The Making of Be Forever Yamato, Part 5 conclusion

Story Draft by Toshio Masuda & Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Conclusion

Yamato‘s First Bridge: The captain (or possibly Kodai) gives orders to end the survey and plunge through the Dark Nebula. When Yamato is surrounded by the cloud, it is affected by natural phenomenae. (The highlight of the scene.)

The enemy attacks just before Yamato leaves the scene; Wave-Motion Depth Charges are used. At this time, we get a glimpse of Mio’s psychic talent.

Yamato escapes from the dark cloud. (Here, the screen changes from Vistavision to Cinescope.) Relief quickly turns to surprise–the space outside looks exactly like the solar system.

Focusing on Earth, we also see Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, and the large Milky Way spreading across the distant horizon. If we turn around, we see the Dark Nebula in a sharp boundary dividing black from white. Ahead is a beautiful aurora presenting a spectacle beyond imagining.

“This is where we are?”
“Isn’t that Earth?”
“Have we returned to Earth again?”

Yamato advances toward the apparent Earth with no sign of attack. It is eerie. Light waves are sent out, and the surface of the planet appears on the video panel.

On the panel:

An ultra-modern city far more advanced than those of Earth civilization. In addition, the ruins of Greece and Rome. Also dotted around the planet are the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan, The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Miyagi in Japan.

“This is Earth! It’s undoubtedly Earth!”

But there is no trace of war. It is peaceful. Even though this is not understood, Kodai leads an advance party to investigate. As a precaution, the Wave-Motion Gun is aimed at the planet.

The ultra-modern city: There are no people at all, just glittering geometric shapes. Could it be called a grand ghost town? Kodai advances, then hesitates. Suddenly, there is ethereal music.

“Welcome, everyone of Yamato!”

A messenger appears; Sada, a beautiful woman accompanied by android soldiers as guards.

“I’ve come up to receive you. The Great Emperor awaits.”

As soon as she says this, the scaffolding beneath Kodai drops into the Earth. Underground, there is a palace with a grand hall. Sada encourages Kodai toward a luxurious chair. A liquid curtain rises and a ballet performance of Swan Lake begins. Everyone stares wide-eyed at the classical art of Earth.

The Great Emperor, a man of stately dignity, rises into view against the backdrop of the stage.

“It was good of you to come, crew of Yamato. Until now, no one has survived the Dark Nebula to come through to this planet. I praise your courage and valor, and consider you guests of honor. Please relax.”

“Is this real? This ballet?”

“You shouldn’t be surprised, this art has been with us for centuries!”

Kodai is shocked! Sado sips alcohol. Paintings hang on the wall: da Vinci, Raphael, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso, Chagalle, Hokusai, Hiroshige, etc. Kodai recovers himself and says, “Great Emperor, we also want to invite you to Yamato.”

“Only when Yamato is surrendered,” he laughs. “We know all about Yamato.”

Sada begins to read a list of all the crew’s names. However, Mio (Sasha) is unknown. The Emperor says she is unidentified.

“Where is here,” Kodai asks, confused. “If it is Earth, then what age is this?”

“Kodai, this Earth is two centuries later than your own.”

“This is Earth in two centuries?”

“Yes, two centuries into your future. After being covered by the dark cloud. Let’s examine your history.”

A big screen drops down and shows:
– Exterior of Earth Defense Headquarters
Yamato‘s fight against Gamilas
Yamato fighting the White Comet (Excerpts from Part 1 and Part 2.)
Yamato plunges into the Dark Nebula and does not return. A title appears: Yamato does not return, XXXX A.D.

Everyone is shocked.

Yamato…?”
Yamato never returns to Earth?”
“That’s impossible!”

“This is history,” the Great Emperor declares calmly. “Yamato was unable to return to Earth. The only way you can survive is to surrender and reside permanently on this planet.”

Kodai recovers and asks a question in return.

“If this planet is the Earth of the future, then what was the Hyperon Bomb sent for? The human race would have been destroyed by it in one blast. Your present would be erased if the past was wiped out!”

“We cannot liquidate our own ancestors. However, it is only a tool of intimidation to those without reason. But the history of Yamato comes to an end with this voyage. Staying here is the only way you can survive.”

