cosmo Navy, and Melda Dietz & Mirenel Link from the Garmillas Empire Forces! Elite skill increases armor and acquisition of ranking points! Armor can increase to 4000% and acquisition of ranking points improves by 500%!
Above all, this is the only time rare buildup is available for elite, large ships with two different skills!
Also! During this rare buildup you can remodel all your units to go one step up! Kill two birds with one stone by combining them with elite units! Endure the enemy attack in the event stage and fight back!!
It’s still not too late! Obtain choco units even without big success in the event stage and aim for a higher ranking!!
Elite Valentine limited units:
Medium-size ship construction
Murasame/Valentine (Mikage Kiryu)
Meltoria class/Valentine (Melda Dietz)
Large ship construction
Kiska/Valentine (Kaoru Niimi)
Shangri-la/Valentine (Mirenel Link)
Chances for buildup increase from February 9-15
“Get more ranking points” event stage added!
The dispute over “chocolate” gets increasingly radical! The second stage of the “Secret Choco Scramble” event is here! A special warship from the opposing fleet with enhanced firepower appears on the stage! Collect “chocolate” while enduring an attack from the “Elite Valentine unit” and obtain new ranking points!
Also! Rare units from the first half of the stage can play an active part in stages three and four! The one that appears in stage four is a must-see! In addition, during the event period, don’t miss the chance to get a large number of ranking points in the “bonus stage”!
Watch out for differences with your rivals by using elite units!!
The second half of the game period takes place from February 9-15. Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity continues to expand with hot events that blow away the winter chill and delivers content everyone can enjoy! Don’t miss it!
February 14: Ark of the Stars screening
The movie returned to the big screen for a single showing on Valentine’s Day at Aeon Cinema in the southern Japanese city of Ayagawa. The on-stage guests were Mikage Kiryu’s voice actor Eriko Nakamura and Production IG producer Mikio Gunji. Pics and further info on the event are very rare; this photo of the movie screen is the only one that has surfaced so far. But the words of these two can be found in abundance in earlier reports.
February 15: Battlefield Infinity calendar awarded
Most of the prizes awarded for doing well in the mobile game are virtual, but occasionally it leads to real world results. In this case (as per our last report), a “Real Present” campaign awarded ten winners with Ark of the Stars calendars signed by mecha designer Junichiro Tamamori. This photo of one appeared on Twitter.
February 15: Game news
Collect reinforcement items in a search! “Large-scale planet search” to be held!
CAUTION! CAUTION! Large unidentified fleet approaching mother planet! Strengthen your forces for the upcoming battle!
During the event, a number of limited “Planet Search” stages appear! In this “Planet Search” stage, a large number of reinforcement items can be found! Accordingly, four fighter pilots appear during this limited period of rare buildup as elite units exclusively for this search: Kato, Yamamoto, Berger, and Melda!
If you organize a search with these elite units in your fleet, the probability of success in this limited search stage improves dramatically! It’s twice as effective if you utilize two or more elite units!
Also, what’s this? During the event period, the probability of successfully remodeling a unit is doubled! Reinforce the fighting power of your fleet now to meet the powerful forthcoming enemy!
Limited elite units
UN Cosmo Navy:
Cosmo Zero (Saburo Kato)
Cosmo Falcon (Akira Yamamoto)
Garmillas Empire Forces (fighter buildup)
Zedora II (Fomt Berger)
Debake (Melda Dietz)
Elite Skill
Skill name: Increase in probability of success (Large-scale Planet Search)
Skill effect: Probability of success in the “Planet Search” stage increases by 60%
Limited elite units appear from February 15-22.
Version 1.2.8 update!
Version 1.2.8 will be released February 15! The content of this “highly recommended” update is as follows:
• Get intelligence information prior to a search mission!
– Added “fleet level” information shows the strength of the currently-organized fleet
– “Recommended fleet level” as an indicator of success
– Fleet parameter information that is especially important in a search stage capture
– Information on items available in a search stage
With this added information, you’re sure to enjoy exploration and capture even more!
• Player fleet cost increase!
The cost of a powerful flagship (Yamato or Deusular II) is set from 0 to 20. Because of this, the cost of a fleet increases to 70! This will make it easier to organize very rare units and increase the flexibility of fleet formation! It becomes easier to clear a stage!
• All-around change in unit design!
