“Miroku” is a Japanese blogger and Yamato fan who works in America as a business consultant. This unique convergence provided the basis to ask what lessons Yamato has for people in the business world. A detailed investigation in this blog series digs into the series and delivers advice just about everyone can use.
With Final Yamato development on hold, attention turned to methods for keeping Yamato in the public eye rather than letting it go dormant. While these plans were being made, a slow but steady patter of new products closed out the year. Here’s what the conclusion of 1981 looked like…
It’s hard to imagine a more comprehensive, more inspired, more lovingly curated presentation than what fans in Tokyo got to see from March 15 to 31. Presented here is a simulated walkthrough of the entire exhibition, made possible by the many fans who shared their photos on social media.
While the creative minds at West Cape Corporation continued building Final Yamato, word of its development worked its way beyond the borders of the official fan club. Be Forever got its first TV broadcast, and new voices were heard from distant Osaka that would later shake and shape the world of anime.
A little over a year after Star Blazers premiered in America, it burst onto TV screens in Italy with a different theme song, a localized dub, and a wave of unique merchandising seen nowhere else. Fortunately, it’s been preserved for posterity.
After the final episode of Yamato III aired in early April, Exec Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki found himself in an uncommon situation. For the first time since early 1978, he had no new anime in production. As echoes of his massive success story continued to ripple outward, conversations began about where the ship would go next.
It may be impossible to construct a complete timeline of Yamato history since previously unknown artifacts can emerge without warning, and sometimes in waves. This happened in early 2025 with a motherlode that was big enough to get its own page. It is presented here in chronological order.
After a banner year like 1980, it could only be expected that Yamato activity would decline, and it certainly did. In this time period, the second half of Yamato III was accompanied by a slew of publishing and two new albums, as the appearance of a new competitor inspired Yoshinobu Nishizaki to take action…
From the pages of Spectator magazine, August 2024: O.G. superfan Ryusuke Hikawa discusses the birth of Yamato fandom in Japan with an unprecedented level of detail, including his visits to the production studio during Series 1 and what he did with the treasures he was given there.
When Symphonic Suite was released to the world in December 1977, it revolutionized the field of anime music. The liner notes presented a conversation between the two men most responsible for making it happen. They are translated here to enhance your appreciation of this amazing body of work.
Starting in 2008, an annual year-in-review was written to look back at the ever-expanding world of Space Battleship Yamato; music, publishing, products, public events, and more. These articles map out the living-legend status of the original saga to confirm that Yamato is alive and well. Year 2024 added January 2025!
As we look back over the entire sweep of 1980, December was the lightest month with the least amount of activity. That wasn’t the case for Yoshinobu Nishizaki, since the cutdown of Yamato III made the future less certain. But the present was still a great place to be if you were a fan. Here’s how this rollercoaster year came to a close…
Published December 2024 on Phile Web: an extensive interview with the sound engineers who revived and remixed the classic 1977 Symphonic Suite album for Yamato‘s 50th anniversary. What did it take to make a revered masterpiece sound even better? Find out here.
After Yamato III‘s first month on the air, Be Forever was still rippling through the publishing world and all seemed well in camp. At least on the surface. Underneath, things were less secure. What was going on, and why was the home office suddenly changing its name?
This was more than just a name change. It involved a frozen food company, a buddhist organization, a shady lawyer, a former prime minister, accounting malpractice, and a near-catastrophic level of personal loyalty. How did those things lead to the founding of West Cape Corporation? Find out here.
Just before the release of REBEL 3199 Chapter 1 in July 2024, Mono magazine No. 942 (published by World Photo Press) became the first to carry a Yamato cover story for the big event. And what a story it was; 44 pages of features covering Yamato both old and new.
You have to push pretty hard to top the premiere of a new TV series, but the publishing community did its best with the last big wave of Be Forever books as Yamato III moved toward center stage. Here’s how it all played out…
The 50th anniversary of Space Battleship Yamato‘s original TV broadcast was overwhelming. Live events, news flashes, social media posts, and more brought fans together from all parts of the globe to observe a day of love and celebration. It was enough to warrant its own report, so let’s dive in!
Space Battleship Yamato has had an influence on real things actually happening in space exploration, and thanks to an ongoing NHK series titled Project X ~ Challengers we learned of a Yamato connection to the real-life Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission operated by JAXA from 2003-2010.
The flow of time made it inevitable; sooner or later, a member of the Yamato generation would eventually rise to the height of political power. That has now happened the appointment of Shigeru Ishiba as Japan’s prime minister. What fan cred does he bring to the table? Let’s find out.
As Be Forever Yamato closed its premiere run in Japanese theaters, spinoff media became more concentrated as the first dedicated books appeared, and magazines became the first source of information for what was coming next: a third TV series! Here’s what September 1980 had to offer fans who couldn’t get enough.
The enormous momentum that built up in July burst wide open on the first two days of August with the hotly-anticipated premiere of Be Forever Yamato. Familiar patterns reappeared as fans emerged to make themselves part of the spectacle and merch poured out to welcome them. Here’s the full rundown of this amazing month.
This was the last round before the premiere of Be Forever Yamato in theaters, and thus became the single busiest month in all of Yamato history until the remake era began. To this day, no anime film has been promoted as heavily, and it’s hard to imagine one reaching these heights ever again. [2 pages]
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 August 2024
As Toei Studio’s animation staff labored through their final month on Be Forever Yamato, the publicity machine ramped up with major media coverage and the first live events of the summer. On the other side of the planet, Star Blazers was winning hearts and creating a groundswell of its own. Here’s a full view of this exciting month.
The runup to summer 1980 was deceptively quiet on the surface, but momentum was building like a freight train underneath as Be Forever moved into the second half of production. It culminated in a press conference that sounded the starting gun on the biggest promo campaign in anime history.
The new decade dawned with the making of a new Yamato adventure that would be just one part of Academy Studio’s busiest year of them all. While the production team got started, a steady flow of media kept fans at bay. But…for how long? Here we examine the state of Yamato world for the first quarter of 1980.
This brings us to the halfway point between The New Voyage and Be Forever. With Space Carrier Blue Noah off and running, the next new Academy TV series was announced, accompanied by another rush of riches that closed out a very eventful year and gave way to an even bigger one.
As summer merged into fall, the world of Yamato was only getting bigger in the wake of The New Voyage, and Office Academy studio was only getting busier. The American premiere of Star Blazers and the Japanese premiere of Blue Noah were just part of the picture. Here’s everything that happened in these productive months.
July 1979 delivered a big one-two punch with both of the feature films returning to theaters and The New Voyage premiering on TV. It was no accident that these things reinforced each other, making this the third straight summer of Yamato fever.
