{"id":34692,"date":"2023-06-29T16:54:37","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T23:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=34692"},"modified":"2024-07-06T17:27:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T00:27:20","slug":"807a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/807a\/","title":{"rendered":"1980 Lookback, mecha designs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-880 alt=\"2307icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/2307icon.JPG\" width=\"216\" height=\"90\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"cosmo-teaser\">From the <em>Star Blazers\/Yamato<\/em> Premium Fan Club magazine, Vol. 15 (October 2022): mecha designers Yasushi Ishizu and Mika Akitaka look back at the progressive year 1980 and share their impressions as fans while also commenting on the evolution of mecha design in the remake era.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><!--noteaser--><\/p>\n<p>From the <em>Star Blazers\/Yamato<\/em> Premium Fan Club magazine, Vol. 15 (October 2022): mecha designers Yasushi Ishizu and Mika Akitaka look back at the progressive year 1980 and share their impressions as fans while also commenting on the evolution of mecha design in the remake era.<\/p>\n<h2><em>Be Forever<\/em> &#038; <em>Yamato III<\/em>: Looking back with the target generation<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jun23\/793a01.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>A conversation with Yasushi Ishizu and Mika Akitaka<\/h3>\n<h2>The 1980 milestone that changed the flow of <em>Yamato<\/em> and mecha<\/h2>\n<p>How did <em>Be Forever<\/em> and <em>Yamato III<\/em>, both of which were released and aired in 1980, influence the mechanics of the series? Mr. Yasushi Ishizu (in charge of Garmillas from <em>2199<\/em>&#8211;<em>2205<\/em>) and Mr. Mika Akitaka (in charge of Dezarium and the Bolar Federation in <em>2205<\/em>), talk about the appeal of <em>Be Forever<\/em> and <em>Yamato III<\/em> from the standpoints of mecha designers.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Yasushi Ishizu profile<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\">Born in Chiba Prefecture. In 1983, he made his debut as a mecha designer on <em>Super Dimension Century Orguss<\/em> in collaboration with Kazutaka Miyatake, Masahiro Chiba, and others. After that, he worked on <em>Macross Do You Remember Love, Dirty Pair<\/em> (TV series, OVA) and others. Currently he works as a freelance mechanical designer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Mika Akitaka profile<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\">Born in Saitama Prefecture. He has been a member of Shindosha [studio] since high school and worked for Takara&#8217;s <em>Dual Magazine<\/em>. He was in charge of the modeling corner for beginners and three-view fold-out posters. After that, he worked as a mechanical designer on <em>Zeta <em>Gundam<\/em><\/em> and other titles. Major works include <em>Silent Mobius, Mobile Battleship Nadesico<\/em>, and many more. Also active as an illustrator.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class='clear'>\n<p><span class=\"image-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a01.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Memories of <em>Be Forever<\/em> are accompanied by fans&#8217; &#8220;box seat shouts&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> I didn&#8217;t actually watch <em>Yamato III<\/em> in real time. I was a student in a dormitory at the time of broadcast, so I didn&#8217;t have a TV in my room. (Laughs) I did see <em>Be Forever<\/em> at the theater. When the person I went with spotted Yoshinori Kanada&#8217;s scenes, he shouted at the screen, KANADA!! (Everyone laughs) I still remember going to see it with those people and being overwhelmed. (Laughs) It was a time when people who were passionate about art were beginning to emerge.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I saw <em>Be Forever<\/em> and <em>Yamato III<\/em> when I was a freshman in high school. The first <em>Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em> was in 1979. <em>Be Forever<\/em> was the following year, so I remember it well.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> So you and I are 3 years apart. I was in my third year of high school when <em>Gundam<\/em> was released. At that time, <em>Yamato<\/em> came first, then <em>Gundam<\/em>, then another <em>Yamato<\/em>, and then another <em>Gundam<\/em>, and so on.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> That was the case at that time. The appearance of <em>Gundam<\/em> did change the color of <em>Yamato<\/em> a bit, but when <em>Yamato<\/em> came out, there was always some kind of action.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Yes, there was. I didn&#8217;t watch the broadcast of <em>Yamato III<\/em>, but I saw the designs. I think I checked them out in anime magazines, so I guess I was still curious about it.<\/p>\n<h3><em>Yamato<\/em> mecha gained more precision in response to the trend of the 80s<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> First of all, please tell us about your impression of <em>Be Forever<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I remember being surprised by Sasha&#8217;s existence. I was like, &#8220;You made her 16 years old?