February 2015: two months after the premiere of Ark of the Stars, it shifted to net delivery. February continued the general slowdown seen in January, but also brought new product announcements, new online activity, and a major new concert that kept the Yamato spirit high. Here’s a roundup of all the February action. [2 pages]
From Otona Anime magazine, February 2015. In this interview, Producer Mikio Gunji encapsulates Yamato 2199 history with observations about its progression in the media from the premiere in 2012 to the making of Ark of the Stars in 2014.
The Clockwork Prisoner
Garmilloids are the Garmillas’s vanguard. Are the words spoken by the one we captured the truth, or falsehood? Does the answer lie beyond communication between machines? What is a person? What is a machine? And, what is a heart?
By Arthur Painter with Franco Carmona and Tim Eldred. The last story of the original Yamato saga was the biggest, most ambitious one of them all with almost ten years of gravitas. Here we review it scene by scene with observations, trivia, making-of notes, and fan perspectives on the concluding chapter. [4 pages]
March 15, 1983, was the last big day for fans before Final Yamato premiered on the 19th. “Big day” in this case refers to several things happening at once, so that’s where this Time Machine visit begins. Here we cover publications that filled the latter half of the month, including unique magazine coverage from Kinejun.
As the first official Final Yamato publication direct from the home office, this was the most comprehensive one available when the film premiered in March 1983, with slick color images, many new stills and paintings, and extended essays. See it from cover to cover with translations here.
Daniel George recounts his adventures, escapades, capers, japes, and monkeyshines in the second part of his 2014 trek from one end of Japan to the other, leading up to the Ark of the Stars premiere in December. This time, he takes us from Fukuoka to Hiroshima and gorgeous, autumn-colored Kyoto. [3 pages]
January 2015 looked like a well-deserved break compared to December, but it was still a good time to be a fan. New books, models, magazine coverage, the last Yamatalk, and art from both pros and fans made for a memorable month – and news of Ark of the Stars on home video pointed toward the future.
Wish Upon a Star
A trap waits in the skies. Dark clouds gather, and up ahead, a red sun looms. Its mouth is filled with burning fire, and its arms are Hell’s crimson flames. Fire one blast, to break through an inescapable trap, and effect an impossible escape.
As the wait for Final Yamato came down to the last two weeks, the anime magazines hit newsstands just over a week before the premiere, which put them in a real sweet spot. Anticipation would never be higher, and spoilers would never be thicker. It would be the last Yamato coverage for some, so they left nothing out.
