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| Space Battleship Yamato | |
 Cover ofLeiji Matsumoto's manga adaptation | |
| 宇宙戦艦ヤマト (Uchū Senkan Yamato) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Military sci-fi,[1]space opera[2] |
| Created by | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Leiji Matsumoto |
| Published by | Akita Shoten |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Bōken Ō |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | October 1, 1974 –November 1, 1979 |
| Volumes | 3 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Leiji Matsumoto |
| Produced by | Yoshinobu Nishizaki |
| Written by |
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| Music by | Hiroshi Miyagawa |
| Studio | Academy Productions[c] |
| Original network | NNS (YTV) |
| Original run | October 6, 1974 – March 30, 1975 |
| Episodes | 26(List of episodes) |
| Sequels | |
TV series:
Animated films:
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| Spin-offs | |
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| Remakes | |
| |
 Anime and manga portal | |
Space Battleship Yamato (Japanese:宇宙戦艦ヤマト,Hepburn:Uchū Senkan Yamato, also calledCosmoship Yamato andStar Blazers) is a Japanesescience fictionanime series written byYoshinobu Nishizaki, directed bymanga artistLeiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions.[d] The series aired inYomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, totaling up to 26 episodes. It revolves around the characterSusumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar in the English version) and an international crew from Earth, tasked during an interstellar war to go into space aboard the space warshipYamato,derived from the World War II battleship of the same name, in response to a message of aid from the planet Iscandar in order to retrieve a device which is able to reverse the radiation infecting Earth after being bombed by the Gamilas (Gamilons).
Space Battleship Yamato is one of the most influential anime series in Japan. Its turn toward serious themes and complex storylines influenced later works in the medium, includingGundam,Macross, andEvangelion, in addition to influencing the style of video games such asSpace Invaders.
The first ideas for what would eventually beSpace Battleship Yamato began in 1973 by producerYoshinobu Nishizaki, but the project underwent a number of revisions and overhauls before settling on the final design. The team responsible for the creation ofSpace Battleship Yamato consisted ofYoshinobu Nishizaki, Keisuke Fujikawa,Eiichi Yamamoto and Aritsune Toyota. It was initially planned to be atokusatsu, and Nishizaki was inspired to create something set in space after readingMethuselah's Children. Aritsune Toyota offered his 1970 novelDesecrated Earth (地球の汚名,Chikyū no omei) as a further source of inspiration for Nishizaki.
In 1973, works such asThe Poseidon Adventure andJapan Sinks were enjoying considerable success.Eiichi Yamamoto believed this was because of the way in which they depicted people being able to survive in extreme circumstances, and this influenced the creation ofYamato. Additionally, he believed that, overall,industrialisation caused people to become more miserable, andYamato was designed to show a triumph of humanity and love.[3]
Originally intended to be an outer-space variation onLord of the Flies, the project at first was titled "Asteroid ShipIcarus" and had a crew from all over the world journeying through space in a hollowed-out asteroid in search of the planet Iscandar. There was to be much discord among the crew with many of them acting purely out of self-interest and for personal gain. The enemy aliens were originally called Rajendora.[4][5] The Rajendorians wererobots whose exact form was unknown, and it was to be revealed towards the end of the story that the Rajendorians, along with the rest of the life on their home planet, had died over a hundred years ago.[6]
The first rough draft ofYamato came towards the end of summer 1973, where the Yamato (named as such by Nishizaki) was a regular spaceship, that used a large rock as a shell, and the story was notably darker. Heavier emphasis was placed on the character's flaws, who were overall more misanthropic, and only one of them would survive until the end of the series.
