Contained here is a complete record of media coverage for The New Voyage from the first teaser to the last lookback, spanning all of 1979.

April 9: Middle 1st Age, May issue

Hot on the heels of Yamato 2‘s finale, Obunsha’s student digest magazine for 7th graders became the first source of an article on the next adventure. How did they pull this off without even knowing what it would be called? They took two nuggets of information (it would be broadcast on July 21 (later revised to 31) and revisit Starsha & Mamoru on Iscandar) and ran with them, giving readers a 7-page recap of the first Yamato series as a primer.

See the pages here

April 25: Fan Club Magazine #9

Without missing a beat, this issue jumped right from the conclusion of Yamato 2 to Nishizaki’s official announcement of the next story, a “telefeature” to be broadcast July 21. The title was not given, but he accurately summarized the story we would come to know as The New Voyage. He also mentioned that the first two movies would be re-released in the same month. Also included were fan comments on the end of Yamato 2, a brief description of Voice Voice Voice, and more.

Read translated articles here

April newspaper article

The exact newspaper and the exact date are unknown, but this article made for a perfect index point between the end of Yamato 2 and the beginning of the next phase. Here’s what it says…

Yamato to “launch” for the third time time!
Fuji TV will broadcast a new work in July

The Space Battleship Yamato, which was supposed to have disappeared forever beyond the universe, will be resurrected again.

The first Yamato movie was broadcast last summer and the latest TV broadcast ended within the last week. This summer, the majestic figure will appear again in front of boy and girl fans alike on TV and in theaters. Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki reveals the “inside story” of the immortal Yamato as follows…

The “final part” will be shown in theaters next summer. The finale of the 26-episode Yamato 2 TV series (broadcast April 7th) earned a 27.7% viewer rating (according to Nielsen), showing that the popularity of the show has not yet waned.

Yamato was first broadcast by Yomirui TV in October 1974. It always earned 20-30% of the total viewer ratings [in reruns], and was a hit with everyone from children to young adults. In August 1977, Yamato was released as a theatrical movie, and its sequel Farewell to Yamato was screened the following year.

The movies were also a big hit, with the first one earning 1 billion yen and the second earning 2.14 billion yen. In addition, Yamato 2, which was broadcast as a series from October 1978, averaged 23%. The popularity of the series did not decline.

Yamato, which was supposed to have been crushed in a spectacular defeat, is coming back. This is not good news for some fans, but it will be interesting to see in what form Yamato will reappear.

Fuji TV will be the first to make such a move. The station will broadcast Yamato‘s new telefeature, The New Voyage, on July 21.

The story begins as a sequel to Yamato 2, which was broadcast by Nippon TV. There is no rest for Yamato and its crew, who contributed to peace on Earth. In the universe 570,000 light-years away, the Uralian Empire is on the rampage, and soon plans to invade Earth.

This Yamato is a subject of curiosity. In other words, Yamato‘s inevitable return will occur on TV, and the aim is to create Yamato Revival: the Final Chapter for release in movie theaters in August of next year [1980]. It has also been decided that the first and second films, which were well-received, will be re-released in Toei theaters on July 14, so Yamato will now earn “three times” more money.

The reason Yamato is being revived after it was supposed to have been crushed by the giant battleship of the White Comet is explained by Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki:

“Yamato was going to stop after Part 2, but since there were fans who still wanted to see it, I felt it was my duty as the creator to make it. Now I really feel that Yamato belongs to them and not to me. Yamato was originally a fun space opera based on the theme of love. Rather than asking why Yamato is being revived, I want to go back to the basics and make it an enjoyable work.”

Fans, as well as the movie industry and TV stations, have been spreading the word about Yamato to help make it popular. The film industry and TV stations also felt that it would be a shame to let Yamato die while it was still so popular. It seems that Producer Nishizaki was forced to “revive” Yamato in response to these requests.

The most interesting artifact from the spring 1979 is a company brochure for Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s Office Academy. It’s a unique time capsule of anime history, and a portrait of the company at its most ambitious phase, announcing new anime productions that would debut later in the year, starting with The New Voyage.

Subsequent history painted a slightly different picture, but click here to read and enjoy what can only be described as a gloriously optimistic document.

May 1: Roadshow, June issue

The sixth and final edition of Yamato Newspaper presented a heartfelt overview of the Yamato 2 finale and a partial description of the “Yamato telefeature” set to premiere on July 21. (Later to be revised to July 31).

