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Chapter 5 of REBEL 3199 is currently showing in theaters. If you purchase the Blu-ray from the Yamato Crew online shop, you should receive a bonus postcard featuring art by yours truly, something like the image shown here (this is just a rough sketch with placeholder colors). I decided to go for a style that’s heavy on the “boyish” vibe.
Regarding my 2199 manga serialization: even though chapters were published, I rarely hear any feedback or reactions (come to think of it, there’s a feedback form available when it runs, but the editorial department has never actually passed any comments on to me). I’m feeling a bit down about the long gaps between updates, a fault that lies with me, and the fact that my loneliness just seems to deepen, even though I became a manga artist because I wanted to make friends.
Tomorrow is Yamaket. I’ll be performing “forced labor” as a sales slave for KIYO CLUB, so I’d be delighted if you stopped by to say hello. I have a radio show recording to attend, so please forgive me for leaving at 2:00 PM, I won’t be able to stay until the event closes. Glory to Yamaket and the mighty KIYO CLUB!
I’ve submitted the illustrations to be used as assets for Chapter 7 of Yamato 3199. With that, my work on the anime itself is complete. It turned out to be a much longer engagement than I’d expected. I helped out with various things beyond just the monitor graphics.
There were times I got frustrated by the production coordinators’ loose approach or their disregard for design, but working on an anime, gathering everyone’s creativity and wisdom to make a great piece of art, offers a feeling quite different from the solitude of making manga. Even though I was just a minor player, it was an invaluable experience.
Now, I need to buckle down and focus on my manga serialization.
Thank you to everyone who listened to yesterday’s broadcast of Radio Suite: Space Battleship Yamato – The Awakening Arc. Hearing that you enjoyed it is the greatest encouragement for me.
Thanks to your support, a rebroadcast has been confirmed. The broadcast is split into two parts: Parts 1 and 2 air at midnight on the 24th of this month, and Parts 3 and 4 air at midnight on the 31st. If you missed it the first time, I hope you’ll tune in.
The rebroadcast of Radio Suite: Space Battleship Yamato finally begins tonight at midnight! The full four-hour program is split into two broadcasts. This time, we’re airing Parts 1 and 2. Part 2 will be the complete version, running one minute longer than the original broadcast.
[Translator’s note: the image above is a montage parody, adding the 70s “Red Hawk Yamato” model kit from Aoshima. Read all about it here.]
It’s been announced that the Space Battleship Yamato Complete Records Exhibition will be held in Ebina this July, following the run in Hakata during Golden Week. I couldn’t make it to Hakata, so I’d really like to go to Ebina!
I had heard from ATAC that the reissued novelization by Arashi Ishizu would go on sale early in Hakata, but publication was delayed due to various circumstances, so I think it will be ready in time for Ebina.
Osamu Kobayashi seems to be planning to hold a “Yamato Lecture” alongside the exhibition in Ebina, but he’s tearing his hair out because he can’t find a suitable venue.
There are plans to hold the Complete Records Exhibition in one more location before the year is out, so there’s plenty to look forward to!
This is the cover design for a book that appears in Yamato 3199 Chapter 6; since it’s already shown in the trailer, this is not a spoiler.
I came up with this design based on a request from Chief Director Fukui to create the look of a high-ranking official’s memoir or a book written by a politician. However, I aimed to capture the author’s romanticism, or perhaps an abstract quality that still holds the kind of allure found in literary fiction.
I’ve noticed a few posts on Twitter where people praise my Space Battleship Yamato art book while steering others toward Mercari listings to sell it at an inflated price. Please don’t be fooled by the greedy words of such people, it’s readily available on Amazon. If you want an autograph, I’d be happy to sign it for you if you just ask me at events like Comiket or Yamaket.
REBEL 3199 Chapter 6 opens today! I handled various small tasks for it (though I only did the settings for two monitor graphics). There are plenty of highlights in the story, so I hope you enjoy it.
The Yamato community seems to be having a great time gathering together for the release of 3199 Chapter 6, but I never get invited to those kinds of things. It’s lonely. I tend to dwell on gloomy, dark thoughts and can’t really say anything entertaining, so people keep their distance. It’s a result of my own shortcomings.
This won’t spoil the story, but here are the design sheets for the modern-day Japanese TV screens that appear in Yamato 3199 Chapter 6.
I intended for the screens to pay homage to the original Be Forever Yamato. The ruins in the original, things like the number of pyramids or the position of the Statue of Liberty, were a chaotic mess based on Takeshi Shirato’s “made-up” storyboards. So, for this version, I aimed to capture a similar atmosphere while getting the details accurate.
I set it up so that if you simply enlarge the image, it can be used for the actual screen layout. That way, it saves the production team some trouble. Although the shot lasts only a few seconds, the fact that it involves nine separate screens means it requires nine times the effort. I therefore focused on creating a visual layout that was effective without looking like I had cut corners.
Below: finished scenes from Chapter 6
