(L+CR) Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (movie & TV)

[Vito]

Yeah, not going to argue, too lazy.

Anyhow back to Yamato 2199, seems like this is the ED http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm20608058 ?

[macdawson]

Beautiful illustration by Kia Asamiya. Thanks for the post, Vito.

[Ithekro]

That version is down. However someone put it on Youtube:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/Yrj4eUcadWA

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A large image of that scroll (from bottom to top, which is uncommon).

Images

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http://shrani.si/f/2k/jZ/3Rr9U4ju/1120130414181611.jpg

[pinoy78]

Very beautiful ED...kinda reminds me of something you'd see in LOGH.

[Shinji103]

That............actually sounds kinda "bleh" to me.

[Ithekro]

Well if one waits another set of months, you'll have a JAM Project ED.

[macdawson]

Just a theory but i do believe this illustration will be replaced in episode 7. The characters and events pictured go only 'till episode 6 (7 at the most).

[Ithekro]

Hopefully it will change. Otherwise it will look weird having characters in it that aren't in the series anymore. Also the planets in the scroll are Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Pluto, with the final of Yamato heading out of the Galaxy.

[denshousha]

Do you think there are too many characters in 2199 for new fans? For those of us that grew up on the old show it's probably not a problem as there are only a few new faces, but I wonder if it's too much for someone who's just started.

[August138]

Originally Posted by denshousha

Do you think there are too many characters in 2199 for new fans? For those of us that grew up on the old show it's probably not a problem as there are only a few new faces, but I wonder if it's too much for someone who's just started.

I think there are far too many characters in each and every GUNDAM show, far more than YAMATO: 2199, and that didn't stop the series (pick any of them) from becoming popular, overall, in North America. So it shouldn't effect YAMATO: 2199.

Originally Posted by Vito

Yeah, not going to argue, too lazy.

There's no argument; HybridBloodsZak is correct.

Originally Posted by FRS

Sadly there are lot of people that will not watch a show just because it's SF/Space OP.

Then, it's not their cup of tea in the first place, and I don't watch Shojo Anime, either; so that point is moot. Incidentally, this past Friday, i09 just published Rob Bricken's "The New Anime Series You Absolutely Need to Be Watching", which spotlights five current series, including YAMATO: 2199.

[Vito]

Originally Posted by August138

There's no argument; HybridBloodsZak is correct.

Really? While there's a vast amount of resources on the topic, it's never really that simple, and there's no shortage of self proclaimed internet experts, oh boy his posts sure reeks like one!

If that's flaming, fine, but I'd like to see some well constructed arguments. I'm not disputing the fact, that FLCL and Gundam Wing were a success in the west, however the whole "US distributors license shows based on Japanese sales numbers" seems laughable at best. Based on Japanese sales figures for FLCL provided by ultimatemegax, FLCL OVAs averaged 24k per volume when first released.

So unless people can convince me with numbers, some actual statements from industry representatives, I'm gonna say bullshit and wishful thinking.

[August138]

Originally Posted by Vito

Really? While there's a vast amount of resources on the topic, it's never really that simple, and there's no shortage of self proclaimed internet experts, oh boy his posts sure reeks like one!

If that's flaming, fine, but I'd like to see some well constructed arguments. I'm not disputing the fact, that FLCL and Gundam Wing were a success in the west, however the whole "US distributors license shows based on Japanese sales numbers" seems laughable at best. Based on Japanese sales figures for FLCL provided by ultimatemegax, FLCL OVAs averaged 24k per volume when first released.

So unless people can convince me with numbers, some actual statements from industry representatives, I'm gonna say bullshit and wishful thinking.

First off, I would tone down the vitriol and cursing. Thanks. Personally, I'm speaking only about the popularity of particular anime titles in the US, such as mentioned, and not about how those titles are chosen — and I might know a little something about this component, since I do work in the Home Video Industry in the US, and specifically with Japanese titles. And I have other legitimate professional credentials concerning Japanese film, television, and pop culture — above and beyond the internet (and long before the www, as we know it, existed).

