New "Space Battleship Yamato" Relaunched With 'Idealized Nationalism'

Above, the giant poster for the 2010 motion picture version at the Yurakucho Mullion.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It's baaaaaaack! (Not that it really ever left.)

The Asahi Shimbun's AJW (Asia & Japan Watch) reports that Space Battleship Yamato has been relaunched with hints of a new sense of idealized nationalism.

According to the article:

No matter how many times it sinks, the space warship Yamato is always resurrected by the hopes of those seeking the ideal Japan. 

The latest TV series in the “Space Battleship Yamato” franchise, which started in April and ended in September, retained that theme. But it also followed another idea that some say is the reason the anime is so popular. 

“Space Battleship Yamato 2199,” or “Star Blazers 2199,” hit the small screen 33 years after the original “Space Battleship Yamato” animated series about the vessel modeled after the Imperial Japanese Navy warship of the same name. A film version combining the latest TV series is now being produced. 

The original “Yamato” is called the pioneer of the anime boom that resulted in developing TV cartoons for children into a full-fledged anime industry. It also spawned records, books and other related merchandise. 

Film critic Tomohiro Machiyama says the “idealized nationalism” behind the story is one reason the animated franchise captured the hearts of Japanese.

During my last trip to Japan in December 2010, I attended a screening of Space Battleship Yamato (2010) at the Toho Cinemas Nichigeki in the Yurakucho Mullion Building. I found it entertaining with great special effects, although I understood hardly a word of it.

To read the full article, go here.