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Day 5: Sunday, July 21<\/h2>\n
Holy Floorislava it’s hot here.<\/p>\n
Today I\u2019ll take a trip within a trip within a trip. I check out of the hotel before 10am, leave the luggage, and mobilize to catch a train for Hyogo. It\u2019s about half an hour to the west and something special is waiting there.<\/p>\n
As soon as I step outside, July slaps me hard across the face again. But after yesterday\u2019s experience, I know to seek shelter in the underground mall and get all the way to Osaka station without taking a beating from above. Signage in Osaka station is full of English, but it\u2019s not entirely clear which train I\u2019m supposed to take. I initially pick the wrong one, and it takes a few stops to realize things don\u2019t match the instructions I wrote for myself. But since the train route is posted with English station names, I can backtrack and course correct without too much delay. Thank Gob our grandfathers ordered the train system to be subtitled, or I don\u2019t know where I would have ended up.<\/p>\n
Once I get on the correct train, I figure out a combo move between rapid and local lines (earning myself a Train Fu merit badge) and make it to Nada station in Hyogo with plenty of time on the clock. Why am I going to Hyogo? Because the Hyogo Prefectural Art Museum is the home of an exhibition for one of my favorite artists: Yasuhiko Yoshikazu. <\/p>\n
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Longtime Yamato<\/em> fans will grok. \u201cYas\u201d was a journeyman storyboard artist on several of the Series 1 episodes, all of Farewell to Yamato<\/em>, and a few other bits and pieces. But that\u2019s just one facet of an enormous career; he was instrumental as a designer and director on Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>, many other anime film & TV classics of the 1980s, and one of the most respected manga artists on the planet. There\u2019s an enormous Yas influence on my own storyboard and comics work. I want to be him when I grow up.<\/p>\n The art museum is less than a ten minute walk from the train station (you can see one from the other), and the route is lined with trees, so cicadas buzz at me the whole way. The sound of summer (hear it for yourself here<\/a>). <\/p>\n As the museum looms up ahead, I get an unbelievable surprise. Maybe the best one of the entire trip. Not ONLY are they hosting the Yas show, they have a second one that I would gladly have come to see all by itself: the 40th Anniversary Fist of the North Star<\/em> exhibition. It\u2019s like they heard about all the trouble I had yesterday morning and whipped this up as an apology. ACCEPTED.<\/p>\n I came for Yas, so I go there first. My feet are on fire the whole time, but the AC is on full, so the pain stops at my ankles. There\u2019s an English introduction at the start, but nothing more inside. But no matter. I\u2019ve followed his career long enough to identify everything. And what a wealth of material! It starts with some of his very earliest manga (original handmade stuff from his teen years, already very accomplished) and presents everything pretty much in chrono order. There is an individual space devoted to each of his major projects, with Yamato<\/em> close to the start.<\/p>\n I know at least one piece I would get to see with my own eyes, his original sketch for the \u201978 Farewell<\/em> movie poster (since it was published in a magazine). But what really knocks me out is something nobody announced: a deleted scene (in storyboard form) depicting Dessler talking his officers through a strategy for conquering the galaxy, standing in what looks like a 3D holo-room. Needless to say, we didn\u2019t see this on TV.<\/p>\n Get a look at the whole storyboard here<\/a><\/p>\n After that, the hits keep coming. Storyboards, character designs, color paintings, and more. All the originals, pulled directly from his archives, that we\u2019ve seen endlessly on posters, book covers, and more. Gundam. Zeta Gundam. Crusher Joe. Arion. Venus Wars.<\/em> Proposals for projects that never got backing. Various manga projects that came and went. <\/p>\n My favorite part is the room devoted to Giant Gorg<\/em><\/a>, which Yas created and animated practically by himself. It\u2019s one of my all-time top ten favorites, and I love being in a room where I know everyone around me is thinking about Gorg<\/em> along with me. (This almost never happens.)<\/p>\n The latter half covers his historical manga projects, and tons of original pages are there to soak up. So much texture and life and energy. Every brush stroke so perfectly placed it makes me awestruck and angry at the same time.<\/p>\n At one point, you can take a breather in a \u201cmessage board\u201d space and leave a post-it for the man himself. I thank him for showing me what I should be. <\/p>\n The final display piece is a gorgeous commemorative painting with a host of his characters, and a video showing him painting it.<\/p>\n As I hoped, the exhibit finishes in a Yas-themed gift shop where you can carry out both an exhibition catalog and all the Yas merch your wallet can handle. There\u2019s lots of fluff nobody actually needs (including me), but I enjoy the fact that little Yas finger puppets will be here to commemorate the great one for as long as they last.<\/p>\n And now, a couple hours after arriving, I travel to the year 199X. The Fist<\/em> exhibit is much more lurid and flashy with original manga pages mounted against floor-to-ceiling wall displays covered with massive versions of key panels. They didn\u2019t put up every single page, but you get to see all the greatest moments from Chapter 1 through the final battle with Roah. (Nothing from the later stories, though.) Unlike the Yas exhibit, you\u2019re encouraged to take photos from end to end, so you bet I did.