Redesigned thumbnails for each rare unit are now easier to understand! Information screens in the background are highly modified to be extravagant! Your joy will double when you get a gorgeous rare unit!!
Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity challenges a big wave and delivers content everyone can enjoy! Don’t miss it!!
February 16: 10th Annual Seiyu (voice actor) Awards
Every year, Japanese voice actors are commemorated for special achievements in their field, and a 2199 alumnus made the roster in 2016. Kikuko Inoue, the voice of Starsha in 2199, was selected for the Kazue Takahashi Award for “a female performer who broadens the profession of voice acting in every form of media.”
Incidentally, the male version of this award is named for Susumu Kodai’s original voice actor Kei Tomiyama.
See other winning actors in the roster here.
February 18: Premium Bandai Garmillas Mecha Collection set
Everyone who bought Bandai’s 1/1000 scale Yamato 2199 model kits knows that most of them came with bonus “mechanic collection” mini-kits, and that some of these were previously collected into a limited-edition box set from the online-only Premium Bandai. In February, a second box set arrived.
titled Carrier-Based Spacecraft Set/The Far Reaches of the Galaxy, this one rounded up all the fighters and bombers featured in the Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster, four different types with variants adding up to nine models.
See more photos at the Premium Bandai website here.
February 19: Book announcement
For casual and serious collectors alike, there’s nothing more welcome than a Yamato 2199 art book, and few things are more exciting than a surprise announcement for one. This month, Mag Garden grabbed everyone’s attention with the news that we can expect a second volume of the amazing Hyper Mechanical Detail Artworks on April 30.
Promised at 128 pages, it picks up where its predecessor left off to give us unobstructed views of the intricate “detail up” spaceship images from the second half of the series and Ark of the Stars. The cover image by Mecha Director Masanori Niishi is brand new.
Get a closer look at it along with other preview images from the book here.
February 19: Game news
Engage “the Thunder”! Limited elite units Kiryu and Neredia appear!
Invasion event “Cataclysm! Megaluda Lightning Attack” will be held from February 20, and the limited units Kiryu and Neredia will appear during a rare buildup period! This is the first appearance in Battlefield Infinity of Neredia’s ship, the Gelvades-class multi-deck combat carrier Mirangal! A unit that combines the power of a carrier and a battleship arrives on the battlefield!
Elite unit information
Nagato (Kiryu)
Unit skill: action delay level 5
Skill effect: Continuously affects movement. +1 action count in 75% attack probability
Fleet skill
Skill name: Firepower increase
Skill effect: Continuously affects movement. Raises firepower of the whole fleet in the event area by 100%.
Mirangal (Neredia)
Unit skill: action delay level 5
Skill effect: Continuously affects movement. +1 action count in 75% attack probability
Fleet skill
Skill name: Firepower increase
Skill effect: Continuously affects movement. Raises firepower of the whole fleet in the event area by 100%.
Reinforcement event “Large-scale Planet Search” success commemoration! Popular cosplay characters reappear!
In the reinforcement event “Large-scale Planet Search,” Yuki Mori and Melda Dietz appear in gym clothes in a search stage! At the same time, four kinds of “reinforcement request forms” are also available! The probability of success in this limited search stage improves dramatically if you use elite units Kato, Yamamoto, Berger, or Melda, which can be obtained in rare buildup! Combine two craft for certain success!
Also! During the event period, the probability of successfully remodeling a unit is doubled!! Take advantage of this to modify your excess units!
Unit information
Hatsuyuki (Yuki Mori in gym clothes)
Unit skill: Enhance armor to level 4
Skill effect: increase armor by 60% for three turns
Meltoria-class (Melda in gym clothes)
Unit skill: Enhance armor to level 4
Skill effect: increase firepower by 80% for three turns
Probability of limited units triples during rare buildup! A big chance to obtain very rare units and strengthen quickly!
Increased probability period: until February 22.
Obtain “elite search units” in the search stage of “Large-scale Planet Search” to acquire reinforcements for the “Megaluda Lightning Attack”! Get ready, a powerful enemy is coming!! The thunder will roar in Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity, which delivers content everyone can enjoy. Don’t miss it!
February 20: Game news
“Major strike! Megaluda Lightning Attack”! Clear this stage and earn the Megaluda!
