Vintage Report 16: December 1978

Posted on August 24, 2023 by TimEldred

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As 1978 drew to a close, Yamato fever showed no signs of abating. Farewell would soon be back for revival screenings, Yamato 2 approached its halfway point on TV, and new merch continued to appear, especially on the music side. It all made December a month to remember.

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Discount Yamato
a Rogue’s Gallery of Knockoffs

Posted on August 23, 2023 by TimEldred

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Where there is a great success story, imitators usually spring up looking for a free ride like Star Flies on a Space Battleship. On the upside, it does take a creative (if misguided) mind and a sort of endearing chutzpah to push these things out into broad daylight, and it can be great fun to examine them with a trained eye.

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Redhawk Yamato: More Than Meets the Eye

Posted on August 22, 2023 by TimEldred

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Created by model and toymaker Aoshima, the Redhawk line is worthy of respect for sheer volume if nothing else. As silly or eccentric as they may look, they were wildly inventive to the point where they quickly moved past the source material that inspired them. See the entire almost-but-not-quite Yamato lineup here.

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Vintage Report 15: November 1978

Posted on July 28, 2023 by TimEldred

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Though Farewell to Yamato was no longer in theaters in November 1978, it continued to dominate the discourse, both in media and merchandising. But it was no longer the entire story, as demonstrated by the increasingly divergent episodes of Yamato 2 on TV. Here’s everything the month had to offer…

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Office Academy brochure, May 1979

Posted on July 27, 2023 by TimEldred

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A unique time capsule of anime history, and a portrait of Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s company at its most ambitious phase. Later history painted a slightly different picture, but here you can read and enjoy what can only be described as a gloriously optimistic document.

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Nishizaki vs. Matsumoto, 2002

Posted on July 24, 2023 by TimEldred

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The story of the legal battle over Yamato‘s authorship is a sketchy one with many details still unknown more than 20 years later. But fleeting glimpses of it can still be found in the sparse media record of the time. This magazine article offers one such glimpse, shared here with the kind permission of its writer.

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1980 Lookback, mecha designs

Posted on June 29, 2023 by TimEldred

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From the Star Blazers/Yamato Premium Fan Club magazine, Vol. 15 (October 2022): mecha designers Arashi Ishizau and Mika Akitaka look back at the progressive year 1980 and share their impressions as fans while also commenting on the evolution of mecha design in the remake era.

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Vintage Report 14: October 1978

Posted on June 24, 2023 by TimEldred

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Vintage Report 14: October 1978

Imagine that it’s July 1977, two months after Star Wars exploded into the world. Now, without buying a movie ticket, you’ll get to watch an expanded version play out over 26 episodes on TV. That mind-blowing scenario was pretty much what fans were getting when Yamato 2 took to the airwaves. And you bet it sparked a lot of activity…

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Leiji Matsumoto’s Galactic Funeral, June 3, 2023

Posted on June 4, 2023 by TimEldred

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After Leiji Matsumoto’s passing in February 2023, his wife and daughter addressed his countless bereaved fans in Japan and around the world, announcing that in due time a public event would be held to give everyone an opportunity to grieve together. On June 3, they did so in grand style.

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Yamato 3199 writer interview, April 2023

Posted on June 1, 2023 by TimEldred

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From the Star Blazers/Yamato Premium Fan Club magazine, Vol. 16 (April 2023): Writer Harutoshi Fukui and Scriptwriter Hideki Oka break the long silence to update fans on the status of Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199 and hint at the intrigue to come.

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1980 Lookback with Writer Hideki Oka

Posted on May 30, 2023 by TimEldred

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From the Star Blazers/Yamato Premium Fan Club magazine, Vol. 15 (October 2022): 2202 and 2205 scriptwriter Hideki Oka looks back at the progressive year 1980 and recounts his impressions as a fan in the “target generation” who closely watched Yamato in real time.

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Vintage Report 13: September 1978

Posted on May 28, 2023 by TimEldred

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The month following the incredible box office success of Farewell to Yamato was both a victory lap and the beginning of a marathon. As new media coverage and publishing rolled out to feed a grateful public, production began on Yamato 2 and a major step was taken on the road to Star Blazers.

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Vintage Report 12: August 1978

Posted on May 5, 2023 by TimEldred

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This was the month when all the suspense finally broke. Farewell to Yamato destroyed all previous box office records for anime films (including that of Yamato itself) with a fresh, uncompromised, top-notch production. It was a moment no one could have foreseen four years earlier.

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Yamato music talk, 2023

Posted on April 14, 2023 by TimEldred

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This collection of music-based conversations includes a look back at Yamato music history with Akira Miyagawa from Showa 40 Man magazine (February 2023), and the feelings of talented musicians who performed with him in twin concerts, interviewed in Sarasate magazine (May 2023).

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Book translation: Space Battleship Yamato and 70s Japan

Posted on April 10, 2023 by TimEldred

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Throughout its long history, Yamato has been the subject of repeated analysis with one textbook after another examining the phenomenon. They are all tempting targets for translation, but this one stands out for the depth of its exploration.