Now, as far as I'm concerned, most Home Video labels releasing Anime in North America over the last decade (previous decades had different rules, it seems, due to information flow between Japan and US fans, and other extenuating circumstances), and others were Japanese companies releasing what they thought American fans would like. So, there's no simple answer.

But still, most of the US-native companies seem to have followed:

A. Titles that had a "buzz" in the US.
B. Titles that were popular in Japan.

(And I'm not arguing with you; I'm just stating the facts as I am aware.)

With all that being said, a old comrade of mine, Robert Napton, worked for Bandai's Home Video division in the US for many years (and before that, he was at USRenditions, who brought GUNBUSTER to the US), perhaps I can ask him for his thoughts?

[macdawson]

Below are the episode descriptions for chapter V. These were gathered from 2 sources, a fellow member at another forum which saw the movie and was kind enough to share the major plot points, and from this page, which has episode descriptions in japanese which means my translation might not be 100% accurate.

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sergeant/touch/20130414/p1

Read at your own peril.

Spoiler for Episode 15:

Celestra reports to Desler about the loss of Mirenel and that before her demise she discovered there's an Iskandarian aboard the Yamato.
As the last survivor of the Jirel race she again swears loyalty to Desler.

In the Garmillas province of Altaria social unrest/rebellion is brewing at this time.

Gimleh and the Imperial Guard forces bomb the surface with ballistic interplanetary missiles and energy weapons. By the end of Gimleh's attack Altaria is a burning wasteland.

In the Yamato, the crew complains of stress due to constant runs with Garmillas reconnaissance forces which force them into a constant state of readyness. Also, due to damage suffered in battle against Flaken, the OMCS operation is severely limited, until full repairs and proper resuply.

Yuria has changed since the incident in the automatic navigation room (we know why ) and wonders about the principle of the wave motion gun, preaching to Sanada about it's dangers and alternative uses.

The Yamato decides on a supply and reconnaissance mission to Beemela 4, a planet with an Earth like environment.

Attempts to warp directly to Beemela fail as there is a neutron star in their way, its emissions rendering warp impossible. Yamato must navigate through a set of safe "channels" to bypass the storm.

Using this information Domel has set up his forces at the expected passage points.
The Yamato is surrounded by Domel's forces after exiting warp (this is the showdown that was shown in the trailers).

To their surprise, Domel's ship is not affected by the Yamato's shock cannons but by grazing it the Yamato manages to connect a shot, damaging the Domelus III and break through Domel's net, only to be surrounded again by another fleet that warps out in front of them. The Yamato is on the verge of being sunk but before he can strike the final blow, Domel is ordered back to base (classic last minute call XD ) - Dessler has been assassinated. His ship was blown up. Domel is forced to retreat.

Yamato escapes but the crew is in low spirits due to dwindling supplies and food.

Spoiler for Episode 16:

Yamato stops at Beemela 4, an earth-like planet, to look for food and supplies and much needed repairs. The recent battle has stressed Okita and the captain needs to rest.

Niimi, who advocates the Izumo Plan, is pleased that Beemela 4 is similar to Earth. At this point the Yamato's journey is roughly one month behind schedule and Niimi is skeptical about the success of the program.

While Kodai, Hirata and Yuria are on the surface, leading a reconnaissance team, they encounter some hostile indigenous life forms. On the run, they accidentaly discover a piece of Iscandarian technology left there 400 years earlier. Kodai recognizes the structure, being similar to the ship he saw crashing on Mars. Since that time the civilization on the planet perished (it was the bee people!).
The item they find had information on a jump gate that could potentially get the Yamato back on schedule. When they atempt to contact the Yamato, there's no response.

The sympathizers of the Izumo plan mutiny, place XO Sanada and captain Okita under house arrest and decide to return the Yamato to earth and vacate the remaning population to Beemela 4. Itoh forces Shima to command the return operation and denounces Yuki as an Iscandarian, convinced that her memory loss is related to Yurisha's arrival a year ago.

Yuki is released by Yamamoto who had managed to escape and they restore comms with Kodai. Okita regains control of the ship (this was translated from a japanese site so not 100% sure of this one but it seems Hoshina (the security kid) was a plant of Chief Todoh in the security team to keep an eye on his boss, Itoh, who they knew was a Serizawa supporter. To be confirmed).

