Yamato Rebirth

Rebirth Yamato
Release date	December 12, 2009
Running time	135 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Written by	Shintaro Ishihara Bull Ishihara Atsuhiro Tomioka
Directed by	Yoshinobu Nishizaki
Days left	Toshio Masuda
Produced by	Shintaro Ishihara Bull Ishihara Atsuhiro Tomioka
Music by	Naoto Otomo Hiroshi Miyagawa Kentaro Haneda
Distributed by	Toho
Story guide
Final Yamato

The Japanese animation film Rebirth Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト 復活篇 Uchū Senkan Yamato: Fukkatsu Hen), also known as Yamato: Resurrection, is the first part of a planned series of films which are the latest addition to the Space Battleship Yamato saga. It is set in the year 2220, when Earth is in danger of being swallowed by a cascade black hole. Earth must move its entire population 27,000 light years away to planet Amahr, in the Sairam star system, across space controlled by the hostile SUS Empire.

Production

In March 2002, a Tokyo court ruled that Yoshinobu Nishizaki legally owned the Yamato copyrights. Nishizaki and Matsumoto eventually settled, and Nishizaki began work on a new movie titled Yamato: Rebirth (宇宙戦艦ヤマト 復活篇 Uchū Senkan Yamato: Fukkatsu hen) (set after the original series), while Matsumoto planned a new Yamato series. However, additional legal conflicts stalled both projects until August, 2008, when Nishizaki announced plans for the release of his film on December 12, 2009.

Trailers for this film (which can be found on YouTube) indicate that the production makes ample use of CGI for the space battle scenes. It is not certain whether computer graphics are used for the character animations. Out of the 1,860 cuts (shots) in the new film, 700 are being produced with computer graphics. In particular, the battle scenes will composite 3D sequences and computer graphics. Nishizaki established a new studio called Enagio last year just to produce this film.

Plot

Rebirth is set in the year 2220, 21 years after the first Yamato story and 17 years after the story of the last film, "Final Yamato". A wandering, black hole is approaching the Solar system, and will surely destroy all life on Earth. The decision has been made to evacuate Earth's entire population. Due to its moving nature, Sanada decide to name the phonomanon "Cascade Black Hole."

According to the official website for the film , the planet to which Earth's population is being moved is called Amahr, ruled by Queen Iriya, some 27,000 light years away in the Sairam star system. When the film opens, that task is already under way.

Amahr is part of an interstellar alliance. Other primary member nations are Etos, Frihde, Beldel, and the powerful and mysterious SUS. The SUS are opposed to Earth's emigration, for reasons of their own. Unknown to the rest of the Alliance, the first two Earth emigration fleets are attacked and destroyed by SUS forces. Yuki (Mori) Kodai was the captain of one of the battleship escorts, and is presumed lost.

The SUS deceive the rest of the Alliance security council into thinking that the Earth fleets have attacked Alliance ships without provocation. The council therefore votes to authorize attacks on Earth vessels. Back at Earth, news of the attacks are received, and the Yamato is resurrected from the Aquarian ice field to lead the escort for the third emigration fleet. It is captained by Yuki's husband, Susumu Kodai.

Aboard the newly rebuilt Yamato is an almost entirely new crew. The old crew members are assigned to other posts. Shiro Sanada, the Yamato's old Science and Technology Group leader, is now the Commander of the Earth Defense Force (EDF). Daisuke Shima's younger brother, Jiro Shima (age 27) is Sanada's adjultant. The other familiar characters -- Aihara, Ota, Nambu, and Kato -- are not mentioned. Dr. Sado and robot Analyzer remain on Earth to assist with operations there. Old enemy-turned-friend, Leader Deslar, and his Gamilas Empire, do not appear.

The drama centers around the Yamato saving the emigration fleet from Alliance attacks, and the tension between the SUS and the other Alliance members (such as planet Etos). The SUS's deception is exposed, and Yamato steps in to protect Amahr and the other friendly nations of the Alliance. Ultimately, as the Yamato returns to Earth to assist with the last of the emigration fleets, the cascade black hole tears into the Solar system, and the true nature of the SUS is revealed.