The production ofYamato in its conceptual stage was overseen byEiichi Yamamoto, until 1974, when he had to leave to work on a documentary film. As a replacement,Toshio Masuda, who had worked onTora! Tora! Tora!, was considered, but had to decline as he had other projects of his own to focus on, though he would become involved in the production ofthe 1977 film. The role was given toLeiji Matsumoto, who had at an earlier stage declined an offer, due to his desire to have complete creative control.[7] Matsumoto overhauled the story, designing the titular ship after theIJNYamato, its crew, and the Wave Motion Gun, which came fromSexaroid, an erotic comedy manga written by Matsumoto in 1968.[8]
In the earliest stages of production,Space Battleship Yamato was planned to be 52 episodes in length, before reducing this to 39, and ultimately, 26. The bulk of the cut content centered around Gamilas, who had more characters, and more complex motivations and goals. Additionally, in this earlier stage, theYamato's battles were more closely tied to events inWorld War II – for example, the battle nearNeptune in the first episode representedGermany circumventing theMaginot Line.[9]
The first draft forSpace Battleship Yamato was completed on May 21, 1974. In August, a ten minutepilot episode was created, with at least nine copies being sent to the relevant organisations,[10] and, after the pilot's success, pre-production ofthe anime began, with the first episode airing in October that year. The original series contained 26 episodes, following theYamato's voyage out of the Milky Way and back again. A continuing story, it featured the declining health ofYamato's Captain Okita (Avatar in theStar Blazers dub), and the transformation of the brash young orphan Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar) into a mature officer, as well as his budding romance with female crewmember Yuki Mori (Nova Forrester). The foreign edits tend to play up the individual characters, while the Japanese original is often more focused on the ship itself.[11] In a speech at the 1995 Anime Expo, series episode directorNoboru Ishiguro said low ratings and high production expenses forced producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki to trim down the episode count from the original 39 episodes to only 26. The cut episodes would have introducedCaptain Harlock as a new series character.[12]
In the year 2199, an alien race known as Gamilas (Gamilons in the EnglishStar Blazers dub) unleash radioactivemeteorite bombs on Earth, rendering the planet's surface uninhabitable.[13] Humanity has retreated into deep underground cities, but the radioactivity is slowly affecting them as well, with humanity's extinction estimated in one year. Earth has a space fleet, but they do not yet have interstellar capability, and they are hopelessly outclassed by Gamilas. All seems lost until a message capsule from a mysterious crashed spaceship is retrieved on Mars. The capsule yields blueprints for afaster-than-light engine and an offering of help from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar in theLarge Magellanic Cloud. She says that her planet has a device, the Cosmo-Cleaner D (Cosmo DNA), which can cleanse Earth of its radiation damage.[14]
The inhabitants of Earth secretly build a massive spaceship inside the ruins of the gigantic Japanese battleship Yamato which lies exposed at the former bottom of the ocean location where she wassunk inWorld War II. This becomes the "Space Battleship Yamato" for which the story is titled. In the EnglishStar Blazers dub, the ship is noted as being the historicalYamato, but is then renamed theArgo (after the ship ofJason and theArgonauts).
Using Starsha's blueprints, they equip the new ship with a space warp drive, called the "wave motion engine", and in an apparently unexpected move, weaponize the technology to create a new, incredibly powerful weapon at the bow called the "Wave Motion Gun". The Wave Motion Engine (波動エンジン,hadō enjin) is capable of convertingtachyon particles which travel faster than light and enables theYamato to "ride" the wave of tachyons and travel faster than light. The Wave Motion Gun (波動砲,hadō hō), also called the Dimensional Wave Motion Explosive Compression Emitter, is the "trump card" of theYamato that functions by connecting the Wave Motion Engine to the enormous firing gate at the ship's bow, enabling the tachyon energy power of the engine to be fired in a stream directly forwards. Enormously powerful, it can vaporize a fleet of enemy ships—or a small continent (as seen in thefirst season, fifth episode)—with one shot; however, it takes a brief but critical period to charge before firing.
A crew of 114 departs for Iscandar in theYamato to retrieve the radiation-removing device and return to Earth within the one-year deadline. Along the way, they discover the motives of their blue-skinned adversaries: the planet Gamilas, sister planet to Iscandar, is dying; and its leader, Lord Dessler (Desslok in theStar Blazers dub), is trying to irradiate Earth enough for his people to move there, at the expense of the "barbarians" he considers humanity to be.[11]
The series was condensed into a 130-minute-long movie by combining elements from a few key episodes of the first season. 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, which was released in Japan on August 6, 1977, was edited down further and dubbed into English in 1978; entitledSpace Cruiser Yamato or simplySpace Cruiser, it was only given a limited theatrical release in Europe and Latin America, where it was calledPatrulha Estelar (Star Patrol, in Brazilian Portuguese) orAstronave Intrepido (Starship Intrepid, in Spanish), though it was later released on video in most countries.
