Despite not having a huge concert event as its centerpiece, the month of November saw a nice uptick in activity with news from multiple fronts, another giant-size Yamato for the history books, and the first glimpse of 2205. Here’s the full rundown…

November 1: Family Theater news

This was a huge month for reruns on the satellite channel Family Theater, as their 45th anniversary Yamato Project went into full swing. A handful of new commercials fronted for Yamato 2, The New Voyage, and Be Forever, all of which debuted on the 9th. Plenty more programming would follow in December.

Visit the Family Theater website here and see the commercials on Youtube:

Yamato 2 | Be Forever | Final Yamato | Resurrection

Photo posted on Twitter by Akira Hamada

November 2: Harvest Festival Yamato unveiled

As mentioned at the end of our last report, the country town of Chikuzen (in Fukuoka Prefecture) throws an annual harvest festival that sometimes includes large “scarecrow” statues made of natural materials. For their 15th festival this year, Yamato joined that roster. Over and above the craftsmanship, its measurements alone are impressive: 54 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 16 feet tall, making it the second largest Yamato ever built (see all of its mighty brethren here).

Thankfully, fans descended upon Chikuzen with their cameras to share it with all of us. Get a good look at it in these three galleries: Under construction | Fully built | Night photos

Additional coverage: Video 1 | Video 2 | Video 3 | Video 4 | Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3

The structure will be on display through January 2020 in case you find yourself in Fukuoka in the meantime.

November 4: Yuya Hoshino live performance

Less than a month after his appearance at Close To You Tonight, singer/songwriter Yuya Hoshino popped up again at Club Megoru in Tokyo in a show called “Yuya Hoshino Sings Yamato.” Other performers joined him for a set list that dipped generously into the vintage library with The Rival, Great Love, Scarlet Scarf, Until The Day of Love, Life of Love, Love Supreme, Kodai and Yamato, Crimson Red, some instrumentals, and the Yamato theme.

It’s very rare to get that many vintage songs in a single performance, so hopefully it was all recorded for future release!

Photos posted on Twitter by Hachi Kuji and Take Channel

November 6: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 41

This month’s parts from Hachette filled out the front half of the hull and shifted focus to the bridge tower, since the two are steadily approaching a point of convergence. Volume 41 contained the lower hull segment for the port side beneath the observation deck.

See an unboxing video here.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

Photos posted on Twitter by Cody-chan

November 9: Farewell to Yamato screening in 4K

As the most popular and profitable of the Yamato films, Farewell has traditionally been the first to get new upgrades as technology advances. It happened again when it became the first to premiere in 4K for one screening at a single Tokyo theater as part of Family Theater’s 45th anniversary Yamato Project. The audience consisted of 200 lucky lottery winners (out of a whopping 10,000 entries) who were suitably impressed by its high-quality sound and visuals.

Photos published by Stereo Online. See the original article here.

The presentation was accompanied by an onstage talk between announcer Shinsuke Kasai and TV personality Thane Camus, who revealed that he was born the same year the film was released, and this was the first time he got to see it on the big screen. Both described Farewell as their favorite Yamato film. Kasai described seeing it as a junior high student: “I was embarrassed when my friends cried at the end, and most people stayed in the theater to see it a second time, which was a rare thing.” Camus first encountered Yamato on TV shortly after moving to Japan and was shaken every day when the “days left” caption appeared on screen.

An audience survey revealed that most were elementary and junior high students when the film premiered. Family Theater would later present this version of Farewell in HD on December 28.

November 11: Akira Miyagawa on Twitter

Fans seem universal in agreement that the most welcome news we can ask for between Yamato productions is an expansion of the music library. Composer Akira Miyagawa delivered exactly that on his Twitter page with the following caption:

Steadily preparing. First, the White Comet Organ Concerto was completed. In addition to this new piece, you will hear the Space Battleship Yamato 2202 theater version. This should be the foundation of Symphonic Suite 2202.

Photos posted on Twitter by Hachi Kuji

November 13: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 42

This week, the bottom plate for the latest hull segment arrived, along with a chunk of the bridge tower that would lock into place the following week.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

November 14: Space news

This wasn’t the first time real life and Yamato have intersected, but the artist’s rendition above sure looks familiar; on this day it was reported in The Independent that Sagittarius A has been detected on the move at high speed after being flung out of the center of the Milky Way by a black hole, on course for intergalactic space. (So if it IS Gatlantis, at least it’s going in the right direction.)

Read the article here.

Also in November, fans on Twitter made similar observations. Brunhilde spotted a familiar shape as Cyclone Kyarr boiled up over the Arabian Sea (the strongest in 12 years)…

…and Kinsan Tohyama recognized an equally ominous development in a photo of Jupiter taken on NASA’s Juno mission. Something’s happening out there, people.

