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Star Blazers

Star Blazers is an American animated television series adaptation of the Japanese anime series Space Battleship Yamato I (1974), II (1978), and III (1980) (宇宙戦艦ヤマト, Uchū Senkan Yamato). Star Blazers was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. It was the first popular English-translated anime that had an overarching plot and storyline that required the episodes to be viewed in order, which paved the way for future arc-based, plot-driven anime translations.[1] It also dealt with somewhat more mature themes than other productions aimed at the same target audience at the time.

Star Blazers
Based onSpace Battleship Yamato (1974–1980)
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Japan (o.v.)
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes77 (list of episodes)
Production
Production companiesClaster Television
Sunwagon Productions
Release
Original networkFirst-run syndication
Original releaseSeptember 17, 1979 (1979-09-17) –
December 4, 1984 (1984-12-04)

Plot

Star Blazers consists of three television seasons. Each is an English-language adaption of its Japanese counterpart Space Battleship Yamato. However, the Japanese saga entails more than just these three television seasons, and part of this missing portion of the saga occurs between Seasons Two and Three, in the movies Yamato: The New Voyage and Be Forever Yamato.

In the first season, Earth is attacked by Gamilon, a distant planet. The radiation from Gamilon's planet bombs forces everyone on Earth underground. With no way to remove the radiation, all life on Earth will be wiped out in one year. The Earth then receives unexpected help from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar, who offers a device called "Cosmo DNA" which will remove the radiation. However, since Iscandar is 148,000 light years away, Starsha also sends plans for the experimental Wave Motion Engine that, when constructed, will help whoever can travel to Iscandar by letting them travel at 27,569,736,000 miles per second (about 150,000 times the speed of light, permitting the journey to be made in 1 year). On Earth, a crew is recruited, headed by Captain Avatar, and an old sunken battleship (the World War II–era Japanese battleship Yamato) is transformed into a spaceship—renamed the Argo—outfitted with the Wave Motion Engine, and sent to Iscandar.

The second season takes place one year after the Argo returns to Earth with the Cosmo DNA and Earth's ecosystem is restored. It now faces a new, dangerous enemy, the Comet Empire, led by Prince Zordar. Unlike Gamilon, which was seeking to capture and colonize Earth, Zordar simply wants to conquer and annex Earth to his Empire. Desslok, the Gamilon leader, also joins forces with Zordar, mainly because he wants revenge on the Argo for having destroyed Gamilon. The series revolves around the Argo, now commanded by Deputy Captain Derek Wildstar, working with the Earth Defense Force to face Zordar.

In the third season, the Argo is caught in the middle of a war between the Galmans (the reformed Gamilon Empire) and the Bolar Federation. A stray missile fired during the war causes the sun's thermonuclear reactions to go out of control. Unless it can be stopped, the sun will destroy the Earth in one year and the entire solar system in three. Now officially in command of the Argo, Derek Wildstar is charged to help find a new home for Earth's population.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
126September 17, 1979 (1979-09-17)March 3, 1980 (1980-03-03)
226September 13, 1980 (1980-09-13)March 7, 1981 (1981-03-07)
3251984 (1984)December 4, 1984 (1984-12-04)

Characters

First and second seasons

Major characters appearing in Seasons One and Two are listed below by their canonical (Westchester) names:

Character Performer Position Origin
Captain Avatar Gordon Ramsey Captain of the Argo and Star Force Commander Earth
Derek Wildstar Kenneth Meseroll Deputy Captain, Argo (season 1); Acting Captain and Star Force Commander (season 2) Earth
Mark Venture[2] Tom Tweedy Chief Navigator, Argo Earth
Nova Forrester Amy Howard Wilson Radar Operator, Nurse, Argo Earth
Sandor Unknown Science Officer, Argo Earth
Homer Michael Bertolini Communications Chief, Argo Earth
Eager Patrick W. Lohn Assistant Navigator, Argo Earth
Dash Eddie Allen Artillery Unit, Argo Earth
Orion Gordon Ramsey Chief Engineer, Argo Earth
Conroy Unknown Black Tiger Leader Earth
Hardy Unknown Black Tiger Pilot Earth
Dr. Sane Frank Pita Doctor, Argo Earth
IQ-9 Stephen James Pastor Survey Robot, Argo Earth
Sgt. Knox Chris Latta Space Marine Leader, Brumus Earth
Captain Gideon Unknown Captain of Andromeda Earth
Commander Unknown Commander, Earth Defense Force Earth
Stone Michael Bertolini General, EDF Earth
Miss Efficiency Unknown Medical Robot, EDF Earth
Alex Wildstar Unknown Brother of Derek, EDF Earth
Queen Starsha Lydia Leeds Ruler of Iscandar Iscandar
Astra No vocals Sister of Starsha Iscandar
Leader Desslok Eddie Allen Gamilon Leader Gamilon
General Krypt Unknown Adjutant to Desslok Gamilon
General Talan Unknown Adjutant to Desslok Gamilon
General Lysis Unknown Commander of Balan Base Gamilon
Volgar Mike Czechopoulos Adjutant to Lysis Gamilon
Colonel Ganz Unknown Commander of Pluto Base Gamilon
Major Bane Unknown Adjutant to Ganz Gamilon
Prince Zordar Unknown Ruler of Comet Empire Comet Empire
Princess Invidia Morgan Lofting Daughter of Zordar Comet Empire
General Dire Chris Latta Imperial Command Staff Comet Empire
General Gorse Frank Pita Imperial Command Staff Comet Empire
General Turpis / Bleak Unknown Combined Fleet Commander Comet Empire
General Torbuck Unknown Antimatter Missile Fleet Commander Comet Empire
General Naska Unknown Advance Attack Unit Commander Comet Empire
General Scorch Unknown Tank Battalion Commander Comet Empire
Morta Unknown Advisor to Desslok Comet Empire
Mazor Unknown Bomber Pilot Comet Empire
Trelaina Lydia Leeds Sole survivor on Telezart Telezart

