here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul16\/112a01.JPG\")
\nShip\u2019s Log #14, cover art by<\/em> 2202 Director Nobuyoshi Habara<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nOn March 31, the production decision was announced for <\/em>Space Battleship Yamato 2202, Soldiers of Love. The news quickly spread across the whole country and all<\/em> Yamato fans danced for joy that the rumors of <\/em>Yamato 2202 would become reality. Since then, there have been groundless \u201crumors\u201d about staff participation, and fans have been at the mercy of information tossed around on the internet. This time, we hear words free of disinformation directly from the mouth of Producer Nishizaki\u2026<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> What has been the fan reaction since Space Battleship Yamato 2202, Soldiers of Love<\/em> was officially announced in the last Ship\u2019s Log?<\/em> I imagine it has reached you both by various means.<\/span><\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> The response has been great, but there are a lot of requests for further information. Some came by mail, but personal conversations have become lively, too.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> What kind of questions usually come up?<\/span><\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> Mainly \u201cWho\u2019s in charge of character design?\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s going on with the music?\u201d I think all of the fans were relieved when they were announced this month on the teaser site. There were unfounded \u201crumors\u201d flowing on the internet about whether Mr. Yuuki would participate and it seemed many people were disappointed, but thanks to the timing of the announcement, no one has to wait and be confused by unreliable information any more.<\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> When Mr. Miyagawa\u2019s participation is announced in this magazine, all the fans will be delighted. [Translator\u2019s note: this issue of Ship\u2019s Log<\/em> contained the same Akira Miyagawa message published on the website.]
<\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> Mr. Yuuki\u2019s participation was requested long ago, but he joined the staff a little later than others because of his schedule. That\u2019s why his participation announcement was off-tempo. Because of that, we wanted to tell everyone about it with a new sketch.<\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> As for Mr. Miyagawa, the final decision about his participation was made relatively recently. Since last year I said to him, \u201cWe need to talk in the near future.\u201d We couldn\u2019t get together easily because of our schedules, but I bothered him at home the other day to make the formal request and he consented.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul16\/112a02.JPG\")
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Interviewer:<\/em> You went to ask him directly?<\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> Mr. Furukawa and I and a few other staff members asked him at his home.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> What was it like at the time?<\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> He looked a little surprised at first. It seemed he had heard a rumor in the wind that we were going to ask a different musician and said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think you would come to talk to me.\u201d By my impression, the feeling was more, “It’s about time!” He said that if Yamato 2202<\/em> was made, he wanted to write a lot of new melodies for it.<\/p>\nHe said, \u201cI made music to my own taste for Ark of the Stars<\/em>, so the \u2018training\u2019 is finally over. For the next work I wanted to make something with more originality that built on the good points\u2026and at the time I heard the rumor, I felt disappointed that I couldn\u2019t be in charge. I\u2019m very happy to get this formal request, and I will do my very best.\u201d<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> Has Mr. Miyagawa already read the script for Yamato 2202<\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> He\u2019s reading it now. The feeling I got was an impression of, “With this, we can wrap things up.”<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> Have you given specific requests at this stage?<\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> Because the music of Yamato<\/em> is a very important factor to me, I want to do it with a raw orchestra this time without using electronic instruments such as synthesizers. I want the interaction of an orchestra, recorded in a big studio, and he said, \u201cI had the same idea, I don\u2019t like synthesizers either.\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> I think we\u2019ll hear Mr. Miyagawa himself perform on the pipe organ that all the fans like so much. Since Mr. Fukui (writer) and Mr. Habara (director) were eager for Mr. Miyagawa to participate, I think it will increase the on-site voltage. There was an unfounded rumor on the internet about Mr. Miyagawa\u2019s participation, and because we were able to announce it formally I think all the fans feel relieved.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> What kind of feeling is there about progress of the production?<\/span><\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> It\u2019s proceeding smoothly. The design-related staff hasn\u2019t all been announced yet, but pictures have gone up one by one for those already decided. Everyone is pleased with the mecha and character designs that have appeared. Storyboards are currently in supervision checking, and getting close to OK after reworking. From there the real practical work can begin, so when storyboards are approved we\u2019ll begin full-scale animation work.<\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> Mr. Fukui understands very well how to make a story. The tempo is good and it fits together satisfyingly. When I read the script, there were places where I thought, \u201chuh?\u201d but as the story progressed I thought, \u201cOh, that\u2019s it\u201d and I was convinced. Anyway, it\u2019s good. It builds into what I would call a \u201csturdy\u201d drama. What’s left is for Mr. Fukui to get the tears flowing in the part to be written after. If Mr. Fukui gets fans\u2019 tears to flow, it will be \u201cvictory!\u201d I guess I want to cry more and more. (Laughs) <\/p>\nI think the key to success for Yamato 2202<\/em> will be \u201ccrying\u201d and \u201ccamera work.\u201d I want Director Habara to make pictures with bold camera angles.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul16\/112a03.JPG\")
\nCenterspread: \u201cThree years later\u201d by Yoichi Fukano<\/em><\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> There are plans to make an official announcement in September, so we should be able to say something significant. Chapter 1 is expected to be completed later this year, so we\u2019ll hold various events to liven things up.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> That reminds me, there seems to have been an off-line event for fans at Yakitori Yamato [restaurant] the other day.<\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> Yes, I popped in for a little of it. It may be impossible for a while because I\u2019ll be busy from now on.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> Was Director Habara there, too?<\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> I practically had to drag him out for it, but he signed a ton of autographs and talked to the fans.<\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> Fans asked him a lot of questions of various quality about Yamato 2202<\/em>, but he kept quiet. Both Mr. Fukui and Mr. Habara want you to enjoy being surprised in the theater, so we\u2019re all keeping specific things as secret as possible until the screenings.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> How about the Hollywood version of Yamato<\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\nFurukawa:<\/em> I went to America for a meeting in March with the president of Skydance Productions. The script is done, and there should be a large-scale announcement next summer, including the staff and cast. As for the overseas development of Star Blazers 2199<\/em>, we\u2019ll syndicate it in Italy, Germany, France, and America. We\u2019re talking with a distributor and we want to deploy Star Blazers 2202<\/em> along with 2199<\/em>. If all goes well, we\u2019ll make an effort to deliver a new work of Yamato<\/em> to international fans with very early timing.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em> What about the contributions to society that you asked for last time?<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul16\/112a05.JPG\")
\nBack cover quote: \u201cA new menace dominates space\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nNishizaki:<\/em> It hasn\u2019t been very active. Last time I talked about wanting to \u201cplant trees,\u201d and I think everyone thought I wanted them all to plant a tree. It might be hard to understand it from the term \u201ctree planting,\u201d but what I have in mind is at the level of making a forest. To be exact, it\u2019s \u201creforestation.\u201d Currently it\u2019s a vague dream before the concept stage, but I think it can become realistic if we can get the cooperation of charity organizations, and first we have to look for land for \u201cforestation.\u201d I\u2019m talking to some partners, but land is not easy to find. I\u2019ll continue looking tenaciously.<\/p>\nAfterword:<\/em> To those of you who read Ship\u2019s Log<\/em>, since it will be easier to obtain such information if you happen to work for a local public organization, we ask you to please contact us for discussion. Thanks very much, everyone!<\/span><\/p>\nSpecial 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":[119,123,135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-others-interviews-essays","category-yamato-2202","category-yamato-2202-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21596","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=21596"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21661,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21596\/revisions\/21661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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