In 1999, a book was published titled the Space Battleship Yamato Legacy. It covered Series 1, ending with an insightful interview with the one and only singer Mr. Isao Sasaki. In it, the legendary “Voice of Yamato” shared his privileged viewpoint of the experience.
Hideaki Ito and his peers are all dismissive of praise and humble about the roles they played as fans in Yamato history. But the simple fact is that without them doing what they did precisely when they did it, it is doubtful that we could call ourselves anime fans today since anime as we know it would probably not exist. [2 pages]
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.
“Tama” achieved international recognition with his phenomenal concept art, which updated Yamato for modern tastes without losing any of the original magic. To no one’s surprise, his work as a fan earned him the post of mecha designer on Yamato 2199. This interview was conducted in December 2011 and January 2012.
As 2199 first began to unfold in 2012, Mr. Tamamori found himself in high demand for media interviews, and earned the rare distinction of appearing simultaneously in the July 2012 issues of Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby magazines. Read both interviews and see extensive mecha design art here.
Published March 2013, this magazine included a 12-page article on Yamato 2199 that reviews the basics of the story and includes an interview with mecha designer Junichiro Tamamori.
In October 2011, composer Akira Miyagawa was interviewed by Sean Robbins, producer and host of The J-Pop Exchange website. Sean graciously offered us the entire text of that interview for reprint here. So without further ado, we bring you the words of a musician named Miyagawa who is thankfully still among the living.
From the 2199 Chapter 4 program book. Composer Akira Miyagawa talks about growing up in the shadow of his famous father as a fan of Yamato, the beginning of his own musical career, and the requirements of reviving the original score for a new era.
An entire generation of Japanese artists and writers grew up on Yamato, and some daydreamed of one day remaking their favorite story for a new audience. One of those few who actually got to do it was Producer Hisaya Yabusaki, who oversaw the production of all the Yamato games for Sony Playstation.
As the parent company of the Yamato Playstation games, Bandai published this round-table discussion with five key members of the production staff, all of whom were on board for the entire Playstation lineup.
As a charter member of Studio Nue, Kazutaka Miyatake was one of just three artists who designed Yamato herself inside and out. When the time came to adapt the mecha into the Playstation environment, there was no one more qualified than Miyatake to do the job. He discusses his entire body of work here.
Keisuke Masunaga redefined the Leiji Matsumoto style for a new generation through various anime projects in the 1990s. This put him in an ideal position to bring the same magic to the Yamato Playstation games, as he describes in these highlights from a May, 2000 interview.
