{"id":1574,"date":"2013-07-01T05:05:57","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T05:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=1574"},"modified":"2025-10-14T11:31:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:31:24","slug":"325","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/325\/","title":{"rendered":"Yamato III<\/em> Bibliography"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Despite the early ending of Yamato III<\/em>, interest remained high and there was still plenty of creativity in the mix. The series concluded in early 1981, but the promise of another movie loomed large in the future, so books published throughout \u201981 and \u201982 still had plenty to talk about. Here is the complete record.<\/p>\n

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As with all the other aspects of Yamato III<\/em>, big plans for big things had to be radically downsized when the Yomiuri network abruptly decided to cut the series down by half. This resulted in less of everything, including books dedicated to the show. Despite this, interest in Yamato<\/em> in general was still high, and there was still plenty of creativity in the mix. The series concluded in early 1981, but the promise of another movie loomed large in the future, so books published throughout ’81 and ’82 still had plenty to talk about. All-Yamato<\/em> compendiums had appeared before, but now there was another TV series to incorporate and another film to speculate about, so a clever publisher could still find a way to put a new face on old content.<\/p>\n

Not included in this bibliography are manga titles and novelizations. Links for them can be found at the end of this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> Toy Book<\/h3>\n

18 pages, approx. 7.5″ x 10.5″
\nKodansha, Feb. 1981<\/em><\/p>\n

This unusual children’s panel book (printed on thick card stock) reviewed the mecha of Yamato<\/em> through photo montages of Bandai model kits and box art, up to and including Be Forever Yamato<\/em>. See it from cover to cover here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Yamato III<\/em> Sonosheet Book<\/h3>\n

18 pages, approx. 7.5″ x 10.5″
\nAsahi Sonorama, 1980<\/em><\/p>\n

This panel book (printed on thick card stock) retold the story of the first TV episode for children, combining simple text with large color stills. “Sonosheet” was Sonorama’s term for a 45rpm flexi-disc of the Yamato<\/em> theme that came with the book.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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Space Battleship Yamato III<\/em>
\n Roman Album No. 43 Deluxe<\/h3>\n

122 pages, 8.25″ x 11.5″ (A4)
\n Tokuma Shoten, June 1981<\/em>
\n TOP TEN PICK<\/em><\/p>\n

Even if books on the third TV series were plentiful (which they were assuredly not), this one would still rise to the top of the ranks, Tokuma Shoten’s fifth Yamato<\/em> edition in the Roman Album series. Another 7 volumes in the series had been released in the 8 months since the Be Forever<\/em> edition, which included their first Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em> movie special (it had a heavier page count and was labeled ‘Extra’ rather than ‘Deluxe’). Tokuma had dropped the Animage<\/em> name from the cover, probably no longer needing the extra boost of recognition by this time.<\/p>\n

The Yamato III<\/em> edition contained a full-color episode guide, highlight scenes, original illustrations, model sheets with character names in English, and production coverage that included substantial data on the original 52-episode outline for the show. Another unique feature was a look at the new ending songs<\/a> with comments from the fans who wrote them. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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Space Battleship Yamato III<\/em>
\n Perfect Memoir No. 17<\/h3>\n

210 pages, approx. 3.75″ x 7.25″
\nLeed Co., July 1981<\/em><\/p>\n

This was Leed’s last contribution to Yamato<\/em>, one of the few books dedicated entirely to the third series. It offered a nice grab-bag of material including character profiles, highlight scenes, an episode guide with a color photostory for the finale, features on Dessler’s history, character & mecha encyclopedia, glossary, and short production notes.<\/td>\n

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Yamato<\/em> Dictionary<\/h3>\n

164 pages, 4″ x 6″ (A6)
\n Tokuma Shoten, Oct. 1982<\/em><\/p>\n

This small-format paperback was a free bonus item in the October 1982 issue of Animage<\/em> magazine, and definitely lived up to its name. The first third was a section of color stills focusing on characters and stories, and the balance was filled with black & white pages that alphabetically explored the entire saga up to and including Yamato III<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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TV Anime Complete Works<\/em> Part 3<\/h3>\n

