To All Yamato Fans
Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki
Annotations in blue
Issued with Fan Club magazine No. 21, February 1981
To all Yamato fans who have loved and supported Space Battleship Yamato.
Thanks to your enthusiastic support, Yamato is approaching the tenth anniversary since its inception. During that time, I have literally forgotten to eat or sleep, working on the production of such TV programs as Space Battleship Yamato, Yamato 2 , and Yamato III, the telefeature The New Voyage, and the feature films Space Battleship Yamato, Farewell to Yamato, and Be Forever Yamato.
Exact dates are elusive, but spring 1983 was the approximate time the first series concepts were submitted by writers Keisuke Fujikawa and Aritsune Toyota. That would put the ten year mark right around the March 1983 premiere of Final Yamato.
The story of Yamato, represented by Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori, is the drama of the youth of your generation, and also the drama of my own life in the 1970s.
Needless to say, the story of Yamato is about how, even in any situation that crushes our humanity, humans can continue to dream and be resurrected through love and passion, and it is this drama that has opened up new horizons in science-fiction, set in the infinite universe. They were images where drama and music were perfectly fused together (especially the theatrical films), and they showed a quality that no other anime works could match. I am most proud of having been able to accomplish these works.
However, unfortunately, while I was devoting myself to the production of Yamato, some management issues arose in my company. I’m sure you have read about it in newspapers and magazines. Although this mismanagement were caused by people whom I trusted, it goes without saying that the ultimate responsibility lies with me. So I made every effort to resolve these issues in a way that would satisfy the people involved, and I created a company called “West Cape Corporation” so that I could continue my activities as a producer with peace of mind.
The description above is a heavily veiled reference to a serious case of financial embezzlement by Masatomo Yamazaki, an attorney who gained Nishizaki’s trust and support only to turn on him when he needed cash. Read a firsthand account of this unfortunate incident here.
Everyone.
To be honest, I have never been in such a pinch in my life. However, it is by no means the case that “Nishizaki has gone bad” or “Yamato has fallen” as some people say. Both I and Yamato are alive and well.
Starting March 14th, in response to the loud voices of all the fans, Be Forever Yamato and The New Voyage will be shown in revival screenings at the Gekiyu Theater.
This referred to as a film program called Space Roadshow, a double feature that brought back Be Forever and combined it with The New Voyage for its first time on the big screen. It ran for three weeks and attracted over 1.5 million viewers.
We are steadily moving forward with preparations to release a blockbuster film, which could be called the “final chapter” of Yamato, in the summer of next year (1982), to commemorate the 10th anniversary. We plan to premiere “The Final Chapter” in a magnificent, luxurious theater so that not only current fans, but also those who have graduated from being Yamato fans and joined the adult world, can bring their lovers along and enjoy it together.
This was the first announcement of a plan to make Final Yamato, though it would take longer than anticipated. Rather than the summer of ’82, it would arrive in March ’83 and mark the actual ten-year anniversary.
Everyone, please give these Yamato films even more enthusiastic support. I created Yamato, but it is the power of all the fans that makes Yamato fly.
If that last sentence sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve been reading it on the home page of this website since early 2013. It was placed there in both English and Japanese to remind the home office in Japan (after their attorney contacted me) of the role fans have to play in the success of Yamato. I haven’t heard from their attorney since then, so it’s going to stay there permanently.
The new releases of Be Forever Yamato and The New Voyage are revivals, but some people are trying to belittle Yamato by comparing it to the popularity of the newly released Mobile Suit Gundam. Let’s prove with your enthusiasm that even a revival can be this amazing.
The return of Yamato to theaters wasn’t just a revival, it was a flex. March 14 was the premiere date for the first Gundam movie, compiled from the 1979/80 TV series. When you remember that Nishizaki had a rivalry going with Gundam producer Yoshiyuki Tomino, the message behind this move becomes apparent.