{"id":15736,"date":"2013-09-10T22:50:02","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T05:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=15736"},"modified":"2014-09-13T23:01:16","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T06:01:16","slug":"904","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/904\/","title":{"rendered":"Animage<\/em> #56, February 1983"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Anime Movie New Year Collection 3<\/p>\n

To premiere in mid-March from the Toei system!<\/p>\n

READERS<\/p>\n

To Ms. Fuyuko Minato<\/h3>\n

The Second Message from the Staff<\/h2>\n

This is the second part of the letter series that began in last month’s issue. The staff member who appears this time is Assistant Producer Yasuhito Yamaki. He decided on his present course of work while seeing movies as a college student. In this second message, what impression will Yamaki give as a moviegoer? We’re waiting for everyone’s reply.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was also against Okita’s resurrection, but\u2026<\/h3>\n

Yasuhito Yamaki<\/h2>\n

Assistant Producer (26)<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, well, it was so shocking and confusing, it caused real trouble.<\/p>\n

It was the two-way letter between Ms. Minato and Mr. Yamamoto in the January issue of Animage<\/em>. Anyway, I was first involved with Yamato<\/em> on The New Voyage<\/em> under Producer Nishizaki, and I participated in all subsequent Yamato<\/em>s afterward.<\/p>\n

Looking at the letters from both of them, the productions I was involved with were the results of “complacency” and “hubris”, and so, consequently, were commercial failures.<\/p>\n

As a member of the staff, I want to humbly accept that both people certainly had many correct points. However, as I came to know the works made after The New Voyage<\/em>, regardless of the motivation that they would certainly be commercially viable, I believe that they were never once made with a feeling of “complacency” or “hubris.”<\/p>\n

These were works which Producer Nishizaki and the staff below him, such as directors, poured their heart and soul into, and I think each of them has originality as a work of entertainment.<\/p>\n

However, you don’t get anywhere by looking back on past productions at this point and nitpick one thing or another. (Of course, objective reflection is required\u2026).<\/p>\n

Now, production of The Final Chapter<\/em> is ongoing. As Producer Nishizaki’s assistant, I’d like to give my own reply to Ms. Minato as I write off the top of my head about the theme and the production process, including the writing.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

However, these are just my feelings about The Final Chapter<\/em>, and there may be some differences in how Producer Nishizaki, Director Toshio Masuda, and Chief Director Takeshi Shirato think about it.<\/p>\n

As you already know, the concept for this work is that a huge water planet Aquarius attacks the Earth. This huge mass of water called Aquarius might possibly be the mother planet of space, the source of all life on Earth and the entire galaxy, When the proposal for Aquarius was submitted by Aritsune Toyota in the brainstorming that took place from May 1981, I shuddered involuntarily. The tremendous, romantic scale of space and time\u2026to me, this was an attractive concept that hadn’t been seen in Yamato<\/em> before.<\/p>\n

Originally, Yamato<\/em> was a battle story. It was a story in which aliens were going to invade Earth and destroy it. This time, the enemy is Planet Dengil. Yamato<\/em> fights against them. (Within their history is a concept that is appropriate for The Final Chapter<\/em>, but unfortunately it can’t be divulged until the premiere.)<\/p>\n

However, if they were just the XX aliens from Planet OO, it wouldn’t be an interesting story for Yamato<\/em> to simply defeat them. Producer Nishizaki knows that better than anyone else. In that area, the point has been made that a compelling story has been made for the forthcoming Final Chapter<\/em>. As for that, Yamato<\/em> passes through a huge battle in space, and when the enemy is defeated its duty will be finished. In other words, it is an ending that marks a new era in the galaxy and the universe in which Yamato<\/em> is no longer needed.<\/p>\n

Frequently throughout its battles starting in Part 1, Yamato<\/em> has destroyed planets and galaxies. In the last moments of Yamato<\/em> as this space battleship, human beings as symbolized by Kodai and Yuki (and not limited to Earthlings) step into the next stage.<\/p>\n

Aquarius created all of this (meaning humanity, but it could include belligerent animals as well). Aquarius exists on a grand scale, being both the cause of this affair and its grand conclusion.<\/p>\n

I don’t think there is any concept more appropriate to conclude the Yamato<\/em> series.<\/p>\n

\n
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<\/span><\/p>\n

Mini mini information 1 (left)<\/em><\/p>\n

The route of Yamato<\/em> in The Final Chapter<\/em>.<\/h3>\n

The route map which was decided by the concepts of the primary staff.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/p>\n

Mini Mini information 2 (right)<\/em><\/p>\n

A hint of the status of the two lovers. It is this scene.<\/h3>\n

Takeshi Shirato<\/h3>\n

Storyboards<\/em><\/p>\n

This scene is the hymn of youth with Kodai and Yuki, so to speak. Could it hint at the status of their love in the future?<\/p>\n

Anyway, in these storyboards I wanted to emphasize the “youth” of Kodai and Yuki at the fresh age of the first TV series. It’s also a scene that provides some relief after an intense battle.<\/p>\n

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Text in blue box from page above:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