The success of theYamato movie in Japan led to the production of a second movie that would end the story. Also going by the nameArrivederci Yamato,Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, set in the year 2201, shows theYamato crew going up against the White Comet Empire, a mobile city fortress called Gatlantis, from theAndromeda Galaxy. A titanic space battle results in the crew going out on a suicide mission to save humanity. The film has been considered as a non-canonical, alternate timeline.
Viewer dissatisfaction with the ending ofArrivederci Yamato[citation needed] prompted the production of a secondYamato television season whichretconned the film and presented a slightly different plot against Zōdah (Prince Zordar in theStar Blazers dub) and his Comet Empire, and ended without killing off theYamato or its primary characters. LikeArrivederci, the story is set in the year 2201, and expands the film story to 26 episodes. This second season featured additional plots such as a love story between Teresa (Trelaina) andYamato crew member Daisuke Shima (Mark Venture), and an onboard antagonism between Kodai and Saito (Knox), leader of a group ofspace marines.[citation needed]
Footage fromArrivederci Yamato was reused in the second season, particularly in the opening titles. The sequence of theYamato launching from water was also reused in two of the subsequent movies.
The television movieYamato: The New Voyage (akaBon Voyage Yamato), came next, featuring a new enemy, the Black Nebula Empire. The story opens in late 2201. In the film, later modified into a theatrical movie, Dessler sees his homeworld, Gamilas, destroyed by the grey-skinned aliens, and its twin planet Iscandar next in line for invasion. He finds an eventual ally in theYamato, then on a training mission under deputy captain Kodai.
The theatrical movieBe Forever Yamato, set in the year 2202, sees the Black Nebula Empire launch a powerful weapon at Earth, a hyperon bomb which will annihilate humanity if they resist a full-scale invasion. TheYamato, under new captain, Yamanami, travels to the aliens' home galaxy only to discover what appears to be a future Earth—defeated and ruled by the enemy. Appearing in this film is Sasha, the daughter of Queen Starsha of Iscandar and Mamoru Kodai (Susumu's older brother).
Following these movies, a third season of the television series was produced, broadcast on Japanese television in 1980. Its date was not mentioned in the broadcast, but design documents, as well asanime industry publications, cited the year 2205 as the time it takes place. In the story, theSun is hit by a stray proton missile from a nearby battle between forces of the Galman Empire and Bolar Federation. This missile greatly acceleratesnuclear fusion in the Sun, and humanity must either evacuate to a new home or find a means of preventing asupernova. During the course of the story, it is learned that the people of the Galman Empire are actually the forebears of Dessler and the Gamilas race. Dessler and the remnants of his space fleet have found and liberated Galman from the Bolar Federation. Originally conceived as a 52-episode story, funding cuts meant the season had to be truncated to 25 episodes, with a corresponding loss of overall story development. This third season was adapted into English several years after the originalStar Blazers run and, to the dissatisfaction of fans, used different voice actors than the earlier seasons.
Premiering in Japanese theaters on March 19, 1983,Final Yamato reunites the crew one more time to combat the threat of the Denguilu, a militaristic alien civilization that intends to use the water planet, Aquarius, to flood Earth and resettle there, having lost their home planet to a galactic collision. Captain Okita, who was found to be in cryogenic sleep since the first season, returns to command theYamato and sacrifices himself to stop the Denguili's plan. Kodai and Yuki also get married.
The story is set in the year 2203, contradicting earlier assumptions that its predecessor,Yamato III, took place in 2205.
AlthoughNew Space Battleship Yamato was abandoned, Nishizaki promptly began work on a new movie titledYamato: Resurrection (宇宙戦艦ヤマト 復活篇,Uchū Senkan Yamato: Fukkatsu hen), set after the original series, while Matsumoto planned a newYamato series. However, additional legal conflicts stalled both projects until August 2008, when Nishizaki announced plans for the release of his film on December 12, 2009.[15][16]
Set 17 years after the events ofFinal Yamato,Resurrection brings together some members of theYamato crew, who lead Earth's inhabitants to resettle in a far-flung star system after a black hole which will destroy theSolar System in three months is discovered.