<\/p>\n See a bunch of ’em here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Adding to the experience is an occasional diorama display or life-size character statue. There are also photo ops where you can punch Heart in the stomach or sit on Sauzer\u2019s throne. There\u2019s an occasional nod to the anime and classic merch. I wish there was more of that, because the anime never seems to get its due in legacy media. But I sure can\u2019t complain when Raoh himself is waiting at the exit, his fist in the air with no regrets.<\/p>\n Of course, right outside is a Fist of the North Store<\/em> (hardy har har) with all the Fist<\/em> merch you never wanted. From face towels to medallions to keychains and on up the line to hyper-expensive art prints. (The most expensive one, costing north of $10,000, was sold out. See it at lower left. I\u2019m thinking it was one of a kind.) I like looking at all of it, but the only things I leave with are some clear files with a cool metallic backing that bring the paintings to life.<\/p>\n The plan after this was to follow Daniel George\u2019s advice and get a genuine kobe beef lunch at a specific steakhouse on the way back to Osaka, but I\u2019m leaving the museum at 2pm and they take last orders at 2:30. No way will I get there in time. But kobe beef will be around a while. Fist of the North Star<\/em> only turns 40 once.<\/p>\n My luggage awaits retrieval at the Via Inn hotel, so I use my Train Fu to get back there in about half an hour, enjoy some conveyor belt sushi in the underground mall, take one more spin through Mandarake Umeda to make sure I didn\u2019t miss anything (nope), then begin the multi-step process of getting back to Tokyo where the rest of the Yamatour awaits. <\/p>\n Along the way, I learn a little more about what they\u2019re calling a \u201ccrowdstrike.\u201d Apparently a bunch of Windows PCs didn\u2019t update correctly and a mess of US-based airlines got knocked offline. Hopefully while on the ground. No idea what awaits me three days from now when I\u2019m meant to fly home, but having to spend a little more time in Japan with a new Yamato<\/em> movie in theaters isn\u2019t the worst thing I can imagine.<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n Great Googolplex it’s hot here.<\/p>\n Like the heat you feel on your skin when you\u2019re standing too close to a campfire. But you can\u2019t back away from it. I told myself back in August of 2007 (trip one) that I would never do it again in the height of summer. And then they had to go and announce REBEL 3199<\/em> Chapter 1 in July. What was I gonna do, NOT go?<\/p>\n I keep telling myself that as I trudge around in Shinjuku this morning, already feeling like I\u2019ve done my half hour daily run in the first three minutes. But there\u2019s no relief until I find two Book Off stores, investigate the local Kinokuniya, and get onto a train for a lunch date. I\u2019ve given myself 90 minutes to do it all, and that turns out to be exactly enough.<\/p>\n The Book Off stores are bereft of anything that catches my eye. They sure were treasure troves back in 2019 when I first thought of hunting them down, but that was then. It\u2019s sort of been feeling like that at the Mandarake stores, too. Not because tourists are grabbing everything I\u2019m looking for. In fact, my tastes are so eclectic these days I can\u2019t imagine anyone else wanting the stuff I go after. Rather, I suspect there\u2019s a simpler reason: these are second-hand shops, and these days it\u2019s just easier to sell your castoffs through auction sites or whatever. So the supply chain that used to fill the shelves of these stores is probably a lot thinner. That\u2019s my theory, anyway.<\/p>\n After I\u2019m done dragging my boiling carcass through Shinjuku, I jump on a train to Ogikubo station, a place I haven\u2019t been before. Waiting there is my lunch date.<\/p>\n A couple days after I landed and started posting updates on Facebook, I got a message from my friend Rina Lee saying we needed to get together. She did this on an earlier trip, too. We first met back in spring 2012, when I was in the good graces of the Yamato<\/em> head office and they set up a series of interviews for me. Rina was brought on board as my translator, and we\u2019ve kept in touch ever since. We both got on particularly well with Noboyushi Habara, who at the time was directing two episodes of Yamato 2199<\/em>. Later, of course, he would be promoted to supervise Yamato 2202<\/em>. (Revisit Yamatour 2012 for that adventure here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n I was no longer connected to the head office after that trip, but Habara-san and Rina and I got together just about every time I went back and it became kind of a tradition. She was game to keep it going this time, and before I knew it she looped in Habara-san as well. He invited us to lunch in Ogikubo, just a few minutes walk from his office at Bandai Namco. And here we all are again! Three friends brought together and reunited by Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> for our hello message.<\/p>\n The location of our lunch date was a big surprise; Rina only told me that Habara thought I would like it, and he was right. Inazuma Cafe is kinda cramped and has some rough edges. But it also has something that sets it apart from every other cafe on Earth; it’s a favored hangout of manga artists great and small, and they’ve decorated it over the years with original art. The food is okay, but the art gallery experience is unmatched. Click here<\/a> to see all my photos from Inazuma Cafe.<\/p>\n Our previous meetups produced interviews for Cosmo DNA<\/em> which can still be read elsewhere in the Yamatour section. Since then, we\u2019ve just been catching up as friends do. Habara-san and I are in the same business (directing cartoons) and he\u2019s only two years older than I am. Even though we grew up on opposite sides of the planet, Yamato<\/em> unites us. Rina isn\u2019t nearly as versed in it, but she wants to be a voice actor so she stays in touch with industry folk like him.