Third season

Major characters appearing in Season Three are as follows:

Character Performer Position Origin
Derek Wildstar John Belucci Captain, Argo Earth
Mark Venture Peter Fernandez Chief Navigator, Argo Earth
Nova Forrester Corinne Orr Radar Operator, Argo Earth
Sandor Unknown Science Officer, Argo Earth
Homer Glitchman[Note 1] Unknown Communications Chief, Argo Earth
Eager Unknown Assistant Navigator, Argo Earth
Lt. Dash Unknown Artillery Unit, Argo Earth
Orion Unknown New Chief Engineer, Argo Earth
Cory Conroy[Note 2] Unknown Black Tiger Leader Earth
Dr. Sane Unknown Doctor, Argo Earth
IQ-9 Unknown Survey Robot, Argo Earth
Jason Jetter Lionel Wilson[3] Recruit Dish-Washer, Argo Earth
Flash Contrail Unknown Recruit Pilot, Argo Earth
Commander Unknown Commander,
Earth Defense Force
Earth
Leader Desslok Unknown Galman Emperor Galman
Sgt. Masterson (Talan) Unknown Adjutant to Desslok Galman
Admiral Keeling Unknown Head of Staff Galman
Admiral Smeerdom Unknown Commander of Eastern Task Force Galman
Admiral Smellen Unknown Commander of Western Task Force Galman
Admiral Gustaf Jack Grimes Commander of 3rd Local Fleet Galman
General Dagon Unknown Commander of Carrier Fleet Galman
Luchner von Feral Unknown Subspace Submarine Pack Commander Galman
Major Cranshaw Unknown Technology Major Galman
Bemlayze Unknown Bolar Prime Minister Bolar Federation
Golsakof Unknown Adjutant to Bemlayze Bolar Federation
Brozof Unknown Governor of Planet Berth Bolar Federation
Ram Unknown Captain of Legendra Bolar Federation
Queen Mariposa Corinne Orr Exiled Ruler of Guardiana Guardiana
Queen Guardiana Unknown Goddess of Guardiana Guardiana

Production and release

In 1977, before the debut of the American Star Blazers series, the Japanese anime film Space Battleship Yamato (or Space Cruiser Yamato as it was known at the time) was dubbed into English and retitled Space Cruiser. This film was sold and released in several countries, including the United States, Britain and France. The American release was extremely limited, and eventually ended up airing on television in the Los Angeles area in 1978.

Following this, the Westchester Corporation identified the first Space Battleship Yamato anime series from 1974 as a potential "kids' property"[4] and bought the rights to the first two seasons (season three had not been made yet). Dubbing and editing were done by Griffin-Bacal Advertising and production and syndication was handled by Claster Television. The Japanese language elements such as series title and scene captions were replaced or removed. New opening credit rolls were created featuring the "Star Blazers" logo. The series premiered in the San Francisco Bay Area on September 17, 1979 as part of the weekday show Captain Cosmic on KTVU 2.[5] Star Blazers initial broadcasts received high ratings, and subsequent rebroadcasts contributed to build anime fandom in northern California.

Being marketed to a school-age audience, this animated space opera was bowdlerized by the American editors in order to satisfy the broadcast standards and practices offices of American television stations.[6] However, far fewer edits were made than with another 1970s anime, Battle of the Planets (an edited version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman). Even in its edited American form Star Blazers retains practically all of its uniquely Japanese characteristics in terms of content, plot, character development, and philosophy.[7]

Principal changes in the transformation to Star Blazers included westernization of character names, reduction of personal violence, toning down of offensive language and alcohol use (references to sake were changed to "spring water", and the Doctor's perpetually drunken state was portrayed as merely good humor), removal of sexual fan service, and reduction of references to World War II (though the sunken battleship ruins were still identified as the battleship Yamato in dialogue). The most significant reference removed—and the longest single edit in the series—was a section from episode two depicting the Battleship Yamato's final battle during World War II, including imagery of the captain tied to the helm as he went down with his ship. (This section was not in the bonus content on the Voyager Entertainment Series 1, Part II English-language DVD release.)

Many fans regard Star Blazers as more "adult" than other cartoons shown in the United States at the time, as personal tragedy, funeral scenes for fallen comrades, and the extinction faced by humanity were left intact. The very Japanese theme of "the honorable enemy" was also a tremendously important aspect of character development; in particular, the major villain of the first series, Desslok, during the second and third seasons, as well as in the later movies.

The most significant change made by Griffin-Bacal was purely narrative: In the original series, the Yamato and its crew were regarded as a single entity, the narrator each week urging "Yamato, hurry to Iscandar!". In English, the significance of the name Yamato as a word the viewers would identify with, signifying the land, people, and spirit of Japan, is lost, so in Star Blazers the crew were named the Star Force and became the focus of the series. The ship is still the historical Yamato and is referred to as such in early episodes (although the ship's backstory is edited out), but is renamed the Argo (after the ship Argo of Jason and the Argonauts); the crew keep calling "it" (not "her") Star Force and the ship becomes merely the vessel in which they travel.[6]

The first two seasons (The Quest for Iscandar and The Comet Empire) were broadcast in 1979 and 1980. By the time the third season of Yamato was released, the original voice actors were unable to be reached by the American production company. The third season (released as The Bolar Wars) played to a small test market and was not as widely seen until its release on video and DVD. It remains less popular than the first two seasons. Many of the original English voice actors have since been tracked down and interviewed for the more recent Star Blazers DVD releases.