288 pages, approx. 4″ x 6″ (A6)
\n Akita Shoten, July 1982<\/em><\/p>\n

The third volume in the ongoing series (shown above left) picked up where the second left off in late 1979, covering anime TV programs leading up to mid-’82 which included Yamato III<\/em>. Subsequent volumes carried on this format, concluding with Part 5 in 1986.<\/p>\n

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Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> Perfect Manual 1<\/h3>\n

Roman Album No. 53 Excellent<\/h3>\n

212 pages, 8.25″ x 11.75″ (A4)
\nTokuma Shoten, Dec. 1982<\/em>
\nTOP TEN PICK<\/em><\/p>\n

“Excellent” was a new classification for Roman Albums, indicating another step up in both page count and content. With Final Yamato<\/em> now fast approaching, Tokuma Shoten had limited chances left to ride the Yamato<\/em> bandwagon, and the Perfect Manuals were absolutely their best efforts. The first volume was a welcome do-over of the first three Yamato<\/em> Roman Albums, each of which was still special in their own right but no longer lived up to the standards of 1983. This was particularly true for the first TV series, which got far better and more complete coverage here (84 pages worth) than it did in Roman Album No. 1. This included a full-color story guide and model sheets for each individual episode. Farewell<\/em> spanned 56 pages with an intricate photo-story supported by a large collection of model sheets, which now included many rough designs. Yamato 2<\/em> got a more modest 32 pages, but still nicely augmented material in Roman Album No. 31. The book closed with an extensive character catalog for the entire saga and an extended interview with Yoshinobu Nishizaki (read a translation here<\/a>).\n<\/div>\n

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Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> Perfect Manual 2<\/h3>\n

Roman Album No. 54 Excellent<\/h3>\n

244 pages, 8.25″ x 11.75″ (A4)
\nTokuma Shoten, Dec. 1982<\/em>
\nTOP TEN PICK<\/em><\/p>\n

The second volume picked up right where the first left off, delivering a scene-by-scene photostory for The New Voyage<\/em> that was only rivaled by the Office Academy hardcover book<\/a>, and made up handsomely for the complete lack of a New Voyage<\/em> Roman Album. This was followed by an 8-page Be Forever<\/em> photostory focusing entirely on a single battle scene. 24 pages of model sheets rounded up both films in a single section, then the book moved on to Yamato III<\/em> for 40 pages of material that made an excellent addendum to Roman Album 43. A basic art gallery followed this, then a huge mechanic catalog covering every piece of mecha across the entire saga with everything grouped by culture. The book concluded with a large section on the planning of the original TV series and extensive cast & crew commentaries, which included a special essay by Leiji Matsumoto (read it here<\/a>).\n<\/div>\n

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Animage<\/em> Magazine<\/h3>\n

8.25″ x 11.75″ (A4) Tokuma Shoten, December 1982<\/em><\/p>\n

\nFans were probably never at a loss for “how to enjoy TV Anime,” but this issue of Animage<\/em> grappled with the topic anyway, using it as a year-end examination of everything on the airwaves. Yamato<\/em> wasn’t on TV at the time, but a report on the forthcoming Final Yamato<\/em> earned it another cover with spectacular artwork by Yoshinori Kanada<\/a>. It was also used in slightly altered form on a commemorative poster, shown above right. This would soon be repeated with another Kanada cover in April 1983.<\/p>\n

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Space Battleship Yamato III<\/em> DVD Memorial Box Preservation File<\/h3>\n

48 pages, approx. 5.5″ x 7.5″
\nBandai Visual, May 2001<\/em><\/p>\n

Compiled and written by longtime Yamato<\/em> fan Hideaki Ito, this amazing volume came packaged with the DVD Memorial Box<\/a> for the third TV series and covered a wealth of topics in incredible detail, from the making of the anime to its many forms of merchandising. This book and its companion volumes have provided valuable research for this website, and are highly recommended for serious collectors.<\/p>\n

\nRelated links:<\/p>\n

\nYamato III<\/em> manga<\/a>
\nYamato III<\/em> novelizations<\/a><\/p>\n

\nContinue to the Final Yamato<\/em> bibliography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Bonus<\/h3>\n

Yamato III<\/em> posters included with anime magazines, 1981 & 1983<\/p>\n

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