A Space Battleship Yamato fan series written by Jeff Lincoln, CG art by Warren Swanson

The Saga of Yamato is timeless as her legend.

30 years of peace are abruptly ended when an exploration ship accidentally awakens an enemy bent on the destruction of organic life. Earth is cut off from the rest of the galaxy when this enemy attacks. Their only savior is the rebuilt Yamato and her reformed crew, the Star Force!

Saga of a Space Battleship is a spiritual successor to Final Yamato, skipping the events of Resurrection since that arc may never see completion. The origin of this story came to me after the passing of my grandmother in December of 2022, when I was driven to create a story she would ultimately be proud of. Yamato has been in my heart and mind since I was a teenager, and as an adult I wanted to share a story fans young and old can enjoy.

Since this series is the most ambitious I’ve ever created, simply writing a fanfic novel or audio drama, which I’ve had experience with before, won’t do it justice. Therefore Saga of a Space Battleship will be a fully animated series! It will utilize Blender for animation and special effects and VRoid for human and humanoid characters. We’re currently experimenting with renders and render times to ensure that we can release episodes quickly.

We intend to release Act 1 (6 episodes) throughout 2024 to observe the 50th Anniversary of Space Battleship Yamato! Ultimately, we will upload the series to Dailymotion.com and Vimeo.com, and possibly Youtube if it becomes feasible. 2024 is rapidly looking to become the year of Yamato and we can’t be more excited to bring this project to you!

In the year 2231, Earth has been at peace for three decades, forming a galaxy-wide confederation with Galman-Gamilas under the leadership of Susumu Kodai (now General of the Earth Defense Forces) and Emperor Desslok (Leader of the Galman-Gamilas Empire). Cooperation between the two governments has ushered in an era of peace like none seen before.

However, not all is perfect. Iscandarium, the key behind Wave-Motion technology is increasingly rare. Less powerful Proto-Iscandarium is being used instead as the confederation desperately searches for new sources of this precious material. The hope of all life is to explore the Galaxy that collided with and wreaked havoc on the Milky Way in Final Yamato.

Naturally, many legacy characters return in the struggle to save not only Earth, but the entire galaxy! Kodai, Sanada, Ohta, Nanbu, and Tasuke Tokugawa return as Yamato’s senior officers and our favorite genius robot, IQ-9 returns accompanied by the ship’s computer; Yamato herself has a voice now! Aihara briefly makes an appearance in Act 1, but he has a family now and stays behind on Earth to rally the remaining forces. Desslok and Talan make a return as well, though they appear in Act 2 onward. (You can’t have a Yamato story without Desslok!)

Tasuke is Chief Engineer now, replacing Yamazaki. Yuki has accelerated her career and is the Captain of her own explorer-class ship, the unfortunate catalyst behind the awakening of the new enemy of our series.

Kodai and Yuki have married and have a daughter, Miyuki. The same name is used throughout Yamato sequels, and I felt that Miyuki is a critical part of Yamato canon, so she remains a key part of the Kodai family. Her appearance, however, is changed this time and she resembles Yuki more than Kodai (unlike in Resurrection). Her role is that of Communications Specialist and she assumes Aihara’s post on Yamato.

Jiro Shima also becomes a key character, taking on his brother Daisuke’s role as Chief Navigator of Yamato. He also serves as an older brother figure to Miyuki, often providing her with good advice and an open ear. Jiro continues to have a reverence for Yamato that rivals none. More will be revealed later in the series about just how strong this connection is!

Fans may note that I have opted to use references from Star Blazers for some of our characters. I believe that in order to be enjoyed fully, the usage of familiar names will respect both Yamato and Star Blazers while also connecting with fans young and old.

The new enemy are the Rogathi, a crystalline life-form that shares a hive-mind consciousness. Initially, very little is known about them. But a darker past emerges as events unfold. My initial thoughts behind the Rogathi are drawn from infections and the unfortunate real life disease of dementia. They attack, take over, and never give back what was taken. This was the disease that took my grandmother, and it became the core idea behind the Rogathi. The story will reveal more!

Finally, we get to the star of our show, Yamato herself! In keeping with tradition, she is resurrected in a time of great need. Our Yamato is modeled by the very talented Warren “DJCheef” Swanson. The design is heavily influenced by Kazutaka Miyatake’s 1998 version for the Playstation games. Her color scheme resembles that of her Final Yamato appearance with iconography seen in Be Forever and Series 3.

At this time, Act 1 has been written and we’re actively attempting to cast the main characters, since it exclusively focuses on their initial adventures in the Sol System! To audition, we have opened a page on Casting Call Club with information about the audition process. Please click here if you’d like to sign up.

If you’re not selected for the main cast parts, you will be put on a shortlist for characters in the future.

Thank you for your interest and I wish you all the best in the year 2024!

Jeff Lincoln
Director/Lead Writer,
Typhon Media Productions