![\"1906icon\"](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/1906icon.JPG\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Yamato 2202<\/em> Chapter 7 arrived in theaters, it was accompanied by a final blitz of staff and cast interviews, none more eagerly devoured than those with Writer Harutoshi Fukui and Director Nobuyoshi Habara. Two such interviews were published with the premiere on March 1; one in the Chapter 7 program book and a longer one in Yamato Newspaper 4.<\/em> Both covered similar material in slightly different ways, so both have been combined here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yamato<\/em> finally reaches the end of its long voyage. Yamato 2202<\/em> Chapter 7, New Star Chapter<\/em>, has been released. As representatives of the production side, Director Nobuyoshi Habara (55) and Writer Harutoshi Fukui (50) previously appeared in the first 2202<\/em> newspaper, published in 2017. This time, they shared stories that they are now able to tell, and gave us their thoughts on the final chapter.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The seventh and final chapter has finally been released. Please tell us your current feelings.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s been a long time, hasn\u2019t it? How long have you been going?<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> Three years, since 2017. I thought I would finish earlier.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> There were many things along the way, besides doing the work. They didn\u2019t have a big influence on production, but they made it memorable.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> Well, it was really good to be involved with Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When you say \u201clong,\u201d is it a feeling of density?<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s it. We made it in constant consultation.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> Today\u2019s anime is polarized in terms of \u201cdoes it cost money?\u201d Does it play on TV (for free), do you buy it (on Blu-ray), or go to see it (in a theater)? If a work that costs money isn\u2019t of the highest quality, it\u2019s useless. This work is currently on TV, but it was released in event screenings, so it\u2019s obvious that theatrical quality was required.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> I feel like I worked on it right up to the last minute on the production side, but it was worth the long effort. I gained many skills.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> It was right to the limit, really. I\u2019m still concentrating on the last things in front of me to be finished, so there\u2019s not actually enough room to look back yet. (Laughs) The major difference between Yamato<\/em> and other works is the screening format. There were various theater events, and along with that we had a lot of opportunities to travel. During that time, I was able to talk with Mr. Fukui. That time was important for me. From talking about work to just telling silly stories, it was very important to me to have that time together. We were able to do this because of that.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In terms of the quality of a work, the user always seeks a high hurdle.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> If something needs to clear a high hurdle, I have no choice but to do it. Yamato 2199<\/em> is way up there. There was also the circumstance that the work went slowly and carefully, because it had to be at the same level of quality for the viewers.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Fukui, you have the image of someone who does a lot of coordinating.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> We came up with a lot of ideas in various ways.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019m not one of those who begins with the [finished] screenplay, so what I\u2019m looking for from it is completely different, I guess. Therefore, \u201cWhy do you ask?\u201d means \u201cI want you to sell me on it.\u201d That was easy with Mr. Habara.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> The first thing that surprised me was Mr. Fukui\u2019s proposal book. Everything was foreseen in that plan. The endings of each chapter and the expectations for the next one. When I saw that this was already in a finished state, I thought it was amazing. I was like, \u201cCan we get on this ship together?\u201d and I was grateful to realize that \u201cWe should be able to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Farewell to Yamato<\/em> and Yamato 2<\/em> have a strange relationship, in that they are similar but different. But 2202<\/em> is also different. It\u2019s such an original thing, can you now talk about what its image was at the beginning?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> The time has finally come when I can talk about it. At the stage where it was commissioned, they actually said, \u201cPlease remake Farewell to Yamato<\/em>, but don\u2019t kill the main characters.\u201d I asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t that the image of Yamato 2<\/em>?\u201d but they answered, \u201cPlease do a remake of Farewell.\u201d<\/em> It was a very clever order.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> I can finally talk about this now, that when I first got the order for this job, the request was, \u201cI want you to remake Farewell.<\/em> But please don\u2019t kill the main characters\u2026\u201d I answered, \u201cThat\u2019s Yamato 2<\/em>, right?\u201d But, \u201cI\u2019d like to ask for Farewell.\u201d<\/em> It was a very clever request. (Laughs) From a producer\u2019s point of view, you could tell that it meant, \u201cI want you to remake the passion and tears of Farewell.\u201d<\/em> I was burned by that crazy request. But if I could pull it off, that would be a big deal. (Laughs)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Sort of like Ikkyu-san\u2019s world of, \u201cDon\u2019t cross this line.\u201d [Referring to a historical Zen Buddhist monk.] Fukui:<\/em><\/span> From a producer\u2019s point of view, it\u2019s easy to understand. It means, \u201cIt\u2019s no use remaking something that didn\u2019t sell.