Title:
Space Battleship Yamato: The Making Of An Anime Legend
Region:
One
Genre:
Documentary
Narrated
By: Ken Meseroll
Feature
length: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Extras:
Original Pilot Short, Opening And Closing Titles For Each Series, Japanese Toy
Commercials
Languages:
English Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 20
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2005
Home
Video Distributor: Voyager Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Voyager
Entertainment’s DVD release of “Space Battleship Yamato: The Making Of An
Anime Legend” is an outstanding documentary that covers the history of the
trend setting anime space opera that has had a profound influence on sci-fi
world wide. Narrated by Ken Meseroll, the actor who provided the voice of Derek
Wildstar in the American version of the Yamato series entitled “Star
Blazers,” this is a must-own for any collector of Space Battleship Yamato/Star
Blazers on DVD. The documentary covers the genesis of the series from its humble
beginnings in 1973 to the spectacular feature film finale in 1983. In between
there were radio adaptations, a total of four animated feature films, an
animated TV movie, as well as three television series. 2005 marks the 25th
anniversary of “Star Blazers” here in America and even for those not
familiar with this classic anime franchise, watching this DVD will give the
viewer an excellent introduction to the entire episodic epic with interviews
narrated in English by Executive Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, who in many ways
can be seen as sort of the Gene Roddenberry of the series. Although the Japanese
version portrayed all of the characters as being Asian, he wanted the crew of
the Yamato to be multicultural so when the series first premiered in the United
States in 1980, the American version of the characters easily fit into a
multicultural supporting cast because not all of the characters were
specifically drawn to represent any one nationality above another. The theme of
universal love ultimately leading to salvation was also quite unique for its
time.
Other
interview narrations include Supervising Director Toshiro Masuda, Supervising
Director Noboru Ishiguro, Designer and Co-Creator Leiji Matsumoto, and Composer
Hiroshi Miyagawa. Extra features on this DVD include all of the original opening
and closing title sequences for “Space Battleship Yamato” and “Star
Blazers,” which can be viewed in individual groups or one after the other
using the “Play All” feature (16:55). The original animated short pilot used
to pitch the series (8:31) and Japanese TV spots for toy tie-ins (1:20) are also
included. I wish a live action feature film version of “Yamato/Blazers”
would come to fruition because just looking at the toy commercials alone gave me
a sense that this would look awesome as a live action international big screen
event given today’s technology.
The
legacy of “Space Battleship Yamato” and “Star Blazers” is still being
felt today and if you are a fan of other anime or other franchises like
“Babylon 5”, “Star Trek” or “Star Wars”, you really owe it to
yourself to check out this thrilling and timeless adventure. “Space Battleship
Yamato: The Making Of An Anime Legend” is available at retailers on and
offline now and can also be ordered directly from www.starblazers.com
courtesy of Voyager Entertainment.
All Rights Reserved.