Even before the first TV series concluded, the next and most important phase of Yamato history began: the “redemption year.” Its driver was an unexpected force that would slowly but steadily change everything for the better. The name of that force was “fandom.” In 1975, that force took shape for the first time.
This series answers the question, “What if Cosmo DNA existed in real time during the production years?” Everything is chronicled in the order it all happened, bringing history to life in a whole new way. First up: the prehistory of Yamato all the way up to the end of “origin year” 1974. [2 pages]
The official Yamato fan club set very high standards throughout its run from 1977 all the way to 1991. So what happened next? A new group stepped in to pick up the slack, and they lasted another ten years. This is their story.
Aquarius Algorithm gave us the first new story from the classic saga since 2009, Star Blazers recording scripts were unearthed, music was made, articles were written, polls were taken, photos were posted, and fond memories were shared. [2 pages]
As we look toward the future of the “reboot universe,” we naturally wonder how vintage stories will be adapted. Surprisingly, significant parts of them already have been. Here, Anton Mei Brandt digs deep for fragments of Yamato lore that have found their way to the screen, sometimes barely noticed.
In 2013, a train station in the city of Kure, where the Battleship Yamato was built, adopted the Space Battleship Yamato theme as its jingle to announce arriving trains. A reporter for the AERAdot website investigated how this was decided, giving us a look into local and musical history.
From the Magmix website comes this short profile on Yamato Exec Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, described as a skilled maverick who brought change to the anime industry and carved out his reputation as the self-styled “Dessler of Akasaka” (an upscale business district in Tokyo).
In September 2021, a novel titled Space Battleship Yamato Dawn Chapter, Aquarius Algorithm began an effort to fill the 17-year gap between Final Yamato and Resurrection. There was plenty to learn about it if you knew where to look online, and it is all collected here in one place.
Isao Sasaki’s voice was the first anyone ever heard when they met Space Battleship Yamato, and he still belts out that theme song as no one else can. Two days before his first-ever livestream concert, a pair of interviews with Sasaki appeared online, and as usual he had plenty of stories to tell.
Regular followers of the Cosmo DNA Facebook page are familiar with “Yamatunes for Tuesday,” a weekly drop of amazing online music discoveries. The reach of Yamato music is far and wide with incredible energy and variety, guaranteed to lift your spirits. In this second collection of online Yamatunes, the fans step up and deliver.
Regular followers of the Cosmo DNA Facebook page are familiar with “Yamatunes for Tuesday,” a weekly drop of amazing online music discoveries. The reach of Yamato music is far and wide with incredible energy and variety, guaranteed to lift your spirits. Here’s an extensive roundup of Yamatunes for easy access whenever you need it.
In 2014, a 60th anniversary retrospective was published on Leiji Matsumoto’s manga, which included a unique conversation between three veteran writers. Two of them participated in the creation of the original Yamato series. Their discussion is presented here and offers perspectives available nowhere else.
As a key contributor to the two biggest anime franchises of all time, Yamato and Gundam, “Yas” possesses a unique vantage point and a fascinating career. He was extensively interviewed for two major books that were published in 2020, both of which are excerpted here.
As the creator and first editor-in-chief of the game-changing magazine Animage, Hideo Ogata played an instrumental role in the foundation of anime culture. In this chapter from his memoir Shoot That Flag! he recounts the origin of the magazine and Yamato’s pivotal role in it.
Hideo Ogata is one of those people who played an instrumental role in building the foundation of anime culture. In 2004, he did the world a huge favor by publishing a book of his memoirs. Yamato figured heavily in two chapters of that book, so we’re presenting the first one here.
Here we focus on everything that spun out of the original Space Battleship Yamato saga (not the remakes) over the seemingly endless year 2020. It was surprisingly busy with interesting entries in multiple categories. [3 pages]
This serial in Bandai’s B-Club hobby magazine brought modelers and illustrators together to revisit the entire Yamato series one installment at a time and create commemorative images that have gone almost unseen ever since. Every page of this 9-part series has been collected here.
Eiji Otsuka’s book The 2nd Floor Residents and Their Times examines the rise of the otaku generation and Yamato as a pop culture phenomenon. In this chapter, Otsuka lays out the otaku generation’s social context and Yamato’s impact on the fusion of entertainment and politics.
Inextricably linked with the rise of Space Battleship Yamato was the rise of otaku [geek] culture in Japan. Writer Eiji Otsuka was one of those who watched that culture ascend from the inside. He has written more than one book on the subject, and a chapter of one of his books is presented here.
From the Japanese edition of Starlog magazine: a collection of essays examining the newly-arrived “anime boom” with a focus on Yamato and Gundam. SF experts disdained it, fans loved it, and business moguls ate it up. This is a fascinating cross-section of what all three factions were thinking at the time.
From B-Club No. 35 (September 1988): a concise overview of the classic Yamato models of the “golden age.” Five years had passed since Final Yamato and it would take another six for 2520 to arrive, so this was assuredly a time when the legacy was being fortified.
In 1997, Star Blazers fandom found its dearest family member: Amy Howard, the voice of our beloved Nova. After years of obscurity, she found her way in via the internet and stayed in the fold for the rest of her life. Presented here are key parts of the actual electronic record of her homecoming.
In November 2019, the classic Yamato saga expanded for the first time in ten years when Aquarius Algorithm debuted in the pages of Star Blazers/Yamato Premium Fan Club magazine. Written by Katsuya Takashima, it bridges the gap between Final Yamato and Resurrection.
From the pages of Showa 40 Man magazine: a nostalgic look back at two of Yamato‘s favorite characters. These twin essays from 2017 examine both Dessler and Sanada from the perspective of real-time viewers of the original saga.
Artist Masahiko Okura is among those whose creative passion was ignited by Yamato, which he brought to the saga itself from Final Yamato all the way through 2199. In this interview from Ship’s Log issues 6, he shares personal memories going all the way back to his first viewing.
In Yamato terms, 2019 will go down in history as the year 2202 came to a close. But as usual, there was plenty of attention given to the original saga if you knew where to look. Here then is our annual review of what went on with O.G. Yamato in the final year of this decade. [2 pages]
Countless young artists were inspired by Yamato in their youth, but only a few rose to the ranks of those who would keep it alive as adults. Masahiko Okura is one of them, having contributed from 1983 to the present day, and as you’ll see in this interview, he hasn’t lost an ounce of passion in all that time.
The extraordinarily rare August 1994 issue of the locally-based LB Nakasu Communication magazine carried a Yamato cover story shortly before the saga was revived the first time with Yamato 2520 and the promise of Yamato Resurrection. Here we present two of the articles from that issue.
Just before Yamato reached its 20th anniversary in 1994, LB Nakasu Communication magazine published a rare cover story on its impending comeback. Its main feature article was this capsule history of Yamato‘s impact on Japan.
