Always been a fan of Space Battleship Yamato since I discovered it in the
70's under its American title, Star Blazers. The original Japanese version
is, of course, more adult oriented, following many traditional Japanese
values, including lots and lots of self-sacrifice.
Of the original, there are 3 series:
1) Jouney to Iscandar (1974)
2) White Comet (1978)
3) Bolar Wars (1980)
And 5 movies:
1) Space Battleship Yamato (based on Journey to Iscandar series) (1977)
2) Saraba, Yamato (a.k.a. Arrivaderci, Yamato - based on White Comet
series) (1978)
3) Yamato: The New Voyage (1979)
4) Be Forever Yamato (1980)
5) Final Yamato (1983)
Then there was the "Yamato 2520" mini-series (1994) by showrunner
Yoshinobu Nishizaki and conceptual artwork by futurist Syd Mead that never
really took off, followed by a couple of other manga-only failed attempts
by the other Yamato co-creator, Leiji Matsumoto, called "Great Yamato"
(2000), renamed "Great Galaxy", because IIRC Nishizaki sued Matsumoto for
the rights to use the Yamato name, and then another called "Dai Yamato
Zero-Go" (2004 - have no idea what any of these are about, I have the
mangas but don't read Japanese, sadly)
Then, more recently, came Nishizaki's luke-warm "Yamato: Resurrection". I
can't really explain how this one is good or bad, as many people have had
differeing opinions on it. There are lots of new characters, contemporary
semi-political allegory and LOTS of traditional Japanese self-sacrifice
(some would call this a bit quaint in this day & age). Almost everyone
agrees, though, that CG-enhanced animation really helped the franchise,
although I don't feel it was used in inspiring ways. The enemy ships are
all very angular, simple and boring to look at and the EDF (Earth Defense
Force) ships (like the colony arcs and Blue Noah) are clearly going in the
direction that Syd Mead laid out in 2520, and also a little bland IMO.
But then, something started happening. For years a live-action Yamato
movie had been bandied about on both sides of the Pacific. Even Disney had
contemplated doing one, but the script leaked on the internet and it was
bloody AWFUL - totally Americanized & white-washed, the Yamato was turned
into the Arizona (!) and the characters were more westernized from their
original counterparts. Thankfully, we were spared that and, what we got
instead in 2010, was an amazing live-action Japanese-made movie that still
told the traditional first Iscandar story, but had a few additional twists
- especially with regard to the enigmatic enemy, the Gamilas and
humanity's savior-world, Iscandar. At the time it came out, you can
clearly see that it took its visual and character cues from Ron Moore's
Nu-Battlestar Galactica, complete with rapid-cut shakey-cam exterior ship
& fighter battles, as well as a plucky female fighter jock flirting with
the main male protagonist (also a fighter pilot), somewhat rewriting
character archetypes from their originals. A nice one-off, but I don't
think is really expandable beyond the first movie.
And finally, most recently - a new series, Yamato 2199 - a retelling of
the original Iscandar story, but using the latest CG animation tech. If
there ever was anyone who wanted to remake/reboot an old property, THIS is
how you do it. I cannot say enough great things about it, and there's a
whole thread on this show elsewhere here in the SF&F forum. It positively
rocks more ways I can quantify and there is more coming in the near
future. You can see large clips of the show on YouTube, although I don't think they're all subtitled, so you may have to do some digging there.
Anyways, I know it's very focused on Yamato, and there are other quality
anime productions out there to be sure, but this one has always reached me
at a level that none others have.
