First, watch the teaser on Youtube here.
Second, let’s digest in slow motion what it contains, because there’s a lot to swallow.
Whereas in Be Forever the ship supposedly flew 200 years into the future (later revealed to be an elaborate ruse), this time it’s flown 200 years into the past to end up in 2026 Tokyo. In a flash, they’ve been placed in the exact situation as Dezarium in the year 2207. Invaders from the future. (Incidentally, in this opening image Yamato is drifting over Shinjuku. The building rising up closest to it is the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater. Put a pin in that.)
One voice is heard throughout the trailer: Domon, speaking forcefully about what he wants to do next.
“This is the world of 200 years ago. The planets Garmillas and Iscandar still exist. Yamato can take us there. We’ll tell them about the end of their planet and devise a migration plan in preparation for the future collapse of Garmillas. As a result, Garmillas no longer needs to invade Earth, and Earth is spared the tragedy of losing 70% of its population. History changes. We can endure it. I believe Yamato was sent to this era for this very reason.”
As we hear this, and the stakes of the story gradually become apparent, here’s what we see…
Captain Yamanami contemplates the gravity of the situation. Screens display news feeds from 2026 Earth showing military scrambles. The center image appears to be the cover of a book titled Diplomacy by an author named Ryoichi Saito. (A cursory online search says this is probably fictional.)
Two suited figures approach the camera. These suits are similar (but not identical) to protective hardsuits we’ve seen before, but it’s not yet clear who they belong to. Next we see Sasha looking up at night sky, most likely standing on the surface of 2026 Earth.
A brief exchange between Fleur and Maxim on 2207 Earth. No words are heard.
A Space Cavalry armored suit goes toe to toe with a Dezarium Garm Biu. Location TBD. Alphon got quite a shock in Chapter 5, and now he’s seriously processing it.
Makoto reacts to something offscreen. Next we see Domon for the first time, perhaps saying what we’re hearing? Who’s he pointing the gun at?
If this edit is to believed, it’s Kodai. In which case it could be Domon “insisting” on being heard. Next we see Makoto again, shouting something in anger and raising her arms.
Then we see the silent form of Megumi Kanzaki sealed in a glass cylinder. Ever since Episode 2, we’ve only seen her on screen, advocating for Dezarium. As we watch, the glass cracks over her face – perhaps after being struck by Makoto.
Next we see Yamato in warp with red energy crawling up the hull – the same energy pictured in the Chapter 6 teaser poster.
From here, red seems to be a key color. We see it in Skaldart’s eyes as he shouts, then we see it in the eyes of various Yamato crew, marching like zombies with Dezarium comm medals on their necks. Hopefully just a dream image.
And finally, the same red appears in Sasha’s eyes before we cut to the final image with the “red Yamato‘s” Wave-Motion Gun powering up. Why all the red? One possible explanation is that Yamato blue-shifted going to the past and is now red-shifted flying the other way…but we’ll have to wait and see.
The title of Chapter 6, Azure Labyrinth, probably refers to the Blue Planet Earth of 2026, upon which Yamato‘s fate has suddenly become tangled.
News flashback
It seemed innocent at the time, but now we know just how clever those rascals at 3199 HQ can be…
December 31, 2025: Twitter campaign
As the year eased to an end, the Yamato Production Committee offered a new way to mark the occasion. They posted the image at left as a transparent PNG with the following caption:
To celebrate the new year, we’re distributing this “Yamato flying in the sky” frame. We’re also running a present campaign. Among those who post images using this frame with the “#ヤマト2026” by midnight January 15, we’ll draw 3 winners to receive a REBEL 3199 Chapter 4 poster as a gift, signed by the cast.
A couple days later, they added the image at right, with Yamato drifting over the Shinjuku Piccadilly theater in Tokyo.
See many, many other entries here
One interesting thing to note is that Alphon isn’t wearing the com medal. Also in the previous chapter, Kitano fired on the lower side of the Hyuga as if he wanted to change its trajectory to land on the transport pod of the Gamillan lunar base. Also he sent a secret message to Todo and in the next scene we see the Ginga crew ready to rescue the Hyuga. So can we conclude that Kitano and Alphon are actually beginning to question the Dezarium and will eventually join the partisans?