“No, Yamato will return! Now that I understand that you’re not able to use the Hyperon Bomb, we can return to Earth, expel your advance invasion party, and restore peace to Earth!”

“That is foolish. History has proven that you will be unable to return. No matter how hard you struggle, you cannot escape your fate.”

“No, we’ll pry open our fate with our own hands!”

“Hahaha…you may try, men of Yamato.”

Kodai has decided to challenge their fate and rise above it. Only Sasha says she will stay here.

(We just notice that she is already determined to remain.)

“What is it, Sasha?”

“This planet of 200 years in the future is more suitable to my body,” Sasha says.

“Tell me the truth, Sasha. You’re hiding something.”

Sasha looks down and tears fill her eyes.

“For me to return with you…is cruelty.” (In a tearful voice)

“What do you mean?”

“You have Yuki-san.”

“Sasha!” (Startled)

“There’s not enough room for me in your heart.” (She turns away.) “An uncle and a niece…it was impossible from the start. But I understand…good bye.”

She runs away.

“Sasha!”

Sasha (crying out): “Don’t come after me! (then to herself): Please don’t follow me even if you like me only a little.”

Sasha runs, her cheeks wet with tears. Kodai stands stunned.

*****

2nd Lieutenant Kiman’s house: Yuki looks up at the moon from the garden. She weeps. Kiman watches her from the shadows for little while, then approaches her from behind.

Kiman: It’s quiet. It doesn’t seem possible for war to exist in such a place.

Yuki turns to him.

Yuki: 2nd Lieutenant Kiman…

Kiman: What is it, Yuki?

Yuki: I have an answer for what you said the other day.

Kiman (looking at her):

Yuki (closed eyes, hoarse voice): I will accept your love.

Kiman: Is it true, Yuki-san?

Yuki nods. Kiman gently grips her shoulders. He almost leans in to kiss her, but pulls back in case anyone is watching. After a moment, he speaks quietly.

Kiman: What a sad woman you are. Do all Earth people think so much about love? Yuki-san, you intend to die. After I tell you the secret to the Hyperon Bomb, you’ll pass it on to your companions. After that, you intend to die. I understand…the man called Kodai lives on in you, body and soul.

Yuki: That person is dead…

Kiman: But you do not believe that!

Yuki gazes at Kiman and tears fill her eyes.

Kiman (groaning): You think I don’t understand? That you don’t sincerely believe Kodai is still alive? No matter how many times a phoenix falls, it rises again. That man’s life continues to fight for Earth in your heart.

Yuki: It may be…but I…I’m serious… (she breaks down crying) I want to know the secret of the bomb…even if I fall into hell for it…I’m sorry, Kodai-kun…

Yuki looks down and cries aloud. Kiman stands over her and mutters.

Kiman: Yuki…I loved you. I have loved you. But now I cannot accept you. You should leave here. And I will give you one more chance. I will defend the bomb. You will return to your colleagues and attack me there. If you defeat me, I will tell you everything.

With that, Kiman leaves.

Kodai returns to Yamato and looks down at the planet from the bridge. He reflects on his thoughts about the human race.

“Is that really our Earth? Is this what we’re fighting for? So the history of Earth can lead to this? We cannot have fought and sacrificed to become like that! Where has all the wisdom of humanity gone?”

He gives commands for launch, but everyone answers from their posts without enthusiasm, the premonition of death hanging over them. Yamato begins to move and the Black Fleet moves to surround them.

Sasha waves farewell to Yamato and poses as if in prayer. Starsha appears in the sky.

Starsha: Sasha.

Sasha (surprised): Mother!

Starsha: My daughter Sasha, destined to have been born between the loving Planet Iscandar and the beautiful Planet Earth. You endure your loneliness. You were destined for sorrow. Though it may be painful, please understand. You have a duty to perform. Your mother has watched you, and waited for the day when you can finish all that began by my hand. Now laugh, my sweet daughter, and say goodbye to Yamato and Kodai.

Starsha fades away. Through her tears, Sasha watches Yamato depart forever.

In the palace, the Great Emperor watches Yamato‘s departure with Sasha and Sada.

“Fools. What makes you think you can return home successfully? As history showed you, I will bury you in the clouds.”

The underground EDF command center: Yuki enters. The commander rises.

