Like all the best success stories, this one is about a juggernaut that no one saw coming. Even with 20/20 hindsight it is still impossible to overstate the impact of Yamato music on the world of anime, the result of extraordinary talent, perserverance, and foresight. It’s a story that begins with Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki.
Composer Hiroshi Miyagawa did more than change the world of anime music with his brilliant Symphonic Suite Yamato in 1977. He also planted the seeds for a whole new crop of Yamato music: the concept album. Fans’ cups ran over as one album after another explored the outer limits of the Miyagawa universe.
With his extensive background as a producer of concerts and musical theatre, it was a natural step for Nishizaki to see live performances as a secondary aspect of the Yamato phenomenon, and a whole new form of anime promotion was born. Here is a rundown of the many Yamato concerts that lead the way. [2 pages]
The irony about the Series 1 score is that despite being everyone’s hands-down favorite, it had the toughest time getting a commercial release. This was entirely due to the underdeveloped anime music industry of the early 1970s. It was the mighty Yamato Theme that eventually turned the tide. Here is the complete music discography.
The Space Battleship Yamato theme is now universally recognized as a classic, approaching the level of a national anthem in Japan. Here we examine the circumstances of its recording and present a broad overview of the many, many times it has been released to the public.
One of the biggest surprises to fans outside Japan is the existence of two additional verses to the famous theme song. For the first time anywhere, the complete 4-verse version is presented here in English.
There was a huge lineup of early Yamato products for Series 1, almost none of which looked much like the anime they came from. Neverthless, it’s fascinating to look back at the standards and trends of the time and see a different take on Yamato that was all about fun.
A series of columns for New Type Ace magazine by Ryusuke Hikawa, the original Yamato superfan. Looking back from the vantage point of the 21st century, Hikawa examines the indelible impact of the original Space Battleship Yamato with unparalleled depth and insight into the art of anime production.
