As Toei Studio’s animation staff labored through their final month on Be Forever Yamato, the publicity machine ramped up with major media coverage and the first live events of the summer. On the other side of the planet, Star Blazers was winning hearts and creating a groundswell of its own. Here’s a top to bottom view of this exciting month.

There’s also a lot of newly-discovered backlog in this round, so it’s been placed at the end of the page.

The press sheet

This large-format foldout (14″ x 40″ when fully opened) set the tone for the avalanche of print media coverage in June.

The monochrome side was full of promotional text that would end up in several magazines: an introduction, partial story synopsis, the various technical highlights, a character guide, and comments from the staff and music artists.

Get a better look at all of it here

June 1: Terebi kun, July issue

In the November 1979 issue of Shogakukan’s Terebi kun magazine, a monthly film comic for The New Voyage began serialization (2 pages per issue, totaling 18 pages). It ended here, eight months later, just in time to bolster the month’s first article on Be Forever.

It opened with these words:

Revived in response to the expectations of 4 million Yamato fans

In response to the fervent expectations of Yamato fans nationwide, Yamato takes off again! What new enemy will the brave Yamato soldiers face…? Nationwide roadshow begins August 2nd!

See the pages here

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

Yamato 3rd installment (releasing August 2nd) production is going well!!

Reviving love and emotion

On August 2nd, Yamato will return to the screen. It’s been exactly two years since the second installment, Farewell to Yamato, which was full of emotion and excitement. Yamato is now quietly waiting for its launch!! So we’ll share with you the latest information obtained by our editorial department.

Leiji Matsumoto’s Yamato manga was done forever, but Bouken Oh stepped up to the plate again with a 4-page Be Forever article in this issue.

See the pages here

June 7: Be Forever Yamato radio drama

All Night Nippon, which had by now become the radio home of Yamato (part of the Nippon Broadcasting System), broadcast a Be Forever 4-hour radio drama commencing at 1 AM. Over 100 members of the film’s cast and crew participated, including all the voice actors, directors Leiji Matsumoto and Toshio Masuda, producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, composer Hiroshi Miyagawa and vocalist Isao Sasaki. By dawn the next day, the studio was completely surrounded by adoring fans.

Programming guide and script

Looking back from a very different entertainment ecosystem over 40 years later, you may wonder why on Earth Nishizaki and company would spoil the entire film two months early with a radio drama, and the answer is (A) it was a different time and (B) they actually spoiled only 75% of it; the radio drama ended with Yamato leaving Sasha behind on the false Earth.

Either way, the radio drama is an amazing piece of Yamato history that deserves a lot more attention. Click here to read much more about it – AND hear the entire program with your own ears!

June 9: Middle 1st Age, July issue

Since the bulk of the new story had already been released to radio, there was no hesitation to hold it back from print publishers. Obunsha’s student digests for middle schoolers all ran with it, gleefully packing in as many art images and side stories as they could. Among other things, they were the first to reveal the term “Warp Dimension” and try to puzzle out what it meant.

The magazine for 7th graders opened with these words:

Revived again this summer

After Space Battleship Yamato in 1977 and Farewell to Yamato in 1978, Yamato Part III, Be Forever Yamato, will finally be released in theaters on August 2nd 1980 by Toei. We’ll introduce the story in advance, and show off Yamato‘s new mecha!!

See the 8-page article here

June 9: Middle 2nd Age, July issue

The magazine for 8th graders opened its article with these words:

Space Battleship Yamato appears for the third time. The new content surpasses the previous two films and will impress you. The next work, with its unexpected twists and turns, is a love story that fans have been waiting for.

How Yamato III was made

Two years have passed since Yamato left…and now four million fans across the country have finally brought Yamato back to life. The setting has changed, but Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori are still peace-loving “Yamato soldiers.”

Be Forever Yamato is a huge space adventure set in the vast universe on a grand scale, and is not a sequel to the previous film, but has been created with a new concept. It’s a drama that will inspire you with magnificent dreams.

See the 8-page article here

June 9: Middle 3rd Age, July issue

The magazine for 9th graders opened its article with these words:

Equipped with a deadly continuous Wave-Motion Gun!!
Power-up Yamato
Set course for the Dark Nebula Empire!!

Yamato returns to the screen after two years! Nationwide release from August 2nd!! In the year 2202, Earth has been invaded by the Dark Nebula Empire. To save Earth from this crisis, Yamato travels 400,000 light years away!!

See the 5-page article here

June 9: Middle 2nd Year Course, July issue

Things were equally exciting over at Gakken publishing, where their student digest for 8th graders opened an article with these words:

The new Yamato is unveiled!

What about the love between Susumu Kodai and Yuki? What about the latest powered-up Yamato mecha? And what about the enemy, the Dark Nebula Empire? A thorough dissection of Be Forever Yamato!!

See the article here

June 9: Middle 3rd Year Course, July issue

Just to make sure no one was left out, a similar article appeared in the next magazine up for ninth graders, containing mostly the same content with a different arrangement of images.