Commander: Yuki!

Yuki: Yamato…?

Commander: We understand that Kodai boarded and launched.

Yuki: Eh? Kodai is safe?!

She weeps for joy.

Commander: Naturally. It’s thanks to your work. However, their subsequent fate is unclear. Communication was blocked…

Yuki: Commander, please add me to your ranks of soldiers. I am part of Yamato, too.

*****

Yuki and other soldiers launch an attack in the vicinity of the Hyperon Bomb.

The captain encourages Yamato to speed up and exit the Dark Nebula.

“If that disgusting planet is the future of Earth, we absolutely must return to our Earth and bring that future down ourselves! We must open up our future with our own hands!”

The Great Emperor orders the attack to begin. Near the exit of the Dark Nebula, the Black Fleet attacks! Yamato is hit and takes damage. Aihara mourns bitterly.

“Is this our fate after all?”

During the fierce battle, Sanada and Analyzer discover that the Great Emperor’s race is different from the human race. (It is a handprint on a glass that shows their blood type.)

Sanada shouts: “It isn’t! This is not our fate! That planet was not our future! They were all deceiving us!”

“That’s great! We can return alive!”

Everyone regains their courage and their spirit is restored a hundredfold. However, Kodai realizes something.

“If that future Earth was a deception, they have no reason to care if mankind is destroyed. They will use that Hyperon Bomb!”

Yamato‘s purpose still stands. It is vital to break the Dark Nebula’s control of the bomb! Yamato turns around and heads for the mother planet. Everyone prepares for combat. The Wave-Motion Gun is prepared for firing.

The vicinity of the Hyperon Bomb: an Earth soldier drops in front of Yuki, but the enemy side has fallen, too. 2nd Lieutenant Kiman is also hit. He is on the verge of death. He tells Yuki that the bomb cannot be deactivated only by destroying the controls at the home planet. As he dies, his last words are that unless the detonator here on Earth is shut down, the bomb will explode when the home planet is destroyed.

*****

The Great Emperor sees that Yamato has reversed course and smiles.

“So, Yamato, you realized it.”

He issues an order to his fleet.

“All ships attack!!”

The Black Fleet attacks. (Show a strong new setup for the Wave-Motion Gun, something unprecedented.) The Wave-Motion Gun fires at the hostile craft, causing a huge explosion. This makes a connection with the planet, and it also begins to explode.

But when the smoke clears, the planet’s crust has been torn away to reveal huge pipes radiating from a central core. They begin to rotate.

“What is this?”

“What sort of thing is it, Sanada?”

Sanada analyzes it calmly.

“That is the main body. The surface of Earth was a false paradise. The energy comes from the nucleus in the center. That huge pipe and the surface of the nucleus consist of a super-metal. Not even the Wave-Motion Gun could damage it.”

“The Wave-Motion Gun will have no effect?”

Sorrow fills the air. The captain shouts:

“Do not show weakness! A soldier of Yamato should not give up until the last possible moment! Endure whatever pain the voyage gives you and come back alive! That’s what Captain Okita would have said!”

Everyone is stirred by these words and remembers Okita’s death.

“Explore every possibility to the absolute limit! There should be a breakthrough somewhere!”

The computer begins to investigate. The figure of Sasha appears on the video panel.

“There is an artificial sun in the central nucleus, and their base is a super-modern city on the inside. I will open the tunnel at the south pole. Penetrate into the interior from there, and fire the Wave-Motion Gun at the artificial sun.”

“Fire the Wave-Motion Gun at the core’s artificial sun?”

“Yes, the light energy of the sun will resonate with the Wave-Motion energy of Yamato and collapse in on itself.”

“Is that it? That’s why he was afraid of Yamato?”

“Yes, because only it can destroy this planet. You’ll have XX seconds from the beginning of collapse until the explosion. Please use that time for Yamato to escape through the tunnel toward the north pole.”

“But what will happen to you? Your life will be lost!”

“The Great Emperor moved up the time gauge to detonate the Hyperon Bomb. I don’t know when, but it will explode soon!”

Sasha disappears from the panel when she finishes saying this. Everyone discusses it, but no one has a better plan than hers.

