Legend of Aquarius
The veil has finally been lifted from Space Battleship Yamato The Final Chapter. From the route map and the prologue part, we can discuss and deduce the story. Aquarius, Dengil, the collapse of Galman-Gamilas and the worrisome injury of Kodai – the conclusive story development!?
1. Existence of Aquarius
Aquarius discovery
Aquarius is a traveling planet that takes a very long orbit through space. As Yamato is on the way home from Galman-Gamilas, they discover Planet Dengil being flooded by Aquarius.
At the time, Aquarius travels at half the speed of light. If not for the galactic collision, Aquarius might still be much farther away. However, the accident at the core of the Milky Way interfered with Aquarius’ trajectory. The gravitational influence of the Dengil star system brought Aquarius close enough to drop a large amount of water into Dengil’s atmosphere.
Incidentally, the distance between Earth and Aquarius’ orbit at Dengil is 3,000 light years. In other words, if Aquarius advances at its natural rate, it will take 6,000 years to reach Earth. But contrary to this, it suddenly starts to warp closer to Earth as part of a Dengil plot.
Dengil realized that heavy water is concentrated at the core of Aquarius. Utilizing the mighty energy of Aquarius, it would be possible to accelerate it to warp speed. Then the massive fortress Uruk of Dengil appears.
Uruk is a city built on a huge mass of rock, so to speak. This so-called asteroid ship has large stockpiles of energy comparable to Yamato. That is, the energy in the bedrock is converted for various forms of use. Dengil aims for Earth. If it can cause Aquarius to rapidly approach Earth, it will inevitably pour a large amount of water on the planet and wipe out most of civilization.
In other words, for Dengil Aquarius is the devil that destroyed their civilization, but is also a foolproof weapon in their new strategy.
The beginning of the game is a fight with Yamato. Lugal II leads a fleet against Yamato and attacks with Hyper Radiation Missiles. Severe radiation spreads through the ship and the entire crew falls. And Yamato crashes on the ninth planet of the Dengil system!
Aquarius route
Shown here is the movement in the first half of The Final Chapter along Aquarius’ route. The left half of the galaxy is enlarged to show the area between the solar system and the ruins of Dengil.
Yamato carries out a warp from Dessler’s palace at the binary planets to the Dengil solar system. This is because a collision occurs between two stars as a result of the still-unsettled accident, and Yamato escapes in a free warp without calculating the exit point. Dengil is about 5,000 light years from the galactic core. Aquarius is discovered as it passes through the Dengil solar system. Aquarius is now 3,000 light years from Earth’s solar system, and Uruk causes it to accelerate.
However, no matter how powerful Uruk’s energy is, it cannot warp the large mass of Aquarius across 3,000 light years in one fell swoop. It requires 24 hours to replenish its energy after a warp of about 150 light years. Therefore, it will take 20 days to cross 6,000 light years.
2. Secret of Dengil
The Dengil forces approach the solar system
Great Emperor Lugal developed a plan for emigration to Earth. But how would Lugal know about a planet called Earth, 3,000 light years away? There is a secret that will surprise everyone, and though it unfortunately can’t be revealed before the premiere, it is heavily tied into the theme of The Final Chapter.
Aquarius warps repeatedly by the hand of the Dengil forces. It will reach Earth in 16 days. On that day, Yamato returns to Earth via an automated navigation system that activated from the shock of the crash. Everyone lies unmoving on the ship. Has everyone died from Dengil’s Hyper Radiation Missiles, or merely passed out? Kodai seems to have fallen into a severe state beyond saving.
Yuki, thinking that Kodai is already dead, sees no other way but to commit suicide herself. However, after some time Kodai is revived by an operation from severe radiation sickness.
During that time, Lugal II leads the vanguard of the Dengil fleet to break through Pluto orbit and invade the inner solar system. The combined fleet of the Earth Defense Forces launches to meet them. If the Dengil forces are not turned back, there is no hope for the people of Earth. Furthermore, the icy planet Aquarius goes through warp after warp until it is only nine days away from Earth.
Evacuation ships carry people into space as the fleet launches from all over the Earth. However, Lugal II’s fleet annihilates the evacuation ships as it attacks the Pluto and Mars bases. Now only a few ships remain after the battle of Pluto, and Yamato undergoes hurried repairs while left behind on Earth.
Dengil’s strategy is to wipe out Earth’s military power and use Aquarius to destroy all human life in an act of supreme cruelty. The majority of the Dengil people were swept away in the flood, and only 10,000 of them remain at most. Nevertheless, they want to eliminate all people on Earth.
Why is this? When Dessler considered the same emigration plan, his people had numerical superiority over Earth people. Their attack was made from the judgment that coexistence was impossible. But judging from the population of Dengil, coexistence would be possible.
The underlying idea of the Dengil people is to destroy life. This is part of the secret mentioned above.
Earth is at a critical moment!