<\/p>\n They’re both pleased to hear that (A) I\u2019m getting married in a couple months and (B) a grandson was added to my family since we last saw each other in 2019. Said grandson is already a Yamato<\/em> fan (thanks to me) and has already taught himself to sing the Japanese theme song phonetically. As luck would have it, I\u2019ve got some photos and video clips of him on my phone playing with Yamato<\/em> toys and of course Habara recognizes them right away.<\/p>\n In June a retirement party was thrown for him (he\u2019s 61), but I\u2019ve learned since then that he\u2019s still actually working. So the first question I have for him is, \u201cwhaddupwidat\u201d? He clarifies that he just retired from being the CEO of his studio. Formerly Xebec, now Sunrise Beyond. He is still active as a director, but now it\u2019s on a freelance basis. He has a desk at Bandai Namco where he sort of fell into directing another TV series.<\/p>\n I know exactly what he means by \u201cfell into,\u201d because the same thing happened to me at this start of this year. I was hired to draw storyboards for a series going to SHOWMAX and the needs were so great at the director level that they quickly promoted me to a position where I could oversee production of the entire season. That\u2019s exactly how I became a director in the first place back in 1997; animated TV shows are extremely complex trains that want to go off the rails if you don\u2019t put the right conductors on board. Habara and I are two such conductors.<\/p>\n Most of our conversation is about how we\u2019re coping with various worldly challenges, and I fill them on my battles against hotel yokai. At one point, though, I think to ask a question that just pops into my head: has anyone ever discovered the site of the original Academy Studio, where Yamato<\/em> Series 1 was made? All I know for sure is what district it was in (Sakuradai). It would be cool to actually go there, even if it looks nothing like it used to.<\/p>\n Habara tells me the one person who might know is his co-director on 2202<\/em>, Makoto Kobayashi. I ask him if they\u2019re still communicating, and he sort of sighs and says, \u201cnot for a long time.\u201d I sense there\u2019s something behind that sigh, but don\u2019t want to push on it. In fact, I would get an explanation the next day, so stay tuned.<\/p>\n He needs to get back to work, so we walk him there and I get to stand inside the lobby of Bandai Namco for a few minutes. This is probably as close as I\u2019ll ever get to the dream factory where so much incredible stuff comes from. But it\u2019s closer than I got yesterday.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about 2pm when we part, and now I can get my teeth into things. It will be the last day of the trip I get to run in any direction for as long as I want. I haven\u2019t been down to Shibuya yet, where my favorite Mandarake store is, so that\u2019s where I start. If I were to equate the major neighborhoods of Tokyo to American landmarks, Shibuya would be Times Square; an enormous number of people (highest percentage of tourists, easily) and outdoor electronics vying for your attention wherever you look. Don\u2019t go there in search of tranquility.<\/p>\n The store is still there, several flights down into the Earth. Of course, I\u2019m hoping to strike something from my vintage magazine shopping list, but no dice. Instead, I find something I didn\u2019t expect, which is also fun: a large collection of Model Information<\/em>, a monthly 100-yen-per-issue hobby magazine from Bandai. They run from 1985-1987 and cover all the high-end robot anime of those days with very cool cover art, and they\u2019re dirt cheap. About $30 American for 13 issues. There\u2019s no time to open these things up and look through them before I fly home, so the fun part is always deferred. But anticipation is our favorite emotion, so I\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n Before leaving, I remember that there\u2019s a classic manga I\u2019d like to look for while I\u2019m here. It wasn\u2019t available in Osaka, but stock is deeper in Tokyo. Sure, I could just buy it online from Amazon, but where\u2019s the fun in that? I\u2019d rather hunt it down and carry it home than just wait for it to show up in the mail. The manga is titled Pilot Ace<\/em>. I have a photo of the 3 volumes on ArtValt<\/em>, so I pull that up and show it to someone. \u201cKore manga, arimas\u2019ka?\u201d She calls the expert over (who looks like a grizzled but loveable manga prospector) and I show him the photo.<\/p>\n \u201cPilot Ace<\/em>. Ohhhh, cool manga!\u201d Delighted to have validation, I follow him over to a shelf where it might be, but it isn\u2019t. I say to him, \u201cTabun (maybe). . . Nakano Broadway?\u201d And he nods enthusiastically. So I know where I\u2019m going next. <\/p>\n Side quest:<\/em> there\u2019s a sad moment on my way out of Shibuya; two trips ago, I discovered a killer record store (Recofan) in the same building as the Mandarake. It was a treasure trove of unexpected releases. But now it\u2019s gone. Replaced by some teeny-bopper hangout club. Thanks a lot, internet. Sometimes you suck.<\/p>\n (UPDATE: I investigated this after getting home and discovered that, while Recofan was forced by Covid to close, it re-opened later at a different location in Shibuya. Next time…!)<\/p>\n Occasionally, locals will express amazement when I tell them how many things I\u2019ve done in a single day here, zooming around from one neighborhood to another. Pretty simple, really; I store all the energy up for months or years and then expend it in a single week. If you live here, however, there\u2019s no deadline or urgency. All the things I want to see and do before sundown are easily accessible and I\u2019m on vacation. Spontaneity is the whole point.<\/p>\n But as an L.A. resident, I do understand the viewpoint of the locals. When you\u2019re surrounded by attractions all the time, there\u2019s no particular urgency to take in any of them. It’s been years since I visited the beach, for example. Besides, it\u2019s more than an hour to get there by car, which is more time than I can usually spare. So I totally get how you could live in Tokyo and only go to Mandarake stores once in a while. When I\u2019m in go-go-go mode here, I do more in a day than I\u2019d usually do in a month. It\u2019s all a matter of where you live.