Read the article here

May 21: The Best One, July issue

The second issue of this bimonthly pop culture magazine from Gakken became the first to announce the title of the forthcoming telefeature: The New Voyage (though it still indicated a July 21 broadcast date).

Page 1 of the 2-page article presented a slightly longer synopsis than the one in Roadshow, this time including a description of the Goruba and the first design images of new characters and mecha. The second page gave readers a brief look back at the stories that got us this far.

See larger versions of these pages here

May 27: OUT, July issue

A week after The Best One appeared, Minori Shobo’s OUT magazine stepped up the game with additional design art and brief descriptions of four new characters. Here’s what they had to say about the story:

Space Battleship Yamato, The New Voyage LATEST

The story begins with the end of TV’s Yamato 2. In the year 2201, the White Comet was destroyed after a fierce battle, and Dessler felt a strange friendship with his rival Kodai. He sets out on another great voyage, gambling on the restoration of Gamilas.

But when Dessler goes to his home planet to say a final goodbye, what does he see? A swarm of large, unidentified vessels. Dessler defeats them, but for some reason the planet Gamilas explodes and disappears into cosmic dust. Its twin planet Iscandar is therefore thrown out of its orbit. Dessler, who once had feelings for Starsha, follows to try and help her.

The mysterious army had attacked Gamilas in search of a source of energy to carry out interplanetary war. And for the same purpose, it follows Iscandar with Dessler at its heels. Dessler asks Earth for assistance against the emergence of this powerful enemy. The Earth Defense Force relays the news to Yamato, which is in the midst of a training cruise with new crew members. Yamato makes repeated warps toward the source of the communication.

Around that time, Dessler catches up with Starsha, who insists on remaining on Iscandar with Mamoru Kodai. The enemy approaches…

That’s the first half, and we don’t know what will happen in the second half, but please look forward to it.

June 2: Bouken Oh [Adventure King], July issue

Bouken Oh helped spread the word on The New Voyage with a foldout page spotlighting the return of both Dessler and Mamoru Kodai.

June 9: Middle 2nd Year Course, July issue

Gakken’s student digest for eighth graders published a 2-pager on what would be the big event of the summer: the return of the first two Yamato movies in a double feature to begin on July 14. It also mentioned (but did not name) the upcoming telefeature, describing it as “the key to ‘Part 3,’ which will be released in theaters next summer.”

Also found in its pages was a 2-page interview with Kodai’s voice actor Kei Tomiyama.

Read both articles here

June 10: Animage #13, July issue

The summer anime movies were the cover story here, with the biggest nod going to Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s Triton of the Sea. It would be a compilation film for the first half of the 1972 TV series, and the third feature in the upcoming Yamato Festival. Read all about Triton here.

The other big story was The New Voyage. Animage became the first magazine to bring everyone the actual broadcast date (July 31) and interviews with staff members in a full color 4-page article.

Read it here

June 14: High 1st Course, July issue

Gakken’s student digest for tenth graders devoted four pages to The New Voyage, with the longest and most spoileriffic synopsis to date, appending it with new character descriptions. This inadvertently revealed the fact that not all the names were finalized yet; Admiral Deda was called “Garubas,” and Meldarz was “Gabochin.” With these naming conventions, it’s easier to see where “Goruba” came from.

Text on first page:

On July 31, the heroic figure of Yamato comes back to life on TV!

Starting at 7:30pm on July 31 for two hours, the special program Space Battleship Yamato, The New Voyage will be aired on Fuji TV network. Moreover, this story is an important key to “Yamato Part 3,” which will be released in theaters next summer. Here we introduce the story and new characters before the broadcast!

June 25: Fan Club Magazine #10

As expected, the official fan club magazine was the best source for preview material on The New Voyage. Half of the 24-page issue was filled with a complete story synopsis, short script and storyboard excerpts, and plenty of design art (both b&w and color). The rest of the issue was mainly devoted to the “Fan Club Plaza” section with art and commentary on the Yamato 2 finale.

June 27: OUT, August issue

The month of June ended with the latest issue of OUT, which devoted three pages to The New Voyage. The single page shown at right appeared toward the end, with some more production designs and text that continued the story synopsis from the July issue. It closes with Starsha holding a “diamond case” described as a “capsule.” Wonder what’s inside…

This 2-page color splash appeared earlier in the issue. The text in the red bars reads as follows:

In this upcoming Yamato story, Starsha and Mamoru will make their first appearance in a while. And Dessler burns with fire for a new purpose!!

