Yamato Year 2012

Posted on June 30, 2013 by TimEldred

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The Resurrection Director’s Cut kicks off the new year with Yamato 2199 hot on its heels. Series 1 makes its Blu-ray debut, Yamato Crew revives the fan club newsletter, an art book titled Proud of Yamato publishes anime cels, the Sound Almanac CD series opens the vault on all unpublished music, and much more!

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All Yamatos Great and Small

Posted on June 30, 2013 by TimEldred

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In this four-part record, we look at every single real-world rendering of Yamato from smallest to largest. With over 70 of them to examine, there’s plenty to talk about. (Note: the largest is 1/1 scale!)
Part 1: Micro to Miniature | Part 2: Miniature to Midsize
Part 3: Midsize to Mighty | Part 4: Mighty to Massive

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All Things Gamilon

Posted on June 30, 2013 by TimEldred

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Compared with the other villains in the saga, Desslok and the Gamilons weren’t the most powerful or even the best organized. But they endured all the way to the end and their merchandising outstrips that of all others. Here is a complete roundup. [3 pages]

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Star Blazers Chronicles: Westchester Films

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Here we go back to where it all started, with the company that made Star Blazers happen. Westchester Films was the production company run by Mr. Claude S. Hill, the organization that actually went to Japan in 1978 and actually negotiated with Office Academy to bring Space Battleship Yamato to America.

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Star Blazers Chronicles: YamatoCon!

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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By Dave Merrill. For years, we’d seen references and offhand comments about a “YamatoCon” that was held in the Dallas area years earlier. Our crack team of researchers donned their explorer togs, dusted off their pith helmets, and began the harrowing search for enlightenment. Here’s what we found…

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The Star Blazers Chronicles: Anime Fandom Texas Style

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Once upon a time, one of the major anime fandom groups in the United States was based in Dallas, named “Earth Defense Command” after the military organization in Star Blazers, and made up of space battleships devoted to defending the Earth in the late 20th Century. This is their story. By Dave Merrill

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Star Blazers Video Releases

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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For a series that’s been around since 1979, Star Blazers has a comparatively short history on home video, having been released by just two different companies and on two formats, VHS and DVD. See the entire release record here.

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The Bandai Story

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Bandai Character Plastic Model Chronicle is a 2007 book that covers Bandai’s prehistory in 1958 all the way up to the present with many photos of the ‘breakthrough’ kits that pushed the company into the realm of giants. Presented here is a chapter on the Yamato models that made the company an industry leader.

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Yamato Models by Bandai

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Part 10: The Modern Era
Since Bandai began, the technique of designing and producing model kits has been revolutionized again and again. Proof of this can easily be seen by comparing the more recent Yamato kits to those of the production years.

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WCC Animation Comics

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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In the days before home video was commonplace, this was a chance to relive the series on a scene-by-scene basis. Moreover, it was proof that Star Blazers hadn’t been a mere dream. Someone with publishing power knew there was a void to be filled and took steps to do just that. Naturally, it could only have been Yoshinobu Nishizaki.

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Star Blazers Comico Miniseries 1

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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by Fred Kopetz
By the year 1987, Star Blazers had essentially vanished from TV and fans were left wondering if they would ever see its like again. Then, seemingly from nowhere, Comico announced a 4-issue comic book mini-series! How did it work out? Read on.

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Star Blazers Comico Miniseries 2

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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by Fred Kopetz
After the unprecedented success of the first miniseries, a second was commissioned. This series was to be an issue longer than the previous one, and it also racked up great sales and some memorable original characters. However, it also had its own flaws…

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Books in Outer Space

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Not everything in anime publishing began with Yamato, but it was certainly the engine that drove it into the modern age. As the audience grew and expanded, publishers who had previously aimed only at the younger set quickly found themselves designing books for teenagers and adults. Read all about their work here.

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The Argo Press Comic Book Series

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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by Tim Eldred with Bruce Lewis.
A complete history of the Star Blazers comic book series created by Studio Go! and published by Voyager Entertainment. Find out how it practically fell into our laps after someone else turned it down, and read every single issue from cover to cover!

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Echoes of Yamato

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Since its debut, Space Battleship Yamato has come to fill essentially the same niche in Japan as Star Trek in the English-speaking world. legions of anime artists credit Yamato for their career choice, and many of them pay their respects in their own work. Here are some of them for your entertainment.

