the Yamato 2199 thread

[_D_]

Stumbled upon the 15th episode on Youtube. Might want to watch it before it gets pulled. Also, the trailer for the next bunch of episodes is on Youtube as well. Getting shorter with the release schedule, only 6 weeks from theatrical release to the BD/DVD release. I can see why in the summer though as you have a lot of competition for screen time from the summer movie blockbusters...

The "usual places" also have episode 15 to 18...just to let you know...

I do hope this gets a full box set for our market at some point. The Japanese discs are nice but only us die hards will ever buy it and even then have to justify it to ourselves...

[SteveH]

So I am caught up with episodes 15-18.

Holy freaking crap, what a wild ride this is so far!

It's just...I really have no words. It's smart and funny and starting to really get into that character interaction groove and just...just...wow.

If I had the money (and a good BD player) I would be buying the Japanese blu-ray discs RIGHT F'ING NOW.

Now the painful, shameful waiting for 19-22.

[greg]

I wish I can see this show with subtitles. SF shows are far beyond my vocabulary level. I'm not getting the same as you guys.

The new characters are cool (beats me who their names are). Having a new female fighter pilot is cool. Having a new nurse character makes sense, because it didn't make sense how Yuki was pulled into being a nurse in the original, since that was clearly not her job. So she's a somewhat dopey girl with big boobs. Still, she seems like she could be a real person, so she's believable. That's as far as I can tolerate with moe, and in my definition, this girl isn't very moe. I just finished watching episode 7. My Tsutaya only has the first 3 DVDs of the series for some reason, so I'm disappointed that I may not see the rest for a while.

The Yamato looks pretty much identical, but the upgraded fighter jet designs are pretty cool. I think I'll go to Hobbyon tomorrow and drool on the model kits tomorrow.

[SteveH]

I wish I can see this show with subtitles. SF shows are far beyond my vocabulary level. I'm not getting the same as you guys.

The new characters are cool (beats me who their names are). Having a new female fighter pilot is cool. Having a new nurse character makes sense, because it didn't make sense how Yuki was pulled into being a nurse in the original, since that was clearly not her job. So she's a somewhat dopey girl with big boobs. Still, she seems like she could be a real person, so she's believable. That's as far as I can tolerate with moe, and in my definition, this girl isn't very moe. I just finished watching episode 7. My Tsutaya only has the first 3 DVDs of the series for some reason, so I'm disappointed that I may not see the rest for a while.

The Yamato looks pretty much identical, but the upgraded fighter jet designs are pretty cool. I think I'll go to Hobbyon tomorrow and drool on the model kits tomorrow.

Hopefully your shop will have the kits, as it seems they're selling REALLY well so far.

Right now all that is out is the new Cosmo Zero (two releases, Kodai and Yamamoto). The Cosmo Falcon arrives in June and July (two releases, Kato and Sinohara.) Of course there's a bunch of ships, a literal s**t ton of Gamilas and the few Earth ships.

The official Yamato 2199 site uses a tiny bit of English, at least for most chara names and a handful of mecha. It's in the URL so click on a picture and at least you get that much to start with, to wit:

http://yamato2199.net/character.html

which leads to

http://yamato2199.net/character_kaoru.html

As an example.

I just noticed (DUH!) that the Earth chara have furugani over the kanji of their names. Wait. it's been so long, is that the right term? cripes.

The Japanese Blu-Ray discs have English subtitles, so if you have a BD player, that's a thing.

[Heibi]

Just got the latest volume yesterday. Our club is watching them tonight.

[SteveH]

Just got the latest volume yesterday. Our club is watching them tonight.

Be prepared for lots of shouts, screams, fist-pumping and " wait what WHAT?!" moments.

[greg]

Cool site! Thanks for the link, Steve! It has the names of the ships and everything. The Cosmo Falcon is what I have my eyes set on. I forget.. .the Black Tigers are from the 2nd season of Yamato, right?