&#8221; (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> I think I was more surprised by the concepts than by the character herself. I was only watching the mecha, so I didn&#8217;t have a strong impression of the characters. (Laughs) I feel that Katsumi Itabashi&#8217;s design line was an extension of various things from the late 70&#8217;s to the 80&#8217;s. I was wondering if he was following in the footsteps of overseas SF artists such as <a href='https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chris_Foss'>Chris Foss<\/a>, whose books were also published in Japan at the time. I was looking at Itabashi-san&#8217;s designs.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a07.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Art by Chris Foss<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a16.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Bolar mecha designs by Katsumi Itabashi<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> In terms of the film itself, <em>Be Forever<\/em> is my favorite <em>Yamato<\/em> film. From the very beginning, the person who made a scene decided, &#8220;Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;m going to do next! How about that?&#8221; It&#8217;s like a roller coaster movie. You can&#8217;t take your eyes off the screen while watching it. If I may say so, for me the drama between the captured Yuki and Ensign Alphon was like getting a break to take a breath. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p>My impression of <em>Be Forever<\/em> is that the action scenes are a series of climaxes. Compared to the previous series, <em>Yamato<\/em>&#8216;s drawings were more precise in <em>Be Forever<\/em>, weren&#8217;t they?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> That was possible because it was made for the theater.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I was very impressed by the new <em>Yamato<\/em> designs. In <em>Be Forever<\/em>, <em>Yamato<\/em> is very sharp. Until then, the drawings had been unstable from work to work. But from <em>Be Forever<\/em> onward, it became more determined. That&#8217;s why I have a deep impression that the drawings in <em>Yamato III<\/em> are also very solid.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a02.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The good old days when the &#8220;3x rule&#8221; was accepted and loved<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In <em>Be Forever<\/em>, a lot of new mecha and equipment for <em>Yamato<\/em> was released. What did you pay attention to?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> <em>Yamato<\/em>&#8216;s equipment is just as we saw in the movie. I was impressed by the explanation of the omnidirectional navigation radar. I didn&#8217;t know it could be done like that. The only other major changes in <em>Yamato<\/em>&#8216;s remodeling were the &#8220;supercharger&#8221; and the addition of the anchor mark and the war stripes.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> From around that time, I started to have a greater sense of &#8220;where is this?&#8221; It was getting bigger. Before that, most of the drawings were just images.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> It was like, &#8220;The size on the diagram and the size of the interior are different!&#8221; The inside of the ship was about three times larger.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Since then, it&#8217;s been called the &#8220;3x rule.&#8221; One famous example is the floor grid of the first bridge, which is 1 meter on a side, and the story goes that it was doubled. Nowadays, we draw in 3D, and what doesn&#8217;t fit doesn&#8217;t fit, so in some cases, we have to lie on the screen. But since <em>2199<\/em>, we&#8217;ve tried to make it look as if it would fit. As I recall, Yutaka Izubuchi also made the design of the bridge smaller, didn&#8217;t he?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Not smaller, but in real scale. We made it by calculating whether it would actually fit or not. We took the opportunity to do that. Knowing how it was thought about in those days, I don&#8217;t know if it was better in the past or now.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a03.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Influence of Yutaka Izubuchi and Katsumi Itabashi<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I&#8217;d like to talk about the mechanics of <em>Yamato III<\/em>. Mr. Ishizu, you didn&#8217;t watch it in real time, did you?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Hideki Oka told me, &#8220;Please watch it!&#8221; So I finally gave it a proper watch. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I bought the DVD box around the time I finished my work on <em>2205<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Once you start watching it, it is quite interesting, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Especially up to the 11th episode. Things start to get a little strange from there. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Was that about the Galman Wolf?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> That came later, from Episode 14 onward.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Looking at it again, I feel that <em>Yamato III<\/em> is strongly influenced by Mr. Izubuchi&#8217;s taste. You see a scientist (Frausky, a technical officer) in it. I asked Mr. Izubuchi, &#8220;Did you design that medal?&#8221; He said, &#8220;Not me.&#8221; Then I wondered who it was. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Akitaka, you watched it in real time back then, didn&#8217;t you?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I watched it, but I don&#8217;t remember most of it. I saw it only once at the time. I thought Kanada-san and his team&#8217;s drawings were amazing. That&#8217;s all I was following.