Next March, I will be competing with Kadokawa Pictures’ Genma Taisen [Harmagedon].
Yes, Kadokawa Pictures also makes Anime.
Yamato has been around for 10 years, and no competing anime movie has ever beaten it.
Weekly People Data Series 43
The producer is betting everything on the Space Battleship Yamato finale
Yoshinobu Nishizaki
Battleship Yamato‘s Wave-Motion Gun Blasts Genma.
I’m thinking about crushing him in a commercial!
Happiness is not something you wait for. It’s something you fight for and earn yourself.
Sunday, July 18
1:00 PM. I attend the recording of Space Battleship Yamato, easy listening version – scheduled for release on September 21 – at Nippon Columbia’s Studio 1 in Akasaka, Tokyo.
7:00 PM. Recording finished. Feeling a bit tired after six hours of supervising the recording. As a producer, I have to do everything from planning and script writing to fundraising. On the other hand, you could say that my own touch is infused into every aspect of the work, but it’s a very mentally demanding job.
Space Battleship Yamato, The Final Chapter
It will be 10 years since the series was conceived in 1973. The Final Chapter will be released in March next year.
“Supported by the voices of the fans, and riding on that momentum…so far we’ve made three TV series, one TV special, and three movies. But we can’t keep making them forever, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to make this the final installment as we reach our 10th anniversary. It was about two years ago that I started thinking I wanted to end the series with my own hands as the producer. One of the themes this time is whether we can believe in the future possibilities of humanity. Happiness doesn’t come by waiting for it. I’m trying to convey the idea that you have to fight for it yourself.”
“Back in 1977, the audience for Yamato was mainly kids aged 10 to 14. Those kids are now approaching the day when they will leave school and enter the real world. I hope that from this film, they will take away at least a little bit of the message in order to live in the real world and find happiness, they have to fight. Besides the overall theme of the work, I think fans will be interested in whether the main characters, Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori, will get married and what will happen to Yamato. I can’t go into the details of the story, but I can promise that, as the title The Final Chapter suggests, it will be a story in which Yamato will not be able to reappear.”
If you run away from home four times, then you’re definitely a “failure” now.
Monday, July 19
10:00 AM. At the office in Moto-Akasaka, Tokyo, I check the storyboards and scripts for Yamato with the staff.
3:30 PM. Finished checking story boards and scripts.
6:30 PM. I met with Yasuyoshi Tokuma of Tokuma Shoten to discuss Final Yamaato. Compared to a few few weeks ago, my schedule seems easier this week. When I start thinking about the script and things like that, I often can’t sleep at night.
Tuesday, July 20
10:30 AM. Meeting with legal council.
1:00 PM. I was interviewed for the magazine and media.
2:00 PM. I had a meeting with the production staff.
3:00 PM. Scene setting and mecha design meeting for Yamato.
5:30 PM. Meeting with the printing company we work with to discuss, posters, flyers, etc..
“I ran away from home four times. If that were the case nowadays, you would be branded as a complete failure. I think so. The reason I didn’t completely fall behind might be partly because the times were a little better, but I think the support of my mother and high school teachers was a big factor. In particular, my teachers didn’t try to confine me to one box. They looked at me from a broader perspective. If it weren’t for those teachers, I might not be who I am today. Now, in my position of creating things that give children dreams and romance, I absolutely do not want to see them being confined to a single box. It’s the same with my own children. I try to see what kind of qualities they possess. If you understand your child’s inherent qualities, you’ll find yourself being much more forgiving.”
Will the main characters Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori get married? What will happen to Yamato? I can’t tell you the full story, but…
Profile
Real name Hirofumi Nishizaki. Born in Tokyo in December 1934. He is the nephew of the first Midori Nishizaki, the founder of the Nishizaki School of Japanese Dance. In 1953, after graduating from Musashi high school, he entered the department of drama at Nippon University College of art. At the same time, he became a trainee at the Bungakuza theater company. He dropped out of university and subsequently worked in various jobs, including jazz commentator, coffee shop waiter, and orchestra manager. In 1963, he became an independent freelance producer, producing for Min-on. In 1970, he signed a general management contract with Osama Tezuka, and produced television adaptations of Fushigi na Melmo and Triton of the Sea. In 1972 he established Office Academy. In 1974 he produced Space Battleship Yamato. In August 1977, it was released in theaters and became a massive hit, establishing his position as a producer. Subsequently, he produced two TV series, one TV special, and two theatrical films. Currently, production is underway on Space Battleship Yamato, The Final Chapter, scheduled for release next March.