Yamato…” It is the voice of the Great Emperor, speaking from a large palace inside the mother planet. Kodai orders it switched to the video panel.

“End this useless resistance! After I push this switch, within XX Earth minutes, the Hyperon Bomb will explode and not one person in the entire human race will survive! I give you one more chance to surrender! I will wait X minutes!”

Kodai: Is this his trump card?

“We can’t do anything while we’re in the enemy’s hands.”
“Do we fight or surrender?”

The enemy’s Black Fleet surrounds Yamato.

On Earth at that moment, Yuki obsesses on the Hyperon Bomb. The partisans continue fighting.

On Yamato, Kodai decides to surrender.

Then, there is a communication from Earth; Yuki appears on the video panel for the first time. But there is no time for Kodai and Yuki to celebrate their reunion.

“The Hyperon Bomb needs to be deactivated simultaneously at both locations. I’ll soon be able to dismantle the triggering device here on the Earth side.”

The Great Emperor hears this; Yamato‘s communication with Earth has been intercepted. He presses the switch, but there is no response.

Yamato starts moving toward the south pole entrance, and the Emperor notices Sasha has gone.

Sasha is in the location from which she can open the tunnel. The Emperor comes rushing in.

“Sasha! You know the secret!”

He fires on her. The tunnel at the south pole opens.

Kodai has had his hand on the Wave-Motion Gun trigger; he releases it and stands up. He cannot shoot Sasha, his only remaining family member. (Kodai is in a frenzy.)

The image of someone appears on the video panel; Sasha and the Emperor. She points a gun at him.

“Susumu, the Wave-Motion Gun…”

“I can’t fire it!”

“Please fire it, I beg you. If you don’t, we cannot destroy this planet. As for me, my fate was decided when I separated from you.”

“Sasha!!” (Tears flow)

The Emperor leaps into the gap and shoots Sasha. On Yamato, anger rises from Kodai’s heart.

Yamato rushes into the huge entrance at the south pole. Inside is a long tunnel; Yamato soars through it at top speed. (Breaking through enemy interference as it advances.)

The core of the mother planet: the artificial sun shines with plasma energy into the internal atmosphere, bathing the ultra-modern city. It sparkles on the interior surface and various armaments appear. An attack begins inside the fortress. Yamato presses through the attack toward the core, steadily approaching the artificial sun that burns red.

His eyes wet with tears, Kodai fires the Wave-Motion Gun! Light roars into the artificial sun. Yamato reverses rapidly toward the tunnel to the north pole. The artificial sun begins to collapse. White light and a huge roaring sound approach Yamato. (Play this escape drama with great suspense, a huge gripping spectacle.)

Yamato narrowly escapes from the mouth of the north pole tunnel. The collapse extends to the surface of the mother planet. Yamato flies away desperately! The mother star’s collapse reaches maximum and a huge explosion shakes space itself! Yamato is severely shaken and light flashes!

EDF underground headquarters: communication is received from Yamato. The Hyperon Bomb has collapsed. The Android troops have fled; partisan forces are tracking them.

Outer space: Yamato is hit by the tremendous heat of the mother star’s explosion. Yamato desperately evades it and barely succeeds in warping.

From Yamato, Kodai watches the explosion.

“My hand has blood on it again.”

From outside the ship: “No, no one in this world would blame you.”

Sasha appears floating in space.

Kodai: Sasha!!

Everyone looks surprised.

“Born between the loving Planet Iscandar and the beautiful Planet Earth. My destiny was short…my youth was best. I do not regret it. Kodai, you showed me that Earth is the most beautiful planet in the universe because people believe in each other to live. I want you to drink that beauty forever. Now I can go to my mother and father with pride.”

“Goodbye, everyone of Yamato. Goodbye, Susumu, my wonderful young uncle!”

Sasha is held tight in the arms of Starsha’s motherly love. Kodai bids her a solemn farewell and says, resolutely:

Yamato, return to Earth! Destroy the surviving enemy fleet!”

Yamato rushes for home, sweeping the remaining fleet with renewed determination!

Yuki waits on Earth for Kodai.

(Play a song about how wonderful it is to believe in each other?)

Kodai thinks about Yuki. Images of Kodai and Yuki in the sky. Yamato approaches the beautiful Earth.

The End

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