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Vintage Report 11: July 1978

Posted on April 1, 2023 by TimEldred

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The final month before the Farewell to Yamato premiere was a steady climb of excitement and anticipation as film production plowed through its final stages and publicity ratcheted up to maximum. Here’s what a full-blown case of Yamato Fever looked like…

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Vintage Report 10: 1978, Part 2

Posted on March 11, 2023 by TimEldred

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As 1978 approached its midpoint, Yamato fever was heating up. The publicity campaign was just starting to ramp up, but production was running at full speed as the premiere date loomed ever closer. Here’s everything that brought us to the end of June, a period that included major announcements and the birth of anime journalism.

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Dream-Science Laboratory essay index

Posted on March 11, 2023 by TimEldred

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Writer/Researcher Rikao Yanagita has been publishing books and delivering lectures for decades, bringing a scientific perspective to what we see in anime and manga. Presented here are various essays that shine a scientific spotlight on what we see in Space Battleship Yamato.

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Japan Remembers

Posted on February 22, 2023 by TimEldred

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Few people give us gifts we can carry for the rest of our lives, even fewer from across oceans on the other side of a language barrier. Leiji Matsumoto was indisputably one of them. Collected here are memories and news stories that exploded across Japanese media (and elsewhere) upon the news of his loss.

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Vintage Report 9: 1978, Part 1

Posted on January 3, 2023 by TimEldred

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The new year brought new products, the birth of the official fan club, continued media attention, and a trickle of news about Yamato Part 2 that only vaguely hinted at the rush of preproduction activity behind the scenes. Here is an extensive record for the busy first quarter of 1978.

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Vintage Report 8: November/December 1977

Posted on December 8, 2022 by TimEldred

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If we were to name this specific stretch of Yamato history, the appropriate word would probably be “Afterglow.” The feature film was still burning up the box office after three months, media coverage was still very active, and important new things arrived to firmly plant Yamato‘s flag into the soil of the future.

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Star Blazers Lambda Hub

Posted on December 7, 2022 by TimEldred

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In February 2020 a new story was announced with the working title of Space Battleship Yamato Next: Star Blazers Lambda. It launched as a manga series and ran for just over two years. Here, we round up everything attached to the project including the entire story, author interviews, design documents, and more.

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Vintage Report 7: Fall 1977

Posted on November 12, 2022 by TimEldred

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The explosion of diverse media coverage continued well after the August premiere of the Yamato movie as the boom expanded and brought anime into Japan’s mainstream entertainment culture. Soon, seemingly everyone had something to say about it.

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Vintage Report 6: September 1977

Posted on October 12, 2022 by TimEldred

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As summer gave way to fall, Yamato‘s fortunes just kept on climbing in an unprecedented increase in demand. Media attention widened and deepened as it became increasingly obvious that Yamato had evolved from fad to phenom and was here to stay.

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Vintage Yamato doujinshi archive

Posted on October 9, 2022 by TimEldred

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Doujinshi publishing in the early years laid the groundwork for Yamato‘s explosive comeback in 1977, which in turn laid the groundwork for an entire industry. It all began with the ‘zines in this archive, which can be seen from cover to cover.
New entries added October 2022

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Vintage Report 5: August 1977

Posted on September 1, 2022 by TimEldred

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The whole world changed for the better in August 1977, and that is not an exaggeration. With the August 8 premiere of Space Battleship Yamato, the entire anime industry in Japan experienced a seismic shift that still gives us aftershocks today. In this report we’ll go through that pivotal month one step at a time and see how the future began.

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Vintage Report 4: 1977, Part 1

Posted on August 3, 2022 by TimEldred

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It is no exaggeration to state that the period covered in this report was the most pivotal time in all of Yamato history. The movie that would change everything was already in production as the year began and there was low-level buzz about it, but getting that movie in front of the public was the key to everything that followed.

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Goddesses of Yamato

Posted on August 1, 2022 by TimEldred

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From issue 14 of the Star Blazers/Yamato Fan Club magazine (April 2022): very rare interviews with Sasha’s voice actor Keiko Han and singer Mitsuko Horie. Both cite their Yamato experience as a career-changer, and both recount remarkably similar moments from the recording booth.

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Vintage Report 3: 1976

Posted on July 7, 2022 by TimEldred

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1976 was a slow year for Yamato. As “super robots” took over the anime landscape, Yamato fans probably despaired that their show was over forever. In fact, the most important action was happening under the surface, destined to change everything. But for now, let’s see what got Yamato fans through this year of dim prospects.

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English-language Magazine Coverage

Posted on July 3, 2022 by TimEldred

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Though entire forests probably had to be clearcut for the enormous amount of Yamato publishing in Japan, the amount of ink spent on Star Blazers is comparatively miniscule – which only makes these few examples that much more important. See them all here.
New entries added July 2022

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