My dream was to take a two year break after creating one project!
Wednesday, July 21
10:30 AM. Meeting with the printing company regarding posters.
12:30 PM. I drove from the office to Toei Animation in Higashi-Oizumi, Nerima Ward
1:30 PM. Arrived at Toei Animation. We had a meeting to discuss the production progress and future plans for Space Battleship Yamato.
6:30 PM. Meeting with Toei Animation concluded
7:00 PM. I met with Mr. Kosei, head of [newspaper Sports Nippon.
A Producer
“When I aspired to become a producer in my late 20s, I thought that after making one film, I could relax at a villa overseas for about two years. But the reality is, it’s a battle against time every day. Certainly, as a producer, the winner takes all, and you can make works that are somewhat to your liking, but I have serious doubts about whether the person I am now is the producer I envisioned myself to be. So, once this project is finished, I’m thinking of going back to being a freelance producer, regardless of my current organization, and taking the time to carefully reconsider what it means to be a producer.”
“Come to think of it, Yamato will also be completed after 10 years, so I’d like to reflect on these past 10 years, partly as a way to return to my roots. As a producer, I want to maintain an approach that prioritizes the work itself, rather than creating things based on calculations.”
To be honest, this is the scariest one yet.
Thursday, July 22
10:00 AM. General affairs department meeting at the office
1:30 PM. Accounting department meeting.
2:00 PM. Recording a producers message via video for the thirty Yamato fan clubs across the country. To be honest, this project is the scariest one for me. It’s expected that the film will be a hit, but more than that, I wonder if I myself…there’s this dread in the back of my mind about whether we’ll be able to bring these 10 years to a conclusion.
4:00 PM. TV project planning meeting.
Friday, July 23
9:30 AM. Meeting with the sales headquarters of Sanwa Bank.
12:00 PM. Meeting with Toei, the distributor and exhibition company for Space Battleship Yamato.
2:00 PM. Meeting with staff at the office to discuss storyboards.
7:00 PM. Attending a Musashi High School alumni reunion in Kanda, Tokyo.
On Haruki Kadokawa
“I am often compared to Mr. Kadokawa, but to put it simply, I think we’re different types of producers. I’m more of a director type. If I have something I want to create, I’ll make it a reality.”
“Next March, we’ll be going head to head with Kadokawa Pictures’ Genma Taisen [Harmagedon]. Kadokawa Pictures is also making an anime film. In the past 10 years, no anime film has ever beaten Yamato in competition. Consequently, I think they must be very confident in it. Having competing works is good for both sides. Right now, I’m thinking of a commercial where Yamato‘s Wave-Motion Gun smashes Genma, while Kadokawa Pictures thinks it would be fun if we each made a commercial and in theirs, Genma kicks Yamato away. I’m thinking of talking to him about it.”
When I go diving in the ocean, my mind becomes completely blank.
Saturday, July 24
9:00 AM. Attended the Yamato fan club get-together at the Totsuka public hall in Yokohama city. Gave a speech as a guest.
2:00 PM. Arrived at Aburatsubo Yacht Harbor in Miura city, Kanagawa prefecture.
4:00 PM. We boarded the cruiser and headed out to sea. Yamato was a hit, and I happened to make more money than others, so I was able to buy a big boat. I did get a lot of backlash for it, though. I’m just using money I earned myself. Using money is a new experience, isn’t it? I think something new will be born from that new experience.
His hobby is scuba diving, and he’s a professional level diver. “Going out to sea on a cruiser or scuba diving is a way to clear my mind. Being a producer is a stressful job. No matter how much rest I get, there’s always work somewhere in my head. But when I go out to sea and dive, my mind becomes completely empty. The water is very dangerous. There are sharks and rays, and if you’re not careful, you can get decompression sickness. When I focus all my energy on things like that, I completely forget about work. I think I’ve been able to endure the hardships of the last 10 years because I took up diving. You can’t be a producer without taking breaks to refresh yourself. In my case, on one hand I’m thinking about production funds, and on the other hand, I’m imagining the infinitely expanding universe, so I can’t mentally cope without taking breaks.”