Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Report 39

Activity held steady as the sixth post-2202 month rolled around and interesting things continued to pop up. Modelbuilding and live events set the tone throughout September as the October concert drew closer and new product announcements gave us our first glimpse into 2020. Here’s what went down…

September 1: Yamato 2205 announcement

September picked up exactly where August left off, with the first official announcement (on the Yamato Crew and Yamato 2202 websites) of the next Yamato production: Space Battleship Yamato 2205, The New Voyage.

This is your friendly reminder that we have no idea yet what the story will be about. It may contain things we’ve seen before, and it may be completely new. There are a lot of characters and concepts to be serviced that didn’t exist in the original saga, and there’s a two-year jump following the Comet Empire war. So predict at your own peril!

September 1: Anidan Grand Prix

Anidan is a portmanteau of Anime Dance, and it’s a competition between groups who choreograph and perform their own routines to anime music. This year’s competition took place at Maihama Amphitheater, and the grand prize went to a troupe called One Day Produce, who turned in a spectacular performance as Yamato‘s crew (with a few Starshas and a Dessler thrown in for good measure).

The group was all over Twitter afterward to celebrate, and their photos can be seen here.

But first, you definitely want to watch their performance here.

September 3: Model kit announcement

Next up from Bandai will be a new 2-pack of Mecha Collection mini-kits, two differently-colored Zoellegut capitol ships with what look to be some VERY elaborate decals to dress them up as they appeared in Episode 1 of 2202. The set is scheduled to be released in December.

September 4: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 32

Hachette started this month’s volumes with another upper hull segment, torpedo tube covers (which are magnetized) and more optical fibers.

Photos posted on Twitter by Hachi Kuji. If you want to follow Hachi Kuji’s Hachette posts from the beginning, they start here.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

September 7: Brece collaboration products

Brece is a Yokohama-based company that specializes in custom accessories for home and auto that ties into licensed properties. In September they released three Yamato 2202 products, starting with this “engine-on” button for an electric car.

There isn’t a whole lot of data on how the company name is meant to be pronounced (it could rhyme with either “fleece” or “sketchy”), but it in fact is an anagram for Best Resolution Easy Car Electronics. Their second Yamato offering was this exterior door button in two different colors.

And finally, there’s this custom switchplate that looks as if it came straight from UNCF headquarters. Find out more about Brece at their official site and Facebook page.

September 8: Yuya Hoshina live performance

In the past, we’ve covered the opening of the Yakitori Yamato restaurant in Shibuya, which has become a convenient (and delicious) gathering point for fans in Tokyo. It also serves as a meeting place for special limited-access events. In September, singer Yuya Hoshino stopped by for an intimate performance that included his Chapter 5 end title song Crimson Red.

Photos posted on Twitter by makorin5k and ayaka19790825.

September 11: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 33

This volume contained fiber optics for the first main gun turret and a lower hull plate to mate with the last one, bringing the forward hull into range of the third bridge. Photos posted on Twitter by Ncc1701refit.

Fans on Twitter noted that this now accounts for about one-third of the overall length, and that it’s becoming quite heavy. Photos posted by Corgistar52, Ochan1967, and hanamaru916.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

September 11: Organ Odyssey CD

Yuka Ishimaru is an award-winning pipe organ player who has performed in Europe and Japan. This album, recorded in June 2019, contains 14 tracks including her cover of the famed White Comet theme. Also of note for SF fans is her renderings of Holt’s The Planets and the Star Wars march.

Order this album from Amazon.co.jp or CD Japan.

September 12: Yutaka Izubuchi lecture

2199 Director Yutaka Izubuchi emerged once again to spread the Yamato gospel, this time at a store in Hibiya, Tokyo. The entertainment site Comemo published the following article about the event…

Space Battleship Yamato examined in reintroduction course – the challenge of inheriting anime culture

by Tadashi Nado

On September 12, a lecture was held at HMV & Books Hibiya Cottage in Hibiya, Tokyo called “Anime Reintroduction Course: First Space Battleship Yamato.” It was a look back at Space Battleship Yamato with Yamato 2199 Director Yutaka Izubuchi and ATAC researcher Soichi Tsuji (ATAC = Anime Tokusatsu Archive Centre).

On that day, everyone watched the debut episode of Yamato, originally broadcast in 1974, then the two presenters took the stage. Their discussion brought out the love and passion of two people who were fans from the beginning of the broadcast, and often had to be pulled back on track after derailing. The method of assembling Episode 1 and organizing all 26 episodes must have been fascinating for those who knew Yamato and the younger generation as well.

