Anime you want to watch during Golden Week
Space Battleship Yamato aired in 1974! It all started here
Published April 29 by Reminder. See the original article here
A meticulously crafted worldview that is different from conventional anime
The TV anime Space Battleship Yamato began airing in 1974. This was the year that Getter Robo, Great Mazinger, and Hurricane Polymar were aired as anime for boys. What set Yamato apart from these was its intricate setting, which could be called a step above the rest.
The Wave Engine was provided by Iscandar to save the Earth. It made interstellar travel faster than the speed of light possible through warp navigation. The specific number of 148,000 light years, the distance to Iscandar, felt real, and the countdown, “XX days left until the destruction of the Earth” that was displayed in the subtitles every time was also full of tension.
Another difference from previous works is that it was an ensemble drama, rather than having one main character. Susumu Kodai is just one of the characters, and does not have any special abilities to defeat the enemy. Also, the Wave-Motion Gun, which is a kind of special move, is unique. Its power is so great that when it was first shown in Episode 5, it was only meant to hit an enemy base on the floating continent on Jupiter, but it destroyed the continent itself. It is not used every week like the special beams that heroes unleash, but as a last resort when it is unavoidable.
The underlying theme written in the proposal was “love”
The proposal written by the staff, led by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, who launched the program as planner, original author, and producer, contains the following sentence:
“This is a science-fiction action adventure that tells the story of a boy and girl who stand up resolutely in the year 20XX when all of humanity on Earth is on the brink of extinction. And what I want to portray through their actions is this one word: ‘love’.”
Just as he said, in the 24th episode near the end, Kodai, utters these words after the defeat of Gamilas:
“The desire of both Earthlings and Gamilans to live happily was the same. But we ended up fighting. We shouldn’t have fought. We should have loved each other. Victory…useless!”
Isn’t this the underlying theme of the Yamato series, that we should have loved not only the people of Earth, but also those who became our enemies? The keyword “love” continued to be depicted in subsequent works.
The story caught fire after a rerun, and was made into a movie after a petition campaign
Perhaps because it was a story that did not fit into the framework of a children’s program, for better or worse, the first broadcast struggled. It is a well-known story that the show was canceled after 26 episodes, out of a planned 39. The rival program was Girl of the Alps Heidi, which was very popular at the time.
However, its popularity gradually increased in reruns. It started with high school and college students who, according to conventional wisdom, would have long since graduated from “TV Manga.” TV stations received many postcards saying, “We want it to be shown again,” so it was quickly rerun.
This sparked a nationwide movement of passionate fans creating fan art, novels, and other derivative works related to Yamato. This movement evolved into a petition campaign for a Yamato movie, which eventually led to its production. On the first day of its release, over 20,000 people, including those who had stayed up all night, lined up to watch it. The movie went on to attract a cumulative audience of 4 million people and grossed 4.3 billion yen, becoming a huge hit. At the time, there were over 800 Yamato fan clubs nationwide, with a total membership of over 150,000. It is widely believed that Space Battleship Yamato was the catalyst for the term “anime” to replace “TV Manga.”
Among the many masterpieces that adorn the work, the opening song is one of the best
The opening title is also fitting to announce the start of a grand story. Yamato, which sleeps in a rockbed disguised as a sunken ship, breaks through a mass of earth and rises to the surface. Leaving the rusty Earth behind, it sets off into space. The texture of the giant battleship is beautifully expressed by hand. The song is a luxurious lineup of lyrics by Yu Aku and music & arrangement by Hiroshi Miyagawa. It is a masterpiece in which Isao Sasaki’s voice is layered with a brave male chorus and a clear female voice.
Incidentally, the lyrics, music, and singing of the ending song The Scarlet Scarf are similar to those of the opening song, and it was played at Hiroshi Miyagawa’s funeral according to his will.
A fantastic story of a battleship traveling through space. The beauty of the space battleship’s design and the appeal of its characters, created by Leiji Matsumoto. And the beautiful music, including the thrilling theme song. These three strong pillars made Space Battleship Yamato a one-of-a-kind work.
The production team at the time included such renowned names as Yoshiyuki Tomino and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and the influence it had on the anime world that followed is immeasurable, with Hideaki Anno openly stating that he was influenced by Yamato. Although the work was broadcast more than 50 years ago, its appeal has not faded and it remains burned into people’s hearts. Remakes of the first work and all subsequent stories are still being made today.