WARNING! The threat of Gatlantis, again! The assault event “Major strike! Megaluda Lightning Attack” is held for 48 hours only! An enemy flagship with a durability of 90,000!! Now, the reinforcements collected in the “Large-scale Planet Search” event are finally put to the test!
Concentrate the power of all fleets to defeat the Megaluda commanded by Goran! Your reward is the flagship Megaluda (Goran Dagarm), equipped with the Flame Strike Gun!
Period: February 20 and 21.
Highest reward (both sides)
Unit: Megaluda (Goran Dagarm)
Skill: Flame Strike Gun
Skill effect: causes fixed damage of 2000 to an enemy within range. Consumes up to 20% of available fuel and can’t be used at 0%.
How to acquire: Defeat the flagship in the “Major strike! Megaluda Lightning Attack” event stage.
When the power of the fleet isn’t enough…
It’s possible to organize with the elite units Kiryu and Neredia in rare buildup for the special skill effect of “doubling the firepower of the whole fleet!” In the limited “Large-scale Planet Search” reinforcement stage held at the same time, a large number of “reinforcement request forms” are available!
Also! Yuki Mori and Melda Dietz appear in gym clothes in this search stage! At the same time, four kinds of “reinforcement request forms” are also available! The probability of success in this limited search stage improves dramatically if you use elite units Kato, Yamamoto, Berger, or Melda, which can be obtained in rare buildup! Combine two craft for certain success! Try to get lots of reinforcement items and earn Yuki Mori and Melda Dietz in gym clothes!
Extra units…
Also! During the “Large-scale Planet Search” event period, the probability of successfully remodeling a unit is doubled!! Use this for your extra units and strengthen the fleet! Now is the time, a powerful enemy fleet is coming!!
Megaluda Lightning Attack elite units
UN Cosmo Navy (large ships)
Nagato (Mikage Kiryu)
Garmillas Empire Forces (large ships)
Mirangal (Neredia Rikke)
Special skills (common on both sides)
Skill name: increased firepower
Skill effect: continuously affects movement. The firepower of the whole fleet in the event area increases by 100%.
Search stage elite units
UN Cosmo Navy (fighters)
Cosmo Zero (Saburo Kato)
Cosmo Falcon (Akira Yamamoto)
Garmillas Empire Forces (fighters)
Zedora II (Fomt Berger)
Debake (Melda Dietz)
Special skills (common on both sides)
Skill name: probability of success increases
Skill effect: fleet skill for searching. Probability of success in the event stage increases by 60%.
Limited elite unit period: until February 22.
Goran finally bares his fangs and a hot war begins. Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity delivers content everyone can enjoy. Don’t miss it!
February 22: Game news
“2-crew unit” with specialized attack appears as a reward! “Display stand for dolls” event to be held!
Repel the enemy dressed like a doll! The “Display stand for dolls” event begins simultaneously for both sides, the UN Cosmo Navy and the Garmillas Empire Forces! Harada and Mirenel command as dolls and create a blockade with a display stand!
A damage ranking is held – compete for ranking points by doing damage to the enemy! The reward for ranking is Hoshina & Misaki for the UN Cosmo Navy and Shulz & Hilde for the Garmillas Empire Forces – and a “2-crew unit” appears for the first time!
With two people on board, the performance is outstanding!! Compared to normal units, the attack range is far wider! It becomes possible to attack an enemy up to 6 masses away! In addition, fuel consumption is normal and endurance is doubled! Obtain a “2-crew unit” and aim for the top ranking!
Ranking reward unit (UN Cosmo Navy):
Kirishima (Hoshina & Misaki)
Unit parameters
Maximum durability: 4200
Maximum fuel: 7308
Maximum firepower: 805
Maximum armor: 457
Maximum mobility: 350
Unit skill
Skill name: What love can bring
Skill effect: Improve firepower by 50% for three turns
Unit features:
Though the parameters are inferior to the 2-crew unit on the Garmillas side, it features a particularly wide attack range. It is possible to compensate for the lower parameters by skillfuly raising firepower. The increase in firepower with maximum skill exceeds even the limited unit Nagato!
Ranking reward unit (Garmillas Empire Forces)
Chevalier [Shulz & Hilde]
Unit parameters
Maximum durability: 9999
Maximum fuel: 9999
Maximum firepower: 880
Maximum armor: 583
Maximum mobility: 280
Unit skill
Skill name: What the bond of parent and child can bring
Skill effect: continuously affects movement. Action count is +1 with a probability of 50% at the time of an attack.