The topic expanded to anime as a whole and the tokusatsu (live-action special effects) culture of the 60s and 70s. Director Izubuchi explained that there were a lot of reruns in the evening at the time, which played a big role in the popularity of a work. In fact, he revealed that he had not seen the first episode of Yamato in real time, having to wait for a rerun instead.

He also pointed out that Yamato was influenced by a lot of contemporary culture, such as foreign films like The Guns of Navarone and Go Nagai’s skirt-flipping Harenchi Gakuen manga, which helped to spawn the sports anime boom. It was understood that Yamato was not born alone and that it led to the Mobile Suit Gundam generation. I’m sure the participants had a great time.

I do want to pay attention to the reason this project was realized, and why the 2-hour event was free. It was arranged by the cooperation of Hibiya Broadway University and the non-profit organization ATAC. Founded in 2017, ATAC is led by film director Hideaki Anno and others. Its purpose is to record, preserve, and inherit Japanese anime and tokusatsu culture. Japanese pop culture attracts a lot of attention both at home and abroad, but on the other hand the loss of works and materials is progressing rapidly. ATAC’s goal is to collect and preserve them.

Entertainment has a strong business side and always tends to focus on new trends. It’s easy for the general public to assume that pop culture made for the masses is preserved, but because there is no proper preservation system, works and materials are being lost in a surprisingly short time. There are even cases where popular anime, manga, and tokusatsu works have already disappeared and their content cannot be identified. ATAC’s purpose is to convey the cultural heritage of anime and tokusatsu into the future.

ATAC not only preserves these works, but also promotes their use. Exhibitions of preserved materials are in the planning stage. The “Reintroduction course” is part of that, and the first attempt at a talk event. This course has several roles:

• To convey knowledge of anime and tokusatsu through talk to the next generation.
• To preserve not only production materials and data, but also the live experiences and memories of the times (this event was recorded on video).
• To expand awareness of ATAC.

ATAC is a non-profit corporation and does not receive special support from the government or the nation. ATAC needs a lot of funds for the preservation of production materials (original art, cells, etc.), data organization, and research. Donations are accepted, and their activities will become known through events that encourage support.

Japan has built up a huge and rich culture of anime and tokusatsu that is unique in the world. But because it is so big, many things are left behind and their importance increases. ATAC is working on that problem head on. They would like to hold more “Anime Reintroduction Course” events in the future as opportunities arise. If you see one and participate, please give your attention to ATAC in the background. 

Visit the ATAC website (all Japanese) here.

September 18: Concert merchandise announced

With just under a month to go, the Yamato home office revealed products to commemorate the Close To You Tonight concert coming up October 14. Most utilize artwork that first appeared in Yamato/Star Blazers Magazine issue 4, covered in Report 38. Above: a set of five clear files.

Next, a poster of the key art and a set of acrylic figures in the style that became popularized with Yamato 2202 Chapter 6.

And lastly, a postcard set with the clear file art, a muffler towel, and a wristband. All to be sold at the concert venue and online afterward.

September 18: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 34

For the first time, a Hachette volume did NOT include model parts. This was the first of three to deliver an electronics testing kit, obviously meant to prove that things are going as planned. The photos above, posted on Twitter by momochi61266420, show the sum total of the model so far. It is evident from these and other contemporary photos that the earlier misalignment of hull sections has straightened itself out.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

September 21 & 22: Doro Off IX

Modelers came together in Asakusa, Tokyo to show off their latest creations at the 9th Doro-off exhibition. There were plenty of photographers on hand who shared their sightings on Twitter. See a photo gallery here.

See more photos of the various displays here and here.

September 22: Osaka Shion Wind concert

Akira Miyagawa returned to Osaka to once again take up the baton and lead the 126th concert of the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra. He typically includes a selection of Yamato pieces (there were four this time), and here he added three selections from the anime Black Jack and a performance from A Streetcar Named Desire.

Something that would have made this concert a particular draw for Yamato fans was the presence of a giant pipe organ at Osaka’s Symphony Hall. We’ve all heard that thunderous Comet Empire theme many times, but only at a venue like this could you truly feel it.

