Space Battleship Yamato

Infobox animanga/Header
name =


caption =
ja_kanji = 宇宙戦艦ヤマト
ja_romaji = Uchū Senkan Yamato
genre = Drama, Military, Science FictionInfobox animanga/Anime
director = Leiji Matsumoto
writer = Leiji Matsumoto
studio = Academy Productions
licensor =
network = flagicon|Japan Yomiuri TV
network_en =
network_other =
first = October 6, 1974
last = March 30, 1975
episodes = 26
episode_list =

Nihongo|"Space Battleship Yamato"|宇宙戦艦ヤマト|Uchū Senkan Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series and the name of its eponymous space craft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as "Space Cruiser Yamato" or "Star Blazers"; an English-dubbed and partly edited version of the series was broadcast on American and Australian television under the latter title.

Development

Conceived in 1973 by producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, the project underwent heavy revisions. Originally intended to be an outer-space variation on "Lord of the Flies," the project at first was titled "Asteroid Ship Icarus" and had a multinational teenage crew journeying through space in a hollowed-out asteroid in search of the planet Iscandar. There was to be much discord among the crew; many of them acting purely out of self-interest and for personal gain. The enemy aliens were originally called Rajendora. [ [http://www.starblazers.com/html.php?page_id=136] ]

When Leiji Matsumoto was brought onto the project, many of these concepts were discarded. It is his art direction, ship designs and unique style that accredit him in fans' eyes as the true creator of Space Battleship Yamato, even though Nishizaki retains legal rights to the work. [ [http://www.starblazers.com/html.php?page_id=80] ]

Production run

Space Battleship Yamato

The first season began airing in Japan in October of 1974. Set in the year 2199, an alien race known as the "Gamilas" ("Gamilons" in the English dub) are raining radioactive bombs on Earth, rendering the planet's surface dead and uninhabitable. Humanity lives in refuges built deep underground, but the radioactivity is slowly infiltrating the underground cities too. Earth's space fleet is hopelessly outclassed by the Gamilas and all seems lost until a mysterious space probe is retrieved on Mars. Blueprints for a faster-than-light engine are discovered, and a message from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar in the Large Magellanic Cloud says that she has a device, the Cosmo-Cleaner D (Cosmo DNA), which can cleanse Earth of its radiation damage.

The inhabitants of Earth secretly convert the ruin of the Japanese battleship "Yamato" into a massive spaceship, the Space Battleship "Yamato" of the title. Using Starsha's blueprints, they equip their new ship with a space warp drive and a new, incredibly powerful weapon called the "wave motion gun" that fires out the bow. In the English dub, the ship is still the historical "Yamato" and once referred to as such, but is renamed the "Argo" (after the ship of Jason and the Argonauts) once rebuilt. A tiny but intrepid crew of 114 leaves in the "Yamato" to go to the Large Magellanic Cloud and retrieve the mysterious device, if it exists. Along the way they discover the plans of their blue-skinned adversaries: the planet Gamilas, sister planet to Iscandar, is dying; and its leader, Lord Desslar ("Desslok" in the English dub), is trying to irradiate Earth enough for his people to move there, at the expense of the "barbarians" he considers humanity to be.

The first season contained twenty-six episodes, following the "Yamato"'s year-long voyage out of the Milky Way Galaxy and back again. A continuing story, it features the declining health of the determined captain Okita (Avatar in the English dub), and the transformation of the brash young orphan Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar) into a mature and capable-acting captain, as well as his budding romance with female crewmember Yuki Mori (Nova). The foreign edits tend to play up the individual characters, while the Japanese original is often more focused on the ship itself.

The series was condensed into a ninety-minute theatrical movie by selecting a few key episodes, editing them heavily, and sticking them together; as a result, the first-season movie leaves large gaps and doesn't flow very well. Additional animation was created for the movie (such as the scenes on Iscandar) or recycled from the series' test footage (such as the opening sequence). The movie was edited down further and dubbed into English in 1978; entitled "Space Cruiser Yamato" or simply "Space Cruiser", it was only given a limited theatrical release in Europe & Latin America (where it was called "Patrulha Estelar" [Star Patrol] or "Astronave Intrepido" [Starship Intrepid] ), though it was later released on video in most countries.

Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato

The 90-minute movie version of "Yamato" outperformed another space opera, "", at the Japanese box office, leading to the production of a second movie that would end the story. In "Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato" (also rendered as "Arrivederci Yamato"), the "Yamato" and her crew face the onslaught of the Comet Empire, a civilization from the Andromeda Galaxy who seek to conquer Earth, led by Zwordar the Great (Prince Zordar). The Earth ship is aided by an anti-matter woman, Teresa of Telezart (known as Trelaina in the English dub), while the Comet Empire have restored to life Earth's greatest enemy, the Gamilas' leader Desslar, who is eager for revenge. After a massive battle which destroys both Earth and Comet Empire forces, the "Yamato" crew defeat Zwordar's plans, but at the cost of the ship and their lives.

