KOSEI ONO’S SPACE SHUTTLE

Space Battleship Yamato
Galaxy Express 999
Running through America’s space

I received a large envelope from an American friend living in Los Angeles (actually, it’s Culver City, which is a little off the beaten path).

Letter from an American friend

When I opened it, the first thing I saw was a large, beautifully colored pamphlet with a picture of a young man with a sword flying through the sky on a Pegasus horse. The words Clash of the Titans are printed in white. This is for a fantasy masterpiece scheduled for worldwide release next June, and is currently being produced at Pinewood Studio in England. What makes me happiest of all is that this is Ray Harryhausen’s latest special effects work, and that he has teamed up with the familiar Charles Schneer.

The story is based on Greek mythology, and is about Perseus’ adventure to capture the head of a gorgon. Everyone will think of the animation Orpheus of the Stars, made in America with Japanese capital, but Harryhausen is trying to recreate that story on the screen with his magic. Indeed, the young man in the pamphlet is holding the head of a gorgon.

Since it is an MGM film, it will be released in Japan through CIC, but at the moment, CIC in Tokyo does not have any more information than what was sent to me. However, this film is currently being produced in England by Ray Harryhausen who lives in London and features British actors. One of the selling points is that Laurence Olivier plays the chief god Zeus. Of Harryhausen’s past works, I like Jason and the Argonauts the best, but from The Three Worlds of Gulliver to Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, each work has its own magic. When I think about it, along with the series of works by George Pal, who passed away at the end of April (his death was much more of a shock to me than the death of Alfred Hitchcock, after all, I met him in person last summer…), these are the films that shaped who I am today.

Well, as for Clash of the Titans, I will write about it again when I receive more detailed information, but for now I must mention what my friend wrote to me.

Yamato airing in America

“Right now, Space Battleship Yamato I and II are being aired on TV in America. The American version is titled Star Blazers. The SF film research magazine Cinefantastique is planning to do a special feature on Yamato, and they asked me to write an article about the parts that were cut from the American version. As you know, because of the TV code here, scenes where people die have been cut. The same goes for nude scenes. When Yamato first enters warp space, the impact almost tears the heroine’s costume off. I think there was a scene like that, but that was cut too. So, I’d like to ask…”

[Translator’s note: regrettably, a review of contemporary issues of Cinefantastique yields no such article.]

In other words, Fred Patton is an enthusiastic person who knows more about Japanese TV animation than most Japanese people. This friend, a fan, asked if I could get some still photos, preferably color positives, of scenes that were cut from the American broadcast version. He has already written a long article for another magazine about Japanese robot TV animation, and will probably write a feature on Phoenix 2772 for Cinefantastique. I actually met him in L.A. in 1975, and we have been exchanging letters for over 10 years, which led to him importing SF comics from Japan and selling them in America.

When American TV shows Japanese works, if there is a scene where a city on a planet is bombarded, for example, the narrator says something like, “Fortunately, all the residents evacuated before the bombardment…” and it gets annoying. That’s what Fred and other American fans say, but the TV code there is strict and there is nothing that can be done about it at the moment.

This guy Fred is actually well over 40 years old, and he loves Japanese TV anime such as Candy Candy and Doraemon. I had a good laugh about this with my friend Robin Leyden, who came to Japan, but he’s the same way.

“Fred and I never grew up. So we’re outside of the social system, but I can justify myself by saying I translate manga and do research for a living, so I’m satisfied that I’m still connected to society.”

Matsumoto Gauge stolen?

Robin Leyden (30 years old) is an electronics engineer who makes elaborate dolls of Astro Boy, and is hoping to eventually make a three-dimensional model of the space-traveling Galaxy Express 999. (He worked on the special effects for 1941, Star Trek, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and was also involved a little in Resurrection Day). [Translator’s note: based on a Japanese novel, its English title was Virus.]

“Here’s my idea. I’d like to make a seat for the inside of the Galaxy Express 999. Maetel and Tetsuro would sit facing each other, and outside the window would be the universe, with the stars slowly moving in the sky. The conductor would be standing by, and his eyes would be glowing…”

Robin’s eyes light up when he talks about wanting to create such a life-size scene with his own electronics.

“I think the theatrical version of 999 would be well-received in America, because it’s spectacular.”

In this way, enthusiastic fans, like anime fans in Japan, are growing around Los Angeles, and Leiji Matsumoto fans immediately recognize the endless rows of instruments in Yamato and 999. When they see it, they happily say, “Oh, that’s a Matsumoto gauge.”

In the Walt Disney SF movie The Black Hole, there is a scene where instruments are lined up. It seems like the staff must have watched Galaxy Express 999 early on and used it as a reference. Mr. Matsumoto once told me, “That’s entirely possible. There are some parts that are really similar.” Robin said the same thing, and I thought the same after watching The Black Hole later. Even the original costumes used in Star Wars (Darth Vader, the soldiers, and others) were heavily referenced from Japanese TV animation.

Japanese anime fan in Los Angeles

By the way, I just watched the American version of Space Battleship Yamato on video about three days ago. Of course, it was edited, but what interested me more than that was the effect of the English voiceovers.

To be honest, Yamato (at least as far as I can see on Japanese screens) is technically excellent, such as the depiction of mechanisms, but the basic idea of the story is that the voices saying, “Save the Earth!” tend to overlap with the cry, “Save Japan,” and I can’t help but feel melancholy. But when the voices are American, this completely disappears.

Simply put, the impression of the movie becomes much brighter just by changing the voice actors from Japanese to Americans. Even though the visuals are exactly the same in the battle to save the Earth from destruction, it seems as if the Earth doesn’t matter when the lines are spoken in the rhythm and intonation of American English (not that it’s a bad thing). It’s like the tragic battles on Japanese TV become a game here. This was a discovery for me. This way, I can watch it with ease, like Star Wars.

Indeed, at the moment, there is only a small number of maniacs (about 200 in the L.A. area) paying close attention to Japanese animation. Their number may increase, but it is not likely to decrease. When I attend a fan gathering where a Japanese anime is screened, I am surprised to see a young man wearing a Yamato costume (which he made himself). It suits him, doesn’t it? Still, it’s a shame that Cutie Honey can’t be seen in America. Robin says, “Damn those TV codes,” but he’s also a fan of Go Nagai manga and Monkey Punch’s Lupin III.

From now on, it might be better to have Americans write reviews of Japanese animation.

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