Unit features
Among all units, it boasts the highest endurance and fuel efficiency. It conducts pre-emptive attacks by taking advantage of its wide attack range and using skillful tactics to confine enemy action.
Event period: Until March 3.
Harada and Mirenel as dolls!
A limited time event! Harada and Mirenel come up as special units in rare buildup! Also! They appear exclusively in doll costumes! Their special skills substantially improve firepower in the event area! At maximum skill level, firepower increases by six times! Give out damage with overwhelming firepower and aim for the top ranking to earn a “2-crew unit”!
Elite units
“special” Kuroshio (Makoto Harada)
“special” Destria-class (Mirenel Link)
Both in exclusive doll versions
Elite skill
Skill name: increased firepower
Skill effect: continuously affects movement. Acquisition of ranking points improves in the event area. Maximum firepower can increase by six times!
Special unit discharge period: Until March 3. Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity continues to expand and deliver content everyone can enjoy. Don’t miss it!
February 26: Game news
Two elite skills! Harada and Mirenel in doll costumes make large-size ships available!
Elite units Harada and Mirenel appear as dolls and board large ships in the “Equipped with two advantageous elite skills” event! Acquire up to six times normal firepower and capture important ranking points!
Also! During this period, the probability of building UR is doubled in rare buildup!! In addition! A UR unit can be constructed with “level 30” armor and firepower with a 20% rise in mobility! Get an enhanced UR unit!
Use this chance to get the elite doll units! Aim for the top ranking and get a 2-crew unit with special attacks as a reward: Hoshina & Misaki or Shulz & Hilde!!
Large-scale ship elite units
“Special” Nagato (Makoto Harada)
“Special” Shangri-la (Mirenel Link)
Both in exclusive doll versions
Large-scale ship elite skills
Skill name: increased firepower
Skill effect: continuously affects movement. Acquisition of ranking points improves in the event area. Maximum firepower can increase by six times!
Skill name: point UP
Skill effect: continuously affects movement. Acquisition of ranking points can increase by six times in the event area!
Special unit buildup period: February 26 – March 3.
A chance to get lots of ranking points! EX stage added!!
The attack of the “dolls” is coming and gets more radical! The second half of the “Display stand for dolls” game event stage comes up!
Enemy ships with specially-enhanced parameters approach in the new stage! Defeat the enemy fleet with high-firepower units and get lots of ranking points!
Second half of the event game period: February 26 – March 3.
Yamato 2199 Battlefield Infinity shows a turnout suitable for a celebration of girls and delivers content everyone can enjoy. Don’t miss it!!
Also spotted in February
Red Bubble products
Red Bubble is an on-demand retail website that applies images to any number of products that may appeal to collectors. The Yamato-inspired stickers shown here are just the tip of the iceberg. See the rest of that iceberg here, and click on the “products” button to see other applications. Oh, and the lucky bonus is that you don’t have to go to Japan to buy them.
Fan models
Fans continuously enrich the Yamato-verse with their own DIY takes and combinations. See a selection of recent finds here.
Cosplay
You’ve seen them before, but you can never see them enough. “Chikin-san” and “Sumio-san” reappeared as Yuki and Akira at Wonder Festival, this time sporting some new props. Twitter practically exploded with photos that have been collected for you here.
Fan art
And don’t forget the artists! See what they’ve been up to (with links to their Twitter pages) here.
CG modeling by Haru
CG artist “Haru” continues to match and even surpass the efforts of the animation crew with his own views of the Yamato world. As shown in our last report, he has pushed into Series 2 territory with his own build of Andromeda…
…and this month he shared these two work-in-progress images of the big A’s Wave-Motion Gun chamber.
Follow Haru’s efforts on his turtle-riffic Twitter page here.
Yamato booze
Finally, from the legendary Yakitori Yamato restaurant on the outskirts of Tokyo (owned by exec producer Shoji Nishizaki) comes this close-up look at selections from the alcohol menu, named “Yuki” and “Kodai.” (Photos posted February 18 on Twitter by “Warp2220”.)
The English-language slogan on the bottles reads “All Japan Supporters of Yamato.” With a new series now officially on the way, let’s all do our parts to enlarge that support base, shall we?