Theatrical anime to catch your attention from Winter ’83 to Summer ’84
We can finally announce the theatrical release date for the 70mm version of Final Yamato, and there’s a lineup of highly-anticipated anime films continuing through next summer. We’ve picked out seven noteworthy works from among them. We’ll also include some hot information on new releases!!
Space Battleship Yamato
Releasing in November at Tokyu Theaters
10 Years with Yamato, with heartfelt gratitude!!
The highly anticipated Final Yamato 70 mm version, which we’ve been waiting for since spring, is finally set for a November release. The dates are currently being finalized. A press conference was held on September 19 with the Producer, Mr. Nishizaki.
“The highlights of this film include approximately 30 new or revised scenes, such as the scenes between Daisuke Shima and his younger brother Jiro, and the love scene between Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori, as well as electronic visuals in many other scenes,” Said Mr. Nishizaki.
In addition, presents are planned for all theatergoers, and an auction of Yamato models, and they hope Yamato fans will thoroughly enjoy the event. Regarding the release date of November, unfortunately it will only be released in the Tokyo and Osaka areas. Fans in other regions will have to wait until next year.
In Tokyo, the film is scheduled to be screened for two weeks at three theaters: Shinjuku Milano, Shibuya Pantheon, and Ginza Shochiku Central, starting November 5. In Osaka, it will be screened for two weeks at Umeda Piccadilly, starting November 20.
As fans, we’re curious about the quality of the film. As you can see from the photo above, the backgrounds are meticulously drawn. The sound is also 6-channel stereo, making it very impressive. After all, Mr. Nishizaki himself said he would love to submit it to next year’s Cannes Film Festival, so it must be quite something. It seems to be a film that we can look forward to very much.
With gratitude to all the fans who supported Yamato since the very first series, Yamato is launching again!
Though the article purported to be about theatrical anime, several of the films would be released as the first known OVAs. The rest of this feature covered the following titles:
2. The Star of Cottonland
3. Locke the Superman
4. Macross, Do You Remember Love
5. The Dagger of Kamui
6. Dallos
7. Boy Keniya
Anime songs are limitless; Getting closer to pop music!!
This 4-page article examined the inroads anime theme songs were making into the world of mainstream pop music. The following excerpt is from the second page (below right):
Kenji Sawada’s rendition of From Yamato With Love was a landmark moment
There’s an industry magazine, published by a record sales research organization called Original Confidence (“Oricon” for short). It compiles and publishes sales data by genre from contracted record stores, record companies, TV stations, and radio stations nationwide. The first anime song to appear on the Oricon hit chart was Space Battleship Yamato. Since then, anime songs have consistently appeared on the hit chart at least once a year. This number has been increasing year by year. And now, Cat’s Eye has jumped to number one in the September 30 issue. Anime songs have certainly become quite popular.
What about before Yamato? In addition to the hit chart, Oricon has a section called “children’s songs and manga” in which anime songs, tokusatsu, NHK, and children’s programs are ranked together. With this classification, it was difficult to tell where songs ranked compared to the hit chart. With the explosive success of Yamato, the genre shifted from children’s songs and manga to the hit charts, and LPs similarly entered the charts as an independent category for domestically produced albums.
Before Yamato touched off the first anime boom, it was categorized as “manga” and no matter how well it sold, it never made it onto the hit charts. Thus, it could not be considered a record-breaking hit. If songs like Candy Candy had made it onto the hit charts, they would have been a strong contender against Pink Lady.
They also featured Kenji Sawada for the theme song From Yamato With Love from the theatrical film Farewell to Yamato, which was a huge hit, selling nearly 300,000 copies at the time. The music industry is changing drastically.
TV & Movie Theme Hit List (singles)
The chart shown above right examined the highest rankings anime themes achieved on the Oricon charts…
14th, 1977 Space Battleship Yamato/The Scarlet Scarf
4th, 1978 From Yamato With Love (Farewell to Yamato)
2nd, 1979 Galaxy Express 999 (movie)
15th, 1980 Tomorrow’s Joe
22nd, 1980 Toward the Terra
29th, 1980 Until the Day of Love (Be Forever Yamato)
18th, 1980 Galaxy Legend/Life of Love (Be Forever Yamato)
21st, 1981 Sand Cross (Gundam I)
9th, 1981 Soldier of Sorrow (Gundam II)
11th, 1982 Angel Queen (Queen Millennium)
13th, 1982 Encounter (Gundam III)
8th, 1983 Warrior of Light (Harmagedon)
6th, 1983 Lots of Memories (Miyuki TV series)
1st, 1983 Cat’s Eye