By the end of the episode the mutiny is foiled but not many people on the ship think of Yuki as a human any more. Kodai brings the ancient WM-core. The golden box Yuki has been keeping reacts and the information is decoded, prompting a recording of Queen Starsha herself to activate, revealing an important piece of information, the secret route to Iskandar.

Spoiler for Episode 17:

Desler's ship, the Deussler, has exploded on it's way to Balun for a naval review ceremony (the reason such a large fleet is assembled there). To cover himself, Zeilick pins the blame on Ditz and Domel and has Domel sentenced to death and has claimed control of the empire. (my source didn't mention if the same was done to Admiral Ditz and his fate by the end of the chapter is not known by me, sorry).
Zoellick is exultant at the news and heads to the naval review on Balun.

The Yamato arrives at the warp gate. It predates Gamillas but was obviously controlled by them at one point before being abandoned. They discover that upon activation the gate will allow a movement of 30,000 light years. In order to activate the gate system, Kodai, Yuki and Sanada head for the satellite.

(flashback scenes occur between Sanada's narrative to Kodai and Yuki, and Niimi on the brig, remembering the same events).

It is revealed that Sanada was close friends with Mamoru Kodai (Kodai gave him the book by Chuya Nakahara we've seen him carry around.)

The Yamato salvages a Gamillas fighter from the warp gate installation to send Shinohara through to see whats on the other side.

When activating the gate, Sanada reveals to Yuki that she is in fact human. She was with Yurisha when a terrorist attack blew them both up. Yuki suffered memory damage and Yurisha went into a coma and never regained consciousness. She is kept in the auto navigation room - hooked up in such a way that she can guide the ship to Iscandar since the incident happened before she gave the planets exact location so the Yamato doesnt have its coordinates. Because of the humane implications (and the fact they're essencially flying blind, with no exact destination) the whole event was kept secret.

We also find out that Mamoru was originally dating Niimi.

Sanada discovers that the gate activation will cause a burst of deadly radiation (the protection systems damaged, perhaps?) He locks Kodai and Yuki out of the room to protect them, and prepares to start the system by himself. He confesses to Kodai that he never told Mamoru the true objective of Operation M, to which Susumu replies "My brother... he would've done it any way, even if he knew the truth." Sanada activates the system... after the radiation burst has cleared, Kodai and Yuki unlock the bulkhead. Sanada had jumped inside a pool of water taking advantage of the fact water blocks neutron emissions (??), Sanada says "I'm not in a hurry to die!"

With the gate activated, Shinohara goes through. On the other side of the gate, he finds himself over the artificial planet Balun, the next warp gate, and 10,000 Gamillas ships gathered.

Spoiler for Episode 18:

While waiting for Shinohara's return, Kato and Yamamoto remember her brother, Akira is worried but Kato tell her not to worry as "Shinohara always comes back."

At Balun more than 10.000 vessels have gathered for the naval review.

Shinohara went through the gate and found himself in the middle of all that!
He has to determine the internal structure of the star and the how to reach the Magellan side gate (1), but he is soon spotted and considered an enemy aircraft, and finds himself under attack. Shinohara barely makes it back to the Yamato alive.

(1) - A small explanation: there are actually 2 gates at Balun. The one we've seen in episode 13, with the diamond shaped blue structure around it on one side, which connects to the Magelanic Cloud gate network, and a second one, the one in the volume 5 cover art (with no diamond around it) which connects to the Milky Way network (in this case to Beemela).


At Balun, Zoellik complains about Desler's reign and how he allowed second class Garmillans to become part of the fleet. He intends to enforce a policy based on pure blood.

Okita seems to follow the same mantra he used on episode 6 and takes a gamble. The yamato comes through the gate, guns blazing. The Garmillas fleet is stunned at first and is then slow to react for fear of hitting each other. After finally taking a few hits the Yamato disappears into the atmosphere of Balun.

Suddenly, Dessler reappears via a video transmission - he had been biding his time with Flaken on the dimensional sub, waiting to see what Zoellik did. It was his double that was killed. With his treachery exposed, Zeilick is shot in the back by Goer (wtf?!?!?).