In the mid-1990s, Nishizaki attempted to create a sequel toYamato, 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 artistSyd Mead, known for works such as∀ Gundam, andBlade Runner, provided the conceptual art.
Due to the bankruptcy of Nishizaki's company West Cape Corp (former Academy Productions), and legal disputes with Matsumoto over the ownership of theYamato copyrights, the series was never finished and only three episodes (out of ten) were produced and released onhome video.
| Great Yamato No. Zero | |
 Great Yamato No. Zero poster | |
| 大ヤマト零号 (Dai Yamato Zero-go) | |
|---|---|
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Tomoharu Katsumata |
| Produced by | Masamitsu Haga Takahiro Kanamori |
| Written by | Yasushi Arai |
| Music by | Hiroshi Miyagawa |
| Studio | JCF Studios |
| Released | March 31, 2004 – June 15, 2007 |
| Runtime | 35–45 minutes (each) |
| Episodes | 5 |
Great Yamato No. Zero (大ヤマト零号,Dai Yamato Zero-go) is the secondoriginal animated video based onSpace Battleship Yamato.[17] It was released in five episodes from 2004 to 2007. Its first episode was temporarily available for streaming online in 2007.[18] Unable to continue his plans for theGreat Yamato project after a copyright shift in March 2002, Leiji Matsumoto radically redesigned the ship and staffed it with a completely new crew starting with modified versions of hisGreat Yamato characters.[19]
The story begins in 3199, when a mighty enemy attacks theMilky Way from a neighbouring galaxy, and defeats the Milky Way Alliance, reducing them to just six fleets. After the Alliance headquarters is destroyed, and when the collapse of the central Milky Way Alliance is imminent, theGreat Yamato "Zero" embarks on a mission to assist the Milky Way Alliance in one last great battle.
In March 2002, a Tokyo court ruled that Yoshinobu Nishizaki legally owned theYamato copyrights. Nishizaki and Matsumoto eventually settled,[20] and Nishizaki pushed ahead with developing a new Yamato television series. Project proposals for a 26-episode television series were drawn up in early 2004, but no further work was done with Tohoku Shinsha not backing the project. American series expert Tim Eldred was able to secure a complete package of art, mecha designs, and story outline at an auction over Japanese store Mandarake in April 2014.[21]
Set 20 years afterFinal Yamato, the series would have shown Susumu Kodai leading a salvage operation for the remains of theYamato. The ship is rebuilt as the Earth Defense Force builds a second Space Battleship Yamato to combat the Balbard Empire, an alien race that has erected a massive honeycombed cage called Ru Sak Gar over Earth, in a bid to stop the human race's spacefaring efforts. A feature film to be released after the series ended would have featured the original space battleship fighting the Balbards' attempt to launch a black hole at Earth. Kodai, Yuki, and Sanada are the only original series characters who would have returned in the series.
Released on December 1, 2010,Space Battleship Yamato is the franchise's first live-action film. Directed byTakashi Yamazaki, the movie starsTakuya Kimura as Susumu Kodai andMeisa Kuroki as Yuki. It was revealed originally that the plot would be based on that of the 1974 series.[22][23] However, an official trailer released during June 2010 on Japanese television has also shown elements from the series'second season (1978). The film had a budget of over ¥2 billion,[20] and was the fourth highest grossing Japanese live-action film of the year,[24] and the 31st highest grossing Japanese filmof all time at the time of release.
Debuting in Japanese cinemas on April 7, 2012,2199 is a remake of the 1974 series.Yutaka Izubuchi serves as supervising director, with character designs byNobuteru Yuki, and Junichiro Tamamori and Makoto Kobayashi in charge of mecha and conceptual designs. The series is a joint project ofXebec andAIC.Hideaki Anno designed the new series' opening sequence.[25]
The sequel to the first remakeheptalogy, and debuting in Japanese cinemas on February 25, 2017,2202 is a remake of the second series, with Nobuyoshi Habara as director and Harutoshi Fukui as writer. Most of the staff and original cast from the first remake were brought back to the project. It is also the final animated project by then-defunctXebec, returning to animate the series.
