I Love Anime! From Yamato to Gundam is a unique book that provides an in-depth examination of how anime and anime fandom evolved during the 1970s. Presented here are the sections devoted to Yamato, including the release of the first movie. Together they provide an insider’s view of a fascinating time in anime history.
To most fans, Sasha and Trelaina were classic characters in their favorite anime. But to another group, they were the titles of APAs produced right here in the USA by American fans who wanted to expand the Star Blazers experience beyond their TV screens. Fred Kopetz examines them and much more here.
Superfan Andrea Controzzi writes about the arrival of anime in his home country, the impact of Star Blazers, the evolution of Italian fandom, and his own personal experience as a fan meeting a living legend.
OUT magazine played a crucial role in bringing the Yamato phenomenon to critical mass by bringing fans out of private clubs and into the professional publishing world. This article examines the history of the magazine and everything the fans did with its pages in the game-changing summer of 1977.
In 1983, a special book published by Animec gave a detailed overview of the first TV series, which included the only known published interview with those who ran the best-known private Yamato fan clubs of the 1970s. The interview took the form of a round table discussion and is presented here in full.
Without the fans, Space Battleship Yamato would never have made it. It is no exaggeration to say that most of what we now take for granted in the diverse world of anime media can be traced back to the actions of these fans, whose only wish was to keep Yamato alive. Their first step was simply to be born at the right time.
The second part of Yamato fan history, covering the evolution from fandom to professional publishing via OUT magazine, which played a crucial role in the success of Yamato‘s return in 1977 and laid the foundation for anime fandom as we know it today. It could only have happened once, and we’re extremely lucky that it did.
For the sake of collectors everywhere, here is a concise index of all Yamato music releases, up to and including the Sound Almanac series in 2014. Each entry contains a link to further information about each one.
“Tama” achieved international recognition with his phenomenal concept art, which updated Yamato for modern tastes without losing any of the original magic. To no one’s surprise, his work as a fan earned him the post of mecha designer on Yamato 2199. This interview was conducted in December 2011 and January 2012.
As 2199 first began to unfold in 2012, Mr. Tamamori found himself in high demand for media interviews, and earned the rare distinction of appearing simultaneously in the July 2012 issues of Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby magazines. Read both interviews and see extensive mecha design art here.
Published March 2013, this magazine included a 12-page article on Yamato 2199 that reviews the basics of the story and includes an interview with mecha designer Junichiro Tamamori.
An introduction to the game by its creator, Keith Johannsen. If you’ve ever wanted to relive the exciting space battles in Star Blazers or Space Battleship Yamato or make them happen a little differently or pit one side against another who never met them in the anime, here’s your chance to do it!
In October 2011, composer Akira Miyagawa was interviewed by Sean Robbins, producer and host of The J-Pop Exchange website. Sean graciously offered us the entire text of that interview for reprint here. So without further ado, we bring you the words of a musician named Miyagawa who is thankfully still among the living.
From the 2199 Chapter 4 program book. Composer Akira Miyagawa talks about growing up in the shadow of his famous father as a fan of Yamato, the beginning of his own musical career, and the requirements of reviving the original score for a new era.
When one considers the gameplay possibilities Yamato offers, typing doesn’t immediately spring to mind, which makes these games worth investigating. This one followed the major events of the Yamato 2, with original animation clips and CG cutscenes that were state of the art at the time of release.
The comparative lack of resources meant there would be far fewer Star Blazers than Yamato games, but since most of a tactical role-playing game happens inside one’s head, only a little extra effort was needed to ground it in the real world. And as always, the results are both a surprise and a delight…
In February 2009, this pachinko game exploded on the scene in Japan, tricked out with all sorts of gimmicks. Twists and turns could take you into the Farewell to Yamato continuity, and the new CG animation was some of the best ever seen in the saga, setting a high bar for all the productions to follow.
An entire generation of Japanese artists and writers grew up on Yamato, and some daydreamed of one day remaking their favorite story for a new audience. One of those few who actually got to do it was Producer Hisaya Yabusaki, who oversaw the production of all the Yamato games for Sony Playstation.
As the parent company of the Yamato Playstation games, Bandai published this round-table discussion with five key members of the production staff, all of whom were on board for the entire Playstation lineup.
As a charter member of Studio Nue, Kazutaka Miyatake was one of just three artists who designed Yamato herself inside and out. When the time came to adapt the mecha into the Playstation environment, there was no one more qualified than Miyatake to do the job. He discusses his entire body of work here.
Keisuke Masunaga redefined the Leiji Matsumoto style for a new generation through various anime projects in the 1990s. This put him in an ideal position to bring the same magic to the Yamato Playstation games, as he describes in these highlights from a May, 2000 interview.