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Anime Pioneer Noboru Ishiguro, 1938-2012

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Director/Producer Noboru Ishiguro was not only a master craftsman, he was also a true friend to American anime fandom. Fittingly, it took two writers to pay proper tribute; we begin with a biography written by Jonathan Clements and conclude with a personal memoir by Ms. Jan-Scott Frazier that could have been written by no one else.

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Dessler’s War: the Greatest Yamato Story Never Told

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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The name alone catches your eye: an entirely separate side-story to the Yamato saga with Dessler [Desslok] center stage. Unfortunately, it never got past the written word. Fortunately, that written record still exists. Here you can track the rise and fall of the Greatest Yamato Story Never Told.

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Leiji Matsumoto 1978 Essay

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Shortly after the TV premiere of Yamato 2, Matsumoto wrote this essay in which he recounts his memories of growing up the post-World War II years and carries it forward to his work on Yamato, which was now at the peak of its popularity. He also writes about his own father, who was the living model for Captain Okita.

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Leiji Matsumoto 1983 Essay

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Originally published in Yamato Perfect Manual #2, which offered more depth and detail than had been previously published outside Office Academy & West Cape Corporation. The 2nd volume contained extensive staff commentary, including this Matsumoto essay about the making of both Series 1 and Farewell to Yamato.

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The Rise and Fall of Yamato 2520

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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As a pure concept, there was absolutely nothing wrong with 2520, but it turned out to be a sequel in the worst way. But we can examine it on its own merits and see what it had to offer. Would it have won our hearts if its full story had been told, or was it justifiably put out of its misery? Let’s see if we can find out. [2 pages]

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Leiji Matsumoto 1998 Interview

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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This interview captures Leiji Matsumoto in buoyant spirits as he finds himself in an upwardly-mobile career swing after a comparatively quiet period in the late 80s and early 90s. He talks enthusiastically about his time on the first Yamato series and expands on his ideas for a new story.

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Leiji Matsumoto Liner Notes Collection, 1998

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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A 25th anniversary Yamato LD series was reelased in 1998. They included a serialized essay by Matsumoto about his Yamato experiences. This contained the first announcement of his intention to create a new story and his ambitious plans for the next 25 years. The entire essay is presented here.

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Leiji Matsumoto 1999 Interview

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Despite his position at the time of copyright holder for Yamato, Matsumoto was unusually strident in this interview about the nature of his role on the first TV series and makes several claims not seen elsewhere. This interview captures an interesting snapshot-in-time when the situation was still in contention.

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Leiji Matsumoto’s Great Yamato

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Long before the resurrection begain in 2009, Leiji Matsumoto made his own attempt to bring Yamato back to life as part of a grand plan to unify all of his creations. Its title Shin [New] Space Battleship Yamato, but the secondary English name did a better job of setting it apart: Space Battleship Great Yamato.

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Leiji Matsumoto’s Dai Yamato Zero-Go

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Unable to complete his ambitious plans for Great Yamato, Leiji Matsumoto immediately transformed it into a bigger project. What made Dai Yamato different is that it didn’t start out as a manga. It would go straight to animation…by way of your local pachinko parlor.

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Collectibles of the Legacy Years, 1986-2000

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Though some aspects of Yamato merchandising are firmly rooted in the production years, plenty of new and different products began to appear shortly after 1983. In time, the number of items began to equal and then surpass their predecessors in both quantity and quality. This deep and impressive archive begins here.

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Collectibles of the Legacy Years, 2000-2006

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Continuing the archive of merchandising, we find phone cards, watches, the beginning of Leiji Matsumoto exhibitions, lighters, dolls, toys, apparel, and much more.

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Collectibles of the Legacy Years, 2008-2011

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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The archive of merchandising is further expanded with Dessler wine, a Cosmo Zero helmet, electronics, products attached to Yamato Resurrection and the live-action movie, new companies getting on board, a Yamato t-shirt is off to outer space, and the most expensive Yamato collectibles ever made. See them all here.

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Matsumoto Shop

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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While in possession of the Yamato copyright from 1998-2002, Leiji Matsumoto put his name and personal stamp of approval on many products from toys to books to video releases. Here we focus on the Yamato products that directly resulted from his personal touch.

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Mimuko Toys: The End of the Drought

Posted on June 29, 2013 by TimEldred

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Though they no longer exist as a company, Mimuko was instrumental in returning Space Battleship Yamato to toy shelves, and the charge they lead is still underway. They were the first to acquire a Yamato toy license from Bandai Visual in the 1990s and end a dry spell that went all the way back to 1981.

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