OUT magazine, November 1977 issue

Out Friendship

Ta-DAAAh!! Satoshi-san of Kawasaki appears

Hamidashi Fan Club Space Battleship Yamato Love Association

(Translator’s note: “Hamidashi” means “split off” or “splinter.”)

In this installment of Friendship, we introduce Satoshi Kuwabara of Kawasaki, who became a celebrity through OUT magazine! The executives of Hamidashi Fan Club gathered together. In addition to the taciturn Satoshi, Yamane Fumitaka (20 years old), the acting captain of the group, spoke about the appeal of Yamato.

“The appeal of Yamato is the combination of science fiction, astronomy, anime, military, fantasy, aviation, ships, mecha, human drama, Leiji Matsumoto, characters, and so on. The way they take time between things is very good, and it has serious elements. In particular, scenes of silence without any sound.”

(ed. note – a scene that is a scene…just kidding…)

“It has elements that move me. Yamato has a theme that keeps Japanese people in mind. I think it’s an antithesis to Western scientific civilization.

For example, the Dessler mines are cleared by hand, the water cups are thrown, and the purely Japanese homes where Susumu and his friends used to live, before they were destroyed. They emphasize Japanese traditions, don’t they? Many of the characters have traditional ideas and personality types. That’s what makes it different from other science fiction. I think that what Japan has built up to now will not change in the next several hundred years. And Yamato is set only 200 years from now. In a way, I think Yamato is not science fiction, but simply takes place in outer space. I think it’s a human drama, not a science fiction one.”

Hisaaki Arima (age 19): “But I don’t like the anime version of Yamato. Kodai’s personality is always so messed up. In that respect, it’s not so different from Mazinger Z. The Kodai in Leiji Matsumoto’s and Akira Hio’s manga was a decent character with a strong personality. And technically speaking, the movements, pictures, mecha, backgrounds, and so on, are not as good as Tatsunoko’s. The theme is clear, though.”

“Yes, maybe it was because of the experimental aspect, but the cels were of poor quality. We are not blind to Yamato‘s shortcomings. By the way, a friend of mine who went to the Mushi Pro Masterpiece Festival the other day said the cel reflection in 1001 Nights was very noticeable. I wonder if the cel reflections in Yamato are also a tradition of Mushi Pro. Tradition or not, it is not so noticeable in other productions. I think there must be a defect in Mushi Pro’s photographic equipment.”

Satoshi: “In Episode 25, there is a scene where Kodai, who has been thinking only about fighting, realizes that what is important for human beings is love. Compared to other anime, I think it takes a huge step forward to the next stage of questioning fighting.”

By talking about some of the most important and most fascinating works in the field, they reveal their beliefs. Their opinions are their own, and the way they talk about them is impressive. They are steeped in science fiction anime and truly love it. They are not silent about works and trends they don’t like.

Yamane: “In other anime, perhaps because of the low target audience, the main character’s thoughts are all about fighting. In many cases, the theme itself is a fight. At best, all we can do is question it.”

Arima: “Voltes V, for example, claims to fight for justice, but in reality it’s saying, ‘If I don’t do it, who will?’ Even when they destroy buildings, this is ignored since they can do anything for justice. I want to say, ‘They just fight without hesitation’.”

Satoshi: “Fans of Triton of the Sea are also centered on the characters. The relationship between Triton and Pipi is interesting. But I think that’s all fans care about. From my point of view, the ending is far-fetched and I just think it was rushed.”

So, back to the topic at hand. When asked about their impressions of the feature-length Yamato movie which became a hot topic this summer, everyone agrees that “It was disappointing.” Only Yamane, the acting captain, had not seen the movie yet, so Satoshi spoke first.

“I stayed up all night at Ginza Tokyu from around 9 p.m. the night before the opening. I was the 29th person in line, so I was given a cel. First of all, the background music was different from the TV version. It didn’t fit the atmosphere of the scenes at all. It was not a full-length movie, just a shortened version of the TV edition. It was as if each scene was cut short.”

Arima: “I wish they had written a script for a full-length feature film. There were some parts you couldn’t understand unless you watched the TV version.”

Yuzo Toyoshima (17 years old) also commented: “Frankly, it felt like patchwork. It was just an echo of the TV Yamato, and it seemed completely inconsistent. If they were going to go to the trouble of making a feature film, I wish they had remade it from the beginning.”

That’s the sum total of the criticism, but everyone is still an enthusiastic fan of Yamato.

Toyoshima: “As a fan, I was happy that the film had a power that TV screens don’t have.”

Satoshi: “The trailer was really good. The battle scene of the Rainbow Star Cluster was powerful enough. For some reason, it didn’t seem to be part of the main story…”

“Hamidashi Fan Club” is a strange name, but it implies that they want to make it different from other fan clubs…

Yamane: “Y.A. (Yamato Association) seems to have been formed right after Yamato went on air. We started up later, so we were a bit late to the party. Some of our members didn’t join other clubs, or were cut out. I want to gather up outcast fans who were deprived of membership. Yamato fans include self-limiting, so-called ‘character’ fans. A lot of fans only root for Kodai or something. I don’t want this to be that kind of fan club. I want it to have a higher age range.”

Satoshi: “We don’t have any connections in various fields, and we’re at a disadvantage in terms of geographical location, so it’s difficult to gather information and materials. That’s why I want to make our magazine more exchange-oriented.”

Arima: “We don’t want to do what other clubs are doing. We want to include things other than data about models, interviews, behind-the-scenes stories of production, and so on in our magazine. We have many unique projects.”

One of the unique projects is to publish the opinions of those who have been internally divided or cut out of other fan clubs. It seems there is also a gossip-like magazine project in the works.

Arima: “I couldn’t join other clubs because they couldn’t handle more than 200 people. I’d like to make this a fan club where we do more questionnaires and the members can participate.”

(End of article)

Hamidashi Yamato Fan Club did indeed accomplish something no other club did. See it here.

The “famous fan” named Satoshi Kuwabara who participated in this conversation may in fact have entered the anime industry nearly twenty years later. If, in fact, it is the same person, see his credits here.


Ginza Tokyu Theater, where Satoshi stood in line all night. (Around 8:30 p.m. on August 5)


Ueno Tokyu Theater: secret spot on the first day! (August 5, 7:30 p.m.)


Outcast Yamato fans (Shinjuku Toei palace, the night of August 5)


Shinjuku Toei palace just before the first screening on the first day. It was so crowded!


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