Space Battleship Yamato II

As the popularity of this franchise became clear (due largely to an enraged fan outcry from those who saw the movie), a second season of the television series was produced, retconning the movie and presenting a different plot against the movie's enemy without killing off the "Yamato" or its primary characters. Expanding the story to 26 episodes, the second season featured additional plots such as a love story between Teresa and "Yamato" crew member Daisuke Shima (Mark Venture) and an onboard antagonism between Kodai and Saito (Knox), leader of a group of space marines. The English dub of this season is considered the best by many of the series' American fans, no doubt due in large part to the wildly imaginative spaceship designs created by Studio Nue.

Footage from "Arrivederci Yamato" was reused in the second season, particularly in the opening titles; the sequence of the "Yamato" launching from water was also reused in two of the subsequent movies.

The television movie "Yamato: The New Voyage" came next, featuring a new enemy, the Black Nebula Empire. In the film, which was later modified into a theatrical movie, Desslar (called Desslok in the English dub version) sees his homeworld destroyed by the grey-skinned aliens, its twin planet Iscandar next in line for invasion. He finds an eventual ally in the "Yamato", on a training mission under acting captain Kodai.

Be Forever Yamato

The theatrical movie "Be Forever Yamato" sees the Black Nebula launch a powerful weapon at Earth, which will annihilate humanity if they resist a full-scale invasion; the "Yamato", under a new captain, travels to the aliens' home galaxy, only to discover what appears to be a future Earth in which the terrible proclamation has come to pass.

Space Battleship Yamato III

Following these movies, a third season of the TV series was produced, broadcast on Japanese television in 1980. In this, the Sun is hit by a stray proton missile from a nearby battle between Galman and Bolar forces. This missile greatly accelerates nuclear fusion in the Sun, and humanity must either evacuate to a new home or locate a means of preventing a supernova. At the same time, the remnants of Desslar's Gamilan Empire seek a new home close to the centre of our Galaxy, where they encounter their forebears in the Galman Empire, and come into conflict with a new alien race, the Bolar Federation. Originally conceived as a 52-episode epic, funding cuts meant the season had to be reduced to 25 episodes, with a corresponding loss of overall story development.

Final Yamato

The saga ended in 1983 with the fifth theatrical movie, "Final Yamato". In this feature, the Gamilan Empire is destroyed by a chance collision of galaxies, while the "Yamato", back under the command of Captain Okita (who was cryogenically frozen after his apparent death in the first season), encounters the planet Deingil too late to save its humanoid civilisation from being flooded by the water planet Aquarius. The surviving Deingili, a warrior race who believe only the strong should survive, plan to use Aquarius to flood Earth and destroy humanity, in order to create a new home for their race. When all seems lost, the Deingili are destroyed by Desslar and the remains of his people (in gratitude for the human crew's having honored the Gamilan dead earlier in the film), and the "Yamato" is filled with tritiated water and detonated like a giant hydrogen bomb by Okita to divert the water stream. A great deal of time is taken at the end of the film showing the fragments of the "Yamato" repeatedly "sinking" beneath the waves in space, Okita going down with his ship. The unedited version also shows Kodai finally marrying his long-time sweetheart Yuki (and subsequently "consummating" their marriage).

Timeline

With the retelling of "Arrivederci Yamato" as the open ended "Yamato II" television series, "Arrivederci Yamato" was redesignated as an alternate timeline. The film "Final Yamato" is set in the year 2203, ignoring the fact that the preceding "Yamato III" series was set in 2205. It is not known for certain if this is due to the lackluster response to "Yamato III", the production staffs widespread dissatisfaction with the truncated series (additionally, Nishizaki and Matsumoto had limited involvement with "Yamato III"), or a mere oversight. However, the opening narration for "Final Yamato" makes mention of the Bolar and Galman conflict, indicating an additional timeline in which the "Yamato III" storyline simply took place earlier rather than eliminating it.

Characters

*The "Space Battleship Yamato" series generally involves themes of brave sacrifice, noble enemies, and respect for heroes lost in the line of duty. This can be seen as early as the second episode of the first series, which recounts the defeat of the original battleship "Yamato" while sailors and pilots from both sides salute her as she sinks (this scene was cut from the English dub, but later included on the "Star Blazers" DVD release). The movies spend much time showing the crew visiting monuments to previous missions and recalling the bravery of their fallen comrades. Desler, the enemy defeated in the first season and left without a home or a people, recognizes that his foes are fighting for the same things he fought for and eventually becomes Earth's most important ally. In this — the Japanese concept of "the honorable enemy" — and many other respects, "Star Blazers" is almost certainly the most "Japanese" anime to survive the editing process and be widely syndicated in the United States.

