REBEL 3199 Chapter 3 program book

INTRODUCTION BY HARUTOSHI FUKUI

Is the “future” shown by Dezarium true!?

Between “real” and “satire”

In Space Battleship Yamato, when a ship or fighter is hit, it spews out black smoke. Even though it’s in the vacuum and zero gravity of space, even if the ship appears to be stationary, smoke will rise upward. Gravity is basically at work inside the ship, and the crew does not try to wear space suits unless it’s absolutely necessary. Even on a battlefield where beams are flying just outside the window, they wear normal clothes without helmets (in the original film, the helmets don’t seem to be airtight at all).

In that respect, the subsequent Mobile Suit Gundam appeared more realistic at first glance. Explosions in space spread in all directions, and black smoke does not spew out. The cockpits of spaceships and mobile suits are weightless, and the helmets are perfectly airtight. The early space suits had no life support system, but this was updated with each series, and Gundam seems to pursue “realism” even if it contradicts the previous work visually.

It’s pointless and irrelevant to argue that Gundam is more real than Yamato, but I’ll talk about that later. I was a child at the time, and was completely swept away by the realistic atmosphere of Gundam. Although the world was in the middle of the anime boom, this was a time when the term “TV Manga” still existed. According to the syllogism that “real = authentic = adult-like”, it is natural for boys who are about to hit puberty to lean in that direction, and the value standard of “realistic” was probably even more important to the real time generation who were reaching adulthood at the time (perhaps even more so than it was for us kids).

However, Was the depiction of black smoke seen on Yamato the result of the creators’ lack of knowledge, or of underestimating the viewers as children? Could it be that the staff, who were putting in an unimaginable amount of effort at the time to depict Yamato as a mecha, were completely unconcerned about this?

For example, what if Yamato had not taken the shape of the Yamato battleship? What if it had appeared to the world as an “asteroid ship” built from a meteorite, as per the initial plan? Would the staff have still depicted it the same way?

Enemy planes appeared from above and performed dive bombing attacks, and black smoke rose from the damaged ship. The crew members, without helmets, lend their shoulders to the injured, and the captain peers out with one eye from the brim of his hat to observe the battle. Visible through the rising smoke is an enemy aircraft carrier with a multi-layered flight deck that seems to have been copied exactly from the function and shape of a warship at sea. It is controlled by an alien with a design somewhat reminiscent of Nazi Germany, who also embodies the overwhelming might of America.

Yes, from the moment Yamato took its form, this was an inevitable “performance element” that could not be omitted, and questioning its realism is beside the point. Yamato, a symbol of the Imperial Japanese Navy but labeled a relic of a bygone era, sank without being able to fight properly. It has been reborn as the Space Battleship Yamato and sets off into the vastness of space to save Earth. And here is the most important point: Yamato never won.

Although Yamato defeated the enemy aliens, it was obvious overkill, and when the protagonist learned that the enemy was also just “humans” desperately trying to avoid destruction, he shed tears, wondering why he had no choice but to fight. Those tears, that regret, expose the current state of Japan, which, decades after the war, continues to plunge into economic warfare, and denounces as “conscription” the futility of the social structure that drives young people into the exam wars. The first installment of Space Battleship Yamato, which marks the 50th anniversary of its creation, is a story that summarizes post-war Japan, and a work that hands viewers a lifelong assignment to answer.

So, while the depiction is a science-fiction work set in space, it must have a sense of weight reminiscent of World War II and a somewhat old-fashioned feel. In order to have Yamato symbolize Japan at the time of the war and simultaneously denounce modern Japan, which has not changed at its roots, depictions that pursue the realism of science-fiction would be a hindrance. While Yamato is a realistic drama that depicts the life and death of people, it must also maintain its presence as a metaphor and a satire.

After Farewell to Yamato, which was ahead of its time in denouncing the decadence and licentiousness of the 1980s, its spirit of satire disappeared completely, and the descriptive techniques that had supported it as “direction” were discarded as outdated products of their time, along with the subsequent series. In the end, Gundam appeared…and that’s how we arrived at the current remake series. As you can see, while details have been refined to enhance resolution, the basic directing techniques remain unchanged from the original (though the staff has collectively devised rationales for why they cannot be altered).

The basic policy since 2199 has been to design a world view that allows Yamato‘s design to remain as it is, rather than changing its design by pursuing realism, but the author also has a strong desire to protect Yamato as a satirical work.

Eighty years after the war, few people can still overlay the Japan of yesteryear onto the Battleship Yamato, but the triad of “Space Battleship Yamato = Battleship Yamato = Japan” remains indestructible. I want Yamato to continue to embody modern Japan and, at times, to serve as a voice of indictment. That spirit is what makes Yamato‘s “real” essence, and it is through satire that we can discern the present and glimpse the future —- a crucial role of fiction.

Fake terrorism. Anti-immigration movements. The fear that information manipulated on social media, rather than the ideology of a dictator, will incite the masses and create a structure that will accept a dictator as if they had been waiting for it. Everything depicted in 3199 Chapter 3 is fiction that was conceived six or seven years ago, but sadly, it has become a mirror that reflects the reality of 2025. This is not because we, the staff, had foresight, but because Yamato, which was born as a satirical commentary on reality, has unwittingly captured the essence of the times.

Chapter 3 overview