November 15: Yamato Crew news

Amid the regular patter of news, it was easy to forget one of the most exciting developments of the season: a completely new Yamato story was soon to debut in the pages of the fan club magazine. A serialized novella titled Aquarius Algorithm was previously announced in issue 4 (see our coverage here), and on this day the author stepped forward to issue his first comment on Yamato Crew…

On the Writing of Aquarius Algorithm

Yamato Resurrection Part 0 is set in 2215, 12 years after the sinking of Yamato. This is an original story that fills in the blank period between Final Yamato and Resurrection, spun with completely new perspectives and ideas while respecting the existing concepts.

This is my first time being involved with Yamato‘s world, and I’m uncontrollably nervous and excited. I hope you will observe it with warm eyes. When I was first asked, “Is there any time and place in Yamato‘s worldview that you’d like to write about?” I immediately thought of this stage. Over about a year, the original image has grown to be vividly illustrated by Ryuji Umeno [Umegrafix] and Shinji Nishikawa.

A new ship will be ready to sail into outer space with Susumu Kodai and others at the end of this month. What’s going on with Yamato? Where’s Captain Okita? What is the galaxy-scale escape plan “Magellan Exodus”? So begins Aquarus Algorithm.

An algorithm is a calculation method for solving various problems. Susumu Kodai and the crew of Yamato once again confront difficulty on the sale of outer space. This is the story of Kodai reviving with Yamato‘s crew. Please look forward to Aquarius Algorithm, starting November 2019 in Yamato Magazine Vol. 5!

– Katsuya Takashima

November 15: Leiji Matsumoto news

Fandom got a rude wake-up call today when we were all reminded that Leiji Matsumoto isn’t getting any younger. While visiting Turin, Italy to mark the 40th anniversary of Captain Harlock’s first broadcast there, he collapsed during a screening of Galaxy Express 999 and was rushed to a hospital ICU where he was intubated for respiratory distress. Rumors of a stroke rippled through the international community, but he awoke two days later (the 17th) and began his recovery from pneumonia.

He returned to Japan on December 4 where he said he felt very good despite being transported in a wheelchair. He expected to be hospitalized again for followup procedures. The official word is that fatigue is to blame for his mishap, which perhaps indicates less travel in his future. The man is now 81, so there’s no shame in that. He’s earned a rest.

November 19: GX-89 Soul of Chogokin Garmillas Destroyer

After several Yamatos and an Andromeda, Bandai’s Soul of Chogokin lineup now includes its first Garmillas ship, which dates back all the way to the beginning of the original TV Episode 1. This version is based on the modern redesign, consisting of plastic and metal parts with a length of about 9.5″.

It is in scale with the 2202 SoC Yamato, its “headlights” change color from yellow to green to red, and its sound effects library can interact with Yamato‘s to create battle scenarios.

Visit Bandai’s official website for the GX-89 (which includes a demo video) here.

Photos posted on Twitter by Hachi Kuji and NCC1701refit

November 20: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 43

This volume provided the lower front half of the bridge tower, plus some attendant internal parts to bring the superstructure up to its full height.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

November 24: World Tour Concert in Japan 2019

Every year, marching bands from around the world convene in Japan for this music festival. One element is a parade of police bands with their own repertoire. As it happens, the New York City Police band added the Space Battleship Yamato theme to their routine for Japan Day events in New York, and they used this opportunity to repatriate it. They are shown above marching through the Ginza district in Tokyo.

See the full parade pass (21 minutes) here (NYPD band is last).

See the NYPD band startup here.

See them playing the Yamato theme here.

November 26: Yamato 2202 part 2 from Funimation

The English version of Yamato 2202 came to its long-awaited conclusion when the second half arrived on home video from Funimation. The set includes episodes 14-26 on both Blu-ray and DVD with voice actor interviews and episode commentaries.

Order it directly from Funimation here.

Photos posted on Twitter by Hachi Kuji and Take Channel 36

November 27: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 44

This volume finished off construction of the bridge tower with the remaining gun turrets and side structures. Soon it would be time to light it all up.

See Hachette’s instruction video here.

See an unboxing video here.

November 27: 1/1 Cosmogun water pistol

After a seemingly unending series of delays (it was initially announced for late August), this magnificent piece finally shipped out to eager fans around the world. Measuring 15″ long, it is available with one of four different nameplates on the grip that conceals the water inlet.

The gun was created by Model Works Grenade and distributed by Daiki Industries. As of this writing, all four versions can be ordered from Amazon.co.jp for international shipping:

Mamoru Kodai | Susumu Kodai | Yuki Mori | Juuzo Okita

November 29: Star Blazers/Yamato Fan Club magazine Vol. 5

A copy of this issue failed to arrive in time for full coverage here, but generous fans in Japan shared some tantalizing images from within. Above right is the title page for the first chapter of Aquarius Algorithm, a striking image of the broken Yamato by the artist known as Umegrafix (shared on Yahoo Japan by Yasushi Tezuka). Other illustrations accompany the story as well.

Photos posted on Twitter by Helldiver1999

But the showstopper is definitely this title page for a section devoted to Yamato 2205 featuring some of the design images that were shown to the audience at the October Close To You Tonight concert. The section includes the first interview with Director Kenji Yasuda, which will definitely be a part of the next Cosmo DNA update.

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