Though Farewell to Yamato was no longer in theaters in November 1978, it continued to dominate the discourse, both in media and merchandising. But it was no longer the entire story, as demonstrated by the increasingly divergent episodes of Yamato 2 on TV. Here’s everything the month had to offer…

November 1: Terebi Land, December issue

Tokuma Shoten, the published of Terebi Land magazine, played a pivotal role in the early days of Yamato with monthly coverage and manga in 1974/75 and the first Roman Album in 1977. They were back in the game to promote Yamato 2 in this issue with a 9-page article and a bonus gift: a set of punch-out “Mecha Bromide” cards with their own carrying case.

See all the pages from the article here.

November 1: Terebi Kun, December issue

Another children’s magazine to jump into the game with Yamato 2 coverage was Shogakukan’s Terebi Kun, the home of manga for Ultraman, Doraemon, Gatchaman, Cyborg 009, and other famous names. This particular issue is an elusive one, but we’ll be seeing more of Terebi Kun in upcoming reports.

November 1: Roadshow, December issue

It would still be another month before Roadshow magazine started to cover Yamato 2, but they had a little bit to offer in this issue. Most noticeable was a full-page ad (above right) for their second Farewell mook, due out later in the month.

There was also a short interview with Kodai’s voice actor Kei Tomiyama (read it here) and the results of a reader poll that put Farewell in the number 1 spot for top ten movies, leading both Saturday Night Fever and Star Wars for the first time.

November 1: Maru, November issue

Maru (meaning “Circle”) was a magazine for military otaku, densely packed with historical articles, photo-features, and diagrams exploring real-world mecha with a special emphasis on naval technology. This naturally attracted someone like Leiji Matsumoto, whose mania for such things had always been evident in his work.

Shortly after the TV premiere of Yamato 2, he penned an essay for Maru in which he recounted his memories of growing up the post-World War II years and carried it forward to his work on Space Battleship Yamato. He also wrote about his own father, who was the living model for Captain Okita.

Read the essay here.

November 1: Farewell to Yamato, Movie Terebi Magazine TV Mook

This full-color 88-page book provided an excellent overview of the film organized by subject. It contained a section on Earth’s settings and mecha, enemy characters and mecha, a photostory, the Comet Empire city, art galleries, song lyrics, and highlights of the Kodai & Yuki story. The publisher was Akita Shoten, the home of Bouken Oh and Leiji Matsumoto manga.

In legacy terms, the most unique feature of the book is a complete set of orthographic views for every mecha on both sides. CG modelers, take note.

November 2: Bouken Oh [Adventure King], December issue

This issue had some very interesting Yamato content, starting with a Bandai ad on the inside front cover that promoted the next new kit to join the lineup: Zordar’s Giant Battleship (seen in the lower left corner).

The first thing that greeted you after that was a foldout poster of Yamato that was mostly a throwback to Series 1. The central image was one of the last uses of the stylized “Studio Nue” painting that appeared on the first 1977 movie poster.

Next, there was this spread for Yamato 2 that highlighted Dessler’s four new fleet officers, who had only been introduced five days earlier in TV episode 3. So this was astonishingly well-timed.

Another surprise was found on the page just before Leiji Matsumoto’s latest manga chapter, advertising two model kits about to be released by Nomura Toy Company. This was significant for two reasons: it marked the first time someone other than Bandai made Yamato models, and it showed two ships Bandai hadn’t done yet, an Andromeda and Naska’s carrier. Keep reading to see what else Nomura had to offer in November.

Finally, there was the next chapter of Leiji Matsumoto’s adaptation, running 23 pages. In this installment, the EDF officers observe Yamato‘s crew gathering for the illicit launch and are forced to debate what to do even as Teresa sends another message and a Comet Empire fighter causes a blackout.

It’s worth noting that Matsumoto’s adaptation had now been running for six months and the ship wasn’t even off the ground yet. (To be fair, he was also producing anime and manga for both Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express at the time, which was kind of a big deal.)

November 4: Yamato 2 Episode 4

Blast off to the unknown!

Against orders and even their own personal doubts, the crew blasts off in Yamato. To do this could end their careers and turn heroes into fools…but at all crucial moments, fortune favors the bold.

Of course, this episode reused the high-stakes launch sequence from Farewell, but there was much more room for angst and debate among all parties, shots fired from the defense satellites, and a brief moment with the enemy.

Read our commentary for this episode here.

November 5: Terebi Anime Big Parade

With the popularity of anime exploding quickly after the release of Farewell, there was an increasing interest in how this stuff was made. Shueisha (publisher of Roadshow magazine) responded with this paperback, which used Yamato and several other contemporary titles to examine the entire production process. Most of the 160-page book was in black & white, but Yamato got a nice color spread as shown above right.

November 9: Middle 1st Age, December issue

Obunsha’s student digest magazine for 7th graders had the biggest article of the month, an 11-pager with two parts. The first part, titled Can you live the life of Susumu Kodai? was an examination of Kodai’s character as a model for your own. The second part, titled It is you who will revive Yamato! was a 4-page message from Yoshinobu Nishizaki where he started out saying he wouldn’t make Yamato Part III, but ended with a hint that he might.

Read the article here.

November 9: Middle 1st Year Course, December issue

Gakken’s student digest magazine for 7th graders was another source of articles that kept track of Yamato 2 episodes.

