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.
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.
The official Yamato fan club set very high standards throughout its run from 1977 all the way to 1991. So what happened next? A new group stepped in to pick up the slack, and they lasted another ten years. This is their story.
As we look toward the future of the “reboot universe,” we naturally wonder how vintage stories will be adapted. Surprisingly, significant parts of them already have been. Here, Anton Mei Brandt digs deep for fragments of Yamato lore that have found their way to the screen, sometimes barely noticed.
From the Magmix website comes this short profile on Yamato Exec Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, described as a skilled maverick who brought change to the anime industry and carved out his reputation as the self-styled “Dessler of Akasaka” (an upscale business district in Tokyo).
In 2014, a 60th anniversary retrospective was published on Leiji Matsumoto’s manga, which included a unique conversation between three veteran writers. Two of them participated in the creation of the original Yamato series. Their discussion is presented here and offers perspectives available nowhere else.
As a key contributor to the two biggest anime franchises of all time, Yamato and Gundam, “Yas” possesses a unique vantage point and a fascinating career. He was extensively interviewed for two major books that were published in 2020, both of which are excerpted here.
Eiji Otsuka’s book The 2nd Floor Residents and Their Times examines the rise of the otaku generation and Yamato as a pop culture phenomenon. In this chapter, Otsuka lays out the otaku generation’s social context and Yamato’s impact on the fusion of entertainment and politics.
Inextricably linked with the rise of Space Battleship Yamato was the rise of otaku [geek] culture in Japan. Writer Eiji Otsuka was one of those who watched that culture ascend from the inside. He has written more than one book on the subject, and a chapter of one of his books is presented here.
In November 2019, the classic Yamato saga expanded for the first time in ten years when Aquarius Algorithm debuted in the pages of Star Blazers/Yamato Premium Fan Club magazine. Written by Katsuya Takashima, it bridges the gap between Final Yamato and Resurrection.
From the pages of Showa 40 Man magazine: a nostalgic look back at two of Yamato‘s favorite characters. These twin essays from 2017 examine both Dessler and Sanada from the perspective of real-time viewers of the original saga.
Artist Masahiko Okura is among those whose creative passion was ignited by Yamato, which he brought to the saga itself from Final Yamato all the way through 2199. In this interview from Ship’s Log issues 6, he shares personal memories going all the way back to his first viewing.
Countless young artists were inspired by Yamato in their youth, but only a few rose to the ranks of those who would keep it alive as adults. Masahiko Okura is one of them, having contributed from 1983 to the present day, and as you’ll see in this interview, he hasn’t lost an ounce of passion in all that time.
The extraordinarily rare August 1994 issue of the locally-based LB Nakasu Communication magazine carried a Yamato cover story shortly before the saga was revived the first time with Yamato 2520 and the promise of Yamato Resurrection. Here we present two of the articles from that issue.
Just before Yamato reached its 20th anniversary in 1994, LB Nakasu Communication magazine published a rare cover story on its impending comeback. Its main feature article was this capsule history of Yamato‘s impact on Japan.
Focus, a weekly gossip magazine published by Shinchosha, was a celebrity-and-scandal chaser that kept tabs on cultural turmoil. Yoshinobu Nishizaki wasn’t high on their list of targets, but they tagged him on at least two separate occasions. In the interest of complete record-keeping, here are both of their articles.
It is a little-known fact that Yamato 2199 Director Yutaka Izubuchi got his start very early when he participated in both Yamato III and Final Yamato as a fresh-faced newcomer. Here, he discusses his earliest experiences as both a fan and a staff member.
This magazine, aimed at the pocket of Japanese culture that was born in 1965, has featured many a thoughtful essay on Yamato. Here we present two from 2018 that focus on the “lost future” aspect of Series 1 and the life-changing emotional impact of Farewell and Series 2.
Ryusuke Hikawa, the original Yamato superfan, is a prominent voice in SF/anime fandom in Japan. This interview with him was published Showa 40 Man magazine Vol. 41 (Crete Publishing, January 2017) and places Yamato’s rise into a context seldom seen elsewhere.
Kazutaka Miyatake is a man of few words, but his pen speaks volumes. As the primary mecha designer of Series 1 and Farewell to Yamato, his work has dazzled us and set an industry standard for over 40 years. He reveals much in this interview with Showa 40 Man magazine, including the design genesis of the Comet Empire itself.
Before Space Battleship Yamato, there was New Battleship Yamato, conceived by the prolific author Ikki Kajiwara and published as both a novella and a manga in the early 60s. Then it vanished into history…until the summer of 2016 when it was revived to fly again. What kind of Yamato flew first? Find out here. (2 pages)
Journalist Hiroyuki Ota takes a broad perspective, sharing his own views as a fan and discussing how Yamato affected different generations as social philosophies evolved in the wake of World War II. It’s a unique, passionate look at the saga that could only come from the land of its origin.
From the depths of forgotten history comes this exclusive look at a Space Battleship Yamato anime series that never came to be. Through a series of never-before-published development documents, witness the creation of an entirely different story set 20 years after the original saga!
In the early 90s, an attempt to bring Yamato back to anime did not succeed. A dark period of bankruptcy and lawsuits followed, about which very little hard information is available – which makes this 1998 article from Comicbox magazine extremely valuable, giving us a rare look into a unique chapter of Yamato history.
Issue 17 of 1965 Man magazine was published on January 11, 2013 with a cover guaranteed to grab the attention of Yamato fans. Presented here are two articles that examine the impact of Space Battleship Yamato Series 1 on the 1965 Man — and pretty much everyone else who saw it at an impressionable age. [2 pages]
Since its debut, Space Battleship Yamato has come to fill essentially the same niche in Japan as Star Trek in the English-speaking world. legions of anime artists credit Yamato for their career choice, and many of them pay their respects in their own work. Here are some of them for your entertainment.
The name alone catches your eye: an entirely separate side-story to the Yamato saga with Dessler [Desslok] center stage. Unfortunately, it never got past the written word. Fortunately, that written record still exists. Here you can track the rise and fall of the Greatest Yamato Story Never Told.
As a pure concept, there was absolutely nothing wrong with 2520, but it turned out to be a sequel in the worst way. But we can examine it on its own merits and see what it had to offer. Would it have won our hearts if its full story had been told, or was it justifiably put out of its misery? Let’s see if we can find out. [2 pages]
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.
