{"id":38568,"date":"2024-11-05T11:14:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T19:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=38568"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:48:11","slug":"993a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/993a\/","title":{"rendered":"Vintage Report 30: October 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2411icon\"<\/p>\n

You have to push pretty hard to top the premiere of a new TV series, but the publishing community did its best with the last big wave of Be Forever<\/em> books as Yamato III<\/em> moved toward center stage. Here’s how it all played out…<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

You have to push pretty hard to top the premiere of a new TV series, but the publishing community did its best with the last big wave of Be Forever<\/em> books as Yamato III<\/em> moved toward center stage. Here’s how it all played out…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 1: Bouken Oh [Adventure King]<\/em>, November issue<\/h3>\n

Bouken Oh<\/em> did its part to promote Be Forever Yamato<\/em> throughout the summer, and they kept the fire going into the fall. They started with an ad for the first Be Forever<\/em> Anime Comic (coming later in the month) and a Movie Terebi Magazine<\/em> mook (due out in November).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This color spread for Yamato III<\/em> could be found just a few pages away, promoting an October 11 premiere and something else very few expected…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…a full-on Yamato III<\/em> manga adaptation! It had been ten months since Leiji Matsumoto’s previous series came to a premature end, but he wasn’t involved this time. Instead, it was drawn by his former assistant Hiroshi Aizawa and would last for ten issues. It was highly compressed, getting the ship off the ground by the end of the first chapter. On TV, it took three episodes.<\/p>\n

See this entire series (in both Japanese and English) here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 1: Fanroad<\/em> No. 2<\/h3>\n

Fanroad<\/em> was a quarterly spinoff of the bimonthly Animec<\/em> magazine, published by Rapport. Released shortly before the premiere of Yamato III<\/em>, it had some advance promo to offer. But the real charm of this magazine lay in its casual approach since it was written by fans for fans. One of the regular features was titled Adventure Trek<\/em>, in which fans would document their search for knockoff and pirated anime merch. In this issue, that trek took them to Taiwan where foreign-born Yamato<\/em> booty was waiting to be discovered.<\/p>\n

Read the article here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 5: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> Anime Comics Vol. 1<\/h3>\n

“Anime comics” were something new to the world, starting as an experiment in Terebi-Kun<\/em> magazine, which produced a serialized version of The New Voyage<\/em> in 1979\/80. Akita Shoten took the idea and ran with it, starting with a Space Pirate Captain Harlock<\/em> paperback (1 of 4) in September 1980. The first volume of Be Forever<\/em> was next out of the chute with many more to come. It retold the story of the film in color stills with word balloons for dialogue. <\/p>\n

Read more about anime comics here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 5: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> special<\/h3>\n

This was the largest Be Forever<\/em> publication in terms of page size, a full-color 10″ x 14.5″ tabloid-format special edition of Screen<\/em> movie magazine (from Kindaieigasha, which also published The Anime<\/em> magazine). Totaling 68 pages, it opened with large-scale highlight scenes, moved through a photostory of the film interrupted by a gigantic centerfold of the Yamato<\/em> cutaway art, and finished with a look back at past stories and a collection of staff comments.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 10: Animage<\/em> Vol. 29<\/h3>\n

This issue hit newsstands and bookshops one day before the first episode of Yamato III<\/em> went on the air. It contained a 7-page article that gave us a look at the mecha, starting with the Cosmo Hound and delving into the fleets of the new enemies. Reporters visited the production studio to collect comments from artists and the recording studio to talk with voice actors on their first day.<\/p>\n

Read the article here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 10: The Anime<\/em> Vol. 12<\/h3>\n

At four pages this month, The Anime<\/em>‘s coverage was increasing, but the content was still comparatively thin. There were descriptions for three new characters: Domon, Ageha, and (oddly) Bando, who didn’t have much to do in the end. But it’s always interesting to compare first impressions with hindsight. There was some excitement about how Yamato<\/em>‘s next launch would be staged, and a brief report on the first voice acting session.<\/p>\n

Read the article here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 10: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> drama album<\/h3>\n

The extraordinary length of Be Forever<\/em> meant that even when edited down it still needed three LPs to hold it all…which lead to the first Yamato<\/em> triple album set. It opened up into a 14-page color storybook with substantial passages from the script. Like the movie, the first half is recorded in mono and shifts to stereo with the \u2018Warp Dimension’ changeover. <\/p>\n