The American dub version of Star Blazers series one and two aired in 1983 in Australia on the ABC National Television network. The series aired Monday through Friday at 5pm.[8]

Reception

Christopher John reviewed Starblazers in Ares Magazine #8 and commented that "Starblazers is well worth more than one viewing, even if it is run at 6:30 in the morning. It may be the only chance you'll have to see a beautiful and exciting work of art."[9]

Remake

After four years of planning, a 26-episode animated remake of the 1974 story arc, Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199), debuted in Japan on April 7, 2012. The series began release in North America on limited-edition DVDs and Blu-rays via Voyager Entertainment USA and Bandai Visual on February 27, 2014, under the title Star Blazers 2199 in Japanese language with English Subtitles (created by Bang Zoom! Entertainment). The strong Japanese popularity of this remake, directed by Yutaka Izubuchi, has led to the production of an all-new animated feature film (set within the year 2199, during the return voyage to Earth), wherein our heroes encounter an advance fleet of the Comet Empire. Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars (Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199: Hoshi-Meguru Hakobune) opened nationwide in Japan on December 6, 2014. A full series remake of the Comet Empire story arc started on February 25, 2017 as a sequel to the previous 26-episode remake under the title of Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 (Uchū Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi) with the subtitle Warriors of Love. Funimation bought the rights to both remakes to create an English voiced dub.

Additionally, a feature film condensation of the 26-episode remake, Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Voyage of Remembrance (Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199: Tsuioku no Kokai), screened nationwide in Japan on October 11, 2014.

Live-action adaptations

During the mid-1990s, Walt Disney Pictures optioned the rights with the intent to produce a Star Blazers live-action movie from producer Josh C. Kline. An early draft of the script by Oscar-nominated writer Tab Murphy was leaked on the Internet in the late 1990s.[10] The story was a retelling of the Season One plot, and followed a ragtag crew of misfits (most of whom are not named after any of the original series' crew) aboard the rebuilt United States battleship Arizona on a mission to save Earth. The project was abandoned by Disney following the departure of David Vogel, Disney's President of Production. In April 2006, it was announced that another attempt at creating a live-action version of the story would be made, but no movie ever came out of it.[11][12]

A Space Battleship Yamato live-action movie was released in Japan on December 1, 2010, produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa and Kazuya Hamana. The film was directed by Takashi Yamazaki.

In February 2011, it was announced that an English-language live-action version was in the works. David Ellison's Skydance Productions was in negotiations to acquire the rights.[13][14] Christopher McQuarrie had been tapped to write the screenplay,[15][16] but no dates have been announced. By October 2013, Deadline reported that McQuarrie was also attached as director of the film and as co-producer as well alongside Josh C. Kline, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg, with Shouji Nizhizaki and Paul Schwake as executive producers for Skydance.[17] By March 2017, Ellison stated in an interview with LRM (Latino Review Media) at South by Southwest that Skydance has hired Zach Dean to write the screenplay with McQuarrie still attached as director, aiming to have it done by the time McQuarrie finishes directing Mission: Impossible – Fallout.[18][19]

American comic adaptations

To date, four American comic adaptations have been published: a five-volume series retelling the original story, two comic book series, and, most recently, a webcomic.[7]

West Cape Company Animation Comics

The first adaptation was a set of books presenting the original first season in five volumes using the original cel animation.[20] It was published in 1983 by West Cape Co., Ltd. under their imprint, W.C.C. Animation Comics. The books use digest footage that was already laid out and published for the Japanese market as "film comics". The translations relied heavily on the English dialog of Star Blazers, with minor modifications. The English language editions were printed in Japan and distributed by Books Nippan of Los Angeles, the American branch of Nippon Shuppan Hanbai. The title of each book includes "Original Title: Space Cruiser Yamato" as a subtitle.[7]

Comico

The second adaptation (actually two miniseries) was published by Comico Comics in the late 1980s and served as a postscript to the second season. The plot leveraged the fact that the Season Three script had misidentified the enemy in the New Voyage flashbacks as a remnant of the Comet Empire. In this series, it was discovered that the White Comet Empire's rear fleet (comprising fully half of the empire's entire fleet) still existed and—with Earth's entire fleet (other than the Argo) having been wiped out—only the Argo stood between this massive enemy fleet and Earth. In this story, the Comet Empire took over the Yamato and used it against Earth. The second Comico miniseries dealt with the Star Force's battle against a renegade Earth General and his alien allies. Due to its weak artwork and story, this second miniseries was less well received than the first.[21][22]

Voyager Entertainment Print

From March 1995 to May 1997, Voyager Entertainment (under the Argo Press imprint) published 12 issues of Star Blazers: The Magazine of Space Battleship Yamato before publication was halted due to poor sales.[23]

