, also known as ''Star Blazers: The Comet Empire'' or ''Star Blazers II'', is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

military science fiction Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction that features the use of science fiction technology, mainly weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters who are members of a military organization involved in military a ...

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series produced by Academy Productions. It is the sequel to ''

Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975 ...

'' and an adaptation of the movie '' Arrivederci Yamato'' created by

Yoshinobu Nishizaki was a Japanese film producer best known as one of the two co-creators of the anime series ''Space Battleship Yamato''. He was sometimes credited as ''Yoshinori Nishizaki''. He was born in 1934 and graduated from the Nihon University Art Departm ...

and

Leiji Matsumoto is a Japanese mangaka, creator of several anime and manga series. His wife Miyako Maki is also a manga artist. Early life Matsumoto was the middle child of a family of seven brothers, and, in his early childhood, Matsumoto was given a 35m ...

. It aired on

Yomiuri TV JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the Kansai region flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the subsidiary of the eponymous Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomer ...

in Japan from October 14, 1978, to April 4, 1979. It later got a remake in 2017 under the name '' Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202''.

Overview

As the popularity of the ''Space Battleship Yamato'' franchise became clear (largely because of the outcry from fans who saw the movie), a second season of the television series was produced,

retconning Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

the movie to present a different plot in which the ''Yamato'' and its primary characters were not killed off. Expanding the story to 26 episodes, the second season featured additional plot lines, such as a love story between Teresa (Trelaina) and ''Yamato'' crew member Daisuke Shima (Mark Venture), and an antagonism between Kodai and Saito (Knox), leader of a group of space marines. This season is considered the best by many fans on account of the strategic space fleet battles, the imaginative spaceship designs created by

Studio Nue Studio Nue, Inc. ( ja, スタジオぬえ) is a Japanese design studio formed in 1972 (as Crystal Art Studio) by Naoyuki Kato, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Kazutaka Miyatake, and Haruka Takachiho. Crystal Art Studio would change their name to Studio Nue ...

, and the character development of Gamilas leader Desler. Footage from ''Arrivederci Yamato'' was reused in the second season, particularly in the opening titles; the sequence of the ''Yamato'' launching from water was also reused in two of the subsequent movies.

Plot

The Year is 2201, two years after the defeat of the Gamillas Empire and the restoration of Earth, the planet is entering a new age of Militarization with the completion of the new Intergalactic Ship, the Andromeda. However, the Gatlantis Empire (White Comet Empire), a new and even greater threat than the Gamilas, attacks Earth after crew of the ''Yamato'' investigates an SOS signal from the mysterious Teresa of planet Telezart. At the same time Desler, leader of the Gamilas Empire, also seeks revenge for his defeat at the hands of the ''Yamato''.

Cast

* Kei Tomiyama as

Susumu Kodai is a fictional character appearing in ''Space Battleship Yamato''. In the ''Star Blazers'' localization, he is known as Derek Wildstar, also known as Jason Kodai in the English dub of the first ''Yamato'' movie. Character commentary In the se ...

(Derek Wildstar) *

Yōko Asagami is a Japanese voice actress who is represented by Aksent. She is most known for the roles of Yuki Mori (''Space Battleship Yamato'') and Saeko Nogami (''City Hunter''). Her married name is . Asagmi was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō. In 1992, she ...

as Yuki Mori (Nova) *

Kazuo Hayashi is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo. He is affiliated with Theater Echo, and is skilled in Buyō. Roles Television animation *''Ippotsu Kanta-kun'' (Kōzan) *'' Legendary Giant God Ideon'' (Gije Zaral) *''Pokémon'' (Russell) *''Spa ...

as Yasuo Nanbu (Dash) *

Noriko Ohara , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress and voice actress. She was previously represented by Aoni Production, then Production Baobab, but is now freelance. Her son is Sunrise animator . She is best known for the roles of Nob ...

as Savellah (Invidia) *

Isao Sasaki is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and singer. He has had voice roles in anime such as '' Legend of the Galactic Heroes'', ''Space Battleship Yamato'', and '' Gatchaman''. He has also performed the opening themes for anime such as ''Yamato'', ''S ...

as Hajime Saito (Knox)

Reception

Notes

References

External links

Starblazers Official website
* * Space Battleship Yamato 1978 anime television series debuts Animated space adventure television series Military science fiction television series Space opera anime and manga Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming {{Anime-television-series-stub