\ntranslated by Tim Eldred<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis scene does not appear in the film:<\/em><\/p>\n \nJirou Shima and his best friend had looked up into the sky together for a long time.<\/p>\n \nYamato<\/em> will come back. Earth will be saved.<\/p>\n \nThey encouraged each other to say it over and over.<\/p>\n \nA year was a long time. Like twigs being stepped on, hearts broke many times and hope was lost with every passing day. Yamato<\/em> was the only hope left.<\/p>\n \nThe dawn sky was a mix of red clouds in empty blackness, which combined into a strange beauty. It was like the still-incandescent Earth of primordial times with the sky resembling a soup of life in a newborn sea.<\/p>\n \nA cloud drifted over. Jirou saw the shape of a cargo vessel break through it and deliver a shaft of sunlight to the ground. The straight lines multiplied hundreds of times, reflecting rays of light onto the pale cheeks of Jirou and his friend. It was the light of morning, the birth of a new day.<\/p>\n \nJirou squinted into the white light, narrowing his eyes as the airframe of the cargo ship came into full view. He couldn’t see into the window at first, but then the crew came into focus, twelve of them lined up. Everyone saluted. Looking up into the atmosphere, they held the salute as they stared into the growing mass of distant light.<\/p>\n \nJiro waved at the ship that shone through breaks in the cloud. His cheeks flushed and he wanted to shout, but his voice trembled and seized in his throat. At the same time, he heard another voice.<\/p>\n \n“Welcome home,” his best friend was shouting.<\/p>\n \nJirou turned back to the sky, breathed deep, and cried out from his heart.<\/p>\n \n“Welcome home, Yamato<\/em>!”<\/p>\n \nHis shouts and those of his friend came in succession. He saw the face of his father inside the ship. His father laughed and waved. Jirou continued to wave back until the ship disappeared behind the cloud once again.<\/p>\n \n“Was that your papa?”<\/p>\n \nJiro confirmed it for his friend, nodding vigorously with shining eyes.<\/p>\n \nThe man pried opened his eyes, loosening the mucous that had held them together. A clamor surrounded him. He’d been lying on the street, and someone stepped carelessly on his right hand. He sprang to his feet, yelping in pain. Everyone was running in the same direction. Thousands of footfalls combined into a vast percussion instrument that shook the underground city. Mystified, the man called out to the running crowd.<\/p>\n \n“What happened?”<\/p>\n \nA grungy, middle-aged woman looked back with a smiling face. He could make out a dirty black tooth. But even through mud and dust, she smiled.<\/p>\n \n“It came back!”<\/p>\n \nThe man blinked. Misunderstanding, he asked again.<\/p>\n \n“What came back?”<\/p>\n \nHer eyes sparkled above her beautiful smile.<\/p>\n \n“Hope!”<\/p>\n This scene appears during the end credits, but without dialogue:<\/em><\/p>\n \n2205 AD. Several years had passed since Earth regained its green. <\/p>\n \nYuki stood on the surface. Life now overflowed here. A crater made a dent in the short grass. The high-pitched cry of a white bird disappeared into the air. Yuki looked up to find it. The sky was blue and clear, seemingly clear enough to see all the way to Iscandar.<\/p>\n \nThe voice of a child could be heard. <\/p>\n \n“Mama.”<\/p>\n \nA smile came to Yuki’s face and she looked back at the child. Tiny hands waved toward Yuki. Smiling back, she thought, “Kodai-kun.”<\/p>\n \nEarth had revived. The child was laughing happily, breathing in pure air and running across the ground. Yuki felt the breath of Susumu Kodai in the wind.<\/p>\n \n“It feels good, Mama!”<\/p>\n \nThe eyes of Yuki’s son were infinitely gentle. She smiled and told him, “This is Earth. The blue world your father defended, that overflows with life.”<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/dec10\/53501.JPG\")
<\/p>\nThe End<\/h3>\n