November 9: Middle 2nd Year Course, December issue

Gakken’s student digest for 8th graders ran a 6-page article examining the villains of film and TV chosen by a reader survey. The roster covered such fare as Star Wars, Enter the Dragon, James Bond, Lupin III, Message from Space, and more. And of course, no review of entertaining villains would be complete without our two favorite Yamato antagonists, so…

Leader Dessler

“In Yamato Part 1, Dessler, as the leader of the planet Gamilas, was defeated in his battle with Yamato. In Part II, when he lost again and was about to die, he said, ‘Although I have been allied with the Comet Empire, my heart is much closer to yours. Yamato will win this battle! I wish you success.’ Dessler was cool.” (Yasuo Fujita, Tokushima)

In the survey, Dessler’s popularity was overwhelming.

Emperor Zordar

“He has a different style from Dessler’s. It feels like a greater evil.” (Tomiyama, PART II)

Even when Zordar and Dessler are fighting, they’re always drinking. Even in times of crisis, they remain calm. It is impressive that until the end, he remained a military man of the Gatlantis empire.

November 10: Animage #6, December issue

Yamato 2 coverage continued in this issue with a 4-page article that reported on an October 9 press conference with Nishizaki & Matsumoto, and presented a collection of staff comments on the return of Dessler.

Read the article here.

November 11: Yamato 2 Episode 5

Open main guns! Target: Yamato!

Yamato has blasted free of Earth on its private mission to answer the cry for help. Now only one obstacle stands in their path, but it is the deadliest of all: Earth’s might flagship Andromeda!

Other than the reunion with the Cosmo Tigers and Kodai’s confrontation with Yuki, this episode gave viewers entirely new material. The faceoff with Andromeda didn’t happen in the film, and readers of Terebi Land already knew this moment was coming thanks to a spoiler image in the magazine at the start of the month.

Read our commentary for this episode here.

November 11: Middle 3rd Age, December issue

Obunsha’s student digest magazine for 9th graders added another dimension to this month’s media coverage, naming Yoshinobu Nishizaki one of three “Men who made the world boil” in 1978. He talked about Yamato in a 2-page profile that also revealed some of his life history for the first time.

Read the article here.

November 14: High 1st Course, December issue

With 1978 edging toward its finish line, Gakken’s student digest magazines for 10th graders ran an article titled Once More Fever ’78 to provide a lookback at all the major events. This included a 2-page examination of favorite anime with Farewell to Yamato at the top of the list.

Read the article here.

November 15: Manific #1, December issue

At this point in time, there were just two magazines in existence devoted to anime: OUT and Animage. In November 1978, a third magazine joined their ranks: Manific, from Rapport publishing. It got off to a rocky start, only available directly from the publisher rather than in bookstores. It lacked the flash of Animage and the mileage of OUT, so the editors tried to set it apart by focusing on older anime (along with some live-action titles) that wasn’t getting attention elsewhere; a respectable goal, but not conducive to high sales.

Despite this, they also knew what fans wanted to read, so the very first article in their very first issue was a 4-page “studio report” in which they visited Academy Productions in the early days of Yamato 2, at a time when the staff didn’t actually know how the series would end. Read that article here.

Manific is barely remembered today, but this is not the last you’ll hear of it in these reports. Stay tuned to see where it went next.

November 15: Farewell to Yamato success party

On the anniversary of the 1977 success party, Nishizaki threw another one at the Imperial Hotel. Over a thousand people were invited, including select fan club members, who got to enjoy a mini-concert conducted by Hiroshi Miyagawa.

The event served double-duty as a thank you to the hard-working animation staff that was currently toiling away on Yamato 2.

November 15: Farewell to Yamato panel clock

The timing of this product was too on-the-nose to be a coincidence. One year earlier, the 1977 success party was also the release day for a poster-size Space Battleship Yamato panel clock, which may have been rolled out at the party itself. The same thing happened on this day with a Farewell version that was available for general sale. An inscription on the back (shown at right) indicated that it was “in commemoration of gratitude,” presumably for the smash success of the film.

Both clocks were offered in the ad shown above left, and their exorbitant price led to the offer of timed payments that probably gave young fans their first banking experience.

November 18: Yamato 2 Episode 6

Heavy fighting! The space marines!

At the 11th planet, the new enemy finally shows its face when it launches an assault on Saito and the space cavalry. Yamato heads for Planet 11 at full speed…but can they arrive in time?

This episode owned nothing to Farewell, transplanting the space cavalry to a whole new planet and giving them a much bigger presence in the story. This “rebel faction” within a “rebel faction” gave Kodai and the rest of the crew an entirely new internal conflicts that made the most of the expanded format.

Read our commentary for this episode here.

November 20: Farewell to Yamato, Roadshow Authoritative Edition Vol. 2

Two and a half months after Volume 1, Shueisha followed up with a 112-page sequel that delved deeper with a photostory, the complete screenplay, model sheets, a report on the first 6 episodes of Yamato 2, and product information.

November 25: Yamato 2 Episode 7

Counterattack! The invisible space submarine!

Two battles rage: one inside Yamato and one outside. As the space cavalry clashes with the crew, the Comet Empire launches a surprise stealth attack. Both battles must be fought, and either one could end a mission that has barely begun.

Read our commentary for this episode here.

November 30: Farewell to Yamato manga by Akira Hio, Vol. 2

The final product for November was the middle volume of Akira Hio’s 3-volume manga. Published by Asahi Sonorama, it covered ground Leiji Matsumoto would never reach, from Dessler’s attack to the disastrous battle at Saturn to Yamato‘s direct shot at the Comet Empire’s spiral core. That didn’t cover a lot in terms of movie screen time, but Hio gobbled up pages with every possible scene, leaving nothing out.

Read more about the Hio manga adaptation here.

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