The Old School Otaku Lounge

'Ark of the Stars' seems to be the semi-official Anglicization of the title, but understand that this entire movie takes place between 2 episodes of Yamato 2199. Nothing really epic CAN occur, the best to hope for is enough development to fuel another 26 half-hour episodes.

So, to clarify: The new movie 'Ark of the Stars' (as opposed to the theatrical cut-down of the 26 episodes to a roughly 2 hour feature) will NOT be a reworking of Arrivederci, Yamato.

Hi all,
So the Yamato movie came out last weekend in select theaters, but I have not yet had an opportunity to watch it.

Has anyone bought the "Starblazers 2199" DVDs? How is the presentation? Does it only say "Starblazers" on the box and menus, but not in the actual episodes? They didn't change thames to Derek Wildstar and such, did they? Are the credits intact?

greg wrote:Hi all,
So the Yamato movie came out last weekend in select theaters, but I have not yet had an opportunity to watch it.

Has anyone bought the "Starblazers 2199" DVDs? How is the presentation? Does it only say "Starblazers" on the box and menus, but not in the actual episodes? They didn't change thames to Derek Wildstar and such, did they? Are the credits intact?

Best hurry to see the Compilation Film, it's not going to be in the small number of theaters for long. It will be worth seeing as a streamlined digest of the 26 episodes, it should be less jarring than the 1977 original series cutdown movie.

Starblazers 2199. *sigh* Another case of the Japanese owners trying to enter the American market with zero clue. The only change is the title. EVERYTHING else, the subtitles are the same as Yamato 2199. No Wildstar or Argo, it's Kodai and Yamato all the way. And yes, subtitled only, no English dub.

You may ask then what's the point of the title change? And well you may ask that. There was no point, other than MAYBE thinking the Star Blazers branding actually had some traction in the U.S. (hint: no it doesn't. We love Star Blazers but as far as the PUBLIC is concerned, it's no Robotech or Voltron) and serving as a dis-incentive for a Native Japanese seeking a cheap American release to 'reverse import'.

Don't bother trying to buy the Starblazers 2199 DVDs or BDs. They've closed their online store and they've canceled the 5th and 6th discs.

You'd be better off haunting the used DVD shops for the Bandai Yamato 2199 Blu-Rays.

Oh great. So they shot themselves in the foot, and it flopped. I think that calling it "Starblazers" only made potential buyers like myself apprehensive, and dissuaded us from buying it right away. I actually lost track of when these DVDs were to be released, so I wasn't paying attention.

Well, Star Blazers just got optioned AGAIN in Hollywood for a movie. My theory is that the entire "Starblazers 2199" campaign has all been aimed at selling that option. Now that the IP is in Hollywood's hands, Japan can sit back, watch them make (or not make) a film, and wait for the inevitable inquiries about rights to the animated series. If they play their cards right they can sit back and make money without having to lift a finger (or release a DVD).

davemerrill wrote:Well, Star Blazers just got optioned AGAIN in Hollywood for a movie. My theory is that the entire "Starblazers 2199" campaign has all been aimed at selling that option. Now that the IP is in Hollywood's hands, Japan can sit back, watch them make (or not make) a film, and wait for the inevitable inquiries about rights to the animated series. If they play their cards right they can sit back and make money without having to lift a finger (or release a DVD).

I don't really disagree with this. It would obviously fit my feeling that Shoji Nishizaki doesn't really have much interest in his job and a "let Jones do it" attitude fits that perfectly.

Of course it does rather s**tcan what little money has been spent with the 'Starblazers 2199' effort, doesn't it?

So tonight was the last showing of the Yamato 2199 movie, the one that's a condensed version of the TV series. Nothing new under the sun, really. They did a pretty good job at fitting the length of the series into a 130 minute movie. The movie starts out with the attack on the base on Pluto, and then does a quick montage of the events leading up to the Yamato's launch. A lot of stuff is omitted, of course. It focuses on the main points of the movie and dispenses with the character building in the ship's cafeteria, Yuria-chan's radio show, etc. Actually, Yuria-chan is taken over by Yurishia Iscandar as soon as the Yamato makes its first warp. This was the only part of the show that seems to have required reanimating. Thus, the subplot of the Yamato coming under the hypnosis spell by the telepathic witch is gone entirely, and other subplots such as the prison liberation attack was just glossed over by a narration.

So for everyone outside of Japan, you're not really missing anything with this movie, except for the experience of being able to see Yamato 2199 on the big screen. After the credits, there's the trailer for the upcoming Yamato 2199 movie: The Ark of the Stars. It was identical to what you can see in the link.

Last night I bought a ticket to see the upcoming Ark of the Stars movie. Here in Japan, it costs about $18 US for a ticket to see a movie in a theater, but if you buy an advanced sale ticket at a convenience store, then it only costs about $14-15.

greg wrote:Last night I bought a ticket to see the upcoming Ark of the Stars movie. Here in Japan, it costs about $18 US for a ticket to see a movie in a theater, but if you buy an advanced sale ticket at a convenience store, then it only costs about $14-15.

Pretty sweet. Wish I was there.

OK, make sure you understand that Ark of the Stars takes place between a couple of episodes, on the way home from Iscandar. So nothing really huge CAN happen, because we know the Yamato makes it back to Earth and nobody significant had died 'off camera'.

I think you'll leave the theater thinking "but what happens NEXT?!" and no, nothing, nothing has been announced.

Most everyone assumes this film is the lead-in to the Yamato 2 'remake'. Thing is, given all the changes generated in Yamato 2199, if they do another TV series it really could go anywhere.

I'm just glad they ARE generating new material. I get so worried by the usual "take a step, wait a couple years, re-invent the wheel and take a step" that is so often the thinking.

And now, the first 9 minutes of Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars has been made available.

Well, well well. Doesn't that look interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw1C2cmNzBY