Saraba Uchû Senkan Yamato: Ai no Senshitachi

This movie was even better than Space Battleship Yamato the movie The Comet Empire threat made Gamilus look like wimps. Was the Comet Empire "ship" larger in size than the artifical Dark Nebula Empire planet in Be Forever Yamato or the giant Urban Satellite Uruk in Final Yamato? Arrivederci Yamato was also darker, with many more deaths and noble suicides of major characters. Every time you think the Arrivederci story ends, surprise! the Comet Empire has another trick up its sleeve. I heard a rumor that the Japanese fans were so outraged at Arrivederci basically ending the storylines that they demanded more Yamato, and so Space Battleship Yamato 2 the series was made, with Telezart having a much bigger role, Desslar/Desslok and Kodai/Derek Wildstar switching roles during their final confrontation, and the Dreadnought blasting Earth instead of the Moon. Arrivederci was less confusing than the sometimes choppy plot of Space Battleship Yamato the movie, except for the ending where you can completely misinterpret what happens w/o some kind of translation if you don't speak Japanese. This is the only entry in the 5 movies and 3 series where the Earth Defense Fleet kicks major alien buttocks.

Even as a dyed-in-the-wool Star Blazers fan with the Comet Empire series ingrained somewhere in my brain, I still watched this on the edge of my seat. Granted, there are differences--big differences--and those differences alone make it worth watching. I do like the mecha aspect, but it's the human dynamic captured by this film that sets it above all others. All I'm going to say, though, is that if I were Yuki Mori, I would have found another love interest sometime before the film begins. But hey, that's me. It's true that this film aroused such a response in Japan that the Comet Empire series was made to meet audience demand. An issue of the comic (yeah, okay, I'm a real geek) explained the various scenarios depending on what storyline you're following. Thus this film is both the end and an interesting diversion. Take your pick.