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> When I looked at it again, I realized that the ships were drawn much better than I had expected. Surprisingly, I liked the Twin Three-deck Carrier. (Laughs) I think the organization of the Dagon fleet is fascinating.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I don&#8217;t know about the &#8220;landing on the right and departing on the left&#8221; thing, but it&#8217;s fine.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Looking back, the design was in line with the trends of the time, but it&#8217;s a bit different from the <em>Yamato<\/em> of the past, isn&#8217;t it? Would you say it was a modern style of the time?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Yes. It&#8217;s true that the design of the 60&#8217;s flowed into the design of the late 70&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> The first <em>Yamato<\/em> was a groundbreaking design at the time.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a08.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> In the first Gamilas designs you can feel the influence of the <em>Stingray<\/em> from <em>The Great Undersea War Stingray<\/em> (1964\/UK), and the <em>Black Shark<\/em> from <em>Latitude Zero<\/em> (1969\/Toho). I felt that Itabashi-san&#8217;s work had the taste of overseas SF paintings by Chris Foss and others. The SF boom at that time brought a lot of SF paintings into Japan, and I think that was a big influence.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> <em>Be Forever<\/em> is very much influenced by SF art of the 70s and 80s, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> The same goes for the intermediate supply base and so on. I saw an image similar to that in an illustration at the time. I may be remembering it wrong.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a09.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Mecha created by staff who are &#8220;passionate about <em>Yamato<\/em>&#8220;<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Speaking of <em>Yamato III<\/em>, there is also the now-legendary Battleship <em>Arizona<\/em>, designed by Yutaka Izubuchi.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a04.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> I like the design of the ships, even though those from other nations don&#8217;t appear in many scenes. It&#8217;s interesting that it has the same shape as <em>Yamato<\/em>, but appears as something different. Itabashi&#8217;s Battleship <em>Bismarck<\/em> is also interesting. I think it would have been interesting to see a little more of the various Earth ships. In the end, they only play a minor role.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> The Battleship <em>Novik<\/em> is especially impressive because it&#8217;s a vertical-lift type ship.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> You can&#8217;t help but be curious about it, can you? (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> In <em>Yamato III<\/em>, Domon&#8217;s parents take a ride in the beginning. The &#8220;Solar Sightseeing Boat&#8221; they&#8217;re on is also a vertical-lift type.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> I wonder why that was. At that time, I didn&#8217;t understand the rules for differentiating why they chose a vertical lift-off type.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Could it be because it&#8217;s a private ship?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Maybe.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> They have the technology to control gravity, and are able to break through the atmosphere, but for some reason they chose the vertical ascent type, didn&#8217;t they? That&#8217;s kind of interesting. Another memorable mecha is the &#8220;Hydro Cosmogen Cannon.&#8221; It was quite a shock to see that one.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> The &#8220;new Dessler ship&#8221; that appeared at the end was really big. (Laughs) In the last scene, Dessler comes alongside <em>Yamato<\/em>, and I thought, &#8220;Wow!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> The size is large, but it doesn&#8217;t have much detail compared to <em>Yamato<\/em>. I feel that it looks monotonous.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> I think it was well thought out for that time period. It must have been done by people who were passionate about <em>Yamato<\/em> at that time.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a11.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>If we were to redesign the mecha of <em>Be Forever<\/em> and <em>Yamato III<\/em>&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> As for <em>3199,<\/em> there has been no official announcement by the staff yet, but if you were to redesign the mecha of <em>Be Forever<\/em> and <em>Yamato III<\/em>, what would you like to try?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> This is in a different category, but I&#8217;d like to design the Galman-Garmillas city.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In <em>Yamato III<\/em>, Itabashi&#8217;s design touch was included in the Gamilas team&#8217;s design, wasn&#8217;t it? I&#8217;m very interested in how you&#8217;d handle it.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> In <em>2205<\/em>, both Tamamori-san and I touched on the mecha designed by Itabashi-san. We each have different ways of interpreting Itabashi mecha, so I&#8217;m sure it will be interesting.