Yamato 2202 Report 11, part 3

Back up to part 2

June 24: Chapter 2 premiere

Launch Chapter opened on 20 screens (the largest number so far, even dating back to 2199), eight of which held it over for an unprecedented third week to close on July 14.

Saturday, June 24 began with five cast and staff members kicking off a busy day of personal appearances at the Shinjuku Piccadilly Theater. They delivered two stage greetings (between the first two morning shows) then moved on to the MOVIX Akishima for a midday greeting and the Yokohama Berg 13 in Kanagawa for two more between afternoon shows. This would continue with five more appearances on Sunday at three additional theaters on the Tokyo outskirts.

The group was only slightly different than those who appeared on stage at the June 7 preview (L to R): Director Nobuyoshi Habara, Sayaka Kanda (Teresa), Hiroshi Kamiya (Keyman), Eriko Nakamura (Kiryu), and Writer Harutoshi Fukui. Several online entertainment sites reported on the event. Following is an amalgam of their coverage…

Stage Greeting

Habara (commenting on the closing cliffhanger): You just watched it and might be asking, “why does it end here?” I understand your feeling, and thank you in advance for your support.

Fukui: It was a severe way to end.

Habara: Who thought of it?? (Laughter)

Fukui: Everyone in the audience is an adult. They can wait a few more months [for Chapter 3].

Fukui asked the others for their impressions

Nakamura: Well, it’s good that it was finished! There were times in the voice recording when there were no visuals, and I wondered if it would be completed properly.

Voice actors can’t record without visuals of some kind, so in such a situation, only Mr. Habara’s storyboards could be used. The visuals were properly assembled for the recording of Chapter 1, but it seemed Mr. Kamiya could not hide his surprise at the dropoff in Chapter 2.

Kamiya: I like Director Habara’s storyboards. They’re particularly good. I wondered if they could really do this…but I was relieved to see it completed with such amazing quality.

Fukui: I was worried, too.

Habara: Hey, weren’t you in it with me? I protest!

Nakamura (on the highlights of Chapter 2): I wasn’t expecting this to turn into the chapter for me to just watch them launch. That’s why there’s a part of me looking forward to seeing how this all develops. I think it would be nice if I get my chance at bat when Yamato finds herself in a real pinch.

Fukui: Considering how you’re just left behind, there’s no real call for you to even be here making a stage greeting.

Kamiya: I don’t do anything particularly significant now, but in this episode there’s the “Just get aboard! Never mind!” line. That’s super cool. Not, “Never mind, just get aboard!” The inverted word order gives it a strange persuasive power.

Fukui: There is a technique that only becomes possible when a man is fully aware of himself. Among us, the casting of Mr. Kamiya was decided from the beginning.

Habara: From the time I read the script, I could only hear Mr. Kamiya’s voice.

Kamiya: I’m glad I came here today! I’ll do my best! That’s very inspiring.

The topic switched to elements that weren’t in the original.

Fukui: It seems to have the air of turning entrepreneur. You set sail with this feeling of “Let’s start our own company! This firm’s doomed!” and then suddenly the main bank that’s promised to back you tells you they can’t do business with you, and you end up standing there with the phone dead, going “Hello? Hello?!” (Laughter)

Next, Sayaka Kanda talked about the end song, Mirror of the Moon.

Kanda: The ending song is an important thing that allows the story to linger while building anticipation for the next one, so I felt a great sense of responsibility. Because Teresa is said to be a goddess with the image of peace for all things, we dropped the lighting in the recording booth a little and I tried to enter her world when singing. I’d like you to hear it like water.

Habara had just celebrated his birthday three days earlier, and received wishes from the others for his continuing good health.

Fukui: I want Teresa to pray for you.

Kanda joined hands with Habara.

Kanda: Congratulations to Director Habara, now 54 years old. This work seriously depends on you. Please take care of yourself and run all the way to the end.

Habara: I’m about to cry. What should I do? When I’m called by Teresa, I’ll die to get everything finished.

Kamiya: Be careful what you wish for. (laughter)

Fukui: Looks like Director Habara is going to die.