About the letter of reader Fuyuko Minato<\/h3>\n

This letter was sent in response to a callout that was published in the <\/em>Yamato pages of our November issue. It was written by a reader, Ms. Minato.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Creators must always be driven to a state of unease. “Complacency” and “hubris” are almost synonymous. With each new Yamato<\/em>, the complacency of the creator becomes more apparent. Examples include the lack of depth in villains other than Dessler and the romance pattern of Shima and Teresa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from pointing out the problems of the series, she expressed feelings that are unique to fans.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I intend to wait for as long as it takes. No matter how long, whether it is released next spring or summer, I’ll wait for a true Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> to be made. Until the day Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> takes its real journey. Until then, I will watch Yamato<\/em> sleep at the dock, waiting for its crew.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was published in the December issue of this magazine.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n[Translator’s note: the December issue had a January cover date. Read the article here<\/a>.]\n

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\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

(Yasuhito Yamaki’s text continues)<\/em><\/p>\n

By the way, separate from the ideological premise of such a work, Yamato<\/em> is still an SF action story, and the characters need a rich individuality. Naturally, the central character is Kodai. He is different from the Kodai of Part 1, which mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi decribed as the “most attractive” in the December Animage<\/em>, but Ms. Minato says that he’s young but not too good to be true. He has lost his confidence as the captain, and appears as a sensitive youth who worries that all he has is Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is a presence that watches Kodai warmly. This is Okita. When Producer Nishizaki brought up the plan to revive Okita, most of the staff objected. He clearly died so dramatically in Part 1! If it was done something like in Farewell<\/em> or Yamato III<\/em>, how would the situation turn out for the hero? It would mean lying to the audience. Dissenting opinions appeared one after another. Producer Nishizaki was also considerably worried, but the revival plan was adopted in the end. <\/p>\n

Various captains have appeared before now (including Kodai), but this was based on the regret that we weren’t able to create a character that surpassed Okita, and it was absolutely necessary for the culmination of Kodai’s growth drama. There will probably be many fans of Part 1 who object to it. As I said, even I objected. But if you think of The Final Chapter<\/em> as a work that succeeds Part 1 in a different way than Farewell<\/em>, I think everyone will surely be touched by the three-way character drama of Kodai, Okita, and Yamato<\/em> in the last half-hour.<\/p>\n

Whether it is a “feel-good” story or a work of crass commerciality is for the fans to determine. However, as a staff member of The Final Chapter<\/em>, I definitely think it is the “genuine Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>” that Ms. Minato is waiting for.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Mini mini information 3 (left)<\/em><\/p>\n

Battle scenes like this will be depicted<\/h3>\n

Text in green box from page above:<\/em><\/p>\n

Letter from another reader<\/h3>\n

(Excerpts)<\/p>\n

Thoiugh this brings back Kodai and the others, while I imagine that bringing Okita back to life at this point caused a lot of complaints, there’s something I’d like to say. Juuzo Okita died ten years ago. He risked his life even for 1% remaining hope. With that hope in his hand, he quietly breathed his last in the captain’s room, while looking at the red Earth. With many emotions, all he could say was, “Earth\u2026such good memories\u2026”<\/p>\n

(edit) <\/p>\n

Dialogue and tears that are appropriate for the conclusion of Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> should convey deep emotions, even to people who aren’t fans.<\/p>\n

(edit) <\/p>\n

It taught not only Kodai and the other soldiers, but our young selves too (I was 8 or 9 at the time) how to live like a man, and when we fathers are with our darling sons now, the thing we’re reminded of is what we all watched together. Yamato<\/em>‘s first captain, Juuzo Okita. I think his spirit very much – no, very VERY much – lives in those young soldiers and in ourselves.<\/p>\n

Isn’t that a good thing? Although it has been said that it was a mistake to let Okita die, Farewell<\/em> came about because of that, along with The New Voyage<\/em> and Be Forever<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(edit)<\/p>\n

Anyway, my opinion about The Final Chapter<\/em> is that “the revival of someone like Okita would not be done lightly.”<\/p>\n

Shuichi Koizumi (18), Akita Prefecture<\/em><\/p>\n

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Text in yellow box from page above:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Announcements from “West Cape”<\/h3>\n

A Final Yamato<\/em> news conference has been scheduled for the following places. Tomoko Kuwae, Isao Sasaki, and Yoshinob Nishizaki are scheduled to attend. Come and see it by all means.<\/p>\n

January 29 (Saturday) Sapporo. February 5 (Saturday) Fukuoka. February 11 (Friday) Nagoya. February 12 (Saturday) Osaka<\/p>\n

An “All Night Nippon, Yamato<\/em> Special” will be broadcast on January 15, from 1:00am to 5:00am. The performers will be Kei Tomiyama, Yoko Asagami, Yoshinobu Nishizaki, and other main voice actors. You’ll regret it if you miss it.<\/p>\n

A “Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> film concert\u201d will be held. Refer to page 158 of this magazine for the date and time, and please join us.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Mini mini information 4 (right)<\/em><\/p>\n

Color design of Yuki and the Cosmo Zero will change! “To be more youthful” is the reason.<\/h3>\n

Geki Katsumata<\/h3>\n

Art Director<\/em><\/p>\n

Yuki had grown up too much in the previous works, so I changed her uniform to white to give her a greater feeling of purity. My reflex with the Cosmo Zero was to set it apart from the universal feeling of the mecha.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Mini mini information 5 (left)<\/em><\/p>\n

Drawing of the animation staff members of The Final Chapter<\/em><\/h3>\n

Mr. Udagawa did this drawing of the animation staff.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

The End<\/h3>\n

Return to the Final Yamato<\/em> Time Machine<\/a><\/p>\n

Special thanks to Neil Nadelman for translation support<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15736"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15832,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15736\/revisions\/15832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}