When the film ends, a caption reads, "The End (of Part 1)".

Technology

The Yamato's size will be mostly unchanged at 263 metres in length and 62,000 tons in mass. The Yamato's signature wave-motion gun, which can take out an entire fleet, but which then leaves the ship drained of power — and vulnerable, has been improved to optionally fire six smaller shots in succession.

This film sees the reappearance of the Yamato's counter-attack missiles, not otherwise seen since the mission to Iscandar (first TV season). The defensive shield which they form upon detonation is now energy-based.

Among the new technological items is a gravity-assisted warp process called a "long warp". The visual special effects for the Yamato undergoing warp have been improved, and now resemble something akin to Farscape's starburst. The Yamato's new multistage Wave Motion Gun can now fire a spectacular spray of tachyon-based energy in a succession of six bursts. Yamato's infamous third bridge is now painted blue, and houses more expensive gadgets to get blown up such as a 3-dimensional navigational cartography room.

As far as other ships go, a new model Earth battleship, Super Andromeda, appears, a well as the Earth flagship, Blue Noah.

Characters

Veteran

• Susumu Kodai (CV: Kōichi Yamadera), Captain of the Yamato, former Battle Commander.
• Yuki (Mori) Kodai (CV: Noriko Yume)
• Tasuke Tokugawa (CV: Tōru Furuya), Former Engineer of the Yamato, leaves his position as a commanding officer at the Earth Defense Force's Moonbase to become Chief Engineer of the Yamato.
• Shiro Sanada (CV: Takeshi Aono), Secretary of Science for the Earth Federation, former Science Officer of the Yamato.
• Jiro Shima (CV: Ryōtarō Okiayu), younger brother of Daisuke Shima, head of the Earth Federation's Migration Fleet.
• Dr. Sakezou Sado (CV: Ichirō Nagai) and Analyzer (CV: Kenichi Ogata), remain on Earth to watch over Dr. Sado's Safari Park.

New

Earth

• Miyuki Kodai (CV: Ayumi Fujimura) daughter of Kodai and Yuki, assistant to Dr. Sado.
• Kosaku Omura (CV: Chafūrin), Vice Captain of the Yamato.
• Minoru Goda (CV: Akimitsu Takase), Artillery Specialist of the Yamato, replacing Nanbu.
• Jun Kobayashi (CV: Daisuke Namikawa), Chief Pilot of the Yamato's Cosmo Pulser Squad, replacing Katou.
• Miharu Sasaki (CV: Fuyuka Ōura), Cosmo Pulser Pilot.
• Ryohei Nakanishi (CV: Kappei Yamaguchi), Communication Specialist of the Yamato, replaces Aihara.
• Yoichi Sakurai (CV: Kenji Nojima), Radar Specialist of the Yamato, replaces Ohta.
• Ryo Kamijo (CV: Kentarō Itō), New Battle Commander of the Yamato.
• Saburo Kinoshita (CV: Kōsuke Toriumi), New Science Officer of the Yamato.
• Maho Orihara (CV: Ryōka Yuzuki), Chief Navigator of the Yamato, replaces the late Daisuke Shima.
• Sho and So Tenma (CV: Daisuke Sakaguchi), twin brothers, Engineers under Tasuke on the Yamato.
• Blue Noah Captain (CV: Osamu Kobayashi), captain of the Space Carrier Blue Noah

Aliens

• Queen Iriya (CV: Atsuko Tanaka) and General Pascal (CV: Kazuhiko Inoue) of Planet Amahr.
• Admiral Metzlar (CV: Hiroshi Yanaka) and Commander-in-Chief Balzman (CV: Shōzō Iizuka) of the SUS Empire.
• Admiral Gorui (CV: Masatō Ibu) and Captain Shihgal (CV: Takehito Koyasu) of Planet Etos.

Reception

The film debuted #7 at the japanese box office but fell off the charts a week later.

External links

• Official site (Japanese)
• Yamato Movie.com (Japanese)
• Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen at the Internet Movie Database
• Toho (Japanese)
• Yahoo! Promotional Site (Japanese)