In 1999, a book was published titled the Space Battleship Yamato Legacy. It covered Series 1, ending with an insightful interview with the one and only singer Mr. Isao Sasaki. In it, the legendary “Voice of Yamato” shared his privileged viewpoint of the experience.
A complete record of Yamato music releases starting in 1984. Once the saga migrated from LP to CD, fans were finally treated to content that had been locked up in vaults from the earliest days and much more besides. [3 pages]
Some may be surprised to learn that despite being an imported program, Star Blazers has some unique music of its own, all of which can be heard in the space of a few seconds, but is interesting to examine nonetheless. Read about it here and re-memorize the song lyrics, too!
Yamato had always been made with music at its heart. Most other movies and TV shows basically treated music as an afterthought, something to be added at the end of the process. Yamato went the other way, making music an integral part of the process from the earliest stage. And no film generated more music than Final Yamato
The initial 52-episode plan for Yamato III meant a lot of music would have to be written to emphasize the newness. This lead to an embarrassment of musical riches when the series was cut down to 25, and it took decades for it all to be released. See the complete record here.
By 1980, the saga had knocked down so many barriers and standards that a new film was practically a guaranteed blockbuster. Every single aspect of Be Forever was amplified, and since music was Yamato‘s strongest natural resource, it was placed front and center throughout the promotional buildup.
By the time The New Voyage went into production, Yamato music had become a national and cultural phenomenon in Japan with popularity that rivaled the anime itself. Maestro Hiroshi Miyagawa, the man most directly responsible, was now integral to the saga, and new dimensions was added to his work in 1979.
One of the best-kept secrets of Yamato 2 was that Hiroshi Miyagawa composed all of its music in the same marathon session as Farewell to Yamato, which produced an enormous amount of score that took decades to release. See how it unfolded in this look back.
The music of Farewell to Yamato was the only way fans could relive the film at home, and it perfectly delivered the same emotional impact felt in a theater. This body of work left no doubt that Japan’s music industry had changed forever, not just in anime but for the mainstream as well. Here is a complete record of its releases.
The Yamato movie was the biggest blockbuster in Japanese cinema history. This new phenomenon was full of surprises. Never before had thousands of fans camped out overnight, nor had a merchandising campaign taken off so swiftly, nor had music played such a powerful role in bringing an anime to the public eye.
As soon as the Yamato movie became a certified hit in 1977, the race was on for anyone with musical talent to ride the wave by publishing their own version of the opening and closing songs. Presented here is a diverse gallery of albums containing covers of the Yamato Theme and/or The Scarlet Scarf.
Final Yamato set a new record when its first video release arrived before the film itself finished its first run in theaters, and that was only the beginning. When a revised 70mm director’s cut followed in late 1983, it kicked off a long sequence of video releases accompanied by increasingly unique packaging.
Like Yamato 2 before it, Yamato III took many years to finally appear in full on home video, preceded only by a 90-minutes compilation movie edited as a TV special. But as the series moved from one video release to another, it was continually enriched by new package art. See it all here.
The most unique element of Be Forever‘s presentation, a normal-to-widescreen transition in the midst of the story, was fantastic to behold in a theater but later became a problem to be solved on home video. This record collects all the video releases in one place and see how they met the challenge of “Warp Dimension.”
The New Voyage was the first Yamato production to have deleted scenes which received tiny, intriguing glimpses in books and magazines. They were the stuff of legend until home video finally revealed them to the public years later. See the entire record of the film on video here.
This overview examines every video release of Yamato 2 from its first VHS set in 1990 through its DVD box in 2001, with special attention paid to the diverse packaging art that refreshed the look of the series was each new appearance.
Long considered the pinnacle of the Yamato saga and all the theatrical anime of the 70s, Farewell has consistently been the leader of the saga in video sales, often the first to break new formats as they are developed. Here is a complete record of its video releases and their diverse packaging.
It should come as no surprise that Series 1 leads the pack for the number of times it has been released for home viewing from all the way back in the summer of 1977 right up to the blu-ray edition in the summer of 2012. See the entire history of these releases and the unique packages they came in.
The Yamato movie sounded the first official Anime Boom, and the world would never again be the same. When the time came for home video releases, it was at the head of the line. Often sharing release dates with the other films, it was always first in everyone’s hearts as the one that started it all.
In February 2008, Bandai released the Space Battleship Yamato TV DVD Box. Completely remastered, it brought the first series back to life in crystal clarity and sweetened the pot with a newly-designed 1/700 scale model kit! Read all about how this revolutionary combination set was created.
Despite the early ending of Yamato III, interest remained high and there was still plenty of creativity in the mix. The series concluded in early 1981, but the promise of another movie loomed large in the future, so books published throughout ’81 and ’82 still had plenty to talk about. Here is the complete record.
Farewell to Yamato put Yamato 2 at somewhat of a disadvantage in terms of dedicated publishing. With so much of its content already covered, it was not an automatic choice for many publishers. Despite this, there was still plenty to choose from for fans who were willing to hunt for it.
The live-action Yamato movie looms on the horizon and we gear up for another journey into the land of wonders. Here you will find tales of sneak previews, new Yamato food, the unveiling of the giant Yamato model and prop exhibit, and the big day itself–December 1, 2012!
The movie opening is just the beginning of a week of adventure. There are exhibits to be absorbed, stores to explore, treasure to be found, and most important, interviews to be conducted with superstars from Yamato history. See it step by step here!
Hideaki Ito and his peers are all dismissive of praise and humble about the roles they played as fans in Yamato history. But the simple fact is that without them doing what they did precisely when they did it, it is doubtful that we could call ourselves anime fans today since anime as we know it would probably not exist. [2 pages]