June 10: Course Newspaper

In addition to its various student digest magazines, Gakken also made inroads into schools with a monthly newspaper that cost 30 yen and delivered news you could use. The edition dated June 10 led with a story synopsis and stills from Be Forever. (And ads for other Gakken publications such as Shonen Challenge and The Best One.)

June 10: Animage Vol. 25, July issue

Animage celebrated its second anniversary with a treasure trove of content; a massive 32-page Leiji Matsumoto cover story and a 5-page article on Be Forever with a story digest, three short interviews with members of the production staff, and an interview with Yoshinobu Nishizaki in which he first mentioned the coming of a third TV series and also dropped the term “Warp Dimension.”

See the Matsumoto pages here

See the Be Forever article here

Read the interviews here

June 10: The Anime Vol. 8, July issue

The Anime went all-out with a Be Forever foldout poster and a whopping 20 pages of wide-ranging coverage. It included the first report on the May 26 press conference, generous helpings of character and mecha art, an extensive interview with Nishizaki, a character guide, a round-table fan discussion (always a lively feature), and the first announcement of the forthcoming Festival at Budokan. But the true highlight was a first-person account of a visit to the production unit at Toei Studio, which treated its subject with the breathless enthusiasm of a true fan.

See the entire article here

Read the text here:
Press conference
Nishizaki interview
Fan discussion
Studio visit

June 10: Monthly Animation No. 6, July issue

Bronze Co.’s monthly magazine on the anime industry didn’t have direct Yamato coverage (that would come in No. 7), but it did have some indirect coverage that was even more interesting. A columnist named Kosei Ono reported on the arrival of Yamato in America under the Star Blazers banner, and gave the first-ever impression of it from a Japanese viewpoint.

Read the article here

June 10: Mu, July issue

Gakken’s Super Mystery Magazine MU was where you’d turn for news on UFO’s, aliens, psychic powers, the occult, and other supernatural phenoms. For better or worse, such things have always had a bond with the world of science-fiction, so it wasn’t unusual at all for this issue to carry both an article on Leiji Matsumoto and a foldout poster for Be Forever.

June 10: Ad campaign begins

Nearly two months before the film arrived, the official advertising campaign launched in theaters and newspapers. The trailer was in circulation by this time (see it on Youtube here), and the color flyer could be found in theater lobbies. The slogan running down the left side read, “On an unprecedented scale, Yamato is back!!”

The back of the flyer promoted the same talking points seen elsewhere; the dramatic story, Yamato‘s power-up, and the mysterious “Warp Dimension.” As with earlier flyers, the lower portion was left blank for theater chains to add their own info.

Newspapers were echoing the information. This particular ad is from a Tokyo paper showing the film booked into all the major chains, info on how to get advance tickets, and a blurb at lower left for the Voyage of Adventure Roman ticket lottery, about which everyone would soon learn more.

June 14: Scanimation meeting

Amidst the incredible media push, it’s easy to forget that the movie itself was still in heavy production mode with some major steps left to cover. One was to apply a technique called “Scanimation.” This was an early method of film/video compositing in which live effects photography was combined with 2D animation. This process had begun back in April, to explore unique ways of enhancing the gorgeous reveal of the White Galaxy. June 14 was the day those dazzling effects were previewed and moved into their final phase.

June 14: High 1st Course, July issue

Most of the Yamato coverage in student digests had been aimed at middle schoolers, but here’s an example of promo aimed at the upper grades. Gakken’s magazine for 10th graders carried a 4-pager that opened with these words:

Carrying passionate emotions and aspirations
Space Battleship Yamato launches for the third time!!

Yamato, long-awaited by anime fans, is returning from the far reaches of space with even more power-up!! The date is August 2nd. But for those of you who can’t wait that long, here is Yamato‘s new, brave figure…!!

Elsewhere in the issue, a reader survey named the top ten anime titles with Yamato taking a healthy lead at 226 votes. The next nine were Galaxy Express (174), Lupin III (143), Tomorrow’s Joe (124), Doraemon (122), Future Boy Conan (84), Aim for the Ace! (66), Mobile Suit Gundam (60), Toward the Terra (52), and Cyborg 009 (43).

See both articles here

June 17: Weekly Woman, July issue

It wasn’t much, but Yamato scored a hit in a magazine entirely outside its demographic. A single photo was published from the May press conference with the following text:

Children’s roman to be screened again

Space Battleship Yamato, which has given dreams and romance to five million children, will return this summer. The title is Be Forever Yamato. Akira Fuse, one of the three people who will sing the theme songs, said, “It wasn’t until I became a parent that I understood my dreams and feelings. I’m going to make a good song.” He is a devoted father to his children.

June 18: On the road (Nagoya)

Being in the thick of production doesn’t preclude the need for publicity, which explains why Yoshinobu Nishizaki would hit the road right in the middle of June for in-person appearances.

Yamato fan club headquarters organized the first official meeting of the year in Nagoya, where about 120 fans gathered at Meitetsu Grand Hotel after school. The background music of Be Forever Yamato and Isao Sasaki’s singing made the event a great opportunity for fans to raise their expectations.