\nCassette edition<\/em><\/p>\n

The song Life of Love<\/em> was covered by singer Mitsuko Horie in order to clear the copyright for Nippon Columbia, and since a sample of Tchiakovsky’s Swan Lake (Act 3 No. 17 Allegro and Waltz)<\/em> was used as source music inside the lair of Dezarium, the track itself appeared on this album.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Contemporary advertising from Nippon Columbia<\/div>\n

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October 10: Be Forever Yamato & All of Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> Perfect Memoir Deluxe<\/h3>\n

\u201cPerfect Memoir\u201d was the name of a series of small-format paperbacks published by Leed Co. The \u201cPerfect Memoir Deluxe\u201d had an unusual horizontal format measuring 8.25″ by 5.75″. What it lacked in page size was made up for in thickness, covering the entire saga up to and including Be Forever<\/em> in 258 pages. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Starting with 34 pages of film story, it moved on to an extensive encyclopedia of characters and mecha, a section on favorite scenes and a collection of song lyrics. It concluded with 70 pages of tightly-packed model sheets from Be Forever<\/em>. <\/p>\n


\nNewspaper ads for the premiere of <\/em>Yamato III<\/p>\n

October 11: Yamato III<\/em> Episode 1<\/h3>\n

In the eyes of the general public, Series 3 sort of came out of nowhere. But it had been in production since early in the year, starting around the same time as Be Forever<\/em> with a skeleton crew that expanded greatly after the film wrapped in late July. An army of assistants and coordinators assembled to help configure and manage the rotation of artists, and the work situation was no more severe than the industry norm \u2013 a big change from Series 1 and 2, which were pretty much on constant emergency status.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The series was broadcast Saturday evenings at 7pm, the same time slot occupied by Yamato 2<\/em> almost two years earlier. The overall plan was expansive: a 52-episode adventure that would take Yamato<\/em> all over the galaxy in search of a new home for the human race, complicated by an ongoing galactic war between the Galman Empire and Bolar Federation. At the time Episode 1 premiered, this plan was very much intact. Reality, however, would soon have something to say about it.<\/p>\n

Read the full story of Yamato III<\/em>‘s production here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Solar System Faces Destruction!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Kodai is promoted to Captain of Yamato<\/em>, and his first job is to take a new crew of freshly-trained cadets on board. Their mission: find a new home for humankind as the sun threatens to destroy Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read our commentary on this episode here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 18: Yamato III<\/em> Episode 2<\/h3>\n

Great Battle in the Milky Way!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A battle between the Bolar and the Galman fleets moves from Planet Berth to an Earth outpost on Alpha Centauri. Yamato<\/em>‘s crew is in the midst of planning its mission when runaway solar radiation bathes the Earth and disrupts electrical systems all over the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read our commentary on this episode here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

October 20: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> Secret Notebook<\/h3>\n

This was Leed Co’s second Yamato<\/em> volume in their Perfect Memoir series (Volume 11), a compact 210-page Be Forever<\/em> guidebook measuring just 3.75″ x 7.25″. It contained a story digest, highlight scenes, character and mecha encyclopedia, staff and music notes, a glossary, and product catalog.<\/p>\n

Leed’s first Yamato<\/em> book was Volume 4 in the series (Jan 1980), covering everything up to The New Voyage<\/em> and they would pop again with Volume 17 in July 1981, dedicated to Yamato III<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 20: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> storybook<\/h3>\n

A landscape-formatted storybook of the film was the only known Yamato<\/em> product from Jitusgyono Nippon Co. It combined color and black & white stills with text to tell the story of the movie and came with its own slipcase.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 20: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> Encyclopedia<\/h3>\n

The fourth Yamato<\/em> book in the Keibunsha series (published by Kodansha) matched the established format of previous editions. At 320 pages, it started with a story digest and continued with encyclopedic pages of model sheets and black & white stills. The production notes included an overview of the saga and information on products and fan clubs. (The dustjacket of a 1999 reprint edition is pictured here.)<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

October 20: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> Roman Album<\/h3>\n

The fourth Yamato<\/em> Roman Album came 7 months after the third (for Yamato 2<\/em>) and showed another tremendous leap forward in sophistication. It was Tokuma’s finest volume yet in terms of layout and design with sections now labeled in English, perhaps as a nod to the growing international audience. <\/p>\n

Its 122 pages contained a Cine Digest (photostory), Special Area (highlight scenes), Art Area (locations), Character & Mechanic Areas (model sheets), and a Staff Area (commentary). Support material included original illustrations of Yamato<\/em> hardware and promotional coverage. <\/p>\n

Read staff essays from the book here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 21: Roadshow<\/em>, December issue<\/h3>\n