Kamiya: All Mr. Fukui ever says are portents of doom, and I wonder if he’s okay…

Conclusion

Fukui: The previous box office performance exceeded 100 million yen as a limited release. This time, the entrance fee and the number of screens has also increased. Naturally, there is the assumption that it will be lucrative at the box office, but it won’t be so simple because it can’t be shown as many times per day. We appreciate your continued support in response to that.

Kanda: I’m anxious to see where it goes!


Saturday afternoon at the Berg 13 theater in Yokohama, joined by MC Chiaki Matsuzawa

The weekend box office put all anxiety to rest. Despite being on only 20 screens, Chapter 2 came in at 7th place nationwide and ranked as number 1 of the top 15 films in theaters that weekend, taking in close to 3 million yen.

The presentation finished with a closing comment from Hiroshi Kamiya: So many different people come on board “because this ship is Yamato!” Some can be convinced, and some can’t. But Klaus Keyman’s role is to take up a neutral position between them, so I’m now in a “Hmm…” situation. What happens to him will be a highlight in the future, and to those who think they don’t really understand Keyman at the moment, you will as time goes by. Thank you.

Special thanks to Neil Nadelman for translation support.


Hand-made welcome board at the Cinecitta theater, Sunday June 25.

Chapter 2 theater-exclusive Blu-ray

The blu-ray contains the same four episodes shown on the big screen but with added opening and end titles, newly completed for this chapter. Bonus features are a Chapter 1 digest, clean OP and ED, trailers and commercials, and audio commentary on episodes 3 and 5. A 12-page booklet is included, which can be seen here.

The theater-exclusive bonuses, bundled with the Blu-ray, were a storyboard booklet and screenplay for Episode 4. These will not be included in the standard video release, scheduled for July 28.


The blu-ray purchase line at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater, Saturday June 24.






Chapter 2 program book

Clocking in at an impressive 40 pages, this one covers all the bases with an introduction by Harutoshi Fukui, a Chapter 1 recap, Chapter 2 synopses, character, mecha, and world guides, a new center spread by the great Naoyuki Katoh, an interview with CG Director Taichi Kimura (read it here), four pages of Junichiro Tamamori mecha design, and multiple pages of product announcements.

See the whole thing from cover to cover here.

Chapter 2 theater goods

The next wave of Chapter 2 products added new variants to the lineup from Chapter 1 (such as new clear files and T-shirts from Under Armour) while bringing a few new items into the bubble. See them all here.

Week 1 theater giveaways

A new giveaway item was developed for Chapter 1. As fans entered the screening room in their local theater, they were given a pair of facsimile genga (layout art) in a production envelope. Even if you couldn’t afford something from the theater gift shop, you still got a souvenir.

The practice was repeated for Chapter 2, except that there were now three genga in the envelope. They were available while supplies lasted, and then replaced by a whole new set of three on the second weekend. (See next report.)

June 24: 1/1000 Dreadnought model kit

Measuring 25cm long (just short of 10″) the vessel formerly known as “Main Earth Battleship” is now the UNCFD-1 Dreadnought. The kit comes with internal LED lighting, decals that allow for 14 naming options, and a brace of four Cosmo Tigers.

See product photos at Hobby Search here.

See a gallery of finished kits here.

June 24: Hobby Japan #578

This issue contained a 6-page article with four devoted to the newly-released Dreadnought model and two more covering film and product news.

See all six pages here

June 24: Collaboration café opens

Yamato-themed cafes are becoming a delightful new pattern for movie premieres. On the premiere day of Chapter 2, Myoujin Café in Tokyo’s Bunkyo ward took on Yamato décor for a two-week period that ended July 7. Visitors could pose for photo ops with newly-designed, life-size figures (Yuki in a server’s uniform, for example) and dine on a Yamato-themed menu surrounded by artwork and cel reproductions. Everyone walked out with a free coaster.

The special menu items consisted of the following:

FOOD: OMCS Special Orion Gratin, OMCS rabbit pie, The Promised Land of Iscandar (french toast) and Cosmo Reverse Blue Earth (oysters on ice).

