"There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value — not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English." —Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

Friday, April 13, 2012

SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: 2199 (2012)
Hideaki Anno's Opening Credit Sequence!




Originally slated as the series director, while in four years of development, Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion), had to drop out of the project due to other commitments, and Yutaka Izubuchi (XahZephon) stepped in. While Anno was unable to be an active participant in the new series, he being a huge YAMATO fan, was able to design the storyboards for the opening credit sequence (which were finalized by Izubuchi). Anno decided to stick close to the original, and update it slightly, and nails it right on the head, as far as I'm concerned. 38 years later, legendary vocalist Isao Sasaki returned to record a new version of the classic theme song for YAMATO: 2199! For contrast, see the original 1974 opening, below:



Stay tuned to this blog and the official Star Blazers website for more news and information on SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: 2199 as they develop — and soon, we'll be off to outer space, singing all the way to Iscandar!

2 comments:

Pkmatrix said...

Wow, that's awesome! I wasn't planning to watch the new Yamato series, but after watching that I'm definitely checking it out. Thanks for linking that! ^_^

August Ragone said...

Pkmatrix,
You're welcome — I can honestly tell you that after seeing the first two episodes, this series rocks.

Cheers,
August