Finished watching Be Forever Yamato

Finished watching Be Forever Yamato (1980, Academy Productions, Group TAC, 1hr 25mins.) on 10/3/2015.

Be Forever Yamato picks up from the first encounter with the Black Nebula Empire. Having been defeated by the Yamato last, the Empire sends to Earth a massive fortress that doubles as a bomb capable of destroying half the planet. From the fortress an army of robots and Black Nebula aliens came out to completely devastate the city they landed on. The Yamato comes to find that the only way to stop the bomb is to destroy its remote control from its place of origin.

7/10 – First thing I noticed was the dramatic art and animation quality improvement from the previous Yamato movies I've been watching. Looked great. The only thing that bothered me the most was this new character, Sasha. Daughter of Starsha and Mamoru, Sasha is half-Iscandarian and half-Japanese, apparently allowing her to grow from a baby into an adult within the span of one year. I felt like she didn’t contribute anything to the story. Like she was just a temporary replacement for Yuki's job in the ship. Also, the fact that she falls in love with Kodai was very… strange for me. Both because she's his niece and she's technically still one year old. Weird, man. Other than that, the movie was pretty decent.

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage (1979, Academy Productions, Group TAC, 1hr 35mins.) on 10/2/2015.

After the White Comet Empire was defeated, Lord Desler decides to pay one last visit to his home planet and finds the Black Nebula empire strip-mining it for a rare mineral. Desler then contacts Earth, specifically the Yamato crew for help in driving the new enemy away.

7/10 - The movie was alright and I don’t really have much to say about it comparing to the previous movie. I am, however starting to get the feeling that there's always so many silly plot holes with these old shows. I'm having fun seeing the art quality improve as I go along the franchise, though.

Finished watching Arrivederci Yamato and Yamato 2

Finished watching Arrivederci Yamato (1hr 31min, Academy Productions, Group TAC, 1978) and Yamato 2 (26epi., Academy Productions, Group TAC, 1978) on 9/25/2015.

Earth is faced with a new threat two years after the fall of the Gamilas Empire. For Yamato the White Comet Empire is their most fearsome opponent yet. But that isn’t the only thing Yamato has to worry about, Lord Desler isn’t quite finished with the business he has the Yamato. But the answer to their problems lies with Teresa, the only being on planet Telezart.

Arriverdeci - 7.5/10

Yamato 2 - 4/10

Arriverdeci Yamato was in Japanese theaters shortly before Yamato 2, the 26-episode anime adaptation aired on TV. Yeah, I don't know. Usually it's the other way around, but whatever. Anyways, that is the order I watched them in. Which made watching Yamato 2 significantly boring. Not only that, but the story and art quality were even worse. I even fell asleep during most episodes. I would've been better off just watching the movie, which by the way was pretty good, a bit lengthy and that scene right at the start with the comet dragged out for way too long. Also, now I know where the ending for the 2010 live-action movie comes from.

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato (1974, Academy Productions, Group TAC, 26 eps.) on 8/16/2015.

The year is 2199. Earth is faced with a major crisis. After being bombarded by the extraterrestrial Gamilas Empire with radio active meteors for years, Earth has started looking more like Mars, forcing humans to live underground. But they won’t give up without a fight as they revive battleship Yamato as a space battleship to fight against the threat and make their way to planet Iscandar where a technology was promised to cleanse planet Earth of the radiation.

6.5/10 – I had watched the 2012 remake of this series last year without knowing what I was getting into and I freakin' loved it. Then I watched the original one and now I'm sick of anime shows from the 70's. Okay, it wasn't so bad. Amazing for it's time of course. But all the animating mistakes I noticed, all the awkward dialogues that would take place here and there; Analyzer being a drunken, perverted robot; plot holes; ridiculous, out-of-the-blue deus-ex-machina events; characters with a 5 year-old logic... Again, It's not completely bad. I just couldn't deal with so much non-sense and out-dated art techniques. If I had watched it when I was 10 maybe I would’ve given this a much higher rating, just the same way I enjoyed watching Saber Rider or Dogtanian twenty years ago.