After taking a cursory look at Yamato III<\/em>, this would be Roadshow<\/em>‘s last check-in for a few years. The “TV Lottery” column in this issue included the following writeup…<\/p>\n

Dessler is back! Youthful Yamato<\/em> crew members also appear! Space Battleship Yamato 3<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

Space Battleship Yamato 3<\/em> finally started airing on October 11th (Yomiuri TV, every Saturday night 7:00-7:30). It is scheduled to be completed in 50 episodes over the next year. Since Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> and Yamato 2<\/em> were 26 episodes each, the story will unfold on an even grander scale than before.<\/span><\/p>\n

The basic pattern of Yamato<\/em> is that Yamato<\/em> saves Earth and humanity from a crisis within a limited time. The threat of destruction this time is a sudden abnormal increase in nuclear fusion in the sun, which will turn into a supernova, leaving humanity with only one year to survive on Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cause of this abnormal increase is that Dessler, who left for space in search of a new home planet in The New Voyage<\/em>, established a powerful interstellar nation called the Galman Empire in the center of the galaxy. A stray missile (giant missile) flies into the sun during a battle with the interstellar nation called the Bolar Federation, which is plotting to conquer the universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Susumu Kodai is the new captain of Yamato<\/em> in the search for a second Earth. New crew members include Ryusuke Domon, Hajime Hirata, Miyako Kyozuka, Goro Raiden, Namio Sakamaki, Dairoku Akagi, and Takeshi Ageha. But what fans are most looking forward to is the human drama and cosmic spectacle with a complex mix of friendship and hostility that will surely unfold between Dessler, Yamato<\/em>, and Kodai.<\/span><\/p>\n

The upcoming broadcast schedule is as follows: October 25th: Episode 3, Destruction of the Solar System<\/em> (Part 2). November 1st: Episode 4, Great Galactic War<\/em> (Part 1). November 8th: Episode 5, the same (Part 2). November 15th: the same (Part 3).<\/span><\/p>\n[Translator’s note: these episode titles turned out to be incorrect as we’ll see in the next report.]
<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 23: The Best One<\/em>, December issue<\/h3>\n

Gakken’s monthly entertainment magazine was back with the start of regular coverage in the Anime Channel<\/em> section. First up in this issue was their introduction of Yamato III<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Yamato<\/em> sets off in search of a new planet!!<\/span><\/h3>\n

There is less than a year until the Earth is destroyed! Yamato<\/em> has set out into space in search of a safe planet, but the enemy Galman Empire’s Dagon fleet has already reached out…! With Yamato<\/em> now joined by new members, the young captain Susumu Kodai shows his fighting skills for the first time. A fierce battle that Yamato<\/em> fans must see is about to begin…!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 24: Star Blazers<\/em> news<\/h3>\n

Over a year after its debut in American markets, Star Blazers<\/em> was still in the news. This article from Backstage<\/em> magazine gives us a glimpse into what was happening at the time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 25: Yamato III<\/em> Episode 3<\/h3>\n

Due to the explosion of anime production in Japan at this time, Yamato III<\/em> differed quite a bit from its predecessors. Out of necessity, directors and subcontractors were given more control over the look of their individual episodes. Episode 3 was the first example, subcontracted to Studio Live, lead by Toyoo Ashida (whose credits went back to Series 1). Ashida would also handle Episodes 7 and 14.<\/p>\n

Yamato Sets Sail at Dawn!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Aihara has arrived after meeting and falling in love with a girl he met back home. He almost leaves the ship the night before launch, but changes his mind when the same girl arrives and lays his fears to rest. The next morning, Yamato<\/em> launches on its new mission to find a second Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read our commentary on this episode here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 25: Fan club magazine Vol. 19<\/h3>\n

The fan club magazine naturally had the most to offer at this early stage: fully half of its 24 pages contained a generous helping of design art and story synopses for the first 11 episodes of Yamato III<\/em>. This represented all the shows that were in some stage of production at the time. A warm introduction to the series by Yoshinobu Nishizaki glowed with limitless passion for the grand new adventure. The back cover (above right) teased two new model kits comeing from Bandai.<\/p>\n

See this coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sharp eyes noticed that the publishing entity indicated for this issue was no longer “Office Academy”; it had changed to “Nishizaki Music Publishing” without explanation. The reason for this will be covered in the next Vintage Report.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 30: Be Forever Yamato<\/em> manga Vol. 1<\/h3>\n