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> If <em>3199<\/em> includes the story of <em>Yamato III<\/em>, I&#8217;m looking forward to seeing how <em>Arizona<\/em> will turn out.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a10.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> <em>Arizona<\/em> is really loved by old <em>Yamato<\/em> fans, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I think the reason for its popularity is that it&#8217;s evolved from <em>Andromeda<\/em>. At that time, the existence of <em>Andromeda<\/em> had a strong impact.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Tamamori&#8217;s <em>Andromeda<\/em>, when seen from the front, looks like a &#8220;badass&#8221; when seen from the front.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> By the way, Mr. Akitaka, Hideki Oka said that you&#8217;re particular about Bolar.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I heard that Oka-san and Fukui-san said so at a Yamatalk. But what I&#8217;m particular about is the Dark Nebula Empire! So I&#8217;ll correct that here. In short, I definitely want to design the &#8220;Sweep-up Tripod Tank!&#8221; That&#8217;s what I meant. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When I look at the multi-legged tank you designed in <em>2205<\/em>, I can understand how you feel. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a15.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Talking about <em>2205<\/em>, I was allowed to create a lot of strange spaceships. It was fun. I rarely got to draw unarmed Garmillas ships. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Like the &#8220;hospital ship&#8221; that appeared in the original work, for example. At the time of production, I heard that Mr. Ishizu was going to draw a hospital ship, and it was a topic of conversation among the staff.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> The hospital ship left an impression on me, and I really wanted to include it in the film. (Laughs) Come to think of it, the captain&#8217;s seat of Pleiades in <em>2205<\/em> had a great design, didn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Director Yasuda gave me a rough idea for that design, saying, &#8220;I want it to look like this.&#8221; I was like, &#8220;I want to create a visual with this kind of atmosphere for the scene.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> That&#8217;s right.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a12.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><br \/>\n<em>The bridge of the Great Pleiades of the Dezarium Army, led by Deda. A passageway leading to<br \/>\nDeda&#8217;s private quarters can be seen behind his command chair positioned in the center.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Come to think of it, I was originally supposed to design the room where Deda meditates. But in the end, it was only the passage coming out from behind the captain&#8217;s seat.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a05.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> It was cool to see the red ships lined up on the dark screen.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> I don&#8217;t know why, but I have that kind of image in my mind. <a href='https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Xevious'><em>Xevious<\/em><\/a> is another example.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Ah, it might be a generational thing. Was it designated as such?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> When I submitted the image of the bridge from the beginning, I put in specific colors and proposed, &#8220;This is the way I want to do it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> That scene left a strong impression on me. Garmillas, on the other hand, is designed in a straightforward manner. (Laughs) I think it&#8217;s good to have contrast in the work. The newly-emerged &#8220;Dezarium&#8221; should have a different impression from Garmillas.<\/p>\n<h3><em>Yamato<\/em>&#8216;s unique appeal in terms of &#8220;steering scenes&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> How is a Dezarium ship steered? It seemed that no detailed concept had been devised, so I proposed a design that would make it look like there were almost no people on board.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> It is true that there was no depiction of steering a ship. Gamilas ships are properly steered, but I&#8217;m not sure if they&#8217;re steered from a helm. I don&#8217;t really know. I guess there are various ways to move a ship in the original series. It&#8217;s easier to turn if steering is directed from a helm. That&#8217;s all there is to it, after all.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> The ships in <em>Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Die Neue These<\/em> are operated with left and right control sticks. The reason it still works is that there are almost no scenes in which the ship is operated, even in the previous works. Even when you see the commander&#8217;s console.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> The direction of a space battleship is inevitably like that, isn&#8217;t it? It&#8217;s a way of showing the commander.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a13.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><br \/>\n<em>CG layout of <em>Yamato<\/em>&#8216;s first bridge. Since the seats have been removed, it can be confirmed<br \/>\nthat the scale and size of the bridge is considerably reduced from the original version.