STAR BLAZERS: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2199 / CERT 15 / DIRECTOR: AKIHIRO ENOMOTO / SCREENPLAY: YUTAKA IZUBUCHI / STARRING: DAISUKE ONO, HOUKO KUWASHIMA, CHRISTOPHER WEHCAMP, MALORIE RODAK / RELEASED DATE: 24TH FEBRUARY
You know the problem with Star Trek? They may have been “boldly going where no man had gone before” but where was that, exactly? There was no route plan, no itinerary, and for those of us who like order and tidiness, that just won’t do. It may seem strange to start off a review of the Manga Entertainment Blu-ray release of Star Blazers 2199 (to give it its shorter western title) talking about Star Trek, but there are similarities between the shows that evoke such a reaction. The Yamato, like the Enterprise, encounters strange alien worlds and discovers new races, but it does so in the pursuit of a goal – to reach the fabled planet of Iscandar and retrieve the tools to restore Earth.
A remake of the 1974 series, Uchuu Senkan Yamato, which was released in the west as both Star Blazers and the more verbatim Space Battleship Yamato, 2199 finds Earth in a mess, the remnants of its civilisation having retreated underground to survive “planet bombs” fired at Earth by an enemy race bent on conquest. The show opens with two of our main characters on Mars, ready to receive the final piece of a puzzle sent by the Iscandarians, which will allow the completion of the Yamato, and begin the journey across the universe.
The enemy aliens, the Garmillans, have a very Nazi feel to them, although they could be seen as analogous to any imperial power bent on subjugation of other races in the name of establishing a peaceful, orderly – yet cowed – empire. Their charismatic leader, Abelt Dessler, is not the Hitler caricature his name would have you believe, and has a depth of character rarely found in such broad stroke baddies, while there are as many noble soldiers on the enemy side as fighting for the freedom of Earth.
Those freedom fighters are led by Captain Okita, a salty old sea dog, because the Yamato is a spaceship in the truest sense of the word, and indeed the action, although stunningly captured by CGI as space battles with lasers and energy weapons, could equally take place between naval powerhouses; even the space fighters resemble Earth jets.
Okita’s crew are varied and interesting, but the principal characters are Susumu Kodai, thrust into a role meant for his older brother, and Yuki Mori, a girl with just a year’s worth of memories, and who bears a striking resemblance to the Iscandarian who delivered the plans for the Yamato’s engine a year before…
The show’s production pays homage to the original, with a retro feel to the character designs (although updated and animated to a 2012 standard), and the voice cast does exceptional work, particularly industry veteran Takayuki Sugo as Captain Okita. Several of the English-language staff turn up in a short film on the making of the show, which is included as a special feature (alongside a couple of episode commentaries and little else).
The original Space Battleship Yamato is held up as one of the classics of the golden age of anime, and its 2012 incarnation is worthy of inclusion in any must-see modern age list. This is a tale of humanity, with all its flaws, fighting to survive, and it’s hard for any human not to feel a part of their struggle. Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is about boldly going where no man has gone before, and it’s a journey you should join them on.
Special features: Behind the scenes short, visual effects demo, episode commentaries, textless opening and closing songs, trailers
