August 2024 was a textbook followup to the enormous premiere month of July; Chapter 1 closed its first – and very successful – theatrical run, a new concert performance joined the pantheon of all-time greats, and the month ended with a look at Chapter 2. Here’s all that and everything in between.
Backlog
Let’s start with some catching up. First, three new entries have been added to the REBEL 3199 Chapter 1 interview collection. See them here.
Second, the REBEL 3199 research vault opened in the Chapter 1 program book, with the first commentary by science advisor Shinya Ogura. Read it here.
And now, on to August news…
August 1: Saga of a Space Battleship, Episode 2
August began with the second installment of this fan-made CG series. Watch it now, right here!
Following a devastating surprise attack on Earth, the survivors have rallied on Aquarius Island. The Earth remains surrounded by its Wave-Motion Shield. Yamato, Earth’s greatest Space Battleship, has been discovered. However, the mighty vessel sits in a tomb of ice. Will this ancient battleship be able to turn the tide and rescue our daring heroes? Find out in Saga of a Space Battleship Episode 2: Raise the Yamato, Fire the Wave-Motion Gun!
Photo at right posted on Twitter by sugeru0106
August 2: Week 3 handout
The third week of REBEL 3199 Chapter 1 began with a new handout at theaters. All ticket holders received a “Smartphone sticker” featuring Kodai and Yuki. It didn’t fit everyone’s phone, but the name was probably just a suggestion.
August 3: Today’s Science Beginners Vol. 2 video
One week after the first video (seen in Report 8), this 4-minute followup dug into details on the Cosmo Reverse System. A guest narrator is needed, since the hosts go down a rabbit hole referred to as a “Yabu Festival.”
Watch it here with closed captions and autotranslate on to find out what that means.
Photo at right posted on Twitter by the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra
August 3: Concert performance
The Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra teamed up with conductor Akira Miyagawa for a summer festival concert at the Tokyo Electron Hall in Miyagi Prefecture. It brought together all of his best hits, culminating with the Yamato theme. This was the first of two concerts for Miyagawa this month; keep reading for the second one.
August 3: Youtube shorts
Starting on this day, Bandai’s Emotion Channel started a series of 1-minute video montages to spotlight specific characters who appear in REBEL 3199. Each montage features major moments throughout the history of the Yamato remakes. See them here:
August 4: Yamato 2 Complete Edition on Star Channel
Continuing their “Yamato rerun summer,” Star Channel BS10 brought a piece of history out of the archives. The Yamato 2 Complete Edition is a condensed version of the 26-episode series that has an interesting history all its own. First broadcast on the 5th anniversary of Series 1 (October 6 1979), it was meant to help fans through the long wait between The New Voyage and Be Forever. The editing was supervised by writer Eiichi Yamamato and the length clocked in at 96 minutes. Though the story was unchanged, the music was reorganized to incorporate BGM tracks that had neither been heard in Yamato 2 nor released commercially until decades later in the Yamato Sound Almanac CD series.
Read about the making of the Complete Edition here
August 6: Studio Khara lantern
The annual Bonbori (paper lantern) Festival takes place at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura to mark the end of summer. Each year, hundreds of paper lanterns are donated by artists and celebrities from all over the nation.
This year, Hideaki Anno of Studio Khara did his part to remind everyone what year it is as we still eagerly await news of the 50th anniversary projects he has underway.
Photos posted on Twitter by elfriede
August 7: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 267
Hachette’s first Patrol Ship volume for August contained four hangar doors to be attached to the forward hull section, creating a hatchway that will accommodate a Cosmo Seagull. Lighting was also installed for the interior cavity.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
August 7: Yamatalk event
The final live event tied into REBEL 3199 Chapter 1 happened on this day, a stage presentation at the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater featuring the regular trio, General Director Harutoshi Fukui, Scriptwriter Hideki Oka, and Director Naomichi Yamato. They were joined by a very special guest, 2202 Director Nobuyoshi Habara.
Habara gave his impressions of the new film and plenty of hints were dropped about what we can look forward to. Read the official report and some additional notes here.