\u201d Farewell<\/em> made the audience crazy with passion and all the tears that were shed. They wanted that image, but without killing people. It was that sort of a riddle. <\/p>\n On the other hand, it would be a big deal if I could live up to that. So I thought about a strategy. Yamato<\/em> is a hero ship, so it\u2019s safe to get on board. It\u2019s the same with Ultraman<\/em> and Kamen Rider<\/em>, isn\u2019t it? But right in front of the kids who followed Ultraman<\/em> and Kamen Rider, Farewell<\/em> delivered this story of the hero being torn apart. The safety zone gets more and more destroyed, and is completely stripped away at the end. It makes you ask, \u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n So the main character is torn to pieces at the end, and the sense of loss is taken to a level where it can never be recovered. That was the most important thing. So what was I going to do about that? Clearly, I had to say, \u201cI can\u2019t kill you, Sanada.\u201d So what would I do about that scene of the power reactor blowing up? Well, Saito can be killed, but who else would bring the same sense of loss as Sanada? I had no choice but to create and develop someone who you\u2019d hope would be on board Yamato<\/em> for a long time, and then kill him.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> (Laughs) That would be terrible.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s Keyman. That was the strategy for arousing the emotions. But it wasn\u2019t like we were simply remaking Farewell<\/em>\u2019s feeling of sadness and hopelessness. At the time Farewell<\/em> was a hit among young people, the whole of Japanese society was evolving toward something like a bubble period, the era of change in the 1980s. We followed the global standard at the time, like reaching for the skyscrapers on top of the White Comet Empire. <\/p>\n \u201cAll you have to do is do what we say. The man who has money is everything in this world.\u201d We didn\u2019t want to take part in such a thing. The storyline of Farewell<\/em> is one of people saying, \u201cWe saw important things in the last war, so we can\u2019t just shamelessly go along with this,\u201d and then charging in to repudiate it. The young people of those days somehow took part in that, with everyone telling them to fight the exam wars and graduate from a good university to get into a good company. That\u2019s where Kodai spoke for them at the risk of his own life when he said NO. <\/p>\n For 2202<\/em>, we felt that the audience would center around people in their 40s and 50s rather than just young people. They\u2019re today\u2019s Japanese people who have something to say NO about. I put that into the core of the story, resisting at the risk of their own lives.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> Kodai has a really hard time. He suffers all the way to the finale. When that is conveyed to a viewer, the tears that are shed may be different from those of Farewell<\/em>, but I think they can still flow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What were the highlights for each of you?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> It was the finale, in the end. Actually, I didn\u2019t come up with a proper plot for the last half hour. At first, I didn\u2019t think I could convey it to the staff if it wasn\u2019t in script form. So once I gave the necessary material to [Scriptwriter] Hideki Oka, I left it with him and said, \u201cPlease write everything you want to say!\u201d Then he wrote Sanada\u2019s appeal to the entire humanity of Earth. It was a very rational speech.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It was different from the final one, though.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> The content was very good, but actually at the last minute I decided to let Serizawa say, \u201cI envy you.\u201d I wasn\u2019t certain that Sanada could only speak from logic. So in the finished version I had him stop reading from his prepared manuscript and make a turn to speak from the heart, starting with, \u201cLet me tell you about just one man\u2026\u201d I just wrote it from the heart from there. To be honest, I didn\u2019t know at first if this speech would reach the staff members. But the first reply I got from Mr. Oka was, \u201cI cried!\u201d When I heard that, I felt like I was back in the world.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> It was a convincing ending for someone like me who loves Farewell.<\/em> Moreover, I wonder if it could be seen as an ending to all the Yamato<\/em> works.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> You may not remember this, but before you started on it, you said, \u201cI think the last episode will go down in anime history.\u201d<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> I remember. I trembled when I read the script. I was very convinced that we could make 2202<\/em> lead up to that.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> But it was messy if you just looked at the synopsis, right? He dies, but comes back. (Laughs) Because if I wanted to make you cry, I couldn\u2019t do it with logic. That\u2019s why I think that if you ask if someone remembers Sanada\u2019s speech, it might be the thing that stays in everyone\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> There were many sacrifices in Yamato<\/em> before we got there.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s a cruel way to treat the characters, but it\u2019s also a strategy for shaking the emotions of the viewers. Originally, Yamato<\/em> should have been safe in Farewell<\/em>, but it\u2019s a story where its resources get completely stripped away. It\u2019s a story that takes you out of your safety zone and asks, \u201cWhat would you do?\u201d So in order to create a sense of loss that the audience can\u2019t recover from, it\u2019s necessary to leave some people behind. But with the main characters\u2026clearly, I couldn\u2019t kill Sanada.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> Then the story became how to do that famous scene with Saito.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> So how could we get an impact that\u2019s comparable to Sanada? Therefore I came to the conclusion that I had no choice but to create someone new. I had to create a character that everyone could empathize with and hope you\u2019d all think, \u201cOh I want this guy to be on Yamato<\/em> forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> Isn\u2019t that terrible?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> First of all, in order to evoke a feeling comparable to Farewell<\/em>, you have to strategically assemble the arrangement of story and people. But that alone isn\u2019t enough. It\u2019s no use just remaking that feeling of tragedy. <\/p>\n The reason so many young people sympathized with Farewell<\/em> was because of the society they were going into. As a symbol of overwhelming power and the standard of global values, the White Comet Empire appeared with New York at the top. (Laughs) It\u2019s a story of Kodai fighting against this overwhelming, one-sided sense of values at the risk of his own life. Young people at the time sympathized with that image.