Part 2 Production Announcement Press Conference Report
Part 1: Invitation
On May 24, a press conference announcing the production of Yamato Part 2 was held at the Imperial Hotel Annex in Yurakucho, and a major event occurred since the formation of Hamadashi Fan Club. HFC was invited along with many other fan clubs.
Mr. Mantoga from HFC was supposed to attend, but he was unable due to unforeseen circumstances, so we asked Tamiha, the president of Candy Candy fan club and an important main staff member of HFC, to fill in. We packed our camera and tape recorder into our bags and headed straight to the imperial hotel.
Part 2: Imperial Hotel
The first thing that surprised us when we arrived at the venue for the press conference was the poster at the entrance that read, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato. It was a bit different from the atmosphere of Kodai and Yuki. Then I saw the statue of Analyzer, which seemed to be about 1.5 times the actual size, propped up in front of the reception desk inside.
As someone who can’t help but want to touch anything unusual, I couldn’t stay still, so I took pictures, leaned on it, and talked to it. A lady with the prominent lips said to us, “you’ve come for the press conference, haven’t you? Well, please wait in the lobby of the main building until we come to get you. There are a lot of other boys waiting there too.”
Boys? When she said boys, I thought elementary and junior high school students. Thinking that, we burst out laughing and went to the lobby. No joke, they were all college in high school students, and clearly executives from other fan clubs. What on Earth was the person in charge thinking? No, maybe they were right! I do remember seeing quite a few different people in the lobby, including Mr. Watanabe, the chairman of Cosmo Battleship Yamato Club. Then Mr. Nishizaki arrived, and to my surprise, he had a face that was quite unlike that of a typical Japanese person, and he was incredibly tall.
Part 3: Press Conference
It was 12:30, so we went back to the annex, handed in our invitation postcards at the reception, and entered the venue.
Text on the lower half of these pages is a story synopsis reprinted from the press kit
Upon entering, I gasped in amazement once again. Panels of the new mecha and characters were displayed in the venue, and a model of Yamato, about 1.5 m long (with its internal mechanisms clearly visible), rotated and moved up and down on a large globe.
While I was still stunned by the sheer scale of the venue, the press conference began. The attendees from the production side included, of course, Producer Nishizaki, art and concept Director Matsumoto, as well as Composer Miyagawa, Director Masuda, Mr. Sasaki, who sang the theme song (I often saw him on TV when I was in elementary school, but this was the first time I’ve seen him in person. My mother apparently had a crush on him) and six people from Toei Animation. I can’t remember who.
Each person gave a speech. Nishizaki spoke about the significance of producing Part 2, and Matsumoto said that recently there are many boys with poor eyesight who wear glasses, and that when we were little, we watched TV. He noticed that about half the people in the venue were wearing glasses and then the conversation shifted to manga. Then I heard there would be a radio appearance at 4:30.
Isao Sasaki, who was speaking, gave a powerful rendition of the theme song from the previous Yamato series, Scarlet Scarf, and Starsha, Face in the Stars, before leaving the venue. The speeches continued with Mr. Miyagawa, Mr. Masuda, and then people from Toei.
Afterward, Mr. Nishizaki and Mr. Matsumoto answered questions from the fan club members who had come to the venue. Some important information regarding Part 2 was revealed through these questions (just a little).
First of all, some of the information may be a little outdated due to editing delays, but I will start by sharing what we learned immediately after the press conference.
Part 4: Soldiers of Love
The most intriguing aspect of Part 2, which is currently being produced, is undoubtedly Yamato itself. However, according to Mr. Nishizaki, the differences between the Yamato Part 1 and the Yamato of Part 2 are almost negligible, and it doesn’t have added power. If anything, the key difference lies in how effectively the weapons will be utilized.
(Continued on page 8)
New / Yamato fashion
Wow, apparently the T-shirt worn by Kodai is going to be sold this year. The design of the shirt in the photo is by Yukiko Hanai. Yuki Mori’s outfit is the cool one with the bag held up as you can see in the photo. It’s still under consideration whether or not it will be sold, and it should be in fashion this summer. But I’m really curious about the horizontal lines on Kodai’s shirt. What I’m even more curious about is the wedding dress, or rather, Yuki Mori’s wedding dress or bridal attire.
It seems like she hasn’t decided which one to get yet, but she’s definitely going to wear one! Apparently, you won’t see it in the movie. Most of the women’s costumes are by Madame Hanai. For some reason, only for women…
They’re going to sell T-shirts that aren’t too expensive and that anyone can wear. Since it’s summer, Nishizaki said he’d like to make one for a Yuki Mori, too. Apparently we won’t see her wearing one in the movie, but she will on TV! Let’s look forward to it in October. I want one more for Okita. If possible, I’d like to see clothes on Analyzer too. What do you all think of this fashion? Will it be a trend this year?