The sequel to the second remake heptalogy,[26] it debuted in Japanese cinemas on October 8, 2021.[27]2205 is a remake of the filmSpace Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage. Kenji Yasuda directed the film while Harutoshi Fukui returned as writer. It is the firstYamato work animated bySatelight.[28]
A sequel in the remake series,3199 was announced in January 2022 and is a remake of bothBe Forever Yamato andSpace Battleship Yamato III.[29][30] It will premiere as seven films, beginning on July 19, 2024.[31] Naomichi Yamato is directing with Fukui returning as writer. The series is animated byStudio Mother with Satelight assisting.[32]
With the retelling ofArrivederci Yamato as the open-endedYamato II television series (ending in late 2201),Arrivederci was redesignated as a discardable, alternate timeline. The follow-on film,Yamato: The New Voyage, took place in late 2201; and its successor,Be Forever Yamato, in early 2202.Yamato III was commonly believed to be set in 2205 (several printed publications used this date, although it was never stated in the show's broadcast). But the following film,Final Yamato, was set in 2203. The opening narration ofFinal mentioned the Bolar/Galman conflict, implying that the date forYamato III was to be regarded as some time between 2202 and 2203 (making for an unrealistic and compressed timeline).
It is not known if this change was due to the lackluster response toYamato III, the production staff's dissatisfaction with the truncated series (additionally, Nishizaki and Matsumoto had limited involvement with it), or a mere oversight.
In 2220, the ship is rebuilt following the events ofFinal Yamato. The new captain of the ship is Susumu Kodai, who was the main character in the previous movies. It is stated inSpace Battleship Yamato: Resurrection that it is set 17 years afterFinal Yamato.
| Series / Film | Staff | Studio | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direction | Production | Story | Screenplay | ||
| Space Battleship Yamato (1974 series) | Leiji Matsumoto | Yoshinobu Nishizaki | Keisuke Fujikawa, Eiichi Yamamoto & Maru Tamura | Academy Productions | |
| Space Battleship Yamato (1977 film) | Toshio Masuda | Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto | |||
| Arrivederci Yamato | Tooru Yoshida | Leiji Matsumoto | |||
| Space Battleship Yamato II | Noboru Ishiguro | Osamu Hirooka | Keisuke Fujikawa, Eiichi Yamamoto & Hideaki Yamamoto | ||
| Yamato: The New Voyage | Yoshinobu Nishizaki | Tooru Yoshida | Hideaki Yamamoto | ||
| Be Forever Yamato | Tomoharu Katsumata | ||||
| Space Battleship Yamato III | Eiichi Yamamoto | Osamu Yamane & Motoo Fukuo | Eiichi Yamamoto | Keisuke Fujikawa & Hideaki Yamamoto | |
| Final Yamato | Takeshi Shirato | Masahisa Saeki | Kazuo Kasahara | ||
| Yamato 2520 | Yoshinobu Nishizaki | Eiichi Yamamoto & Yasushi Hirano | Studio Take-Off | ||
| Great Yamato No. Zero | Tomoharu Katsumata | Masamitsu Haga & Takahiro Kanamori | Leiji Matsumoto | Yasushi Arai | JCF Studios |
| Yamato Resurrection | Yoshinobu Nishizaki | Toshio Masuda & Takeshi Shirato | Yoshinobu Nishizaki | Bull Ishihara & Atsuhiro Tomioka | Enagio |
| Yamato 2199 | Akihiro Enomoto | Atsushi Ariyoshii Hideaki Matsumoto Fumi Teranishi & Mikio Gunji | Yutaka Izubuchi | Yutaka Izubuchi, Hiroshi Ōnogi, Sadayuki Murai & Shigeru Morita | Xebec &AIC |
| Odyssey of the Celestial Ark | Makoto Bessho | Fumi Teranishi & Mikio Gunji | Yutaka Izubuchi & Hiroshi Ōnogi | Xebec | |
| Yamato 2202 | Nobuyoshi Habara | Hirotaka Furukawa | Harutoshi Fukui | Harutoshi Fukui & Hideki Oka | |
| Yamato 2205: Takeoff | Kenji Yasuda | Kumiko Nakagawa & Mizuki Amekawa | Satelight | ||
| Yamato 2205: Stasha | |||||
| Yamato 3199 | Harutoshi Fukui & Naomichi Yamato | Shōji Nishizaki | Studio Mother | ||