July 3: Bouken Oh [Adventure King], August issue

The August 1978 Bouken Oh was memorable for a counter-intuitive reason: it was the first month Leiji Matsumoto had to SKIP a chapter of the Yamato 2 manga serial. The same would be true of the September issue. Why? Because he was busy making his first Galaxy Express feature film.

On the other hand, this was the second issue of Bouken Oh to promote The New Voyage with an interior foldout. The text reads as follows:

Broadcast scheduled for July 31st!!

What about Yamato? Where’s Kodai? Where is Yuki? And Dessler? Yamato is coming back in response to the longing of 4 million fans across the country! On July 31, Fuji TV will air the program on 24 stations nationwide!

July 9: Middle 1st Age, August issue

Since July was the last month for magazines to promote The New Voyage, Office Academy did its best to plant a story in as many as possible. This is why they almost all presented the same images, since the content came from a single source. Obunsha’s student digest for 7th graders was the first of many with a 6-page color feature. It also included the final names of the Dark Nebula officers, which had been in flux until now.

See all the pages here

July 10: Animage #14, August issue

Animage‘s last New Voyage article ran three pages with a fresh story synopsis and an interview with Animation Director Kenzo Koizumi, who talked mainly about how the character depictions had evolved for the film.

Read it here

It should not escape notice that the cover feature for this issue was closely related to Yamato; in just four more days, the Yamato Festival would open in theaters, accompanied by an hour-long compilation of Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s beloved 1972 TV series Triton of the Sea.

July 11: Middle 3rd Age, August issue

Obunsha’s student digest for 9th graders didn’t publish a New Voyage article, but it did include an odd blurb on the “Hot Line” page. Time has set this rumor to rights, but make of it what you will…

Space Battleship Yamato could possibly make it to a 6th work!

On July 31, The New Voyage will air as a two-hour feature. There is one more tidbit of information saying that Yamato will be aired on TV up to part 6. When we contacted Office Academy, they neither confirmed nor denied it. They said, “Who said that…?”

At any rate, Producer Nishizaki has mentioned that Part 3 will be made next year, and there seems to be a possibility that Part 6 will be made as well. Looks like the Yamato whirlwind is still going strong!

July 14: Weekly TV Programs magazine

With just over two weeks to go, the weekly TV Guide-style magazines that covered the week of New Voyage‘s premiere appeared on newsstands everywhere.

July 15: Koro Koro Comic, August issue

This marked Yamato‘s first known crossover with Koro Koro, the monthly manga magazine that was the launching pad for the inescapable Doraemon. The first thing readers saw when they opened the cover was an 8-page Yamato article that covered The New Voyage and took a brief look back at the stories that came before.

See the article here

July 21: The Best One, September issue

The third issue of this bimonthly entertainment magazine from Gakken included Yamato content in its Anime Channel section. As the name implies, this feature devoted its attention to anime on TV and in theaters. Three pages were devoted to The New Voyage with one more looking back at the finale of Yamato 2.

See them all here

July 27: OUT, September issue

New Voyage coverage this month was similar to the previous issue with two color pages up front (shown below) and a single black and white page (above right) in the back. This single page included a short interview with Director Takeshi Shirato.

Read it here (bottom of the page)

TEXT ON RIGHT SIDE:

The second color introduction of the telefeature version of Yamato is the mecha of the enemy Dark Nebula Empire. The super battleship Goruba is especially a must-see! Its bizarre form is ominous. Uh…is it the curse of Zordar?

July 30: The New Voyage radio special on ANN

The night before the TV debut of The New Voyage, Exec Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki repeated a tried-and-true method of film promotion when he hosted a 4-hour radio special on All Night Nippon to talk all about the film. It differed from the previous shows in that it was not, strictly speaking, a radio drama. Instead, Nishizaki played the finished audio mix with breaks for talk show content. He did NOT give away the entire story, ending it with the dramatic scene of Dessler demanding that Kodai fire the Wave-Motion Gun through him to destroy the enemy. Talk about a cliffhanger! Fortunately, fans had to wait less than 24 hours for the resolution.

Want to hear it for yourself? Settle in and enjoy it RIGHT NOW!

August 1: Roadshow, September issue

Fans got an eyeful when Roadshow kicked off the month with a 14-page “Big Anime Special Feature” that put the spotlight on the Yamato movies, The New Voyage, and the Galaxy Express 999 movie that would premiere in just three more days. Also on hand was an interview with Leiji Matsumoto that had been conducted on July 3.

See the pages and read the interview here

August 25: Yamato Fan Club Magazine #11

As expected, The New Voyage was this issue’s cover story (a photo feature and fan comments), followed by a report on the Yamato Festival. The back cover (above right) offered lyrics for the two new songs that were released at the start of the month.