<\/p>\n I soon reach Nakano Broadway and head right for the manga specialty branch of Mandarake. I ask the cashier for Pilot Ace<\/em> and he calls over a non-cashier who looks it up in their database. Unlike previous attempts, he doesn\u2019t immediately cross his fingers in front of me (the international symbol for \u201cnope\u201d). This looks promising. It takes a little searching around, but the shelf is located and there they are; all three volumes, no waiting.<\/p>\n I take them back to the cashier and say \u201cjackpot!\u201d Evidently that word is known here, because he giggles. Always fun to make a Japanese person giggle.<\/p>\n What\u2019s so cool and special about Pilot Ace?<\/em> It was published in the early 60s, and if you\u2019re an otaku of a certain age, it will look very familiar. It was created by Tatsuo Yoshoda, who went on to invent Mach GoGoGo (Speed Racer)<\/em>. In fact, Pilot Ace<\/em> was the prototype for the first anime many of us loyally watched on American TV. Yoshida threw a new coat of paint on it and gave us a classic. (Read more about it here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The afternoon is wearing on at this point, and I have one more stop to make now that I\u2019ve done my first sweep of every store on my target list. It\u2019s time for the second sweep where I pick up the \u201cmaybe\u201d items I left behind. This begins with a return trip to Jimbocho, the used bookstore district. Braving the heat again (it\u2019s a 10-minute walk from the closest JR station), I return to Vintage<\/em>, the magazine specialty shop where I found back issues of SCREEN<\/em> from 1980. Looking through them and doing some quick research showed me that I should get a couple more, and they happen to be in stock. Lucky me.<\/p>\n Next, I step back into my favorite record store there. I realize that it\u2019s become even more special now after losing the one in Shibuya. I previously came by on Thursday and identified some candidates for ownership; now I will own them. The first item is something I didn\u2019t know existed before Thursday. It\u2019s a 3-LP \u201cdrama record\u201d set for Photon Space Sailor Odin<\/em>, Yoshinobu Nishizaki\u2019s notorious followup to Yamato<\/em>. It\u2019s so notorious I\u2019m collecting all the stuff that comes to my attention. After all, the Vintage Report series will get to 1985 eventually. <\/p>\n Then I do a hail mary pass. I\u2019ve been watching a fair amount of late 70s\/early 80s super robot over the last year to fill in some gaps in my knowledge. I\u2019ve found them mostly terrible, but holding out hope that I\u2019ll find a good one. Dangard A, Voltes V, Goshogun<\/em>, and Braiger<\/em> all flunked out. Next on my list is Godmars<\/em>. It was unusually popular in its time and had a long run of episodes followed by a movie, so there must be something to it. With that in mind, I take a chance and pick up all the Godmars<\/em> soundtrack albums in one go. Even if the show turns out to be mediocre, I won\u2019t get a chance like this again, especially with the yen this cheap. So they’re coming home with me. Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s the dinner hour and since there\u2019s no specific agenda or meetup (what a relief), I\u2019m thinking this is where I get in my third viewing of REBEL 3199<\/em> Chapter 1. I trudge through the frying pan of Kabukicho, drop the bags onto the growing mountain in my hotel room, and trudge back to the Shinjuku Piccadilly. When I get there, I realized I got the showtimes wrong, mixing AM with PM. Not gonna happen tonight.<\/p>\n I check out the level of remaining 3199<\/em> merch, and it is even more picked over than it was this morning. It\u2019s only been four days, but they\u2019re down to less than half. They may restock for the coming weekend, but I\u2019ll be long gone by then. One of the items I got on day 1 was the PC case. As promised, it\u2019s a perfect fit for my laptop, but the Yamato<\/em> label on the front turns out to be kind of a cheap applique that starts peeling off as soon as something brushes it. Eventually, it will look like hell and I\u2019ll regret not having a fresh one to replace it. The last time I checked, they were down to three. Now it\u2019s just one. So I take this as a sign and snap it up. I will soon be back.<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n Dave, Mary, and Buddha it’s hot here.<\/p>\n I\u2019m back. The first REBEL 3199<\/em> screening of the day happens at 8:35am, and I\u2019m there for it. I was originally going to do something else this morning, but plans shifted. And now my day will start with my best viewing so far of the movie. <\/p>\n Viewing 1 was too full of surprises to catch everything. Viewing 2 was from a bad angle and I was exhausted. But now I\u2019m at prime intake capacity, and my attention is rewarded with a lot of background detail I didn\u2019t see the first time.<\/p>\n For example, there\u2019s a recovery operation still happening in the Saturn zone. The planet is still a big discorporated gas cloud after the Gatlantis war, and efforts to restore it are underway. After presumably salvaging Gatlantis wrecks, Earth now has \u201ctelecasting\u201d technology like the Medalusa<\/em>. Wave-Motion Guns can be fired and their energy transported over distance. We see it happen later, and this is likely how they got there.<\/p>\n Because I know some lines from the trailer, I can pinpoint them in the film this time, and specific editing choices give them context I missed before. When Dezarium attacks, for example, Commander Todo reminds Yuki that they are facing more than one enemy. I originally assumed that was the Bolar faction, but now it\u2019s clear to me that it\u2019s a whole separate Earth faction that’s actually collaborating with Dezarium. When I hear them described (by Nanbu) as \u201craguri-mono\u201d (traitors), a giant subplot clicks into place.