The Dengil forces’ huge fortress Uruk is a moving mothership loaded with 300-meter-class vessels such as carriers and torpedo boats. Furthermore, a huge battleship and the mid-size Caligula-class command ship of Lugal II leads fighters and mobile torpedo boats carrying Hyper Radiation Missiles against the Earth fleet.
The Earth side has newly-built battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, a complete force that is no way inferior. But the strategy of Lugal and Lugal II mean the Earth fleet has no chance, and they are nearly wiped out in one blow.
Kodai agonizes over Earth’s impending crisis. As the captain, he blames himself for Yamato‘s severe accident. He takes responsibility and steps down as captain, but realizes that he can’t stay away from Yamato. On the eve of Yamato‘s launch, Kodai goes to Yamato to say goodbye. Yamato‘s repairs are completed and the ship waits to embark on a battle that – between the approaching Dengil fleet and Aquarius – cannot be won.
“Yamato…I’ve said goodbye to you. But being with you made me what I am. Can we start again?”
Kodai mutters this on the bridge.
Producer Nishizaki talked about this in our last issue. He described the feelings of Kodai after stepping down as captain. Indeed, for the young Susumu Kodai, Yamato is the center of his life and also his emotional support.
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Event information
Radio special decision!
Speaking of Yamato, the customary All Night Nippon Yamato Special (tentative title) will air on Nippon Broadcasting January 15 from 1:00am to 5:00am.
There are no details on contents yet, but previous broadcasts included production backstories from Producer Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto, a radio drama with voice actors, and various street interviews with fans. This time, Producer Nishizaki will be joined by Kei Tomiyama and Yoko Asagami, and other voice actors of the main cast are scheduled. Let’s look forward to the broadcast.
Yamato fan meetings!
There will be new information presentations for Yamato fans. The participants will be Producer Nishizaki, Isao Sasaki, and Tomoko Kuwae. New details will be revealed prior to the premiere of The Final Chapter. Admission is free.
January 29: Sapporo. February 5: Fukuoka .February 11: Nagoya. February 12: Osaka
In addition, there will be film screenings on the 11th and 12th.
3. Aquarius is salvation!?
The reunion of Okita and Kodai
Kodai speaks from the heart to the sculpture of Okita on the first bridge. At that time, the voice of Okita sounds in Kodai’s ears as if still alive.
“That’s right! The way you live, there is only Yamato.”
Kodai looks around, but there is no source for the voice. But the mystery is solved on the day of Yamato‘s launch. Juuzo Okita is appointed as the new captain to replace Kodai. Okita is alive. He was thought to have died from radiation sickness on the way back to Earth from Iscandar. However, he did not reach brain death. By the same surgical therapy that revived Kodai, Okita also returned from the brink of death.
When Okita sits in the captain’s chair, he gives Kodai an order as the combat group leader. The old, beloved Yamato has returned. However, the grand fleet of Dengil’s forces lies in wait, and there is also the water planet Aquarius, which should be called a supernatural phenomenon. A fearsome enemy and a fearsome disaster – how can Yamato overcome them?
Here, let’s consider Aquarius. Even if Yamato smashes Dengil to stop Aquarius, the human race must be evacuated. But now that most of the evacuation ships have been destroyed, there is no choice but to somehow stop the waters from Aquarius.
Two-thirds of Aquarius’ total mass is water, and there is said to be a floating continent on its sea. The Queen of Aquarius would live there. But there seems to be no sign of people existing on the water planet that flooded Dengil and now advances toward Earth. The Dengil forces have succeeded in forcing the planet to warp with no sign of resistance.
So is Aquarius simply a natural phenomenon, creating or destroying life on a whim as a planet that wanders through space? No, there seems to be the presence of a supernatural will there. It may be the queen.
The mystery of Aquarius
It has been announced by the production side that the Queen of Aquarius will not appear in the first half of the story. Here, water planet Aquarius is the ringleader of the disaster, a natural weapon being manipulated by the Dengil forces. Of course, not even Kodai knows of the existence of the Queen of Aquarius.
In the Yamato series so far, queens have had the presence of goddesses. Starsha, Sasha, Teresa, and Ruda have all brought the salvation of love to Yamato, and the Queen of Aquarius will will probably serve in that role. A number of predictions can be inferred by the story development, but a goddess never appears simply to give help. That is the opinion of the editorial department for the moment.
As in Yamato Part 1, there is likely to be no other way to fight except with the power of one remaining ship.
Captain Juuzo Okita, combat leader Susumu Kodai, chief engineer Shiro Sanada, chief navigator Daisuke Shima, and life group leader Yuki Mori – all these crew members return to the origin of Yamato‘s fight. Against the enemy called Dengil and the force of nature called Aquarius…!
It is not an ordinary battle. As shown in the pictures, Yamato is wrapped in fire, and Kodai and Yuki launch together in the Cosmo Zero. Kodai is seriously injured while in flight and Yuki has to look for their goal as the navigator. What is that goal? We’ll introduce the battle situation in our next issue!