Space Battleship Yamato

I think another (maybe the first) reviewer said it best: "I can't believe there aren't more reviews here!" The original Japanese title for this show is "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" (Space Battleship Yamato). I believe it came out in 1974 in Japan, but was Americanized and released in the US in 1979. Be that as it may, this is, has been, and probably will be my favorite anime series of all time. Not only do I like it because it brings back great after-school memories of congregations of neighborhood kids, but it has a very believable and emotional storyline. Not many series I know of devote an ENTIRE episode to having an emotional goodbye to families before the Argo (Yamato) leaves the Solar System. There are so many well-developed sub-plots...you'll just have to see for yourself if you've never heard of this. It is a GEM, and if you like sci-fi at all, you will not be disappointed. Of the 3 series, my personal favorite is the "Quest for Iscandar." Rent it, buy it, or borrow it if you can. With VHS tapes becoming obsolete, you can get them cheaply on e-bay. I own all the VHS tapes, and the American DVDs recently put out by Voyager Entertainment. But I must say to the purists who aren't aware of this: get the 9-DVD set from www.sundevildvd.com. I am not affiliated with them in any way, but they offer a "Star Blazers DVD Bundle." It is the ENTIRE 78-episode series (Quest for Iscandar, The Comet Empire, and The Bolar Wars) for less than $100. One catch: the language is Japanese, but if you can bear the not-perfect-but-acceptable English subtitles, that's the way to go. All of these episodes are COMPLETELY UNCUT, and you'll see just how much footage was cut from the American versions! Desslok with his original Japanese voice sounds as cool as Mr. Eddie Allen doing his voice in English.

They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Watch one, and you'll be hooked.....I can just about guarantee it. Enjoy.

I remember this series only too well. It was only slightly cut for American audiences, leaving out only the actual deaths of characters (Mostly redshirt types, excepting Captain Avatar) when they were shot, blown up, or other. The characters were exceedingly well realized with backstories and CHANGES to the characters as their characters developed. Compared to the pitifully slaughtered 'Battle of the Planets' (Gatchaman, later re-translated into G-Force which managed to be better) or anything American animated series were planning on doing (He-Man, Bravestarr, etc ad nauseum), this series really shone. Only the 'Robotech' series came close, and that one suffered from trying to combine 3 Japanime series into one.

Looking at the coming attraction scenes made me realize that some editing was done in the last episode of the 1st season. In it, a Gamilon was rushing into the cargo bay where Nova was trying to activate the CosmoDNA (The Gamilon boarding party was using a radioactive gas) Starsha had given them and Sandor was protesting that it might not be safe. In the actual ep, Sandor and Nova both turn to see the Gamilon enter, but we never actually see him, and Nova ends up wounded for no readily apparant reason other than the aforementioned gas. I am certain that Sandor shot the encroaching Gamilon, but too late to prevent Nova from being hit.

There were several episodes where bodies were seen, if not the causes for their deaths. This marked it apart from anything else being shown 'for children' at this point. Considering that American animation seemed to be following the same rules that American comics were following (No death, sex, excessive violence, excitement, things of interest, plot development, etc) it isn't really a surprise that so many of us rushed home to watch it. (While at a meeting for my high school band, I came across several of the 'cool kids' singing the theme song together.)

In my area only the first 2 seasons were shown, but my wife reports that she not only got just the first, but it didn't include the final episode where they return to Earth, never mind the whole Comet Empire season. After hearing that, I didn't feel so bad about missing the 3rd season.

Just as a clarifying point for my faithful readers, though one of the crewmembers reported that Sgt. Knox had returned in another fighter, it was dubbed in. He died destroying the power center on the Comet Ship (In fact, none of the Marines they brought aboard survived the season). According to a later movie, Orion the engineer also died in the final ep of the 2nd season (Much to my sadness, I liked him). Also the chief pilot, Conroy died fighting the Comet Empire, but was replaced by his identical younger brother in the 3rd Japanese series, though the American series considered him to be the same character. (Nevermind that he was using a urinal when he spotted the Andremeda coming after them in the 2nd season's 5th episode. I wouldn't expect American TV to show that).

I hope that the various petitions are successful in returning Star Blazers to television. While there are several interesting animated shows, with the exception of Roughnecks; the Starship Troopers Chronicles, that are merely interesting, Star Blazers was actually engrossing.

The animation is a bit crude by today's standards, but only on the surface. Its style and heart are still unique and compelling, and clearly each frame is lovingly crafted. The music is phenomenal and moving, especially given that it was probably taken from the original 1974 film. The SF ideas presented (e.g. holography room, space/time warps, etc.) are borrowed by many films and series that have followed. The plots, though overly dramatic sometimes, are poignant and epic nonetheless. Overall, the series is rough on the edges, with many minor flaws such as character inconsistencies and scientific factual blunders, not to mention the gross inefficiency of using a seagoing battleship design for a space cruiser. However, the core of it is pure genius and I'm held in rapt admiration of it.

The references to World War II are obvious: fighting an almost hopeless war against an evil, corrupt empire. The enemy leader, Desslok, even looks like a Nazi with the uniform he wears. The story is emotionally driven: fraught with patriotism, sacrifice, and the desperation to save Earth. The writers employ healthy doses of characterization and detail, something sadly lacking in most other series. Lots of morality and spiritualism are brandished effectively such as (paraphrased) "don't destroy other worlds in desperation, even though Earth will die in less than a year", "with great power comes great responsibility", "take pains not to harm indigenous life on other worlds", "take the blame for your actions and move on", "in spite of all the Capt has lost, he goes on, indomitable", and "your brother survives in you."

Part of the series' attraction is the epic space battles. The see the animators craft the ships and their weaponry, and put them into action, is a sight to behold. "Space planes" soar in formation around the enemy and bristle with missiles and torpedoes. Weapons of mass destruction are brought into play to save the day. And the battleship Argo itself is such a work of art. Its splendor is shown off in a vast array of combat attitudes. They couldn't resist having the ship land in on an ocean, so that its seagoing superstructure and profile could be admired (powerfully reminiscent of the sea battles in our history). Overall, the heroic spirit personified by ship and her crew is exploited to the hilt, and it's hard to resist cheering for them in spite of the melodrama.

The show was a refreshing break from all cartoons about critters dropping pounds of TNT on one another and assorted silliness. It rode the heels of the popularity of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, despite the fact that, in Japan, it preceded them.

The greatest flaw was that it was not properly marketed, and has been confined to a niche category.

Disney made an attempt a few years ago to resurrect and modernize the property, but it seems to be stuck in dev-hell. From what I understand about the script, it should stay there until a better script makes its way through the bowels of Hollywood.

I'm really suprised this anime doesn't have a stronger following, this is one the first animes that was brought to the US that had an actual ongoing storyline. It also is the anime that upped my expectations of cartoons, after this series I was much more skeptical and demanding of how cartoons where done. Unlike Superfriends, characters ability's didn't change with the demand of the situation in each episode of Starblazers, I really recommend anybody who wants to see a good ongoing anime series to go out and try to rent this series, you won't regret it.