Commentary: Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199 – A story of resistance, a mirror reflecting society?
Published at Mantan Web on January 2, 2025. See the original article here.
The latest work in the popular Yamato remake series is REBEL 3199. There are 7 chapters in total. The first chapter (Dark Invasion) was released in July last year, the second chapter (Red Sun Sortie) in November of the same year, and the third chapter (Aquamarine Asteroid) will be released on April 11th this year. 3199 is a re-interpretation of the third theatrical anime film Be Forever Yamato, released in 1980. If you watch up to the second chapter, you will see that the story unfolds differently from the original, and there are still many mysteries. 3199 is said to be a “story of resistance,” but…
Is Dezarium a mesenger of goodwill?
The remake series began with Yamato 2199, followed by 2202 and 2205. 3199 does not begin in the year 3199, but in 2207, two years after 2205. Two years have passed since the incident in which the Garmillan home planet and the planet Iscandar were destroyed, and a mysterious giant object, the Grand Reverse, suddenly appears in the solar system.
In the first chapter, the Grand Reverse descends on Earth’s new capital. Dezarium, the enemy that Yamato encountered two years ago, invades Earth. But in the second chapter, the battle in the new capital comes to an end. Dezarium’s Holy President, Skaldart, tells the story of 1,000 years of history, saying, “We are you.” It becomes clear that Dezarium has been searching for “fragments of Iscandar” to change the future of the Earth, which is heading toward destruction.
The title 3199 seems to mean 1,000 years in the future, but the mystery remains. Dezarium is not an enemy, but acts like a benevolent messenger who has appeared to change their unfortunate history. They say plausible things, but the truth is not clear. We are at the mercy of various information sources and don’t know what is the truth. It also seems to depict the problems facing humanity.
More surprises!
3199 is a work that reflects society like a mirror. In an interview, Harutoshi Fukui, the general director, said, “The Japanese have faced the 3/11 earthquake, Covid, the tension of not knowing when we will be involved in war, and the emergence of AI. How do we ensure our humanity? This is a direct reflection of what we have faced in the past few years.”
“We’ve also experienced the fear of peer pressure. We had such unpleasant experiences during the war and should have been more careful, but it has become clear that the essence of human beings has not changed in the past few years. In other words, was it really so easy to control?”
It seems there are even more surprising developments to come. Fukui also said, “Even more surprises await. Once you’ve experienced the jack-in-the-box, it’s no longer a jack-in-the-box, so we’ll open it at the beginning and show it to you. From there, something incredible might happen, and you might wonder if the jack-in-the-box will open even further!”
In the third chapter, partisans, mainly former Yamato fleet crew members, are said to be planning a large-scale rebellion to reveal Dezarium’s true identity to the public, and it will be interesting to see how they “resist.” Future developments will be interesting to watch.