Voyager Entertainment webcomic

Star Blazers Rebirth is a webcomic formerly featured on the official Star Blazers site. Although similar in storyline, it is not to be confused with the newest Yamato film, Yamato: Rebirth. The art and story is by Tim Eldred, who was also responsible for the Voyager Entertainment series. The Earth is once again threatened by a menace from space headed for the Earth 25 years after the first series; this time in the shape of what appears to be a moving black hole. At first, Earth's government does not believe the information, on the basis that black holes aren't supposed to be able to move. However, they eventually agree to send Earth's newest and most powerful ship, Andromeda II, to investigate. Upon reaching its destination, Andromeda II is quickly destroyed with all hands on board, though not before transmitting data to Earth. Shocked by the disaster and the lack of response from Earth's government, Wildstar remains out of service. He is now in his 40s, with gray hair and a beard grown in deliberate homage to the late Captain Avatar. He is haunted by nightmares both of his past and alternate pasts- the nightmares come but different people die, or familiar faces have new names. Finally Wildstar and Sandor devote their wealth and energies to rebuilding the nearly shattered Argo. The ship had been encased in ice and left floating in Earth orbit at the end of Final Yamato. Since most of the old surviving bridge crew of Argo are now captains in command of their own ships, many of the new crew members are the children or grandchildren of the original Argo crew. Earth's evacuation to numerous colonies has left Earth's forces stretched far too thinly, with several colonies beginning to break away from Earth's control under command of Captain Nenezich. Short on supplies, Argo heads toward the center of the galaxy in an attempt to learn more about the mysterious black hole and a rash of attacks on Earth's colonies.

Legacy

Television critic Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture recommended the series in 2013 as one of eight great television series or miniseries people most likely have not seen before, stating that "this epic series about a refurbished battleship setting sail across the galaxy to save an apocalypse-ravaged Earth remains the reigning masterpiece of [the 1970s era of dubbed Japanese cartoons]—and its serialized storytelling was ahead of its time."[24] In Seitz's 2016 book co-written with Alan Sepinwall titled TV (The Book), they wrote that this series or its original Japanese counterpart would have made their list of the top 100 greatest shows of all time had they not excluded foreign television from the list, citing their lack of sufficient knowledge for television outside the United States.[25]

Home video releases

DVDs of the three television seasons were released in 2002 by Voyager Entertainment, entitled The Quest for Iscandar, The Comet Empire and The Bolar Wars.[26] Each season is contained on six discs, and each disc included bonus footage or material. The discs are available individually or as collections, in three separate boxed sets of six discs each.[27]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Homer's last name, Glitchman, was added by Westchester for the third season. No last name was used in previous seasons.
  2. ^ Cory is actually the younger brother of the Conroy from Seasons 1 and 2. That Conroy was never given a first name and was killed during the battle with the Comet Empire near Earth. Since this was not revealed in Star Blazers, the audience is allowed to assume that the two brothers are one and the same.

References

  1. ^ . StarBlazers.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ . StarBlazers.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ Wilson, Lionel (2018). ″and also in the cast . . . ″ : The Saga of a Supporting Player. p. 253. ISBN 978-1720738398.
  4. ^ "A Cult Phenomenon". Starlog. Star Blazers. 35 (June): 52–53. June 1980. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Cosmic Blazers". Sunday Datebook, San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner. 16 September 1979.
  6. ^ a b (PDF). StarBlazers.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ a b c . StarBlazers.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Geek Out Central," Dean Mayes. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  9. ^ John, Christopher (May 1981). "Film & Television". Ares Magazine. Simulations Publications, Inc. (8): 32.
  10. ^ "Sci fi Scripts". Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  11. ^ "TV.com:Star Blazers movie will save Earth". TV.com. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  12. ^ Stax (20 February 2003). . IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010.
  13. ^ Schmitz, Greg Dean (25 February 2011). "Weekly Ketchup: A Live Action Version of Star Blazers?". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  14. ^ Fleming, Mike (21 February 2011). "'True Grit' Co-Financier Skydance Targets 'Star Blazers' For Christopher McQuarrie". Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  15. ^ "Christopher McQuarrie to Pen Star Blazers Adaptation". Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  16. ^ Goldberg, Matt. "Christopher McQuarrie to Write STAR BLAZERS Adaptation for Skydance Productions". Collider. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  17. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (30 October 2013). "Chris McQuarrie To Direct 'Star Blazers' From '70s Sci-Fi Anime Series For Skydance". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  18. ^ Douglas, Edward (18 March 2017). . LRM. LatinoReview LLC. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  19. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (20 March 2017). "Skydance Sets Zach Dean To Ready 'Star Blazers' For Christopher McQuarrie". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  20. ^ "The Star Blazers you did not see". desslok.com. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  21. ^ . StarBlazers.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. ^ . StarBlazers.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ . StarBlazers.com. 25 March 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller Seitz (10 November 2013). "Eight Great TV Series (or Mini-Series) You Probably Haven't Seen". Vulture. New York Media LLC. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  25. ^ Sepinwall, Alan; Seitz, Matt Zoller (6 September 2016). TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1455588190. Fawlty Towers, Prime Suspect, Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers), Les Revenants (The Returned), both Kingdom miniseries, and other beloved imports would rank highly if we opened this book to international series.
  26. ^ . TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  27. ^ . TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.