The Yamato resurfaces and fires the wave motion cannon into Balun, setting off a reaction in its core (which was man made) and jumps out via the next warp gate just in the nick of time. The energy core goes critical causing a subspace implosion and the collapse of Balun. The Garmillas fleet sustains major casualties although the extent of the damage is not yet known.

When the Yamato exits the warp gate, they find themselves at the edge of the Great Magellanic Cloud.

Update: Episode 18 completed.

[Vito]

Originally Posted by August138

With all that being said, a old comrade of mine, Robert Napton, worked for Bandai's Home Video division in the US for many years (and before that, he was at USRenditions, who brought GUNBUSTER to the US), perhaps I can ask him for his thoughts?

HybridBloodsZak already linked to an interview he did a short while ago http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2013-02-27 it's really informative.

Oh I agree there's no simple answer, I just disagree with making statements like FLCL and Gundam Wing were not popular in Japan at all. I assume it's also different compared to a few years ago, with simulcasts and how anime shelfspace pretty much disappeared in stores.


macdawson, thanks for the summaries!

[Ithekro]

Nice summaries to this point. Though I have one plot disconnect at this point.

Spoiler for Why?:

Why is there a Naval Review at Balun? A planet-like object halfway between Gamilas and Earth. For what reason would a Naval Review be held there instead of back at Gamilas? I Don't recall people like Stalin having those massive military parades in say Vladivostok or going out to one of the Warsaw Pact countries to hold a Soviet Military Parade. While yes a traditional Naval Review has to be done at a coastal port, but that's only because you can't bring the ships on land to the capitol. These are spaceships. They could hold the review pretty much anyplace. The only thing I can think of would be so that mass of 10,000 ships didn't disrupt commerce around Gamuilas.

[FerrusManus]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Nice summaries to this point. Though I have one plot disconnect at this point.

Spoiler for Why?:

Why is there a Naval Review at Balun? A planet-like object halfway between Gamilas and Earth. For what reason would a Naval Review be held there instead of back at Gamilas? I Don't recall people like Stalin having those massive military parades in say Vladivostok or going out to one of the Warsaw Pact countries to hold a Soviet Military Parade. While yes a traditional Naval Review has to be done at a coastal port, but that's only because you can't bring the ships on land to the capitol. These are spaceships. They could hold the review pretty much anyplace. The only thing I can think of would be so that mass of 10,000 ships didn't disrupt commerce around Gamuilas.

Spoiler for Reason:

Maybe they are holding a fleet review at Balun before they send the fleets to the Milky Way? Also fleet reviews in animes seem to be magnets for desaster (look at Gundam 0083). And this review is going to be a disaster for the Gamillas, too.

[August138]

Originally Posted by Vito

HybridBloodsZak already linked to an interview he did a short while ago http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2013-02-27 it's really informative.

Yes, and Robert even gave me a shout out!

BTW, as of 2:30 PM, Monday, April 15th (Japan Time), all of the Theater Exclusive Blu-rays of Vol. 5 were sold out at Tokyo's Shinjuku Piccadilly Theater.

[macdawson]

Originally Posted by August138

Yes, and Robert even gave me a shout out!

BTW, as of 2:30 PM, Monday, April 15th (Japan Time), all of the Theater Exclusive Blu-rays of Vol. 5 were sold out at Tokyo's Shinjuku Piccadilly Theater.

I really need to make some friends in Japan.

[August138]

Yes, you do.

BTW, as of this morning, only five BDs are available at the Kashiwanoha Movix in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture. None of the other venues seem to be sold out, yet.

[Traece]

I started watching this, which is interesting.

Why it's interesting is the fact that I've never actually watched Space Battleship Yamato before. I've seen Mobile Suit Gundam, and I've seen Macross, but yet Yamato has eluded me in terms of classic sci-fis. So this was a bit of a treat.

I wont pretend to know how faithful this is to the original or any such thing, but I will say this: I really like this show. A lot. Interestingly enough, it feels so very oldschool in how it functions even with all of the great modernizations they have. So much of this is just so well done. The music especially is fantastic, and one of my favorite things about this series.

So I'm loving this series, and I'm really excited to follow it through to the finish.