August 8-12: “Extra Character Files” on Twitter
Now that you’ve watched the first chapter of REBEL 3199 on Crunchyroll (you have…haven’t you?), you probably won’t be surprised to learn that the extensive character guides that have been published on the official website still haven’t covered everyone in this enormous cast. That gap was partially rectified when the Yamato Production Committee Tweeted out a slew of “Extra Character Files” that filled things in around the edges.
See these new files here
See the entire 3199 character guide here
August 9: Week 4 handout
Chapter 1 commenced its fourth week in theaters on this day, and the free handout to ticket holders changed again. This time, it was a clear file featuring Junichiro Tamamori’s color drawings of the Gladiator battleship.
August 10: Today’s Science Beginners Vol. 3 video
You’ll definitely want to turn on captions and autotranslate for this one. In the final video for Chapter 1, the main characters get caught up in an argument about how to shorten the name of the series (invoking the trendy 4-character rule), so the guest narrator has to step in and describe how Wave Barrier Bullets work.
See it on Youtube here
Photo posted on Twitter by comiketofficial
August 10 & 11: Comiket 104
The biggest comics-related event in the world is not for the faint of heart…but if you can brave the crowds, you might just find some of the best Yamato doujinshis inside.
Click here for a photo gallery of what was on sale.
Photo posted on Twitter by birthdaysong5
August 11: Super Anime Song Spirits 2024
On the other hand, if crowds are your thing, there’s a delightful annual tradition in which a group called Anime Japan Fes stages a theme song concert just around the corner from Comiket on closing day.
Photo posted on Twitter by chun78
And despite continuing to hint that he’s about to retire, Isao Sasaki still turns up every time. You can probably guess which of his songs brings the house down at the end of the show.
August 11: Yamato III compilation on Star Channel
BS10 did it again, bringing their Yamato broadcast summer to a close with one of the rarest of video artifacts, a compilation TV special titled Yamato III: Destruction of the Solar System (named after Episode 1). The 93-minute program originally premiered on December 28, 1983. It came out on home video in 1985 and 1994, and was relegated to a DVD bonus feature after that. This was probably its first time back on the air since the original showing.
Photo posted on Twitter by elfriede
August 14: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 268
This week’s project was to assemble the Patrol Ship’s belly-mounted auxiliary engine and its internal lighting.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
Photos posted on Twitter by gantu2202 and TOM2199
August 16: Chapter 1 held over
Held over! Week 5! There was no new handout to lure people back for another viewing, but they came anyway. Some stalwarts reported seeing healthy attendance right up to the last day, August 22, when REBEL 3199 reverted from “now playing” to “coming soon” status. That status would change exactly three months later if all went to plan.
August 17: Takashi Yamazaki exhibition
Takashi Yamazaki, director of both the live action Yamato movie and Godzilla Minus One, has been the subject of an ongoing art exhibition for a while now. As of this writing, it appropriately resides at the Battleship Yamato Museum in Kure, Japan. A blogger named Ayaka, who runs a site titled No Opinions Needed, paid it a visit and posted a generous photo journal.
See what’s on display here
Photo posted on Twitter by elfriede
August 21: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 269
More parts for the auxiliary engine arrived in this week’s volume, allowing builders to add the finishing touches and mount it on its hull panel.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
Photo posted on Twitter by kotori2co
August 24: Space Battleship Yamato Strings concert
By all accounts, the Space Battleship Yamato Strings Concert (performed as part of the Mt. Fuji Kawaguchiko Music Festival) was something very special, even among Yamato concerts. It was the first of its kind, an open air experience that allowed nature itself in on the act…and nature obliged!
Read a full account, with comments from both musicians and attendees, here
August 26: Keisuke Fujikawa article
Every Yamato fan worth their salt can name the primary creators of the original TV series: Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Leiji Matsumoto, and maybe Director Noboru Ishiguro. But there’s a fourth name that belongs in that elite lineup: Head Writer Keisuke Fujikawa. As an alumni of Keio University’s Department of Literature, he was profiled in the online Keio Student Newspaper in a biographical account that itself reads like one of Fujikawa’s own heartfelt stories.
It is presented here to signal-boost his name in the minds of Yamato fans everywhere.