External links

star, blazers, confused, with, starblazer, american, animated, television, series, adaptation, japanese, anime, series, space, battleship, yamato, 1974, 1978, 1980, 宇宙戦艦ヤマト, uchū, senkan, yamato, first, broadcast, united, states, 1979, first, popular, english,. Not to be confused with Starblazer Star Blazers is an American animated television series adaptation of the Japanese anime series Space Battleship Yamato I 1974 II 1978 and III 1980 宇宙戦艦ヤマト Uchu Senkan Yamato Star Blazers was first broadcast in the United States in 1979 It was the first popular English translated anime that had an overarching plot and storyline that required the episodes to be viewed in order which paved the way for future arc based plot driven anime translations 1 It also dealt with somewhat more mature themes than other productions aimed at the same target audience at the time Star BlazersBased onSpace Battleship Yamato 1974 1980 StarringKenneth Meseroll Eddie Allen Amy Howard Wilson Mike Czechopoulos Jack Grimes Chris Latta Lydia Leeds Corinne Orr Gordon Ramsey Tom TweedyCountry of originUnited StatesJapan o v Original languageEnglishNo of seasons3No of episodes77 list of episodes ProductionProduction companiesClaster TelevisionSunwagon ProductionsReleaseOriginal networkFirst run syndicationOriginal releaseSeptember 17 1979 1979 09 17 December 4 1984 1984 12 04 Contents 1 Plot 2 Episodes 3 Characters 3 1 First and second seasons 3 2 Third season 4 Production and release 5 Reception 6 Remake 7 Live action adaptations 8 American comic adaptations 8 1 West Cape Company Animation Comics 8 2 Comico 8 3 Voyager Entertainment Print 8 4 Voyager Entertainment webcomic 9 Legacy 10 Home video releases 11 See also 12 Explanatory notes 13 References 14 External linksPlot EditStar Blazers consists of three television seasons Each is an English language adaption of its Japanese counterpart Space Battleship Yamato However the Japanese saga entails more than just these three television seasons and part of this missing portion of the saga occurs between Seasons Two and Three in the movies Yamato The New Voyage and Be Forever Yamato In the first season Earth is attacked by Gamilon a distant planet The radiation from Gamilon s planet bombs forces everyone on Earth underground With no way to remove the radiation all life on Earth will be wiped out in one year The Earth then receives unexpected help from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar who offers a device called Cosmo DNA which will remove the radiation However since Iscandar is 148 000 light years away Starsha also sends plans for the experimental Wave Motion Engine that when constructed will help whoever can travel to Iscandar by letting them travel at 27 569 736 000 miles per second about 150 000 times the speed of light permitting the journey to be made in 1 year On Earth a crew is recruited headed by Captain Avatar and an old sunken battleship the World War II era Japanese battleship Yamato is transformed into a spaceship renamed the Argo outfitted with the Wave Motion Engine and sent to Iscandar The second season takes place one year after the Argo returns to Earth with the Cosmo DNA and Earth s ecosystem is restored It now faces a new dangerous enemy the Comet Empire led by Prince Zordar Unlike Gamilon which was seeking to capture and colonize Earth Zordar simply wants to conquer and annex Earth to his Empire Desslok the Gamilon leader also joins forces with Zordar mainly because he wants revenge on the Argo for having destroyed Gamilon The series revolves around the Argo now commanded by Deputy Captain Derek Wildstar working with the Earth Defense Force to face Zordar In the third season the Argo is caught in the middle of a war between the Galmans the reformed Gamilon Empire and the Bolar Federation A stray missile fired during the war causes the sun s thermonuclear reactions to go out of control Unless it can be stopped the sun will destroy the Earth in one year and the entire solar system in three Now officially in command of the Argo Derek Wildstar is charged to help find a new home for Earth s population Episodes EditMain article List of Star Blazers episodes SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast aired126September 17 1979 1979 09 17 March 3 1980 1980 03 03 226September 13 1980 1980 09 13 March 7 1981 1981 03 07 3251984 1984 December 4 1984 1984 12 04 Characters EditFirst and second seasons Edit Major characters appearing in Seasons One and Two are listed below by their canonical Westchester names Character Performer Position OriginCaptain Avatar Gordon Ramsey Captain of the Argo and Star Force Commander EarthDerek Wildstar Kenneth Meseroll Deputy Captain Argo season 1 Acting Captain and Star Force Commander season 2 EarthMark Venture 2 Tom Tweedy Chief Navigator Argo EarthNova Forrester Amy Howard Wilson Radar Operator Nurse Argo EarthSandor Unknown Science Officer Argo EarthHomer Michael Bertolini Communications Chief Argo EarthEager Patrick W Lohn Assistant Navigator Argo EarthDash Eddie Allen Artillery Unit Argo EarthOrion Gordon Ramsey Chief Engineer Argo EarthConroy Unknown Black Tiger Leader EarthHardy Unknown Black Tiger Pilot EarthDr Sane Frank Pita Doctor Argo EarthIQ 9 Stephen James Pastor Survey Robot Argo EarthSgt Knox Chris Latta Space Marine Leader Brumus EarthCaptain Gideon Unknown Captain of Andromeda EarthCommander Unknown Commander Earth Defense Force EarthStone Michael Bertolini General EDF EarthMiss Efficiency Unknown Medical Robot EDF EarthAlex Wildstar Unknown Brother of Derek EDF EarthQueen Starsha Lydia Leeds Ruler of Iscandar IscandarAstra No vocals Sister of Starsha IscandarLeader Desslok Eddie Allen Gamilon Leader GamilonGeneral Krypt Unknown Adjutant to Desslok GamilonGeneral Talan Unknown Adjutant to Desslok GamilonGeneral Lysis Unknown Commander of Balan Base GamilonVolgar Mike Czechopoulos Adjutant to Lysis GamilonColonel Ganz Unknown Commander of Pluto Base GamilonMajor Bane Unknown Adjutant to Ganz GamilonPrince Zordar Unknown Ruler of Comet Empire Comet EmpirePrincess Invidia Morgan Lofting Daughter of Zordar Comet EmpireGeneral Dire Chris Latta Imperial Command Staff Comet EmpireGeneral Gorse Frank Pita Imperial Command Staff Comet EmpireGeneral Turpis Bleak Unknown Combined Fleet Commander Comet EmpireGeneral Torbuck Unknown Antimatter Missile Fleet Commander Comet EmpireGeneral Naska Unknown Advance Attack Unit Commander Comet EmpireGeneral Scorch Unknown Tank Battalion