In
Japan, the animated series Space Battleship Yamato first ran on
TV from October 1974 through March of 1975.
It was followed by two other successful series featuring the same
universe and many of the same characters, in 1978 and 1980, respectively
The
original series finally came to American shores, with some dramatic alterations,
as Star
Blazers, in 1979. The series’
first season was dubbed over in English, and the characters were given new,
westernized names like Captain Avatar, Derek Wildstar, and Mark Venture. Even the great ship Yamato became, instead,
the Argo, after Jason’s mythical vessel.
The
re-vamped series premiered post-Star Wars (1977) in the U.S. on
September 19, 1979, and quickly became a critical part of the pop culture
firmament if you were a 1970s space kid.
I
have always watched the series as Star Blazers, not as Space
Battleship Yamato, so I’ll be blogging the Americanized version of the
material in the weeks ahead, particularly the first twenty-six installments,
which comprise one narrative, or complete story arc.
The
series’ first episode -- which I’ve seen
titled as both “Battle of Pluto” and, on DVD, as “S.O.S. Earth! Revive Space
Cruiser Argo” – establishes the crisis, characters, and essential universe
of Star
Blazers.
It
is the year 2199 AD, and the hostile Gamilon race has bombarded Earth with “planet
bombs.” The fall-out from these devastating
bombs has decimated life on the Earth’s surface, and mankind has moved
underground to escape the toxic radiation pollution.
Unfortunately,
even the underground cities are endangered now.
The bad news is that all human life will be rendered extinct in one year’s
time if nothing is done to save the planet, which has been termed “hopelessly contaminated.”
Meanwhile,
the war with the Gamilons goes badly.
Earth’s space navy is “all that stands between” the alien battle-cruisers
and Mother Earth. In the Battle of
Pluto, old space salt, Captain Avatar watches from the bridge of his flagship
as his forces are soundly defeated. The
captain of another ship, Alex Wildstar, saves Avatar’s flagship but at the cost
of Wildstar’s ship and crew. It is a
time of sacrifice, and honor.
Meanwhile,
Alex’s brother, Derek Wildstar, unexpectedly learns of a new hope for the
planet while stationed on Mars. Queen
Starsha of the distant world Iscandar has sent a critical message for the people
of our world. The natives of Iscandar possess
a technological innovation called the “Cosmo DNA” which can restore the planet,
removing the lethal radioactivity.
Furthermore,
Starsha provides the blueprints and plans for a propulsion system called “the
Wave Motion Engine,” which can carry an Earth ship the 148,000 light years to
Iscandar and back…just in time to resolve the crisis.
The
most pressing concern, however, is that there is no ship is available to make
the survival run. But wily old Captain
Avatar has a secret plan. The Earth’s future rests in excavating its
forgotten past. The sunken
battleship Yamato from World War II has been found, and is currently being
re-fitted as a space vessel for the long and dangerous voyage to Iscandar.
Wildstar
and his friend, Mark Venture, join Captain Avatar on his quest. They also meet a lovely nurse, Nova, and the
comical Dr. Sane. Another sidekick is
the robot, IQ9, who can split into three segments and then-re-form. Together, this team -- as well as a dedicated
volunteer crew -- must get the Yamato – re-christened the Argo -- safely into the
sky before it is destroyed by Gamilon bombers…
The
episode ends with urgent notice that there are three hundred-and-sixty-four
days remaining until the Earth dies.
I
grew up with Star Blazers (as well as Battle of the Planets) and remember
in the early 1980s visiting Forbidden Planet in New York City with my Dad to
buy toys and models from the series (and also from Doctor Who). I still have a Gamilon battle-cruiser on
display in my home office after all these years, as well as a red spaceship/“aircraft
carrier” that I haven’t seen yet on the program.
As
I watched the inaugural Star Blazer episode for the first
time in years, I noticed especially how the imagery -- particularly how it pertains to Captain Avatar -- generates and
sustains a sense of suspense and mystery.
Throughout the first episode, the character is drawn with his back to the audience and to other
characters too, making him feel removed and enigmatic. This composition repeats at least three times
in the first half-hour, and of course, we learn in the first episode what
Avatar’s secret is: Yamato awaits.
I
had also forgotten-- despite the obvious and central appearance of Yamato as a
sea-going ship in outer space -- how thoroughly Star Blazers mines its
central nautical metaphor. Officers speak
of “space knots” in terms of speed,
or observe that the ship’s “stern is
damaged.” When buffeted, the great
lumbering space cruisers also list to the side, as if knocked off balance while
sailing an ocean setting.
The
space battles, with pivoting turrets and blaring weaponry, remain visually
impressive, even today. I love how the
ships explode, for instance. They seem
to puff up first – their insides
shattered – before they burst outwards in a blossom of destruction. I was also struck by the terrifying depiction
of destruction on Earth. There’s an
image of a small rural home or building struck by the Gamilon bomb, and at the
moment of impact, the edifice melts away like a liquid until nothing solid
remains.
The
premise for Star Blazers is both tense and adventurous. A countdown has begun for Earth, yet at the
same time, the episode acknowledges that no human has “ever gone” as far out in
space as Iscandar, making the destination a mysterious one too
I
also appreciate the conceit at the crux of Star Blazers: that the secret of our
future survival rests in our past.
Yamato/Argo is just a “pile of
scrap metal” to some eyes, but the past can be re-purposed and made vital
again if only we remember it, and learn its lessons. Thus I feel very strongly the Argo is a
metaphor for how human beings face each day: experience and history are our guideposts, going forward. Star Blazers literalizes that
notion with the Argo, a ship of war now transformed into a vehicle of hope.
John, I too enjoyed both Battle of the Planets (1978-1979) and Star Blazers in 1979 debut. However, Star Blazers was epic on an emotional level to me as a boy in '79. I have seen the 2010 live-action movie called Space Battleship Yamato which production wise is simply brilliant, albeit lacks the emotional impact of the Star Blazers animated series. I still think that Ron Moore's 2003-2009 Battlestar Galactica character of Adama was greatly influenced by Avatar of Star Blazers. Even George Lucas admitted to seeing Space Battleship Yamato animated series/films before he wrote Star Wars.
ReplyDeleteSGB
I was happily surprised to see that Space Battleship Yamato is still going strong in Japan with "Space Battleship Yamato 2199" being released in four episode installments (in theaters no less) last year. This modern update basically follows the original story-line, with some clever updates/character additions. The animation style is incredible and the updated, yet familiar score hits all the nostalgic notes and is still quite stirring. I highly recommend checking out the first 10 episodes that have been released; they're pretty easy to find on various anime sites by doing a simple Google search.
ReplyDelete- Adam
What a great show, or at least I fondly remember it that way. It reminds me of hurriedly packing my lunch so I could catch as much starblazers as possible before had to run out and catch the schoolbus to 2nd grade..
ReplyDeleteI still think the ship looks baddass..