Summer Vacation 2 Big Anime Special Feature
Space Battleship Yamato has been a hit with fans all over Japan, both last year and the year before. Another hot Yamato storm is brewing this year. We present to you the two hit installments of Yamato and color coverage of a telefeature which is about to be aired.
Space Battleship Yamato
Planet of Love Iscandar
When the TV version of Space Battleship Yamato began airing five years ago, who could have imagined such a big hit? The ratings rose each time the program was aired again, and the boom was so great that a fan club was formed. The film was completed for theaters thanks to the passionate requests of Yamato fans. Yamato heads for Iscandar, where Starsha is located, to save the dying Earth. A long, hard-fought journey of 296,000 light-years. The sight of Kodai and his friends living in love and romance is beautiful, brave, and moving.
Farewell to Yamato, Soldiers of Love
Someday love will be restored!
Farewell is fought not only for the sake of Earth, but also for the peace of the universe. Yamato and the Yamato soldiers battle against the White Comet, a more powerful foe than Gamilas. The film depicts the anguish of the situation, and it became an unprecedented hit, surpassing the previous work. In particular, the last scene of Yamato disappearing into the darkness of the universe, with Kodai and the deceased Yuki, overlapped perfectly with the theme song sung by Julie and brought tears to the eyes of fans. Large-scale mecha such as Andromeda and Comet City Empire also became popular.
Space Battleship Yamato, The New Voyage
Now a new roman and adventure!
Following Farewell to Yamato, the sequel to Yamato 2, which aired from October of last year to April of this year, is The New Voyage. The highlight this time is the return of Starsha of Iscandar. Of course, Susumu Kodai’s brother Mamoru, who is married to her, also appears. Dessler, who is trying to rebuild Gamilas, encounters a crisis at Iscandar. You will also see him take a stand and try to protect her. The program will be aired July 31 on Fuji TV network nationwide.
Galaxy Express 999 GO!
Following Yamato is 999. Galaxy Express 999 is a warm love story that combines fairy tales and science fiction. The 999, carrying a boy’s dreams and longings, blows its whistle into the distant universe!
Leiji Matsumoto direct hit interview
Yamato and 999, two anime that will be a hot topic this summer.
Interview by Kosei Ono
It’s more interesting to see a train fly than a spaceship
Galaxy Express 999 is the culmination of the Matsumoto-style universe
Shortly after 3 p.m. on July 3, I visited Leiji Matsumoto’s new workplace in Oizumigakuen, Nerima-ku, Tokyo. It was during the final push for the Galaxy Express 999 movie. When I arrived, Mr. Matsumoto said, “I was just upstairs redrawing layouts.” We started talking in the reception room on the first floor while eating peanuts…
* * *
Ono: America’s sci-fi fantasy film offensive for this has begun with Superman and Alien.
Matsumoto: Even if you look at new movies now, and the ones currently in production…it’s not a plus. Considering that production of Alien preceded the release, it’s already taken a few years to go through the stages leading toward the finished film. Often, people in the film industry will see a movie that has been released and refer to it as well. There’s a lot of noise, but that’s what the festival atmosphere is all about.
Of course, it’s okay to enjoy a great movie, but even if various masterpieces are released, I don’t get to watch them because I’m stuck in my work. If I go to see a film that was planned five years ago and finally completed, and then follow them and imitate them, I’ll be in big trouble. If you mess up, you’ll be 7-8 years behind. Therefore, people are people, we are ourselves. I work with the belief that it’s better to take a leisurely approach in the direction I want to go.
Ono: That’s right. It’s too late to panic after seeing the finished product. But as an audience member, I enjoyed Superman. The beginning is especially wonderful.
Matsumoto: Yes. That first impression, so to speak, is that the film is about a beautiful woman. Therefore, even if there’s some sluggishness afterwards, your first thought was about this beautiful woman, and I enjoy thinking she’s beautiful to the end. (Laughs)
Ono: Absolutely. So, there’s a universe where Superman flies, and there is a universe where Alien appears. And over here is the Leiji Matsumoto-style universe where the Galaxy Express goes. There’s a lot going on, but this time around I get the feeling that Galaxy Express 999 is the culmination of the Matsumoto-style universe.
Matsumoto: Yes, it’s serialized in manga and on TV. The episodes are sort of connected to the upcoming feature film, but all the concepts are concentrated. All the important parts have been added and rearranged.
Ono: Even for the characters. Captain Harlock, Queen Emeraldas, and others also come to join us….
Matsumoto: Yes. Along the way everyone gathers and joins together on the planet where the trader junction is located. This is the story. As for myself, I feel satisfied that I’ve done what I wanted to do. The script is a further revision of the complete final draft that was submitted a couple of days ago. Furthermore, I was present at the afreco [voice recording], which ended yesterday, and I changed all the lines. When it comes to rehearsal, we follow the script, We try it, and sometimes it doesn’t fit the atmosphere, so we fix it on site. When that happens, I can’t take my eyes off it. I don’t even stop to eat…
The big spectacle scene at the end is very powerful!