August 28: 1/350 Diecast Gimmick Model Vol. 270
Hachette’s last volume for the month made BIG MOVES happen. It contained the base platform of the bridge tower, which allowed builders to mount the bridge and connect it to the entire forward gun deck. That’s 20 volumes down, 30 to go.
See Hachette’s instruction video here
See a modeler’s blog here
August 28: Model kits announced
Today, Bandai announced two welcome additions to the 3199 “Mecha Collection DX” series: a souped-up Cosmo Tiger II and a brand new Cosmo Python. The “DX” moniker signifies that each kit is a 2-pack and allows for variations. The Tiger can be assembled in four different configs, and the Python has two modes: normal combat and high mobility. Both kits are scheduled to arrive in March 2025. Find more info here:
Tiger photos | Hobbylink Japan page • Python photos | Hobbylink Japan page
August 29: REBEL 3199 Chapter 2 news
It’s always a good day for a new trailer! That’s what we got six days after Chapter 1 closed in theaters.
See it on Youtube here and then check out our breakdown here.
But that’s not all! Since Blu-ray & DVD sales are the most important part of the revenue stream, Bandai Namco announced that the standard edition will go on sale January 29. Those who pre-order from Bandai will receive a clear red Alpharatz Mecha Collection model. (Okay, it’s just a recolored Andromeda, but still…) Other sources will offer different bonus items such as illustration boards.
The slipcase art by the great Naoyuki Katoh pictures a freshly-launched Yamato navigating through the sea of Kalaklum wreckage, followed by the supply carrier Asuka.
If you feel like placing that preorder now, the Blu-ray is listed at Amazon.co.jp here and CD Japan here.
August 30: Spectator Vol. 53
Published irregularly by Gentosha, this “cultural journal” examines social trends across a wide range of topics. The theme for this volume is 1976: The Great Explosion of Subculture. The official description goes as follows:
The 1970s are often thought of as a time when nothing of significance happened, sandwiched as it was between the “political season” of the 1960s and the bubble economy of the 1980s. However, in the world of young people, out of sight of the adults, important events were taking place that could be called a cultural explosion. Occult, anime, punk, self-education… Through the testimonies and discussions of those involved in the little magazines that witnessed the birth of these four subcultures, we will get to the bottom of the great explosion of subcultures that occurred in 1976.
As a major force in 70s subculture, Space Battleship Yamato fits squarely into this volume’s mission statement, and thus contains an interview with O.G. superfan Ryusuke Hikawa focusing on the birth of Yamato fandom.
This is certain to add another layer of knowledge to Yamato history, so watch for a translation in a future Cosmo DNA update!
Meanwhile order this magazine from Amazon.co.jp here
Also spotted in August
Fan art
Month after month, it just keeps getting better. See the latest character gallery here and the mecha gallery here.
Fan models
Click here for a gallery of the latest masterpieces to come out of home workshops in Japan.
Farewell to Yamato
On August 1, a Twitter user with the online handle yucthy posted these photos with the following caption: “I stopped by Shinjuku Piccadilly and they had already started with the third bridge when I arrived!”
In other words, official handlers had arrived for the takedown process; the 1/100 Yamato display model was being dismantled after another theatrical run. Naturally, the third bridge came off first.
These photos of the shipping crates demonstrate which pieces go inside. When will they see daylight again? Some time in the next two years is all we can predict.
Dancing on the North Wall, movie poster and flyer
Another Nishizaki joint
Credit for this find goes out to Yamato superfan kanaeyokosuka, who frequently posts eye-opening artifacts on Twitter (click the name to see them). Here’s the scoop: it turns out that in the spring/summer of 1979, while deeply entrenched in production on The New Voyage, Yoshinobu Nishizaki had something else cooking. Academy Productions got involved in a live-action documentary titled Dancing on the North Wall. Specifically, Nishizaki worked as the music producer for the film and brought along his two greatest allies: composer Hiroshi Miyagawa and lyricist Yu Aku. Together, they brought their thunder to a completely different project.