DRINK: Yamato Cocktail (sake with caramel syrup), Yuki Mori Energy Drink (grapefruit juice with banana syrup and soda), Wave Cocoa (cocoa with raspberry syrup), and Garmillas banquet (red wine with ginger)

Café staff and visiting fans posted plenty of photos on Twitter. See a gallery here.

See video footage inside the cafe here.

June 24: 3-meter Andromeda on display, Yokohama

On premiere day, the giant Andromeda could be found at the Berg 13 theater in Yokohama. It got lots of love on Twitter, especially from fans who went to the two afternoon stage greetings by the group that started the day in Shinjuku.

See a photo gallery here

See a video walkaround here

June 24: Chapter 3 news

The official 2202 website was the first (naturally) to break the news of Chapter 3. Titled Pure Love Chapter, it will premiere in theaters October 14. The dramatic key art features this ominous phrase: The devil says, “Choose your love.”

This story synopsis for Chapter 3 was also given:

Chapter 3: Pure Love Chapter

A vast number of Gatlantis reinforcement ships arrives over the head of Yamato, buried in a mass of rock on the eleventh planet. There is no way to fire the Wave-Motion Gun that is sealed up. Which road will Kodai take in the end?

Even when Yuki appears before Kodai, having smuggled herself on board, the situation is not improved.

Driven by need, Yamato is hit by two huge traps and stopped at the planet Shutrabaze. When Yamato is attacked by a rebel Garmillas army, as if it was waiting there. During the confusion, Kodai comes face to face, in the ruins of the Akerius civilization, with a man embodying the intention of Gatlantis. This man, who preaches absolute “love” as the truth of the universe says “Choose your love,” pressing Kodai to make a terrible choice…

June 24: TV Guide

Yet another voice actor interview? Why not? Kenichi Suzumura (Shima) and Hiroshi Kamiya (Keyman) appeared together again in the Japanese edition of TV Guide. Read it here.

June 24: Yamato 2199 manga chapter 52

Completely out of the blue came one more manga chapter of Yamato 2199 by Michio Murakawa. After an unexplained hiaitus, he delivered 32 pages that concluded his adaptation of the epic Episode 18, covering Yamato’s white-knuckle attack on Planet Balan. See all the pages here.

This chapter completes the content of the next paperback collection (yet to be announced), and is followed by a message from Murakawa saying that he’s currently working on special projects for 2202 (including art for the series itself) and he plans to resume 2199 after these commitments are met. Meanwhile, Kadokawa publishing announced a 2-volume Yamato 2202 novelization and a serialized story to begin in Newtype magazine in July.

June 29: Yamatalk Night of Love

As Chapter 2 cruised into its second week, Yamatalks returned to the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater. This one featured series writer Harutoshi Fukui and scriptwriter Hideki Oka. Regrettably, deeper coverage was unavailable for this event.

June 30: Promotional Meeting of Love, part 6

The conclusion of the six-part Youtube series closed out the month of June with a look back at Chapter 2 now that it was playing in theaters. See the episode here.


Also spotted in June

Fan art

A smattering of new fan art smattered all over Twitter. See a character gallery here and a mecha gallery here.

Version K in 3D

Director Nobuyoshi Habara posted these pics June 14 on Twitter, grateful to have received a 3D printed version of the Cosmo Tiger II in “Version K” mode from the CG animation studio working on 2202. Visit Habara’s Twitter page here.

This is your captain

Earlier in the year, Skymark Airlines announced the Yamato jet with Yuki Mori as a flight attendant. This month, Kodai himself arrived in a captain’s uniform. The couple was first photographed together on display at Myoujin Café by the staff.

Electric fan Q

Panasonic’s new “Electric Fan Q” became part of the actual Yamato world when it was seen several times on screen in Chapter 2.

On June 6, Twitter user Popoki Cat posted the photos at right to assure everyone that not only was the fan whisper-quiet, it was also safe for all Earth creatures.



Continue to Report 12

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