Bridging The Gap Special: Yamato 2199 Bursts With Grandeur & Promise

 

This last weekend marked the 38th anniversary of the day Uchu Senkan Yamato launched onto Japanese TV screens, ushering in a new era for the anime medium. So with such a notable date glaring at me from that north star of my absurdly long fandom, it was with both a natural feeling of apprehension & unfettered excitement that I had been able to get a decent look at the first few installments of Yutaka Izibuchi’s all-star remake of the Yamato legend. This grand scale retelling of the seminal series has the distinction of Izibuchi(RahXephon, Patlabor), not only taking over reins of direction from Hideaki Anno (who started with some initial storyboard work), but Yamato 2199 also sports the work of Junichi Tamamori as lead Mechanical Designer, Nobuteru Yuki(X, Escaflowne) as Character Designer, and starring the voices of Daisuke Ono as Susumu Kodai, and Houko Kuwshima (Martian Successor Nadesico) as Yuki Mori. With a large scale Shochiku theatrical releases of episode bursts, followed by bilingual subbed Blu-ray months before a major TV debut, this is a project on a size that only the prestigious can experience.

And while so many projects come and go by way of massive ad-campaign, and internet hype, Yamato 2199 is in my estimation, the real deal. An event that lives up to every expectation thus far, offering up a faithful, and passionate return to one of anime’s greats. I won’t go too much into plot details as the story is pretty universal, and such heavily covered territory can be discussed elsewhere. But what I can say for now, is that the new series is an at-times lavish affair that is every bit as detailed in its trappings, as it is in its characters. In many ways, the Voyage To Iscandar has been given a denser, almost novel-like treatment, and is most effective when it offers more depth in places that the much lower-budgeted original found itself unable to. From the Battle Of Mars, to the launching of the legendary battleship, the treatment of all these famous moments is nothing short of Class-A.

 
Among some of the changes made to this rendition, while reflective of more to the minute tastes, rarely to never distracts from matters at this point in the tale. Substituting Dr.Sado’s ever cute cat, with a curvy nurse could so easily have been a bad sign, but Harada turns out to be a fine, thoughtful addition to the crew, as the roles of Science Officer Niimi, and the changing of Zero pilot, Yamamoto from man to woman. But most welcome for me is the upgrade of Yuki Mori, which offers her a more central role on the bridge, as well as a greater amount of complexity right out of the gate. She is clearly a more mysterious character this time around, and a nice change from the one-dimensional “Starbuck” facelift she received in the recent live-action adaptation.

 
The new design work is a smooth mixture of classic and contemporary, and is more than worth noting. Virtually everything from the underground cities of Earth, to the Gamilas Empire feels weighty enough for a feature film. From the earliest moments of the show, space battles, while in no way carrying the painterly feel of the classic series and films, has an often graceful amount of depth & detail that borders on obsessive. (Turn boosters on the side of each battle class ship!) And the costume changes offer up a more functional look than before. Particularly with the uniforms that hew closer to Nicolas Meyer’s more nautical concepts for his game-changing Star Trek II:The Wrath Of Khan. But perhaps the most impressive, is the design and interior of the Yamato itself, which is lovingly rendered with a sense of the tactile which is more often than not, severely not present in recent anime. Going above and beyond what is usually attainable with current CG-driven animation art, Yamato is so far one of the premier examples of how beautiful science fiction can look through the lens of anime art. (I will not go into just how impressive things get once they reach Jupiter-btw)

 
But most importantly, all of this comes in the service of retelling a story that is almost as important to the modern Japanese narrative as to animated television. Ostensibly an operatic rumination on the Pacific War by way of romantic space, the Yamato story begins with a sure-handed flow  that is unprecedented in today’s climate. The tale of Kodai, a young pilot, eager to understand the man responsible for the loss of his decorated older brother, as humanity makes one last gamble to save itself remains as potent as ever. From the first episodes, it’s pretty clear that no expense was spared in making the world and characters paramount. By the point where I left off, it was also quite apparent that this version of the tale is ready to take on a few new wrinkles that are bound to pleasantly surprise. Whichever way one comes into the universe Yoshinobu Nishizaki & Leiji Matsumoto created, I’m happy to state here that the legacy of Yamato seems to be in ideal hands. Anime lovers parched for something sincere and grand, prepare for a flood come a few months from now.

 
May Yamato live on..

 

 

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Author: wintermuted

Part-time wandering artifact, part-time student, Wintermuted's travels from the wastelands of California's Coachella Valley have crystallized his love of all-things soulful & strange. A child of the VHS era, and often working for the anime man, his voyages continue onward in the name of bridging generations of Japanese popular art together. Can also be found via twitter.com/winterkaijyu , as well as wanderingkaijyu.blogspot.com !

1 thought on “Bridging The Gap Special: Yamato 2199 Bursts With Grandeur & Promise

  1. I’m watching old Yamato right now but surely will watch this remake too. Glad to hear it will be some more female crew in Yamato and yes, Yuki deserve more sreen time. Hope captain Okita will be as much as GAR in the remake.

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