Akira Hio’s Yamato<\/em> manga is not remembered as well as Leiji Matsumoto’s, but he was the record holder in the early years for page count, since he adapted Series 1 and four movies for paperback with Asahi Sonorama as the publisher. Hio’s Be Forever<\/em> followed the lead of his New Voyage<\/em> adaptation, meaning that the script he worked from had not yet been edited for film production. So once again, the manga captured a version of the story that didn’t make it all the way to movie theaters.<\/p>\n

Read all about it here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

October 30: Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> All Mecha Big Collection<\/h3>\n

This thick, small-format paperback was Asahi Sonorama’s response to the popular Keibunsha series published by Kodansha. Using a combination of stills, model sheets, and artwork derived from Sonorama blueprint sets, every mechanical device up to and including Be Forever<\/em> was examined in black and white, punctuated by occasional color, over 320 pages. <\/p>\n

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Also spotted in October<\/h3>\n

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Glico’s Yamato III campaign launches<\/em><\/p>\n

Ezaki Glico, Japan’s giant confectionary company, had been a major player in 1978-79 merchandising and maintained a steady pace as Be Forever<\/em> lead the way to Yamato III<\/em>. They progressed smoothly from their first generation of Yamato<\/em> products right into their second without missing a beat. Most of the actual images they used came from Be Forever<\/em>, but coincided with Yamato III<\/em>\u2018s broadcast. With Glico products in every store, Yamato<\/em> would have been hard to miss.<\/p>\n

See a product gallery here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dark Nebula Empire Three-legged Tank model kit<\/em><\/p>\n

With the vast majority of its efforts going to spacecraft, Bandai surprised everyone with the first-ever ground vehicle from a Yamato<\/em> story. It was never reissued afterward, except in Star Blazers<\/em> packaging.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Popy’s Yamato III toys launch<\/em><\/p>\n

Popy was the toy-manufacturing branch of Bandai, and when Yamato III<\/em> was announced as a year-long TV series they eagerly signed on as a licensor. Taking lessons from Nomura’s 1978 efforts, they had a good idea of what would sell and what wouldn’t, and essentially launched a “Mark II” version going into the last quarter of 1980.<\/p>\n

The first three out of the chute strongly echoed Nomura’s concepts: two differently-scaled diecast\/plastic Yamato<\/em>s (Popynica and Popynica DX) and two smaller rubber versions. Plenty more would soon follow.<\/p>\n

See the whole Popy lineup here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Isao Sasaki album<\/em><\/p>\n

The full title of this one was Isao Sasaki Singing 2 Big Anime, Space Battleship Yamato vs Galaxy Express 999<\/em>. Released by Nippon Columbia, it featured six Yamato<\/em> songs (two each from the three feature films) and six Galaxy Express<\/em> songs (from the TV series). <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Compilation albums<\/em><\/p>\n

Also from Nippon Columbia came a pair of double LP sets, both of which represented all-star anime lineups. Fantastic Animation 24<\/em> (left) had OP and ED themes from 12 series: Yamato, Captain Harlock, 999, Gatchaman, Triton<\/em>, and more. Terebi Manga Hit Parade 24<\/em> (right) did the same with Yamato, Doreamon, Lupin III, Star of the Giants<\/em> and others. If you bought both, there was enough crossover to cancel out one record between them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Be Forever Yamato sonosheet books<\/em><\/p>\n

Asahi Sonorama published a two-volume set of panel books (printed on thick card stock) that retold the story of the film for children (18 pages per volume), combining simple text with large color stills. “Sonosheet” was Sonorama’s term for a 33.3rpm flexi-disc of the Yamato<\/em> theme that came with Volume 1 and The Scarlet Scarf<\/em> that came with Volume 2.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Be Forever Yamato Anime Picture books<\/em><\/p>\n

Shueisha, meanwhile, offered a three-volume set in the same format with original art and paintings based on animation stills. Each of these volumes was also 18 pages.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you bought all three of them at once, you might have taken home this slipcase to store them in.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Anime magazines published in October<\/em><\/p>\n

Animage<\/em> Vol. 29 (Tokuma Shoten), The Anime<\/em> Vol. 12 (Kindaieigasha), Fanroad<\/em> #2 (Rapport), OUT<\/em> Dec issue (Minori Shobo).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/h3>\n

As the crew of Yamato<\/em> take off on a mission with unexpected twists and turns, the same thing happens on Earth with Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Office Academy…which suddenly vanishes from the landscape to be replaced by something called West Cape Corporation. Click here<\/a> to find out what happened in Vintage Report 31!<\/p>\n

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