Commander Comet EmpireMorta Unknown Advisor to Desslok Comet EmpireMazor Unknown Bomber Pilot Comet EmpireTrelaina Lydia Leeds Sole survivor on Telezart TelezartThird season Edit Major characters appearing in Season Three are as follows Character Performer Position OriginDerek Wildstar John Belucci Captain Argo EarthMark Venture Peter Fernandez Chief Navigator Argo EarthNova Forrester Corinne Orr Radar Operator Argo EarthSandor Unknown Science Officer Argo EarthHomer Glitchman Note 1 Unknown Communications Chief Argo EarthEager Unknown Assistant Navigator Argo EarthLt Dash Unknown Artillery Unit Argo EarthOrion Unknown New Chief Engineer Argo EarthCory Conroy Note 2 Unknown Black Tiger Leader EarthDr Sane Unknown Doctor Argo EarthIQ 9 Unknown Survey Robot Argo EarthJason Jetter Lionel Wilson 3 Recruit Dish Washer Argo EarthFlash Contrail Unknown Recruit Pilot Argo EarthCommander Unknown Commander Earth Defense Force EarthLeader Desslok Unknown Galman Emperor GalmanSgt Masterson Talan Unknown Adjutant to Desslok GalmanAdmiral Keeling Unknown Head of Staff GalmanAdmiral Smeerdom Unknown Commander of Eastern Task Force GalmanAdmiral Smellen Unknown Commander of Western Task Force GalmanAdmiral Gustaf Jack Grimes Commander of 3rd Local Fleet GalmanGeneral Dagon Unknown Commander of Carrier Fleet GalmanLuchner von Feral Unknown Subspace Submarine Pack Commander GalmanMajor Cranshaw Unknown Technology Major GalmanBemlayze Unknown Bolar Prime Minister Bolar FederationGolsakof Unknown Adjutant to Bemlayze Bolar FederationBrozof Unknown Governor of Planet Berth Bolar FederationRam Unknown Captain of Legendra Bolar FederationQueen Mariposa Corinne Orr Exiled Ruler of Guardiana GuardianaQueen Guardiana Unknown Goddess of Guardiana GuardianaProduction and release EditIn 1977 before the debut of the American Star Blazers series the Japanese anime film Space Battleship Yamato or Space Cruiser Yamato as it was known at the time was dubbed into English and retitled Space Cruiser This film was sold and released in several countries including the United States Britain and France The American release was extremely limited and eventually ended up airing on television in the Los Angeles area in 1978 Following this the Westchester Corporation identified the first Space Battleship Yamato anime series from 1974 as a potential kids property 4 and bought the rights to the first two seasons season three had not been made yet Dubbing and editing were done by Griffin Bacal Advertising and production and syndication was handled by Claster Television The Japanese language elements such as series title and scene captions were replaced or removed New opening credit rolls were created featuring the Star Blazers logo The series premiered in the San Francisco Bay Area on September 17 1979 as part of the weekday show Captain Cosmic on KTVU 2 5 Star Blazers initial broadcasts received high ratings and subsequent rebroadcasts contributed to build anime fandom in northern California Being marketed to a school age audience this animated space opera was bowdlerized by the American editors in order to satisfy the broadcast standards and practices offices of American television stations 6 However far fewer edits were made than with another 1970s anime Battle of the Planets an edited version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman Even in its edited American form Star Blazers retains practically all of its uniquely Japanese characteristics in terms of content plot character development and philosophy 7 Principal changes in the transformation to Star Blazers included westernization of character names reduction of personal violence toning down of offensive language and alcohol use references to sake were changed to spring water and the Doctor s perpetually drunken state was portrayed as merely good humor removal of sexual fan service and reduction of references to World War II though the sunken battleship ruins were still identified as the battleship Yamato in dialogue The most significant reference removed and the longest single edit in the series was a section from episode two depicting the Battleship Yamato s final battle during World War II including imagery of the captain tied to the helm as he went down with his ship This section was not in the bonus content on the Voyager Entertainment Series 1 Part II English language DVD release Many fans regard Star Blazers as more adult than other cartoons shown in the United States at the time as personal tragedy funeral scenes for fallen comrades and the extinction faced by humanity were left intact The very Japanese theme of the honorable enemy was also a tremendously important aspect of character development in particular the major villain of the first series Desslok during the second and third seasons as well as in the later movies The most significant change made by Griffin Bacal was purely narrative In the original series the Yamato and its crew were regarded as a single entity the narrator each week urging Yamato hurry to Iscandar In English the significance of the name Yamato as a word the viewers would identify with signifying the land people and spirit of Japan is lost so in Star Blazers the crew were named the Star Force and became the focus of the series The ship is still the historical Yamato and is referred to as such in early episodes although the ship s backstory is edited out but is renamed the Argo after the ship Argo of Jason and the Argonauts the crew keep calling it not her Star Force and the ship becomes merely the vessel in which they travel 6 The first two seasons The Quest for Iscandar and The Comet Empire were broadcast in 1979 and 1980 By the time the third season of Yamato was released the original voice actors were unable to be reached by the American production company The third season released as The Bolar Wars played to a small test market and was not as widely seen until its release on video and DVD It remains less popular than the first two seasons Many of the original English voice actors have since been tracked down and interviewed for the more recent Star Blazers DVD releases The American dub version of Star Blazers series one and two aired in 1983 in Australia on the ABC National Television network The series aired Monday through Friday at 5pm 8 Reception EditChristopher John reviewed Starblazers in Ares Magazine 8 and commented that Starblazers is well worth more than one viewing even if it is run at 6 30 in the morning It may