<\/p>\n There are lots of other bits and pieces that add up to an incredibly complex tapestry that’s only just beginning to unwind. The action of Yamato<\/em>\u2019s scattered crew members coming together and supporting each other in clever ways creates a very strong sense of unity and family. Everyone gets their chance to shine, especially Yuki. We were told that she would seem like the main character in Chapter 1, and she definitely does.<\/p>\n I won\u2019t get any more granular with the details here, but subsequent discussions over the course of the day heightened the promise of things to come. Now I\u2019m looking forward to the next chapter even more. Meanwhile, the blu-ray is already in the mountain back in my hotel room.<\/p>\n Next up, a rendezvous in Akihabara. While I was tooling around yesterday, I got some unexpected news from Anton. We knew that a brand new Yamato<\/em> CD would come out on Wednesday, and I was planning on it being my last big score of the trip (pun in ten did). Part of my time on Monday was spent confirming the existence of Tower Records in Shibuya so we could look for it there. Instead, Anton learned that it would come out a day earlier in Tokyo stores. In other words, today! (Another reason my morning plans shifted.)<\/p>\n Right after the screening, the hunt begins. I join Anton in Akihabara and get to meet a true Yamato<\/em> superfan, who will act as our scoutmaster: Fumi Fukakou, the webmaster of Yamato Music Kaigi<\/em><\/a> (Catalog). It\u2019s the closest anyone in Japan has come to a home-grown version of Cosmo DNA<\/em>, but Fumi focuses entirely on music, and he has associations with the anime production staff. I\u2019ve corresponded with him on Twitter, and now we get to meet in person.<\/p>\n My first surprise is that he\u2019s about half the age I expected him to be, somewhere in his upper twenties. Most of the \u201cdeep cut\u201d fans I\u2019ve met are closer to my age, but Fumi is proof that you don\u2019t need to have the vintage \u201creal time\u201d experience in your bloodstream to be obsessively devoted. He knows more than anyone I\u2019ve met about Yamato<\/em> music history, has a huge collection of rarities, and is extraordinarily generous with his time and energy. It\u2019s clear that neither of us gets to expound on Yamato<\/em> topics as much as we\u2019d like, because the conversation begins on the way to the first store and won\u2019t let up until after dinner.<\/p>\n With Fumi taking the lead, we move through the day with a sense of ease I\u2019ve never felt here before. Unlike me, he can actually call ahead and ask stores if they have something. Just imagine! It turns out to be a necessary skill when our first store (Yodobashi) comes up empty. We shoot over to another store called Recofan, but it turns out to be a second-hand shop. I suggest Tower Records in Shibuya, and Fumi calls them to find out it\u2019s in stock there. We\u2019re in business. But now it\u2019s lunchtime and there\u2019s other business to take care of first.<\/p>\n Fumi guides us to a bookstore where Anton can pick up a complete set of Yamato 2199<\/em> manga by Michio Murakawa. Because guess what; Fumi has invited Michio Murakawa to join us for lunch! And he\u2019s happy to hear that I\u2019m tagging along. We first met for an interview in 2012. I\u2019m sure he didn\u2019t expect back then that he would still be drawing 2199<\/em> manga today, but he probably also didn\u2019t expect to be repeatedly called into service on the anime remakes. He\u2019s done loads of illustration work, and he also has a real knack for creating screen graphics. When someone in the show punches up a video display, odds are they\u2019re looking at a Murakawa design.<\/p>\n After a brief subway ride to somewhere (I have no clue, but I\u2019m not the scoutmaster), we are greeted by a smiling Murakawa and walk a few paces over to a katsudon restaurant. This is the kind of place I\u2019d never go on my own, since there\u2019s no English anywhere. The best I could do is pick out whatever is written in kana on the menu. But I\u2019m with locals today, so there\u2019s no limit.<\/p>\n Anton and I are loaded with questions on all things Yamato<\/em>. We\u2019ve both listened to the Radio Suites for years; Fumi, Murakawa, and a broadcaster friend of theirs with the radio name \u201cAndrow Umeda\u201d are the producers and deejays of Radio Suite Yamato<\/em>. I learn that the person who reads the ad copy as \u201cBemlarze\u201d is none other than Murakawa putting on a voice. Now I want to hear him as Bemlarze in 3199<\/em>, but that will almost certainly not happen.<\/p>\n I mostly want to thank them for airing super-rare tracks (usually cover songs) every year, since they give me new things to hunt for. It\u2019s always nice to find out there\u2019s more toothpaste in the tube.<\/p>\n Remembering my conversation with Habara the day before, I ask if any of them know the details behind Makoto Kobayashi\u2019s exit from production after 2202<\/em>. Murakawa has the full story and gives me permission to share it publicly, since it’s industry-wide knowledge now.<\/p>\n Kobayashi\u2019s involvement with Yamato<\/em> goes all the way back to mecha design on 2520<\/em>. After that, he served the same task on Resurrection<\/em> and co-directed the Resurrection<\/em> Director\u2019s Cut along with Habara. They worked well together and made a great team. They were then both absorbed into 2199<\/em> under Yutaka Izubuchi. Habara directed two episodes and Kobayashi thrived on mecha design.