The Bandai Toybox, Part 1

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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The depth of Bandai’s involvement in Yamato goes farther than is immediately apparent, due in most part to their pantheon of sub-groups that have names and specialties of their own. During the golden age of the Yamato production years, the most visible of these was Popy. This article covers their output as a sponsor of Yamato III.

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Games in Outer Space, Part 1

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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Before the Yamato boom of the late 1970s, the closest thing most kids could get to an anime game was a set of Menko cards with TV or manga characters on them. Then anime proved itself a mainstream medium with Yamato leading the way. Here are the games that built the bridge from Menko to Machines…

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Space War Simulation Games

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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In 1981 and ’83, Bandai released two Yamato games unlike any that had come before. Between them, both games gave players the opportunity to recreate all the saga’s major space battles using cardboard chips, a space backdrop, a set of rules, and a pair of dice. See these games in all their boxed-up glory here.

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Yamato III Wave Motion Gun Set by Popy

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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Compared to Popy’s hyper-complex Be Forever Yamato board game, this one was (literally) child’s play, a simple set-up and knock-down exercise with frighteningly huge plastic missiles against helpless rubber enemies. Here’s a detailed look…

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CR Yamato 3 Pachinko Game

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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It’s an unfortunate truth that Yamato III has gotten less attention than the other parts of the saga, so it’s refreshing to occasionally see proof that it hasn’t been forgotten. When this game arrived in 2010, its stunning CG sequences gave us a taste of what should have been.

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Be Forever Yamato Board Game by Popy

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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Turn the roulette to move out into space, and your trip begins! Breathtaking thrills are reproduced in this board game! Who will prevent the extinction of Earth?
So reads the blurb on the box, and it just barely hints at what awaits inside.

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Space Battleship Yamato Pachislo Game

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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Pachinko Slot (Pachislo) is the tricked-out Japanese cousin of the Vegas-style slot machine. The first Yamato Pachislo game was a comparatively simple one released in 2000. Ten years later, Japan’s Yamasa Corporation left that one in the dust with a fully-loaded, state-of-the-art coin muncher.

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Yamato 2 Pachislo Game

Posted on June 22, 2013 by TimEldred

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Pachislo is a variation of pachinko that still uses the spinning numbers of a slot machine. The games themselves are generally impenetrable to those outside Japan, but any chance to relive the battle against the Comet Empire in a fresh way is always a welcome one.

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Peter Fernandez: World Champion

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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by Tim Eldred
Peter Fernandez taught me that real people provided the voices for cartoon characters. Maybe I already knew that, but it didn’t really dawn on me until years later that this was an art, and Peter Fernandez was the artist who brought the lesson home.

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Yamato III Anime Comics

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Here we present every page of the Yamato III anime comics in English, originally published in My Anime magazine from 1981-82. Character names have been changed to match Star Blazers continuity, but the story itself is unaltered. Settle in for The Bolar Wars as you’ve never seen it before!

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Yamato Year 2008

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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New toys, the remastered DVD/model kit box set is released, Yoshinobu Nishizaki re-enters public life, Dessler wine is bottled, the first US performance of the Yamato theme happens in Washington, Dai Yamato Zero Go shudders to an end, and the one-day Leiji Future symposium becomes an annual year-end event. All this and more!

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The Yamato III Time Machine, Part 2

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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This archive picks up with December 1980 and follows all magazine coverage to the end in April 1981. The reduction in episodes was not yet known to magazine editors. They were entirely focused on what was to come, most especially the reunion with Dessler.

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Animage Magazine #28

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Secrets of the Legacy Years, 1984 – 1991

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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If one were to track the history of Yoshinobu Nishizaki and his post-Yamato pursuits solely through Japan’s mainstream media, it wouldn’t look like much of a story. But scanning the pages of the Yamato fan club magazines from 1983 onward reveals a different, much more interesting adventure.

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Yamato Fan Club Magazine index, Part 1

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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A complete index of the fan club magazine’s first 35 issues, from February 1978 to June 1983

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Yamato Fan Club Magazine index, Part 2

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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A complete index of the fan club magazine issues 36-83, from October 1983 to June 1981

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Yamato Fan Club Magazine #4

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Published by Office Academy, June 1978. This issue was fully loaded with the latest news on Farewell to Yamato, which included coverage of the May 24 press conference/fan club meeting, character and mecha art, another Q&A with producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, and more.

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Monumental Yamato

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Cosmo DNA is dedicated to learning about how the saga developed and the effect it had on anime in the years that followed. That’s also the topic of this essay by producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki. It was originally published in 1983 when Yamato was just shy of 10 years old, but time has done nothing to dull its message.

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Analysis of the World of Yamato

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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As years passed and more stories were added to the Yamato pantheon, the context grew larger. The first opportunity to examine it as a whole was taken by Shogakukan Publishing, in a 1983 edition of the This is Animation series. That multi-part text is presented here. [4 pages]

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Dessler’s Story

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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In 1983, some of the first material was published that fleshed out the unseen backstory of the Yamato saga that fans could only speculate about before. For example, if you were dying to know what the cool blue guy was up to while the animation cameras were pointed elsewhere, this is what you’ve been waiting for. [3 pages]

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CD Liner Notes

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Here, writer Yu Hayakawa explains more about Yamato III in his liner notes for the Eternal Edition soundtrack CD.

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OUT Magazine: Music Essay

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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The Bolar Wars: An Introduction

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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by Arthur Painter
Many fans who watch Star Blazers series 3 wonder, “what happened to the original voices?” I’ll do my best to piece this together, starting with the impetus behind the creation of the original Star Blazers series.

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Episode 1 Commentary

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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The Solar System Faces Destruction!
Wildstar is promoted to Captain of the Argo, and his first job is to take a new crew of freshly-trained cadets into the Star Force. Their mission: find a new home for humankind.

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Episode 2 Commentary

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Great Battle in the Milky Way!
A battle between the Bolar and the Galman fleets moves from Planet Berth to an Earth outpost on Alpha Centauri. The Star Force is in the midst of planning its mission when more solar radiation bathes the Earth and disrupts electrical systems all over the planet.

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Episode 3 Commentary

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Argo Sets Sail at Dawn!
Homer has arrived after meeting and falling in love with a girl he met back home. He almost leaves the ship the night before launch, but changes his mind when the same girl arrives and lays his fears to rest. The next morning, Argo launches on its mission.

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Farewell to Yamato Game for PlayStation

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Like the original movie it is based on, the Farewell Playstation game exploded the Yamato universe to new dimensions. Get an overview of the game’s structure and art with plenty of screenshots, along with its many spinoff products.

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Episode 4 Commentary

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Hit Mars!
The Star Force engages in tough training drills as the Argo travels outward through the solar system.

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Episode 5 Commentary

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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SOS! Spaceship Legendra!
The Argo reaches Neptune and makes contact with Captain Ram’s damaged Legendra, flagship of Planet Berth and the only Bolar ship left in the fight with Dagon’s fleet. They escort Ram back into space, and Dagon launches an attack on them both.

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Episode 6 Commentary

Posted on June 21, 2013 by TimEldred

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Great Battle Near Planet 11!
Captain Ram is killed and the Legendra destroyed by Dagon’s fleet. The Star Force turns the tide, but the last enemy ship desperately rams the Argo and boards her, kicking off a hand-to-hand struggle.

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