In a message published on the Shion Wind Orchestra website, Akira Miyawa noted that preparations for the concert had begun at the end of June (during typhoon season), and he used the occasion to write a new arrangement of his Zordar theme for wind instruments. He also stated that The Symphony Hall’s pipe organ was an amazing instrument that could play wind music without even turning on the power, and that writing for it was akin to writing for a brass band.

As an aside, he commended orchestra performer/director Tetsuya Ishii for his idea to organize future performances around two brass instruments: a euphonium and bass trombone. He said it made them feel like Kodai and Shima, abandoning their previous safe space and going out on a voyage.

He concluded with this: “The sound of the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra comes from the passion of each individual member, just like in the Space Battleship Yamato world.”

September 23: Family Theater commercial

On this day, Family Theater released a new 30-second commercial to promote the upcoming HD remaster of Farewell to Yamato, to be screened in October. See it on Youtube here.

Above right: a magazine ad for “Yamato Project,” Family Theater’s rerun omnibus of just about everything, starting October 6.

September 25: Yamato 2202 Storyboard Collection

Today, a substantial new item was added to Yamato bookshelves around the world: the 2-volume Yamato 2202 Storyboard collection. This is definitely a first in Yamato history. Movie storyboards for Be Forever and Resurrection have made their way into print, and selected episodes of 2199 were released in booklet form, but until now we’ve never seen storyboards for an entire series.

Each of the two volumes runs about 400 pages with the 26 episodes and opening/end titles split between them. The slipcase sports wraparound art by Kia Asamiya. The set is only available from Yamato Crew, and only ships to addresses in Japan, so you’ll need a Japanese friend to aquire it for you.

September 25: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model, Vol. 35

Following volume 34, this one contained the second component of a 3-part electronics testing kit. And thus, no more new parts for the ship arrived in September. Photos posted on Twitter by Ncc1701refit.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

September 26: Game news

Yamato has crossed over with another series just once in the history of mobile games, Sega’s War Pirates in September 2016 (see screenshots here). This time the platform was the ongoing mobile game Yamato 2202 Hero’s Record and the crossover series was the more genre-appropriate SF anime Knights of Sidonia.

September 26-29: 59th All Japan Model Hobby Show

The month drew to a close with twin model-related events in two cities. The first was the annual All Japan Model Hobby Show in Tokyo. Here, Bandai took center stage in Yamato news, surprising everyone with not just one but three new release announcements: a Dimensional Submarine set (February 2020), a 1/1000 “Higher Dimension” clear Yamato (March 2020) and an all-new Patrol and Escort Ship set (date TBA).

Get a better look at all of them in this gallery right here.

See video footage by friend-of-the-website Gwyn Campbell here.

See an extended walk-through of the event here. (Bandai’s Yamato display appears at 10:55)

September 29: Space Battleship Exhibition

Meanwhile, the Volks Hobby showroom in Osaka was the site of this smaller modeling event with a tighter focus. The poster made it clear enough that Yamato would be represented, but there were other items on hand, too.

See a Yamato-only photo gallery here.

See more photos at the event’s Twitter page here.


Also spotted in September

Fan art

With the Yamato 2205 announcement, fans turned to one of the favorite original saga characters, Sasha, to envision what she might look like in modern form. This and a treasure trove of mecha art made it a great month to poke around online.

See a character gallery here and a mecha gallery here.

Fan models

It was another month of enormous output from Japanese modelers. See their latest projects in two galleries: Gallery A | Gallery B

Hero’s Record promo art

With a summer vacation campaign and the Knights of Sidonia crossover, the Hero’s Record mobile game pumped out a lot of new images. See a collected gallery here.

Yamato art print by Rodrigo Barraza

Rodrigo Barraza is a professional illustrator from Chile. His specialty is military aircraft, but he’s an anime fan like the rest of us and he turned his talents upon our favorite ship to create this gorgeous limited-edition Space Battleship Yamato print. It measures 40″ x 24″ and is printed on high-quality photo paper. The text provides a synopsis of Yamato 2199 in English.

Due to the exceptional quality and limited print run, the price is $90 USD plus $35 for shipping in a plastic tube. You can email Rodrigo directly to place an order: rodrigobarrazaaviationprofiles@gmail.com.

See more of his art (and other anime prints) on Instagram here.

Bonus mecha

If 2202 whetted your appetite for more EDF ship variation, there are already other places to look. Twitter user Sakuya Tujimine reminded us of this by posting stills from the Playstation 2 game Remembrance of Iscandar, which included a new automated EDF gunship called the Trident II. See more stills below.



Continue to Report 40

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