The Japanese Blu-Ray discs have English subtitles, so if you have a BD player, that's a thing.

What? Craaaaaaaap! The regular DVDs don't! Why the heck not? I don't have a Blu-Ray player! Nuuuuuuts!

Now that I think of it, it's probably because Blu-Rays are region free, and are thus expected to be viewed internationally. Maybe that's why.

[SteveH]

Cool site! Thanks for the link, Steve! It has the names of the ships and everything. The Cosmo Falcon is what I have my eyes set on. I forget.. .the Black Tigers are from the 2nd season of Yamato, right?

The Japanese Blu-Ray discs have English subtitles, so if you have a BD player, that's a thing.

What? Craaaaaaaap! The regular DVDs don't! Why the heck not? I don't have a Blu-Ray player! Nuuuuuuts!

Now that I think of it, it's probably because Blu-Rays are region free, and are thus expected to be viewed internationally. Maybe that's why.

We, and by 'we' I mean all the gaijin who are not connected with Bandai Entertainment Japan and thus have no direct knowledge, have no idea why the Yamato 2199 BD discs have English subs. They could have had them on the DVDs as well and just make them all region but, no, didn't happen. So there's a reason for the BDs. Some speculate that Bandai Ent. had some idea of pimping the discs to America same as they did with Gundam Unicorn, but complications with American licensing put a stop to that. That, and Bandai Ent. Japan killed their American branch.

Bandai Ent. REALLY REALLY wants Japanese pricing structure to be the norm for anime in America. It must kill them that Yamato 2199 is roughly 2 hours of content on a 7,000 Yen blu-ray, that's cheap by what we see on other releases.

[greg]

This afternoon, we watched episode 8. I really like how the show is spending time with the Gamilans. With all the names of these characters being displayed on screen, it almost feels like LOGH. You know, Dairugger XV also involved a war with blue-skinned aliens from a dying planet, looking for a new planet to call their home. That show showed their motives, and that not all of them were a bunch of haters. I don't remember the original show really breathing life into the Gamilans. Like that one guy who died in episode 8. Sure, he was launching meteorites at Earth, but he's doing it for his beloved daughter, etc. Just like most Nazi soldiers were fighting for their home country, not every enemy needs to be evil just for evil's sake, even though they serve evil leaders. I'm liking this show quite a lot.

Being younger than some of you guys (I'm 37), I didn't grow up with Starblazers. I've only seen the first two seasons of Yamato once through, so I don't know it by heart like I do Macross since I grew up with Robotech instead of Starblazers. So, I don't remember so clearly what happened in the original show. But so far, I'm really blown away by this new show.

[_D_]

Back in the 1960's, I loved "The Invaders" and have watched it several times in the past several years. The box set has some nice commentary by actor Roy Thinnes who played the main character, David Vincent. That was definitely a cold war sort of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" which had preceded it but unlike the film, it naturally progressed to a logical conclusion. Loved that voice over as well...I always thought it was William Conrad but it was someone else who sounded like him. That flying saucer the Inveders used sold a lot of model kits in a lot of countries...

Also, I'm wondering if they make a second series, if any of the "new" characters will be from anywhere else in the world? The current series is set in the Japanese sphere of influence because that's where the ship is but they seem to say that the head of the UN Space Agency is not in Japan. I'd assume a build up of ships now that they know how to make them and it's probable that with the bombing stopped, there is at least an attempt to get some ships away from the planet in case the Yamato was to not return. Or perhaps I'm thinking too hard about this. Would be nice to ask the creators of the series questions like this...

Also find it odd that the bombing survivors are able to build an underground power system that is able to route power from all over the planet as well as make underground bases for their remaining fleets but lack an underground rail system to get from one place to another. I am reminded of the one that was in Genesis II and Planet Earth and used by PAX for mobility between cities and continents. Again, maybe I'm thinking too hard...