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> <em>Yamato<\/em> is rather special. The main stage of the story is the first bridge. So, for example, when Shima is operating the helm with all his strength, it creates a sense of tension on the stage.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Indeed. <em>Yamato<\/em>&#8216;s first bridge is well designed. I&#8217;ve never seen such a well-designed setting for a story. <em>Yamato<\/em> was probably the first.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Actually, <em>Yamato<\/em> is the only one.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> In hindsight, bridges in the <em>Star Trek<\/em> series are also well designed, but the first impact was made by <em>Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In the <em>Star Trek<\/em> series, ship operation is done only by operating a panel by hand, avoiding specific expressions.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a06.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> In the case of <em>Enterprise<\/em>, the seating arrangement on the bridge is not directly in front, it&#8217;s about 30 degrees off. The doorways are in the back so a person can be seen entering. The design is derived from the camera angle.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> There aren&#8217;t many scenes of operating a large ship in other visual works. There are only <em>Gundam<\/em>&#8216;s White Base and <em>Nadesico<\/em>&#8216;s mobile battleship. Those are basically like <em>Yamato<\/em>, right?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> It is <em>Yamato<\/em>. Even now, bridge designs are more about mecha design than art in terms of function.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> There aren&#8217;t many artists who are willing to work on mecha design, especially these days. A bridge is a very high-calorie job. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> That&#8217;s right. I did a lot of drawings for <em>2205<\/em>, but&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> In <em>2205<\/em>, the favorite part of the job came after the design was finished&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> There was plenty of work. (Laughs) <em>Czvarke<\/em>&#8216;s cockpit took a lot of work. In that case, I thought it would have been better to prepare CG in advance.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Ishizu was really amazing. Especially his design for the <em>Deusula III.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> I felt like I was drawing endlessly. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> You even added your own special effects, didn&#8217;t you?<\/p>\n<h3>The spirit of, &#8220;It&#8217;s <em>Yamato<\/em>, so that&#8217;s the way it is&#8221; supports the passion for design<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do you use CG in your design work?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> Yes. At the time of <em>2199<\/em>, I only did designs as drawings. I think it was the same with <em>2202<\/em>. Then, for <em>2205<\/em>, they started asking me, &#8220;Can you prepare a pass [flyby] as well?&#8221; It was very difficult to prepare consistent passes and drawings. That&#8217;s why I started to incorporate CG.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> These days, Mr. Ishizu first creates a 3D drawing and then extract lines from there. <em>Deusula III<\/em> was also done in CG from a very early stage.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> That was pretty early. The width of the deck was much narrower when we first made it.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Did you widen it?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> The Dessler gun didn&#8217;t fit. (Laughs) Even if it did, it would be like a thin stick, so I thought it would be difficult if I didn&#8217;t make it wider. It was widened to be about the same as the current aircraft carrier, <em>George Washington.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> So, in the end, both of you are doing very high-calorie work, aren&#8217;t you? Is that because it&#8217;s <em>Yamato<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Akitaka:<\/em><\/span> Yes, that&#8217;s right.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"textBlue\"><em>Ishizu:<\/em><\/span> From the time of <em>2199<\/em>, staff members were all saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s <em>Yamato<\/em>, so that&#8217;s the way it is.&#8221; We all came to that conclusion. I think that&#8217;s how we both ended up here. (Laughs)<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/jul23\/807a14.JPG\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Deusula III, simple 3DCG modeling by Yasushi Ishizu. Blender is used for modeling. The number of polygons is suppressed, so the geometry is rough, but this model was used to arrange the armaments on the deck for size comparison with the Dessler gun. This is reflected in the design drafts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/br><\/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":[17,153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-yamato-2205-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34692","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=34692"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37312,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34692\/revisions\/37312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}