Leiji Matsumoto had written adaptations ofSpace Battleship Yamato, published inAkita Shoten'sBōken Ō magazine from November 1974 issue (released on October 1) to May 1975 issue (published on April 1) and collected into one volume,[33] andFarewell to Space Battleship Yamato, published from July 1978 issue (released on June 1) to December 1979 issue (published on November 1) and collected into two volumes.[34] Also included in the third volume is the gaiden mangaEternal Story of Jura, originally published in 1976 in Akita Shoten'sPlaycomic periodical.[35]
Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga in 2017 and released it in English as hardcover omnibusSpace Battleship Yamato: The Classic Collection on April 9, 2019.[36][37]
Space Battleship Great Yamato (新宇宙戦艦ヤマト,Shin Uchū Senkan Yamato,lit. "New Space Battleship Yamato") is a manga created by Leiji Matsumoto during his tenure as a copyright holder forSpace Battleship Yamato (1998-2002). It was published inShogakukan's monthly magazineGotta Comics from February 2000 to October 2001 and partially collected into two volumes. It was set in the year 3199 and brought together the distant descendants of the Yamato crew to lift off in a much bigger version of the original ship. In 2001 Matsumoto,Columbia Records, and composer Hiroshi Miyagawa released a music albumSymphonic Suite Great Yamato. In early 2002 Matsumoto announced his intentions to create an anime titledThe Great Galaxy Series: The Tale of Great Yamato 7vs7. ButGreat Yamato was cut short when a court order in Japan blocked Matsumoto's further use of the copyright in March 2002.[38]
Space Battleship Yamato was a 1985 Japanese exclusive Laserdisc video game designed byTaito which was based on the television series of the same name.[39][40][41]Game Machine listedSpace Battleship Yamato on their August 1, 1985 issue as being the second most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month.[42]
Released in 1992 for theGame Boy,Space Battleship Yamato is aturn-based strategy game, with the player fighting against Dessler. The player can move a few places on the battlefield at a time, and, if they encounter an enemy, it will start ashoot 'em up section that they must complete without losing all theirCosmo Tigers in order to advance.[39]
Released in 1999 for thePlayStation, the game's story is based on originalYamato series, but incorporates events fromLeiji Matsumoto's manga.[43] The game requires the player to manage the Yamato, and its crew, flying the ship, attacking enemies, and using individual crewmen to invade enemy territory.
Released in May 2000 for the PlayStation, this game is based on the events ofFarewell to Space Battleship Yamato andSpace Battleship Yamato II. It features the same basic gameplay asThe Faraway Planet Iscandar, but allows for a branching story, with events coming from eitherFarewell to Space Battleship Yamato orSpace Battleship Yamato II.[39]
Released in September 2000 for the PlayStation, this game is an original series fan disc based on the Leiji Matsumoto's 1976 mangaEternal Story of Jura.[43]
The firstPlayStation 2Yamato game, released in 2004,Reminiscences of Iscandar is more action-oriented than previous titles, focusing more on combat between the Yamato and Gamilas, rather than micromanaging the crew, though it is heavy on dialogue andcutscenes, which make up the majority of the content of the game.[44]
A March 2005 game, and the firstYamato game to be athird-person shooter, but still offers a branching story like the other games.[44] It is the second in the PS2 trilogy ofYamato games.
An April 2005 game, and the third in the PS2 trilogy ofYamato games.[44]
Three separateYamatotyping games have been released –Typing Wave-Motion Gun (2000),Typing Warp (2001), andTyping Dispersion Wave-Motion Gun (2001).[45][46][47]
Threepachinko games forSpace Battleship Yamato have been created, released in 2007, 2009, and 2013.[48][49][50]
Space Battleship Yamato: Voyagers of Tomorrow is a browser game on the G123 platform based on the remake series and released in 2023.[51]
Due to its extensive financial success,[52]Space Battleship Yamato has since its release seen a long line of merchandise.