be the only chance you ll have to see a beautiful and exciting work of art 9 Remake EditAfter four years of planning a 26 episode animated remake of the 1974 story arc Star Blazers Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Uchu Senkan Yamato 2199 debuted in Japan on April 7 2012 The series began release in North America on limited edition DVDs and Blu rays via Voyager Entertainment USA and Bandai Visual on February 27 2014 under the title Star Blazers 2199 in Japanese language with English Subtitles created by Bang Zoom Entertainment The strong Japanese popularity of this remake directed by Yutaka Izubuchi has led to the production of an all new animated feature film set within the year 2199 during the return voyage to Earth wherein our heroes encounter an advance fleet of the Comet Empire Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Ark of the Stars Uchu Senkan Yamato 2199 Hoshi Meguru Hakobune opened nationwide in Japan on December 6 2014 A full series remake of the Comet Empire story arc started on February 25 2017 as a sequel to the previous 26 episode remake under the title of Star Blazers Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Uchu Senkan Yamato 2202 Ai no Senshi tachi with the subtitle Warriors of Love Funimation bought the rights to both remakes to create an English voiced dub Additionally a feature film condensation of the 26 episode remake Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Voyage of Remembrance Uchu Senkan Yamato 2199 Tsuioku no Kokai screened nationwide in Japan on October 11 2014 Live action adaptations EditDuring the mid 1990s Walt Disney Pictures optioned the rights with the intent to produce a Star Blazers live action movie from producer Josh C Kline An early draft of the script by Oscar nominated writer Tab Murphy was leaked on the Internet in the late 1990s 10 The story was a retelling of the Season One plot and followed a ragtag crew of misfits most of whom are not named after any of the original series crew aboard the rebuilt United States battleship Arizona on a mission to save Earth The project was abandoned by Disney following the departure of David Vogel Disney s President of Production In April 2006 it was announced that another attempt at creating a live action version of the story would be made but no movie ever came out of it 11 12 A Space Battleship Yamato live action movie was released in Japan on December 1 2010 produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa and Kazuya Hamana The film was directed by Takashi Yamazaki In February 2011 it was announced that an English language live action version was in the works David Ellison s Skydance Productions was in negotiations to acquire the rights 13 14 Christopher McQuarrie had been tapped to write the screenplay 15 16 but no dates have been announced By October 2013 Deadline reported that McQuarrie was also attached as director of the film and as co producer as well alongside Josh C Kline David Ellison and Dana Goldberg with Shouji Nizhizaki and Paul Schwake as executive producers for Skydance 17 By March 2017 Ellison stated in an interview with LRM Latino Review Media at South by Southwest that Skydance has hired Zach Dean to write the screenplay with McQuarrie still attached as director aiming to have it done by the time McQuarrie finishes directing Mission Impossible Fallout 18 19 American comic adaptations EditTo date four American comic adaptations have been published a five volume series retelling the original story two comic book series and most recently a webcomic 7 West Cape Company Animation Comics Edit The first adaptation was a set of books presenting the original first season in five volumes using the original cel animation 20 It was published in 1983 by West Cape Co Ltd under their imprint W C C Animation Comics The books use digest footage that was already laid out and published for the Japanese market as film comics The translations relied heavily on the English dialog of Star Blazers with minor modifications The English language editions were printed in Japan and distributed by Books Nippan of Los Angeles the American branch of Nippon Shuppan Hanbai The title of each book includes Original Title Space Cruiser Yamato as a subtitle 7 Comico Edit The second adaptation actually two miniseries was published by Comico Comics in the late 1980s and served as a postscript to the second season The plot leveraged the fact that the Season Three script had misidentified the enemy in the New Voyage flashbacks as a remnant of the Comet Empire In this series it was discovered that the White Comet Empire s rear fleet comprising fully half of the empire s entire fleet still existed and with Earth s entire fleet other than the Argo having been wiped out only the Argo stood between this massive enemy fleet and Earth In this story the Comet Empire took over the Yamato and used it against Earth The second Comico miniseries dealt with the Star Force s battle against a renegade Earth General and his alien allies Due to its weak artwork and story this second miniseries was less well received than the first 21 22 Voyager Entertainment Print Edit From March 1995 to May 1997 Voyager Entertainment under the Argo Press imprint published 12 issues of Star Blazers The Magazine of Space Battleship Yamato before publication was halted due to poor sales 23 Voyager Entertainment webcomic Edit Star Blazers Rebirth is a webcomic formerly featured on the official Star Blazers site Although similar in storyline it is not to be confused with the newest Yamato film Yamato Rebirth The art and story is by Tim Eldred who was also responsible for the Voyager Entertainment series The Earth is once again threatened by a menace from space headed for the Earth 25 years after the first series this time in the shape of what appears to be a moving black hole At first Earth s government does not believe the information on the basis that black holes aren t supposed to be able to move However they eventually agree to send Earth s newest and most powerful ship Andromeda II to investigate Upon reaching its destination Andromeda II is quickly destroyed with all hands on board though not before transmitting data to Earth Shocked by the disaster and the lack of response from Earth s government Wildstar remains out of service He is now in his 40s with gray hair and a beard grown in deliberate homage to the late Captain Avatar He is haunted by nightmares both of his past and alternate pasts the