They chose from several designs to use only in this story. Kodai’s T-shirt, for example; he doesn’t wear short sleeves on the ship, but last year there was a request from fans. They didn’t make it because it would ruin the Yamato image, but this year, perhaps due to request requests from fans, they made one that does not ruin the image
(Takumi)
Photo of the press conference display, published in Animage magazine (July ’78)
New / About the Mecha
Now, at this press conference, Mr. Matsumoto gave an explanation of the new mecha that will be used. He seemed desperate to talk about certain things and apparently started moving away from the meeting agenda, to which Mr. Nishizaki replied, “Please don’t say anything more than that, and don’t tell the media yet.”
This stopped the press conference, which was briefly interrupted by a discuss discussion between the two. It was quite a strange situation, making one wonder what exactly is going on between them.
I believe other these have already been featured in various magazines, but first, please look at the photo of the display. The panel at the lower left shows a fighter jet launched from the planet Telezart, commanded by general Zabaibal. It’s a fighter jet belonging to that unit.
Next, second image on the upper row is the enemy’s missile ship. It clearly shows how strong it is, and how vulnerable.
To the right of that is a large aircraft carrier. It has flight decks on both the top and bottom, and there are rumors that it can perform somersaults while flying, surpassing even the capabilities of the Close Encounters mothership.
The photo at the far right, in the upper row, is a medium sized aircraft carrier.
The one at bottom right is a disc-shaped spaceship called Eater, which means glutton.
The top photo on page 5 shows the newly-built Earth battleship Andromeda, which claims to be stronger than Yamato and has two cannons. How amazing!
Below that is a heavy tank fighting in a crevasse on the surface of the planet Telezart.
The bottom right photo on page 5 is indeed an enemy battleship.
At the bottom left is Dessler‘s ultimate new battleship. I can’t wait to see it. Most of them belong to the enemy forces, but those were all the new mecha that were introduced.
Character images and descriptions were reprinted from the press kit
About the characters
Kodai is the captain of a resource transport ship. He’s on escort duty! Shima is the captain of a transport ship. Yuki Mori is the secretary to the Commander and chief of some kind of defense force on Earth, and the new evil group is Gatlantis. The Commander is Zordar. Dessler is serving them, or rather, by their side. There was a question about Harlock appearing in the previous work, but not this time. Harlock is independent as he is, but what would you think of this?
Matsumoto said he wanted to write a scene where the Galaxy Express 999, Emeraldas, Harlock, and Yamato pass each other.
Nishizaki said, “Dessler is a man among men, a brave warrior.“ No matter which character you ask about, I think they are wonderful people.
Kodai, heading toward Jupiter, wonders if it’s OK for earth to become a mechanical civilization like Gamilas. Then there is the new Gatlantis, and Dessler…aren’t all of these characters wonderful?
As for the voice actors, the previous members are returning, and after Captain Okita, there is Captain Hijikata. I heard that Leiji came up with his name. I wonder if Isao Sasaki will be doing any voice acting. I’m sure we will be satisfied.
(Takumi)
A word from the reporter
Takumi-san’s first appearance
I was supposed to do most of the writing, but the cassette tape was…? So I decided to have O-san write it. Thanks for your hard work, O-san. Changing the subject, I was incredibly lucky that day. I managed to get autographs from almost everyone, and then another one from Mr. Masuda. I also got Leiji’s and Sasaki’s autographs on my bag. They said, “this bag is pretty heavy. What’s in it?“ I’m such an idiot, I forgot to take a picture with my camera. What a klutz.
(Takumi)
I was completely unlucky. The tape recorder stopped working halfway through. I didn’t get any autographs, only one of Matsumoto’s. And the only photos I managed to get were the ones I took at the press conference. They’re all right, but not very clear when printed. Sorry everyone.
(O-san)
(Continued from page 3…)
The story is described on pages two and three. As expected, the most evil villain in history, Dessler, appears again in Part 2. I asked Mr. Nishizaki about the relationship between Earth and Desler, but unfortunately he wouldn’t tell me. Could that rumor be true after all??
I’ve explained the mecha and characters elsewhere, so please refer to that.
Now, there’s another issue: the music. According to Mr. Miyagawa and Mr. Nishizaki, they will be using the same music as last time, about 60% of it will be from the previous production. Surprisingly, the theme song will be the same as last time, but the lyrics will be different, and it will use the lyrics from the third and fourth versus. Of course, there are new songs too:
From Yamato With love, Teresa Forever, Dessler and Kodai’s Battle, new lyrics set to the melody of Space Battleship Yamato and Scarlet Scarf, same as before.
That’s about it. Due to Page limitations I can only say that much. But I will continue next time.
Edited by O-san and Takumi
[Translator’s note: nearly everything related here turned out to be correct, but the music notes at the end were quite a departure from where things went. If they were related accurately, it means a lot of plans were changed after this event to provide much better results. The reference to a second and third verse for the Yamato theme is correct; as reported here, there are two additional verses. However, since they were not written by Yu Aku they were essentially disowned at the request of his estate.]