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> That part synchronized with the times, didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> When making 2202<\/em>, I thought about the people who would watch a new Yamato<\/em>, and though of course I wanted young people to see it, I thought the audience would surely center around the generation like us, who saw Farewell.<\/em> Rather than just speaking for the youth, I wanted to speak for the core of all the Japanese people who want to say \u201cNO.\u201d Kodai\u2019s suffering is the suffering everyone feels every day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The Kodai of Farewell<\/em> says, \u201cWrong! That\u2019s absolutely wrong!\u201d It\u2019s a denial that can be called a \u201cscream of the soul.\u201d This time, he stands as a spokesman in the final episode\u2026<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> Consequently, he shoulders everything. Because he can\u2019t say NO. We revolve around the side that pushes a global standard. He\u2019s had a terrible experience and has suffered greatly, but it simply can\u2019t be denied. <\/p>\n The thing that gave us the most trouble in the beginning as we adjusted it was the question of, \u201cis Yamato<\/em> a hero thing in the first place?\u201d It certainly has aspects of a hero thing, but there was a shock when it was shown being torn apart before our eyes. We\u2019re all adults this time, and we can\u2019t look up to a hero forever. \u201cLet\u2019s all get on board together.\u201d It\u2019s a feeling like, after we have various experiences, let\u2019s get on board and all say NO together. In the end, this time Yamato<\/em> is something that we all climb aboard.<\/p>\n Kodai\u2019s suffering is everyone\u2019s suffering, every day. That\u2019s what I feel. When I go to a theater, I want to forget my pain and suffering and feel pure. Now, there\u2019s a contradictory thought. (Laughs) But the reason the first Yamato<\/em> and Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em> became popular was that they were something we could all get on board. That\u2019s why I tried to return it to the original place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> Kodai encountered some awful things, didn’t he? He was worried, worried, worried all the way to the end. But one part of it was saved because of that. If that part is conveyed to everyone, more than in Farewell<\/em>, I feel like you can shed tears that are different from those of Farewell.<\/em><\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> The effects of fiction are broadly divided into “Something that can make you forget hard reality” and “Something that can give you food for thought on life,” and I made this based on the conviction that it falls under the latter. But I also understand the feeling of going to the movie theater to forget your daily troubles. If I were to look at why the first Yamato<\/em> was popular, it wasn’t because Yamato<\/em> is a hero everyone looks up to, it’s something that everyone can get on board and sympathize with.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> On the other hand, it was impressive that Farewell<\/em> develops a little differently with Kodai’s denial. “Wrong, that’s absolutely wrong!”<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> As a result, Sanada now carries that part. That’s because you can no longer just say “NO!” You simply can’t deny it. Still, I chose the structure of everyone daring to say “NO!” this time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Director Habara, how did you think about your work?<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> As I\u2019ve said, I tried to use the visuals seen in Farewell<\/em> as a guideline as much as possible. The story had already been made, and I was able to follow it faithfully. My first feeling about it at the outset was, \u201ccan I do it?\u201d It was just so big. But\u2026if I declined, I thought it would be unpleasant to see what someone else would make. If I was asked to take a chance and get on board Yamato<\/em>, I thought it was best to do it even if it killed me. It\u2019s the feeling like when Captain Okita says, \u201cShow your resolve!\u201d<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The Comet Empire has changed its shape into something completely new.<\/p>\n Habara:<\/em><\/span> At first, I intended to follow after Farewell<\/em> and Yamato 2<\/em>, but from the middle the feeling was bigger. \u201cMake something new for everyone to see, I want you to experience a new Yamato<\/em>.\u201d One thing after another began to change rapidly.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> I was going to use the nostalgic part as a hook. When we got into the production there were places where the original story worked well, but as the story progressed I could see that it stopped the flow. It ended up feeling like, \u201cmaybe we shouldn\u2019t be so obsessive about this.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a01.JPG\")
<\/p>\nNEWSPAPER<\/span><\/div>\nFarewell, Soldiers of Love<\/h2>\n
It took a while, but it was worth it<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/feb18\/251a51.JPG\")
\nOn the road for Chapter 4, January 2018<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/dec18\/353a36.JPG\")
\nOn the road for Chapter 6 in November 2018, 35-theater victory achieved!<\/em><\/p>\nThe story of 2202<\/em>\u2019s commission that can now be told<\/h3>\n
PROGRAM BOOK<\/span><\/div>\nNEWSPAPER<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a03.JPG\")
<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a04.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a05.JPG\")
<\/span><\/p>\nPROGRAM BOOK<\/span><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a06.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a07.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a08.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a09.JPG\")
<\/span><\/p>\nNEWSPAPER<\/span><\/div>\nKodai\u2019s suffering speaks for everyone\u2019s suffering<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a10.JPG\")
<\/span><\/p>\nPROGRAM BOOK<\/span><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a02.JPG\")
<\/p>\nNEWSPAPER<\/span><\/div>\nNew interpretations added and spun in 2202<\/em><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun19\/396a19.JPG\")
<\/p>\n