Farewell to Yamato Production Data

Statistics

Cel images: about 65,000 pieces
Number of scenes: 2300
Number of colors: 150
Number of explosions: 700
Production staff: 1200 people
Production cost: 360 million yen (about $3.6 million)
Advertising cost: 150 million yen (about $1.5 million)
Box office profit (target): about 1.5 billion yen ($15 million)
Fan club: 851 groups/150,000 people nationwide

Four Months for Script and Storyboard

Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki gathered in meetings every day and night over four months with Leiji Matsumoto, Aritsune Toyota (SF concepts), Toshio Masuda (supervisor), Hideaki Yamamoto (writer) and Itaru Yoshida (producer). It was quite common to begin at 10AM and continue to 2AM the next day. The time and cost for this would be inconceivable in a normal live-action film.

The Pipe Organ Theme

One of the challenges this time was to effectively express the “infinite evil” of the Imperial Planet Gatlantis lead by Emperor Zordar. This was the birth of the new theme of evil performed by pipe organ and orchestra. Of course, the composition was by Hiroshi Miyagawa.

The Regrettable Death

Mr. Kenichi Matsuzaki was the development artist and background painter on the first Yamato. His most recognized work was the painting of the reddened Planet Earth. He was to serve as the art director of Part II, but died suddenly as production began. He was missed by Mr. Nishizaki and all the members of the staff.

The Origin of the Name “Saburo Kato” [Conroy]

It is said that this name commemorates Tateo Kato, the commander of the Kato Hayabusa Fighter Squadron of World War II who fought the USAF Flying Tigers over China. His son was a classmate of Producer Nishizaki in elementary school, so it seems his name was borrowed.

Toshiro Mifune as Captain Hijikata?

Because the presence of Captain Okita [Avatar] was so great, it threatened to overshadow the new character of Captain Hijikata [Gideon]. Thus, big-name voice actors were considered for the role, such as Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. However, it was thought that the character’s face should then look like the voice actor and the cost would be too high, so Producer Nishizaki instead chose Akira Kimura, the narrator of Series 1.

Farewell to Yamato will be Broadcast on TV From October

26 episodes are scheduled. In the movie, most details of interpersonal relationships were omitted. But the expression of every character will be featured in various ways in the TV version.

The Origin of the Name “Space Cavalry”

In the first draft of the script this group was named the “land forces,” even though the story is set in space. In Leiji Matsumoto’s opinion, the term “land combat” was incorrect, so he renamed them the “Space Cavalry Corps.”

The Image of Teresa

“Woman” is the symbolic form of universal love that crosses all of space. Her age is estimated as 16 or 17 years old. Because Starsha in the previous story became a flesh-and-blood person, Teresa became a creature of antimatter.

An Epic 2-Part Movie!?

The script for the film was revised many times. When it reached the midpoint, it was time for a “this is it” decision, and the total length was calculated at over three and a half hours. For a while, there was a plan to make two 2-hour-long movies.

The End

Return to the Farewell to Yamato Time Machine.

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