Yamato 2205 Concept Advisor Shinya Ogura’s Chapter 2 commentary

Issue 14 of the Star Blazers/Yamato Fan Club magazine (April 2022) featured a series of “testimonials” from the 2205 production staff. This included concept advisor Shinya Ogura, who provides fascinating insight on the science behind the visuals. Here, he describes some of what we see in 2205 Chapter 2.


Yamato 2205 Conceptual research: Shinya Ogura explains concepts for the later episodes

Pursuing the “essence” of detailed concept research that brings reality to the Yamato world

Shinya Ogura is an important staff member who is indispensable in the scientific and conceptual research that creates the unique reality of the remake series. We asked Mr. Ogura to explain the concepts behind what is seen in Yamato 2205 Chapter 2. This article will surely make you want to rewatch the film in frame-by-frame mode!

Commentary 1 “Phase Shifting Armor” of the Autoplanet Goruba

An invincible mechanism that “cancels out” the Dessler Gun

The reason why Dessler made a suicide attack on Goruba is also revealed here!

“The Dessler Gun is defeated!” is the biggest highlight in the battle against Dezarium. Simply put, it is similar to the principle of noise cancellation in headphones. The “antiphase wave” is exactly opposite to the wavelength of the Dessler Gun, so its energy is received and cancelled. “Phase Shifting Armor” is our name for the mechanism of wrapping the entire Goruba with antiphase waves. The important point is that the entire hull is wrapped seamlessly. This is not so much a concept as an explanation for the effect of the image. I thought that if the 3DCG model has a single surface, the “wavy” processing would not be too difficult. That was my intention based on my experience. However, it was not the actual case on screen.

Above right: The design of Goruba by Mika Akitaka was not compromised by the “Phase Shifting Armor” designed by Mr. Ogura. In the film, the armor is indicated by the entire Goruba rippling around the point where it was hit.

This is a description of Goruba‘s Phase shifting armor when hit by the Dessler Gun. It’s easy to see the principle that the received wave and the “antiphase wave” cancel each other out on the surface.
A concept for the process of Phase Shifting Armor settling down. According to Mr. Ogura, the principle can be applied to “mimetic camouflage,” a kind of optical cloak in which the giant Goruba is concealed from the enemy.


The principle of Phase Shifting Armor, which is also used in Dezarium’s other weapon groups

Although it was not as visible as on the Goruba, the concept is that all of Dezarium’s weapons, from Great Pleiades to the Caterpillars, are protected by “Phase-Modulated Armor” similar to Phase Shifting Armor. That was my proposal. The difference is that Phase-Modulated Armor is a partial shield. Moreover, it will rupture when the allowable amount is exceeded. Roughly speaking, the tolerance can be thought of as proportional to the size of the output device. Therefore, a larger weapon such as Great Pleiades or the Dezarium Hammer has a stronger defense. That’s the theory.

Above right: Concept material for Phase Shifting Armor and Phase-Modulation Armor. Its existence is implied by a line from Akira Yamamoto: “Unlike the big ones, these guys can be sunk if you hit them in numbers.”


Commentary 2 Cosmo Hound evading the capture field

Kodai’s dialogue instructing Sakamoto also shows the power of the concept

Yamato‘s special dialogue, backed up by research

On the verge of being captured by Dezarium’s capture field, Kodai orders Sakamoto to reverse thrust to escape. The original script depicted Kodai taking control with the line, “I’ll take it, Sakamoto.” Mr. Fukui said, “Mr. Ogura, come up with this line.” After coordinating with Mecha Designer Junichiro Tamamori, specialized dialogue was written for the Cosmo Hound to reverse thrust: “Sakamoto. Down trim, reverse speed two.” Lines with a “Self-Defense Force” taste have been a Yamato specialty since 2199.

Above right: Explanatory material created when modifying the dialogue for avoiding the capture field. It shows that the design of the capture field was undecided at this point.


Commentary 3
Distance between Yamato and Planet Garmario

Numerical values were precisely calculated, taking the camera angle into account


Yamato‘s style is to never neglect anything, even if it is only displayed for a moment

In the scene of destroying Planet Garmario (Episode 5), the value “3,311,697 km” momentarily displayed in the target scope is not an exaggeration. The size of Garmario is estimated from the line “Jupiter size” (short diameter: 140,000 km / long diameter: 210,000 km). The distance from Yamato was based on the size of Garmario in the sighting device shown in Director Yasuda’s storyboard. This calculation was based on the assumption that the image is seen through a 36mm wide-angle lens. For a 50mm lens, the distance would be 4,605,677 km.



Commentary 4
“Before/After” monitor design

Attention to detail in pursuit of “Yamato-ness”


User Interface design that takes into account not only the “user” of the monitor but also the audience

This time, we put particular emphasis on design of the various monitors. The target scope in Explanation 3 is one such example. but in the case of Yamato, it was not so at first. The staff may not have liked it, but I made some very detailed suggestions for modifications. The specific policy was not only to make sure the content was accurate, but also to make the UI easy for the crew to grasp at a glance. This also means that the monitor should be easy to understand for the audience.

For example, Yamazaki’s monitor not only shows the current status at a glance, we pursued a design that would allow the viewer to share his state of mind as he watches it. Unfortunately, not all of my proposals were adopted.

Chief Engineer Yamazaki’s monitor (from Episode 5)

The screen shows Yamato out of energy after firing the Wave-Motion Gun. The display shows Wave Energy being transmitted from Asuka to Yamato. While the “before” was drawn based on the storyboard, the “after” was proposed by Mr. Ogura. The information is much more organized, including the use of color tones to express the emergency situation. It even shows the location of Asuka‘s wave resonance waveguide and dimensional wave amplitude reactor engine.

Deusula III briefing room scene (Episode 6)

The mission to rescue the Garmillas refugees on Iscandar is being discussed. The design of the monitor in the briefing room was not “Garmillas style” in the “before” version. The “after” version was modified to be instantly recognizable as a Garmillas design by making the panel pupil-shaped and adding a cross icon at the intersection. But the way light was emitted from the monitor made the contents hard to see, which Mr. Ogura calls “regrettable.”

See previous Shinya Ogura articles here:

2205 Chapter 1 commentary

All about L’Andromede

The science of Yamato 2202

Yamato science roundtable


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