Press sheet
Description from Moviewalker:
This feature-length documentary portrays the heroic feat of Tsuneo Hasegawa, who successfully climbed the north face of the Grand Jorasses, the most difficult of the three great north faces in the world: the Matterhorn (4,478m), the Eiger (3,970m), and the Grand Jorasses (4,208m). At 10:30am on March 4, 1979, a young Japanese man successfully reached the summit of Walker Peak on the north face of the Grand Jorasses after a grueling 174-hour struggle alone, becoming a glorious triple crown winner of the north face in the history of world mountaineering.
Hasegawa set out with two of Japan’s leading climbers, Masaru Morita and Atsushi Katsuno, but after Morita was lost and rescued, and Katsuno gave up, Hasegawa attempted the climb alone again on February 25th. Eight days later, he communicated his success by walkie-talkie to his wife Mitsuko, who was waiting for him below.
A cursory search yielded no sign of a Miyagawa soundtrack album (which is a shame given that this would have been written smack dab in the middle of his Yamato years) but there is a single featuring the main theme of the film and a song titled My Wife, Only to You. And there’s Nishizaki himself on the record sleeve delivering his usual “Producer’s Message.”
Until something more substantial is found, we can at least give these tracks a listen on Youtube here:
Movie theme (included in a 4-minute film clip) | My Wife, Only to You single
Fan Artist Profile
Time to meet another of the talented and dedicated Yamato fans who delivers some of the amazing artwork we see here in the character galleries month after month. (Hot tip: enter the words “character fan art” or “mecha fan art” in the search bar to bring all the galleries to the top.)
Pincet Point of Action
1. What was your first Yamato experience?
I first learned about Yamato when I was 7 years old, and was deeply influenced by the battle at the Rainbow Star Cluster in the remake, Yamato 2199.
2. What is your favorite aspect of Yamato?
I especially like the mechanics of the fascinating space battleships and fighter planes.
3. Are you a Yamato collector?
I don’t have many, but I do collect plastic models, CDs, and Blu-rays of the remake.
4. What is your most treasured Yamato item?
I especially treasure a program book signed by Akira Miyagawa, who composed the various music related to Yamato, and conducts concerts.
5. What are your favorite drawing tools?
I make rough sketches with a small notepad and mechanical pencil, and then use my smartphone and my fingers to digitally complete them.
6. Where can your work be seen?
I post my drawings on Twitter and Pixiv. If you want to see the finished drawings, I recommend Pixiv!
7. Does your family share your hobby?
My father is very understanding of my hobbies, and the first Yamato plastic model I made was a gift from him.
8. Please tell us something about your life outside your art.
I’ve always loved keeping insects, and I still catch them to this day.
9. Are you involved in Yamato activities with other fans?
We go to the movies together and buy plastic models.
10. What do you hope to see in a future Yamato anime?
I hope that even after the remake series is over, it will remain in people’s memories forever.
11. What is your favorite anime after Yamato?
I love the Mobile Suit Gundam series.
12. What would you like to say to Yamato fans around the world?
I’m also a Yamato fan. Let’s work together to make Yamato an anime that will continue to be loved all over the world!
13. What should everyone know about Japan and its people?
Many people in Japan are constantly struggling with a lot of work. If your favorite artist takes a long time to post an illustration, please be patient. Thank you!
Yamatunes for August
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What’s next
The month of September feels like the moment before daybreak, if daybreak is October 6 2024, the exact 50th anniversary of the first TV broadcast. It even falls on the same day of the week (Sunday). This means plenty of announcements should be rolling out of Japan, so keep an eye on the Cosmo DNA Facebook page for daily updates and breaking news, then head back here for the next report when we’ll be in the thick of it.
Meanwhile, you’ll want to click here and let the Vintage Report time machine whisk you back to August 1980 when Be Forever Yamato exploded into theaters and gave everyone an amazing month to remember!
Cosmo DNA writer/editor Tim Eldred here, inviting you to a party that’s just one click away. If you’ve enjoyed this website and my various Star Blazers comics, it’s my duty to tell you that they represent only a fraction of a career that spans more than 40 years. ARTVALT is where I open my archives and roll out all sorts of weird and cool things ranging from unknown to world famous! New updates happen on the first of every month!
And HEADS UP: a brand new sci-fi webcomic titled The Last Blue Eagle is underway! The first two chapters are ready for you RIGHT NOW! Click here to join the fun!