nightmares come but different people die or familiar faces have new names Finally Wildstar and Sandor devote their wealth and energies to rebuilding the nearly shattered Argo The ship had been encased in ice and left floating in Earth orbit at the end of Final Yamato Since most of the old surviving bridge crew of Argo are now captains in command of their own ships many of the new crew members are the children or grandchildren of the original Argo crew Earth s evacuation to numerous colonies has left Earth s forces stretched far too thinly with several colonies beginning to break away from Earth s control under command of Captain Nenezich Short on supplies Argo heads toward the center of the galaxy in an attempt to learn more about the mysterious black hole and a rash of attacks on Earth s colonies Legacy EditTelevision critic Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture recommended the series in 2013 as one of eight great television series or miniseries people most likely have not seen before stating that this epic series about a refurbished battleship setting sail across the galaxy to save an apocalypse ravaged Earth remains the reigning masterpiece of the 1970s era of dubbed Japanese cartoons and its serialized storytelling was ahead of its time 24 In Seitz s 2016 book co written with Alan Sepinwall titled TV The Book they wrote that this series or its original Japanese counterpart would have made their list of the top 100 greatest shows of all time had they not excluded foreign television from the list citing their lack of sufficient knowledge for television outside the United States 25 Home video releases EditDVDs of the three television seasons were released in 2002 by Voyager Entertainment entitled The Quest for Iscandar The Comet Empire and The Bolar Wars 26 Each season is contained on six discs and each disc included bonus footage or material The discs are available individually or as collections in three separate boxed sets of six discs each 27 See also Edit Science fiction portal Television portal United States portalExplanatory notes Edit Homer s last name Glitchman was added by Westchester for the third season No last name was used in previous seasons Cory is actually the younger brother of the Conroy from Seasons 1 and 2 That Conroy was never given a first name and was killed during the battle with the Comet Empire near Earth Since this was not revealed in Star Blazers the audience is allowed to assume that the two brothers are one and the same References Edit Star Blazers Chronicles Westchester Films StarBlazers com Archived from the original on 12 October 2012 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Star Blazers Voice Actor Reunion StarBlazers com Archived from the original on 13 October 2012 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Wilson Lionel 2018 and also in the cast The Saga of a Supporting Player p 253 ISBN 978 1720738398 A Cult Phenomenon Starlog Star Blazers 35 June 52 53 June 1980 Retrieved 19 March 2012 Cosmic Blazers Sunday Datebook San Francisco Chronicle amp Examiner 16 September 1979 a b Make way for StarBlazers PDF StarBlazers com Archived from the original on 20 January 2013 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b c WCC Animation Comics StarBlazers com Archived from the original on 21 March 2012 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Geek Out Central Dean Mayes Retrieved 3 February 2014 John Christopher May 1981 Film amp Television Ares Magazine Simulations Publications Inc 8 32 Sci fi Scripts Retrieved 2 September 2008 TV com Star Blazers movie will save Earth TV com 24 June 2006 Retrieved 2 September 2008 Stax 20 February 2003 The Stax Report Script Review of Star Blazers IGN IGN Entertainment Inc Archived from the original on 12 December 2010 Schmitz Greg Dean 25 February 2011 Weekly Ketchup A Live Action Version of Star Blazers Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 15 March 2011 Fleming Mike 21 February 2011 True Grit Co Financier Skydance Targets Star Blazers For Christopher McQuarrie Retrieved 15 March 2011 Christopher McQuarrie to Pen Star Blazers Adaptation Retrieved 15 March 2011 Goldberg Matt Christopher McQuarrie to Write STAR BLAZERS Adaptation for Skydance Productions Collider Retrieved 15 March 2011 Fleming Mike Jr 30 October 2013 Chris McQuarrie To Direct Star Blazers From 70s Sci Fi Anime Series For Skydance Deadline Hollywood Penske Business Media LLC Retrieved 12 January 2018 Douglas Edward 18 March 2017 Exclusive Star Blazers Movie Is A Go With New Screenwriter On Board LRM LatinoReview LLC Archived from the original on 8 May 2017 Retrieved 12 January 2018 Fleming Mike Jr 20 March 2017 Skydance Sets Zach Dean To Ready Star Blazers For Christopher McQuarrie Deadline Hollywood Penske Business Media LLC Retrieved 12 January 2018 The Star Blazers you did not see desslok com Retrieved 2 September 2008 Comico Comic Book Series StarBlazers com Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Comico Comic Book Series 2 StarBlazers com Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Argo Press Comic Book Series StarBlazers com 25 March 2009 Archived from the original on 21 March 2012 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz 10 November 2013 Eight Great TV Series or Mini Series You Probably Haven t Seen Vulture New York Media LLC Retrieved 12 January 2018 Sepinwall Alan Seitz Matt Zoller 6 September 2016 TV The Book Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time Grand Central Publishing ISBN 978 1455588190 Fawlty Towers Prime Suspect Space Battleship Yamato Star Blazers Les Revenants The Returned both Kingdom miniseries and other beloved imports would rank highly if we opened this book to international series Star Blazers Star Blazers Collection Series I TVShowsOnDVD com Archived from the original on 2 October 2008 Retrieved 2 September 2008 Star Blazers Star Blazers Collection Season II TVShowsOnDVD com Archived from the original on 1 October 2008 Retrieved 2 September 2008 External links EditStar Blazers Rebirth web comic Starblazers anime at Anime News Network s encyclopedia Starblazers at IMDb Star Blazers The Quest for Iscandar anime at Anime News Network s encyclopedia Star Blazers The Bolar Wars anime at Anime News Network s encyclopedia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Star Blazers amp oldid 1150914954, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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