<\/p>\n However, when 2202<\/em> got going, staff positions changed and the wheels started to come off the wagon. Habara was the series director and Kobayashi was his right hand. Apparently, this new power went to his head. He became very difficult and combative with staff members. Habara is a kind soul by nature, and gave his friend as much latitude as he could, but Kobayashi only got worse as time went on. He picked fights with just about everyone (sometimes even getting physical), and when he started blocking them on social media it was a step too far. (For what it’s worth, he blocked me too without warning after several years.) Knowing it would reflect badly on Yamato<\/em> production in general, he was shown the door after 2202<\/em> ended. <\/p>\n Word of his antics quickly spread across the industry and he became essentially blacklisted. He hasn\u2019t worked in anime since then, and probably never will again. This explains the regret I heard in Habara\u2019s voice yesterday when he said they weren\u2019t talking these days. A broken partnership always means a broken heart for at least one partner.<\/p>\n On the topic of Murakawa\u2019s screen graphics work, he laments it whenever they realize too late that some incorrect English grammar or spelling slipped through (I saw a couple on screen in 3199<\/em>). I offer my services as an English checker, and he appreciates it, but says there is literally no time for it. They need to process his material as quickly as possible. They couldn\u2019t put anything on hold even for the few hours it might take me to respond with notes. I\u2019m in the cartoon biz too, so I get it. But I sure wish I could make that tiny contribution.<\/p>\n Lunch concludes and we jump back into action. CDs must be found and bought. What\u2019s the CD, exactly? In 2023, after three years of Covid-related delay, a concert series finally launched under the name Yamato Meets Classics<\/em>. Led by Akira Miyagawa, it was a revival of both Hiroshi Miyagawa\u2019s 4-part Yamato Suite<\/em> and Kentaro Haneda\u2019s 1984 Grand Symphony<\/em>. Both were performed live back to back (just imagine it) along with an encore or two. Now, they were finally being released in two editions; standard (CD only) and limited edition (CD with books). I knew which one I wanted as soon as I heard the word \u201climited.\u201d<\/p>\n Fumi confirmed (by phone, bless him) that Tower Records in Shibuya had copies. We were back in the game. Tower has always held a place in my heart. When I moved to Los Angeles back in 1992, it was a legend; one of the first media superstores with music, video, books, comics, magazines, etc. all under one roof. L.A. was its birthplace, which made it especially troubling when the three flagship stores dropped away one by one, killed by the internet. We who spent hours combing racks and flipping through bins for surprises are poorer for it.<\/p>\n Not so in Japan. After learning that the Akihabara Tower vanished in the pandemic, the Shibuya branch seemed to be the only one remaining. And it gladdens my heart to see it buzzing as loudly as ever when we get there. It\u2019s thriving thanks to all the increased tourism, and I’m happy to do my small part to keep it that way.<\/p>\n Fumi led us to the soundtrack floor; no dice. What was up? Did they sell out while I was having my first katsdon? No, we were just looking in the wrong place. The sales clerk said it was in the Classics department. Of course. Yamato Meets Classics<\/em>. That\u2019s perfect.<\/p>\n And there it was. Three copies, one for Anton and one for me, and\u2026none for Fumi? Nope, he preordered his online. My appreciation of him doubled in that moment. All this time and effort he was putting in as our scoutmaster was purely in support of US getting the goods. It took some sting out of the fact that this was just the standard version. I was really hoping for the other one. But after all this, I sure wasn\u2019t going to leave empty-handed. And just for good measure, I threw in a John Williams disc and a Joe Hisaishi disc to keep Yamato<\/em> company. Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n It was now my second-to-last day in Tokyo, and I had to do a handoff with my longtime friend and buying agent Sonchori (A.K.A. \u201cCat hands\u201d). On past occasions, we\u2019d meet up for a dinner or two, but this week he was slammed with work. The best he could manage was a five minute meetup in Nakano to take stuff off my hands for shipping. It required a trip back to my hotel for pickup (again, a long trek over boiling asphalt), then a return to Nakano Broadway for the rendezvous.<\/p>\n In the five years since I last saw him, Sonchori has lost all his hair, so now we match. I remembered that it\u2019s been 18 years since I became a client, and in that time he\u2019s funneled hundreds if not thousands of treasures my way. Hardly a week goes by when I don\u2019t send him a request. Every couple months, a largish box lands on my doorstep. There have been slow periods, but they don\u2019t last long. I\u2019m incredibly lucky to have his services. (And you can, too<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Anton hasn\u2019t dug into the Mandarake stores at Nakano Broadway yet, so I grant him half an hour before dinner (which turns into an hour) and lead him to an armload of purchases. He’s still carrying everything he bought that day, looking every bit like the Tokyo scrounger he\u2019d become. I, on the other hand, am utterly shopped out. The last thing on my mind is spending more money and carrying more bags around. In fact, when Anton asks me to hold his bag for a minute, I don\u2019t even realize I’m still carrying it until 15 minutes later. It\u2019s become that ingrained.<\/p>\n The final stop of the night is the one I most looked forward to as the day wore on; Devil Craft, a genuine Chicago-style pizzeria with two locations in Tokyo. I\u2019d been to them a few times before after my pal Daniel George made the discovery, and am overjoyed to see that they survived the pandemic. We go to the Kanda branch and continue non-stop Yamato<\/em> trivia talk with Fumi. His energy and enthusiasm are as high at the end of the day as they were when we met up almost twelve hours earlier. He goes out of his way to make sure I understand how much he enjoyed it. It must have been a rare treat. Even more rare than the Abe Froman (sausage, mushrooms, and pepperoni).<\/p>\n I don\u2019t get back to my hotel until almost 11pm, but there’s no way around what still has to be done that night. That mountain of merch ain\u2019t gonna pack itself.