Sequels

"Yamato 2520"

In the mid 1990s, Nishizaki attempted to create a sequel to "Yamato", set hundreds of years after the original. "Yamato 2520" was to chronicle the adventures of the eighteenth starship to bear the name, and its battle against the Seiren Federation. Much of the continuity established in the original series (including the destruction of Earth's moon) is ignored in this sequel.

In place of Leiji Matsumoto, American artist Syd Mead ("∀ Gundam"), ("Blade Runner", "Tron" and ""') provided the conceptual art.

Due to the bankruptcy of Nishizaki's company Office Academy, and legal disputes with Matsumoto over the ownership of the "Yamato" copyrights, the series was never finished and only four episodes were produced. Most "Yamato" fans were generally underwhelmed by the series' first episodes and were not disappointed by its cancellation.

In March of 2002, a Tokyo court ruled that Nishizaki legally owned the "Yamato" copyrights. The two parties eventually settled, and Nishizaki began work on a new movie titled "Yamato Rebirth" (set after the original series), while Matsumoto planned a new "Yamato" series. However, additional legal conflicts have since stalled both projects.

NEW DEVELOPMENT 2008

FRIDAY AUGUST 1st, 2008 (Japan)Press Release of Yoshinobu Nishizaki

"In 2220 of the Christian Era … A crisis is approaching Earth, it is seen as the expansion of a moving black hole. An operation of immigration as progressed with moving over 300 million people from Earth … The latest transportation fleet is attacked during the immigration effort, yet is counter attacked by Space Battleship Yamato, now commanded by Susumo Kodai (38). Aboard, is daughter Miyuki … Child of Susumo and Yuki."

The animated masterpiece “Space Battleship Yamato”, last seen in theaters 25 years ago. 73-year-old producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki- who worked on that film and the original anime series - declared that he wants his last work to be a new "Yamato" film. He said he hopes to surpass Hayao Miyazaki's latest effort, "Gake no Ue no Ponyo." To achieve that, Nishizaki has founded Yamato Studio, based in Nerima, Tokyo.

Studio Open general superintendent, Toshio Masuda gave toast to the revival project now that the copyright litigation is over, which was originally announced in July 2004. According to Mr. Nishizaki “This time it’s a fresh start, all is clear.”

In 1999, Mr. Nishizaki was arrested for violating sword and gun laws, served time and was released December 19th 2007. Meanwhile, reconciliation between Leiji Matsumoto concerning each others work has gave way to allowing each to pursue their own works.

The movie is currently titled “Fukkatu-hen", which Nishizaki has been planning since the mid 1990s.

Toshio Masuda (81) superintendent of Studio Open, is Chief Director of the Rival Movie. Toshio Masuda (81) has been directing films and TV since 1958, including “Life at the Showa Era” (1968), “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (1970), “Space Battleship Yamato” (1977) and “Arrivederci Yamato” (1978).

Tomonori Kogawa (58) will be Chief animator for the Revival movie. Tomonori Kogawa has animated such works as; “Space Runaway Ideon” (1980), “Aura Battler Dunbine” (1983), “Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross” (1984) and “Heavy Metal L-Gaim” (1984).

Announced for 2009 release. [ [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-01/new-attempt-at-yamato-anime-project-announced] ] [ [http://www.starblazers.com/html.php?page_id=263] ]

English title

For many years, English-language releases of the anime bore the title "Space Cruiser Yamato". This romanization has appeared in Japanese publications because Nishizaki, a sailing enthusiast who owned a cruiser yacht, ordered that this translation be used out of love for his boat. However, it is inaccurate, as 戦艦 "senkan" means "battleship" and not "cruiser" (which in Japanese would be 巡洋艦 "junyōkan"). Today, "Yamato" releases, including the Voyager Entertainment DVD, are marketed either as "Star Blazers" or "Space Battleship Yamato".

Westerners frequently mistakenly refer to the ship as "Yamamoto". "Yamato" is a complex word with several meanings. It is the mythical homeland of the Japanese people, the ancient name for a region of Japan near the city of Kyoto, and an alternate name for the Japanese people as well as the whole nation. "Yamamoto" is the family name of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, architect of Japan's naval war against the Allies during World War II. He was dead by the time Yamato was sunk.

References

External links

* [http://www.dot-anime.com/tb/yamato/index.html Dot Anime] languageicon|ja|Japanese