Studio Khara Launches ‘Space Battleship Yamato’ 50th Anniversary Project Headed By ‘Evangelion’ Creator Hideki Anno
In giving the influential sci-fi space opera anime the respect and talent it deserves on its 50th anniversary, Studio Khara has announced that legendary Evangelion franchise director Hideki Anno will soon be taking the helm of Space Battleship Yamato.
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Announced on March 30th via the studio’s official website (as machine translated via DeepL), in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto’s seminal franchise, Anno will oversee the production of several commemorative media releases, the offerings ranging from artbooks – including new ones featuring the respective artworks of mechanical designer Junichiro Tanachi and Space Battleship Yamato 2199 mangaka Michio Murakawa – a collected release of the 1974 anime’s soundtrack, and a colored edition of Matsumoto’s original 1974 companion manga.
Additional plans include a touring exhibition across Japan featuring rare and valuable materials related to the franchise’s production as well as a commemorative television screening of the original series’ first episode on October 6th – the same date it made its Japanese television debut back in 1974.
Set during an interstellar way in 2199, after the Earth is made uninhabitable thanks to the use of radioactive meteorite bombs by their alien enemies, the Gamilas, Space Battleship Yamato sees an international crew set out on a mission upon the eponymous ship to retrieve the Cosmo Cleaner, a device created by the planet Iscandar that could help in purifying Earth’s atmosphere of its radiation pollution.
In 1978, Toei animation released a film adaptation of Space Battleship Yamato, therein condensing the 26 episode anime condensed down to a 130-minute movie.
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On October 13th 2013, Studio Khara’s official twitter account tweeted a statement from the Shin Kamen Rider director, wherein he revealed that not only had he been a fan of the series – whose influence can be seen in anime ranging from Gundam, Macross, and even Evangelion – for 49 years, but also that it played a major part in his own career.
“If it weren’t for my encounter with Space Battleship Yamato, I don’t think I would be where I am today,” said Anno. ” The coolness of the opening picture and song right after it started! I was numbed by the rising of the main title, and the movement of Yamato as the camera pulled away from the captain’s quarters directly connected to it, grabbed my heart, and I feel like I’m still there today. I regretted so much that I had missed the first episode.”
“From the second episode to the final episode, I did everything in my power to watch it (I had to sacrifice watching Great Mazinger and intentionally shifted my cram school hours so that I could run back to my apartment the moment cram school ended), and I always sat in front of the TV at 7:30 on Sundays,” continued the Shin Ultraman director. “I vividly remember the shock of the first episode, which I finally got to see when it was rerun, which I had been craving for a long time.”
“Once again, I feel that 49 years ago today was the time when my life was decided,” he concluded. “I wanted to post this to express my personal appreciation for the epochal work Space Battleship Yamato.”
Space Battleship Yamato‘s 50th anniversary projects are expected to release by October 6th, 2024.
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