September 1: Roadshow, October issue

Fans who kept an eye on Shueisha’s large-format movie magazine would have been delighted to find promotion for the first New Voyage book inside; Shueisha was hard at work putting together a New Voyage special under the Roadshow imprint for publishing in October. (The ad said September 10, but the book itself says October 10, so we’ll take the book’s word for it.)

Also found in these pages was a 2-page spread looking back at The New Voyage and trumpeting its incredible reception in July. The text read as follows:

Explosive ratings for the July 31st telecast

Farewell, Starsha! Be Forever, Iscandar!

“Mamoru, I love you. I’ll be by your side forever… As long as our daughter Sasha is here, we will always be together…”

— Leaving a great impression, Starsha went somewhere in the universe. Mamoru, Dessler, and Kodai continued to gaze after her with all their senses.

The telefeature The New Voyage aired on Fuji TV on the evening of July 31 (Tuesday) from 7:30 p.m., and was welcomed by fans nationwide with a high 30.5% viewer rating. However, although the super giant mother ship Goruba was destroyed, the Dark Nebula Uralia, a formidable foe, still lurks in one corner of the universe, its evil eye glaring.

And what will be the fate of Starsha’s child, Sasha…? We await the next work for Space Battleship Yamato.

September 10: Middle 2nd Year Course, October issue

Gakken’s student digest for 8th graders gave readers another “here’s where we are in Yamato world” article with a look back at The New Voyage and some speculation on where we might go next.

October 10: The New Voyage Special Edition

Following the format of the previous Roadshow specials for Farewell to Yamato, Shueisha turned in another winner with this one, the first of five books devoted to The New Voyage. Its 112 pages contained a photostory, the complete script, model sheets, character studies, and the first complete episode guide for Yamato 2. The back cover (above right) promoted the symphonic album released in September.

There was also an exclusive interview with the primary voice actors, speaking for the first time in print about The New Voyage. Read that discussion here.

October 25: Fan Club Magazine #12

The month of October closed out with a bundle of news and features in the latest fan club magazine. It opened with Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s first word about Part III: “The New Voyage was not merely an “extra chapter” made to meet the expectation of the fans. Therefore, I will make a new 2-hour Yamato telefeature. Though there is no story yet to be announced, it will be as great as anime for the movie theater.”

Of course, history would record a different story. Read Nishizaki’s entire announcement here.

November 1: Third Grader, December issue

One of the best things about being a Yamato fan is the surprise discoveries you make if you keep digging long enough. One such surprise could be found in Shogakukan’s student digest magazine for third graders: a New Voyage manga, adapted and drawn by artist Minoru Nonaka. It was a short one with only two installments, and didn’t get a reprint until 2018.

The first part comes from that reprint, a bonus feature from the large format 2-volume Cosmoship Yamato “Boukenou Revive Version” published by Fukkan.

See the first part here

November 20: The New Voyage storybook

This 40-page retelling of the movie was formatted with minimal text and color stills. Shogakukan utilized this format for many other children’s books based on movies and TV shows, including both anime and live-action. There was a total of 7 Yamato volumes, of which this was the last.

November 20: Keibunsha #49, The New Voyage Big Encyclopedia

The third Yamato book in Kodansha’s Keibunsha series started with encyclopedic pages of stills and model sheets, then moved into a story digest that briefly revisited earlier productions before commencing with a retelling of The New Voyage with text and stills. Production notes included cast and crew profiles, followed by product and fan club info, a glossary, and mission maps. Though this volume of the Keibunsha series had far fewer color pages than its predecessors, it offered the same comprehensive coverage of its subject. It was one of the four Encyclopedias to be reprinted for a box set in 1999.

6th Grader, December 1979 issue

Shogakukan’s student digest for sixth graders took another look back at The New Voyage with a serialized version of the story that combined manga art with stills.

December 1: Third Grader, January issue

The last issue of this magazine to be published in 1979 brought us the second half of Minoru Nonaka’s manga adaptation of The New Voyage. With this, it came to a total of just 40 pages (which the main reason it didn’t get its own paperback reprint).

Click here to see part 2, direct from the pages of Third Grader

Learn more about Minoru Nonaka here

December 1: Fourth Grader, January issue

Shogakukan’s student digest for fourth graders put The New Voyage on its front page with a handful of photos and the following text:

Famous Scenes

Yamato had finished a hard battle. However, it had to launch for a new battle without a moment’s rest. Fight, Yamato, for peace in the universe!