Ono: So you are more than a producer.
Matsumoto: It’s a very complicated position. There’s no job title that fits it perfectly. I had no choice but to plan, write, and compose the film. This is something manga artists will be able to do in the future when they participate in anime. I think we need to have a different kind of title. Otherwise, it’s misleading.
When it comes to the original work and composition, it seems like it’s relaxing from the outside. When I say planning, it’s more than just planning. I also had a say on the general concepts, the art setting, and the direction. You need to be able to handle all of that. On Space Battleship Yamato, my title was for general concepts, but…
Ono: That still doesn’t fit accurately.
Matsumoto: It sounds vague and difficult to understand, but in reality I’m very involved in even the smallest details. The opportunity to make a grand, full-length animated production with a big budget is not something that comes along very often for manga artists. Therefore, I want to fix things while I can so I don’t have regrets later. From drawing, checking storyboards, ordering of music and sound effects, and so on. Believe it or not, I even specified the color of the gloves and pendant…
Ono: I don’t think there’s ever been a manga artist who was involved in this way. In that sense, this work is a remarkable case. For the future…
Matsumoto: From a production standpoint, the battle scenes are much more realistic than in Space Battleship Yamato. Because it’s a fantasy world, the visuals have to be precise. Especially in the spectacle scene at the end. It will show you scenes you’ve never imagined before.
I often refer to foreign images such as science-fiction art and photographs. The depiction of the space station, the terminus of the Galaxy Express, is unprecedented even in foreign works. The interior depiction is a completely original world. I saw the rushes for this part yesterday, and the art director is very good. Hundreds of meters in depth and scale, it’s amazing. I thought I had to do it all, but every now and then, something interesting comes up, such as an optical elevator or a fluid curtain….
Ono: This is impossible with printed manga, and it’s a unique feature of anime.
Matsumoto: Right. You can’t express it if it doesn’t move. This area is so realistic and precise that it could be mistaken for special effects. So it’s very pleasant to watch. There’s a real sense of grandeur in the world. You can’t watch this type of anime if the art isn’t good. That’s why I asked them to make the brush strokes as uneven as possible. If people think this is a photo, it’s not interesting. It’s exactly the same as special effects.
Ono: The realism of the film is what makes it different from so-called manga films…
Matsumoto: Manga-like gags are also placed in the right spots and in the right balance, but when it comes to the big climax, you can’t have gags. It will be treated as a movie. This is where the word “manga” gets in the way. It has to be directed with the feel of a straight-up theatrical film. So rather than a manga movie, it’s more of an animation with horizontal characters. [Referring to text being written horizontally instead of the usual vertical style.]
I wanted dreamy, idyllic, fantasy
Ono: By the way, where did the idea of flying steam locomotives come from in the first place?
Matsumoto: I envisioned a train because I lived near a train line for a long time. Speaking of trains, there are things we take for granted, like the view from a train window. It’s completely different from looking at the train from the outside. Therefore, since childhood, I had a strong desire to travel by train and see the outside world. Besides, I read Kenji Miyazawa’s Night on the Galactic Railroad as a child. When the feelings of “star mania” and “space mania” are added to it, you think of flying through the universe. Steam locomotives are the only thing that comes to mind.
Ono: In fact, I thought that if you launched a spaceship, it would seem obsolete.
Matsumoto: With spaceships, the tools become complicated and there’s a risk of getting bogged down in them. But a train doesn’t need an explanation. It’s a tool for ordinary travelers. Pictorially, the locomotive descends, casting shadows on the planet’s surface. I liked it very much as a scene.
Ono: Besides, with this kind of fantasy, you can imagine anything on the way to the planet. That’s what makes it fun.
Matsumoto: To begin with, we start from the premise that trains can fly. So it has something in common with the American comic Little Nemo in Slumberland. A world in a dream. Even though the work depicts something that doesn’t make sense physically, you can accept it. So the theme you’re depicting becomes important…
Ono: So you’re not necessarily translating Windsor McCay’s Little Nemo, but because it’s a dream, that soft and tranquil atmosphere is irresistible.
Matsumoto: Yes. I wanted that very idyllic part. That’s why I described the terminal station I mentioned earlier. It makes me feel like I’m drifting off in a dream. Finally, there’s a great collapse, but it doesn’t come out of nowhere. The premise of the project is to show each and every event as it happens. The process of breaking up each part is shown carefully. It truly is full animation. There’s a lot of movement, but it’s very subtle. I depicts the image of a nightmare in great detail, so I hope you’ll take a good look at it.
Ono: The film is a work of art, as well as a manga artist’s involvement with feature-length anime. This will be a significant work. I’m looking forward to it.