Starting in 1974, many Yamato-themed products have been sold, including clothing, tableware, stationery, and models of the characters, with theCosmo Tigers andYamato itself receiving particular attention. Additionally, models of Dessler's fleet were available, and at the time it was uncommon for the villain's ships ormecha to be sold.[53]Bandai was responsible for most of the merchandising, and their choice to sponsorSpace Battleship Yamato at such an early stage of its production is considered influential in the company's financial success.[54]
Bandai produced an extensive number of models of theYamato, in a variety of sizes, the largest, and most elaborate one being a 70 cm (27.5 inch) model released in 2007. The ship comes with aremote control, designed to look like the Wave-Motion Gun'spistol grip, with which theYamato's shutters, main and auxiliary guns, pulse lasers, and Wave-Motion Gun can all be interacted with. The ship was sold for ¥47,250 ($450).[55]
Initially,Space Battleship Yamato was ignored – the original 1974 anime was forced to halve its episode count due to low ratings and viewership. However, with the release of the 1977 film, it had a surge in popularity, and ultimately achieved acult status.[56] During the original broadcast, despite the general lack of interest,Leiji Matsumoto received a "very surprising" amount offan mail from women who had watched the show, which came as a surprise due to the fact he had intended for it to be watched mostly by a male audience.[57]
Two or three months after the broadcast started, fans began to make frequent appearances at the studio. There were enthusiastic girls who came by plane fromKyushu and we gave themcels and background paintings as souvenirs because they had taken such great pains. Those cels now have the same street value as drugs, but in those days they were just a waste of space.
— Noboru Ishiguro, 1980[58]
Prior to the release ofYamato in 1974,anime was calledterebimanga (TV manga). The success ofYamato, both because of its tone and themes that were ambitious for an anime at that time, and the fact it was an original work, made it influential in the move towards the term anime.[59]
Space Battleship Yamato is one of the most influential anime series in Japan. Its turn towards more serious themes and complex storylines influenced future works in the sci-fi and mecha genre, includingGundam,Evangelion,[60] andMacross.
Yamato would go on to influence many later anime, includingMobile Suit Gundam andNeon Genesis Evangelion. Its popularity subsequently lead to various parodies and references, such as inSgt. Frog,[61]Haruhi Suzumiya andSpace Battleship Tiramisu.[62]
Hideaki Anno has rankedYamato as his favorite anime[63] and credited it with sparking his interest in anime.[64]Yamato was also the first anime series or movie to win theSeiun Award, a feat not repeated until the filmNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).
The later 1977 filmStar Wars bears a number of similarities to the original 1974Yamato series. For example, both arespace opera works with militant empires, star ships and space battles; the robot R2D2 bears a strong resemblance to Analyzer inYamato, in terms of both design and narrative function; and both works involve ship design blue-prints which are delivered by the female leads. Several critics have suggested thatYamato may have influencedStar Wars, thoughGeorge Lucas did not mention it among his Japanese influences (such asAkira Kurosawa'ssamurai films).[65][66][67]
Yamato also had an impact onvideo games. It was cited as an inspiration behind the influentialshoot 'em up gameSpace Invaders.[68][69] Game designerTakashi Nishiyama also credits the Wave Motion Gun as the origin of theHadouken move in theStreet Fighter series.[70]
TheSpace 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 season, which recounts the defeat of the original battleshipYamato while sailors and pilots from both sides salute her as she sinks (this scene was cut from the English dub, but later included on theStar Blazers DVD release). The movies spend much time showing the crew visiting monuments to previous missions and recalling the bravery of their fallen comrades. Dessler, 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 an important and loyal ally to Earth.
For many years, English-language releases of the anime bore the titleSpace Cruiser Yamato. Thisromanization has appeared in Japanese publications because Nishizaki, asailing enthusiast who owned a cruiseryacht, ordered that this translation be used out of love for his boat. However, in reference to naval nomenclature, it is technically inaccurate, assenkan (戦艦) means "battleship" and not "cruiser" (which in Japanese would bejun'yōkan (巡洋艦)). Leiji Matsumoto's manga adaptation was usually referred to asCosmoship Yamato.[33][34]
Star Blazers (1979) is a heavily edited dubbed version for the United States market produced by Westchester Film Corporation. Voyager Entertainment released DVD volumes and comic adaptations of the anime years later.
ContemporaryYamato releases, including the Voyager Entertainment DVD and Seven Seas Entertainment release of the manga, are marketed either asStar Blazers orSpace Battleship Yamato.