<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n Extreem Flamin’ Cheetos it’s hot here.<\/p>\n The final day. The final opportunity to strike one of the most important items from my wish list. I was going to see the Scopedog.<\/p>\n Those of you who know me are aware that Yamato<\/em> has a close runner-up in my favorite anime list. Right behind it is the most hardcore of all hardcore SF mecha series, Armored Trooper Votoms<\/em>. I like it so much, I\u2019m building a Votoms<\/em> edition<\/a> of Cosmo DNA<\/em> over at my other website, ArtValt<\/em>. I\u2019ve loved it since I first saw it exactly 40 years ago, and today I will have an encounter I\u2019ve been dreaming of ever since.<\/p>\n In 2022, the Tokyo suburb of Inagi built their own 1\/1 scale Scopedog. Why? Were they just superfans? Sort of. It was done to commemorate their most famous resident, Mecha Designer Kunio Okawara. He got his start on various super robot shows of the 70s and practically created the real robot genre single-handedly with one hit after another in the 80s. Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em> and Armored Trooper Votoms<\/em> are just two entries on a very long resume. When investigating the art of modern anime mecha design, all roads lead back to Okawara.<\/p>\n When the city of Inagi imagined how best to honor Okawara and boost their tourism numbers, the Scopedog was the obvious choice, since it\u2019s one of the few anime robots that can be built at 1\/1 scale. It\u2019s 4 meters tall (around 13 feet) and thus easy to capture without the industrial-level infrastructure we later saw with the 1\/1 moving Gundam. It\u2019s an immobile statue, but it was never intended to be fancy. Just irrefutably brilliant.<\/p>\n Inagi is about a 40-minute train ride out of Shinjuku with one transfer. I miss the transfer at first when I’m distracted by the sudden realization that I forgot to check out of my hotel after putting my luggage in storage. The connection is easy to remedy (just hop on the reverse line for one stop) but it adds another ten minutes. However, I stop berating myself the second that gorgeous hunk of robot streams into view below the train tracks. It’s real. And I’m here with it.<\/p>\n The 1\/1 Scopedog stands in Pear Terrace, basically an empty lot just off the station. I\u2019ve seen video clips where people are dancing around it in festivals (sometimes to the Votoms<\/em> theme song), but today I\u2019m pretty much the only one willing to stand there in the scorching heat. As I approach it on foot, a whole new wave of reverence comes over me.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve drawn it in comics. I\u2019ve built it as models. I\u2019ve held it as toys. But until now, I never truly appreciated its presence. When it\u2019s bigger than you are, when you come face to face with what was truly inside Okawara\u2019s head, it becomes larger than the sum. It\u2019s an icon of strength. It\u2019s like an ambassador from another world. It doesn\u2019t have to say a word. It commands respect. <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to see what I had to say about it in the moment.<\/p>\n On the other side of Pear Terrace, right under the train tracks, is a little caf\u00e9\/souvenir shop with loads of Votoms<\/em> paraphernalia. A few new products and a display of older ones nestled together. Normal people are sitting nearby having conversations about normal things, surrounded by Votoms<\/em> stuff and other artifacts from the Okawara universe. There\u2019s a 12 foot Gundam and Zaku right outside the window. (They\u2019re both cool, but don\u2019t have nearly the impact on me.)<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never been alone in my dedication to Votoms<\/em>, but this is a whole different scenario; a community in which it\u2019s become so commonplace that you can just wander in off the street for a sitdown and a tongue wag as if Votoms<\/em> is part of your everyday landscape. It\u2019s the kind of acceptance we never imagined could be possible back when we were struggling to assemble sketchy collections on VHS. It\u2019s a world where we all get to be together.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> for a photo gallery of the Scopedog and the cafe<\/a><\/p>\n Back on the train bound for Shinjuku, a final spontaneous mission is already decided. After I posted about finding the CD at Facebook, proclaiming Tower Records in Shibuya to be the last one on Earth, a few friends generously leapt in to correct my mistake. There are several in Tokyo and more still across the country. Good news indeed. And it put an idea in my head; there was a location in Ikebukuro, an area slightly north of Shinjuku.<\/p>\n On the first train ride, I passed this information over to Anton and asked him to contact Fumi about it. If Fumi could use his magic phone to\u2026you know\u2026magically call them up, he could magically find out if they had the deluxe edition of the new CD. As it turns out, this is unnecessary. Anton confirms the fact online. Ikebukuro has it. So that\u2019s where we\u2019re going next.<\/p>\n Connecting at the station, we find it just around the corner and ask a clerk to investigate stock. The store has been open a little over an hour, so if there were other fans on the hunt, there are no guarantees. Except that Anton also asked them to hold two copies. In a few moments, they loom into view in the loving hands of our clerk. I praise her up and down and she blushes. It\u2019s a good day for all of us. And now I\u2019m all done buying things. An agenda-free afternoon rises up to meet me.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s a flash of light and a peal of thunder. We look out a window to see rain bucketing down outside. First time since I got here. The sky was getting moody during our short walk to Tower, and now it\u2019s in a tantrum. Of course, I didn\u2019t think I needed my umbrella today, so it\u2019s not in my satchel. And with no idea how long this will last, our next move is clear. I\u2019m not all done buying things quite yet.