June 19: On the road (Osaka)

Following the Tokyo press conference in May, a production announcement for Be Forever Yamato was held in Osaka. In addition to Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Isao Sasaki, Yoshiro Tanaka (Deputy General Manager of Toei’s Kansai Branch Office) was also on hand to answer questions.

After the press conference the second 1980 Fan Exchange Meeting was held at the same venue. The number of participants was about 30 more than in Nagoya, with 150 people in attendance. They listened to Isao Sasaki’s singing and Nishizaki’s talking. After the meeting, it quickly changed to an autograph session with both men.

A third fan club meeting was held on June 28 at Mainichi hall in Fukuoka, where attendance was even higher, but photographic proof has yet to surface.

Read The Anime‘s coverage of the fan club meetings here.

June 21: Screen, August issue

The second issue of Screen to contain Be Forever coverage came with a sheet of stickers (above right)…

…and this 2-page spread with a headline reading, “Now it takes off for the third time thanks to the enthusiastic support of its fans.”

June 25: Fan club magazine, issue 16

This issue of the fan club magazine was the heaviest yet in terms of Be Forever content. It kicked off with a report of the May 26 press conference, then moved on to a story digest, sheet music for two new songs, and the first reports of fan club meetings and the live radio drama.

Read the articles here

June 26: AR script completed

Okay, so what the heck is an AR script? Those initials stand for After Recording, which is shortened to Afreco. It’s the generic term for anime voice recording, which is performed by the actors who read their lines with a print of the film or TV episode running. The American equivalent of this is ADR (Auto Dialogue Replacement), but most American voice recording is done before visuals are created.

An AR script differs from a shooting script in that it is reformatted to give preference to dialogue over scene direction. It’s up to the production staff to have a picture ready for the actors to respond to; if they can’t manage this, actors end up reading to an empty screen marked with colored lines for timing. Yamato Series 1 did this for almost every episode; actors hate it, because it provides no emotional reference.

The afreco session for Be Forever would take place in July over two days, so look for it in the next report.

June 28: Energy Fair 80

Launch! Space Battleship was an event centered around the creations of Leiji Matsumoto. It had first appeared in 1979 and made a comeback on this day as a part of a week-long “Energy Saving Fair ’80,” which had the primary purpose of commemorating the 35th anniversary of the North Sea Times Company.

The event made use of many Yamato display objects seen before: the full size bridge set, the 1/1 Analyzer prop, the Precision Cut Model, and more.

June 29: Voyage of Adventure Roman ticket lottery

In the early years of anime’s rise, there were only a few days when you could witness the momentum with your own eyes. This was one of those days. Beginning at 9am, applications were accepted for the Voyage of Adventure Roman. It would be an unprecedented form of film promotion: a sea cruise with the cast and crew of Be Forever.

Despite pouring rain, over 10,000 fans responded to the call, “Crew Members Wanted.” Some had gotten in line three days before to vie for the coveted 500 slots. The crowd went into an uproar whenever the winning numbers for groups of three were announced. Contemporary news coverage says it all…

Tokyo, Shinjuku Alta, June 29: What Happened!?

From The Anime, Vol. 10

Yamato fans were moved by the catchphrase, “Journey on Yamato to the New Galaxy.” In one of the campaigns for Yamato, a 10,000 ton car ferry was remodeled as Yamato, and there was a big lottery event for participants to enjoy a three-day, two-night journey in the sun.

On June 29, rain fell on the meeting place, the square outside the east exit of Shinjuku station. A group of more than 200 people stood vigil overnight to wait for the opening. It was said that some had been waiting since the 27th, two days earlier. They said they were aware winners would be chosen by lottery or something, but they wanted to do everything they could. The passion of Yamato fans is well understood.

The drawing of lots began 24 minutes late, at 1:24 pm. The hysteria outside Shinjuku station reached a fever pitch. When a lucky number was read, great shouts of joy swirled around in the open space. 15,000 people gathered for this climax of Yamato Fever.

Yamato fans “occupy” Shinjuku

Hochi Shimbun, Monday, June 30, 1980

On the morning of the 29th, a commotion broke out when a group of children “occupied” Shinjuku’s main street. As part of a promotional campaign for the SF anime Be Forever Yamato to be released in August, Office Academy and Toei organized a campaign calledSpace Battleship Yamato Adventure Roman Crew Recruitment and started accepting applications at 9am that morning in the square in front of the east exit of Shinjuku Station.

About 15,000 Yamato fans, including those who stayed up all night from three days before, braved the rain to come to the plaza in front of Shinjuku Station’s east exit. At one point the line stretched from the front of the station past the Isetan part and all the way to the Shinjuku Theater behind the station.

A large car ferry that runs between Kawasaki and Hyuga will be remodeled to look like Yamato, and 500 children will be invited to a three-day, two-night cruise starting July 20th for a participation fee of just 3,000 yen. To the children, this plan seemed, “Unbelievably cheap, and I can become a crew member of the Yamato, so it’s the best thing ever!” (A third-grade boy.)

The organizers closed the application at 10:30 a.m., when the number of applicants reached 14,000, and the lottery began at 3 p.m. The results were announced one after another on Studio Alta’s electronic board, greeted by loud cheers and sighs.

Read about the planning for the Voyage here

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