Originally published in Yamato Perfect Manual #2, which offered more depth and detail than had been previously published outside Office Academy & West Cape Corporation. The 2nd volume contained extensive staff commentary, including this Matsumoto essay about the making of both Series 1 and Farewell to Yamato.
This interview captures Leiji Matsumoto in buoyant spirits as he finds himself in an upwardly-mobile career swing after a comparatively quiet period in the late 80s and early 90s. He talks enthusiastically about his time on the first Yamato series and expands on his ideas for a new story.
A 25th anniversary Yamato LD series was reelased in 1998. They included a serialized essay by Matsumoto about his Yamato experiences. This contained the first announcement of his intention to create a new story and his ambitious plans for the next 25 years. The entire essay is presented here.
Despite his position at the time of copyright holder for Yamato, Matsumoto was unusually strident in this interview about the nature of his role on the first TV series and makes several claims not seen elsewhere. This interview captures an interesting snapshot-in-time when the situation was still in contention.
Long before the resurrection begain in 2009, Leiji Matsumoto made his own attempt to bring Yamato back to life as part of a grand plan to unify all of his creations. Its title Shin [New] Space Battleship Yamato, but the secondary English name did a better job of setting it apart: Space Battleship Great Yamato.
Unable to complete his ambitious plans for Great Yamato, Leiji Matsumoto immediately transformed it into a bigger project. What made Dai Yamato different is that it didn’t start out as a manga. It would go straight to animation…by way of your local pachinko parlor.
Translated from Matsumoto’s autobiography, The Far Place Where the Ring of Time is Linked. The book culminates with a chapter devoted to Space Battleship Yamato and his second most famous production, Galaxy Express 999. Here is the Yamato portion, which contains the explanation for the book’s unusual title.
Five Yamato fans from all over the world (USA, Australia, and Russia) converge on the home of Leiji Matsumoto in December 2010 and ask him everything you probably always wanted to ask. What were his answers? Find out right here. [3 pages]
In this 1992 interview, Director Noboru Ishiguro shares his thoughts and memories about working on Space Battleship Yamato 2, including some of the new techniques he developed to take the series to a new level. Accompanied by vintage coverage from Roadshow Magazine.
Mr. Kobayashi has also enjoyed a unique Yamato career, having been a major participant in the new projects of the late 80s/early 90s. He then returned to get Resurrection over the finish line and take the lead on the 2012 Director’s Cut. This interview took place the week of its premiere in February 2012.
From Hyper Hobby magazine, October & November, 2012. Series Director Yutaka Izubuchi spoke at length with fellow fan-turned-pro Masato Hayase, an artist/writer at the forefront of another multi-generational franchise, The legendary Cyborg 009. The result is an otaku tag-team of championship quality.
Ryusuke Hikawa wrote this column to examine the subtleties of anime. His topic in the April 1999 issue was a complex one indeed: the interplay of thoughts and images as delineated by a single frame of film. It gave him an opportunity to examine various aspects using the evolution of Yamato as an example.
A conversation with three people who took part in Yamato production: Sound Effects Producer Mitsuru Kashiwabara, Sound & Music Producer Mitsuhiro Koyama, and Assistant Producer Shinji Iwamoto. Translated from the 1996 Sound Fantasia CD liner notes.
From Wave-Motion Guns to tinkling glass, the sound effects creator discusses his experiences making the original Space Battleship Yamato series. (from the Yamato 2199 Chapter 3 movie program book.)
One of the most talented Yamato veterans is the virtuoso manga artist and animation director/designer Yasuhiko Yoshikazu. Here he talks about his Yamato experiences in 1983, shortly after the theatrical releases of Final Yamato and his own feature film, Crusher Joe.
Published June 2012, a conversation between two of Yamato’s greatest luminaries, 2199 director Yutaka Izubuchi and classic saga storyboard artist Yasuhiko Yoshikazu. The discussion dives directly into the deep end of Yamato history and surfaces on the cutting edge of today, with stories only these two could tell.
Nobuteru Yuuki grew up with TV anime, drawing everything he loved, publishing fanzines, and taking part in his school’s “anime/manga study group.” He got into anime at just the right time to land some of the biggest credits anyone could ask for, including the dream job of designing the characters of Yamato 2199.
Elsewhere on this site is one of the rarest Yamato artifacts of all time, the “lost” manga adaptation of Series 1 by Yuki Hijiri. but even rarer was the chance to meet Mr. Hijiri himself. Mangaka is the Japanese term for a creator of Manga. As you will see, Mr. Hijiri is as Mangaka as they come.
For years, his work in Japanese doujinshi earned him the title of premiere Yamato fan artist, and when the time came to choose an artist to adapt Yamato 2199 into manga form, there was no better candidate. Here, Mr. Murakawa speaks at length about this amazing project for the first time anywhere.
Nobuyoshi Habara is one of us. By that, I mean that he is a dedicated fan of Space Battleship Yamato who would be following it avidly if he didn’t happen to be working on it. As a contributor to both Resurrection and 2199, he has the unique distinction of bridging Yamatos old and new.
The members of Studio Nue made their mark not only with mecha design for Yamato, but also such classic fare as Macross, Crusher Joe, Dirty Pair, and plenty more. Here we meet a member of this elite group who blazed a trail for anime design and is still working today: the great Naoyuki Katoh.
The six participants in this 1993 interview discussed their experiences from the early years and their work on the forthcoming Yamato 2520, which at the time was simply referred to as New Yamato. The fact that 2520 would not work out as planned makes this a particularly interesting read.
A once-in-a-lifetime round table discussion between three luminaries: director Leiji Matsumoto, composer Hiroshi Miyagawa, and auteur Hideaki Anno. Translated from the 1998 Railway of Fantasy concert program.
Mr. Tenjin resides in Japan’s elite category of go-to painters for package design and anime production art. Best known for his long association with Macross, he also holds a record for most Yamato mecha painted by one artist. Here you will find talk of robots, model kits, and what it’s like to be Tenjin.
Yamato Mechanical Illustrations, published in 2011, contained this discussion between Tenjin and the editor of Yamato Fact File magazine. Their conversation explores some unique philosophical ground, mapped out by the responsibilities and pitfalls of visualizing SF anime’s most iconic spaceship.
This was the last of Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s essays on Farewell to Yamato, published in the Office Academy hardcover book on the film, published in 1979.
“In the years since 1974, I have put my entire life as a producer into Space Battleship Yamato. These days, I think my whole life was leading up to the creation of this drama.” In this 1980 essay, Yoshinobu Nishizaki explains his thought process behind the making of this turning point in the saga of a lifetime.
Published in July 1980: In this candid and wide-ranging conversation, Nishizaki comments on the social impact of Yamato, nationalistic themes, the rise of overzealous fans, the ideology of Ghandi, and much more.
Producer’s Production Memoir
Executive producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s definitive essay on Be Forever Yamato‘s creation and production, from the Office Academy deluxe book, November 1980.
Chief director Ishiguro co-wrote an account of his life as an animator titled TV Anime Frontline, published in July 1980. This is the Yamato chapter from his book, which includes gossip and stories found nowhere else.