<\/p>\n We do the most basic Tokyo tourist thing possible; run over to a convenience store (Family Mart, in this case) and get one for 700 yen. (About 4 bucks American.) The rain has flooded out my lunch plan, which was going to be a second round of Divine Tonkatsu at Maru Go in Akihabara. They were already open, which meant there would be a line outside waiting to get in. Standing in that line in the rain on the day of a flight was a non-starter. So instead we stayed in Ikebukuro for my next choice of final lunch: Happy Pancake.<\/p>\n It was my third time this trip and Anton\u2019s first. Again, words fail. Imagine a marshmallow big enough to fill the palm of your hand. Now put three of them on your plate and add syrup. Or fruit. I will say no more.<\/p>\n Anton and I spent the meal discussing theories of where 3199<\/em> might go. He\u2019s got some wild ideas, and some of my new observations from yesterday\u2019s viewing feed into them alarmingly well. I don\u2019t think it will turn out precisely as he\u2019s imagining, but I\u2019ll be surprised if it\u2019s not a close parallel. A certain amount of inevitability hangs over it. And Harutoshi Fukui loves complexity as much as we do. I very much appreciate when the writer of a thing puts more work into it than I do as a viewer. It would be a lot less interesting if I could have come up with all of it myself. This, above all, is what continues to make Yamato<\/em> my favorite.<\/p>\n When we emerge from Happy Pancake (full of happy), there\u2019s barely any sign that it rained at all. 4 buck American PISSED AWAY.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t get lunch at Maru Go (they close at 2pm, reopen at 5), but there\u2019s just enough time left before departure to get dinner there like I did on Friday. We make it to Akihabara by 3:15, at which point Anton has to go his own way and we say our goodbyes.<\/p>\n This happens in the presence of another friend, Matt Alt, who was originally going to see the Scopedog with me but had medical issues to grapple with. After Anton vanishes, we sit and gab for over an hour, a respite I desperately need after seven days of high-speed shopping blitzes, endless train rides, sweaty marathon walks, uncooperative hotels, and all the rest. I listen to Pure Tokyscope<\/em><\/a> every week (Matt\u2019s podcast with Patrick Macias), so it feels like a piece of a continuing dialogue that I get to be part of for a little while.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a03.JPG\")
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\nWell wishings from his fellow artists. The stylized sketch of Amuro is by Tetsuo Hara, artist of <\/em>Fist of the North Star.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a06.JPG\")
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\nOne more example of touch screens replacing people. But I can’t argue with an all-English option. And the results were good.
\nFull marks to the avacado salmon at upper right (after I got rid of those damn onions).<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a14.JPG\")
\nSayonara, Mammy-chan!<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a15.JPG\")
\nTaking this photo got me an angry wave-off from a train attendant. (I was 12 inches closer to the train than I should have been.)<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a16.JPG\")
\nDeadpool & Wolverine opened two days earlier here than at home. The Marvel ad buy in Tokyo this week is heavy.<\/em><\/p>\nDay 6: Monday, July 22<\/h2>\n
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\nOpening weekend definitely took a toll. 3199 merch at the Shinjuku Piccadilly is patchy.
\nSpiral bound notebooks and steel mugs were the misfit toys this time.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a18.JPG\")
\nStill a camera magnet. She would be displayed for the first two weeks, then back to drydock.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a19.JPG\")
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\nThe best part for me was that out of pure dumb luck, I sat right next to an original Armored Trooper Votoms<\/em> piece by manga artist Minoru Nonaka. THAT sure wasn’t on my dart board for this trip!!!<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a21.JPG\")
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\nSHIBUYA SKURANBURU!!!<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a25.JPG\")
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\nThe Marvel ad buy in Tokyo this week is HEAVY.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a29.JPG\")
\nFuji Record Co., an actual record store, still selling actual vinyl. Treasure these places, friends.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/FujiLPs.JPG\")
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\nLeft: In some places here, it’s still the 90s. Right: I was just saying that the other day…<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a30.JPG\")
\nI’ve got three of these goofy handouts now, and still no idea what it means.<\/em><\/p>\nDay 7: Tuesday, July 23<\/h2>\n
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\n3199 video promo inside Akihabara station. If you want to catch anime fans, this is where you cast your net.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a32.JPG\")
\nAt right: Anton in black, Fumi in white. He asked me not to reveal his face here.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a33x.jpg\")
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They didn’t want their faces revealed. I warned them I was going to do this. They agreed.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a36.JPG\")
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\nA memo in everyone’s hotel room here says we are required to take photos of the CG cat on the
\nforced-perspective video billboard in Shijuku. Now that this requirement is met, I am allowed to leave the country.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/971a41.JPG\")
<\/p>\nDay 8: Wednesday, July 24<\/h2>\n
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