by “Yamato Forever REBEL 3199” is the latest in the remake series of the popular anime “Space Battleship Yamato.” “Space Battleship Yamato” is a masterpiece that changed the history of anime, and “3199” has inherited the soul of that masterpiece. What has been inherited by “3199”? We can understand this from the words of Harutoshi Fukui, the general director of “3199.”
Yamato Battleship Yamato, Japan, during the war. Linked to reality
The first TV anime series, “Space Battleship Yamato,” was broadcast in 1974, and it greatly expanded the fan base of anime, which had previously been considered “for children” and was also called “TV cartoons.” It also became a social phenomenon, with the movie version becoming a huge hit. About five years after “Space Battleship Yamato” began, in 1979, “Mobile Suit Gundam” began. “Yamato” and “Gundam” significantly changed the history of Japanese anime. New works of both series are still being produced today.
“When I thought about why new Yamato works are still being made, I think the title Yamato is a significant factor. Yamato Battleship Yamato Japan during the war, so it is linked to reality. It is something that could never exist anywhere else but in Japan. It is a story about a battleship that was supposed to be very strong during the war and sank, but when the Earth is in danger, it is remodeled and goes into space. You might think that it is a story about how it plays an active role as if to vent its frustrations during the war, but that is not the case. It sheds tears of regret for having annihilated the enemy. Until then, people in the postwar period had not understood how to accept wartime Japan.
After the war, there was a movement like the student movement among young people, but after that, there was an increase in young people called the “Shirake Generation” who thought it pointless to even think about it. Yamato had something that attracted young people in a vacuum. The fact that Yamato is a story about Japan must have been a significant factor. That is the difference with Gundam. It wouldn’t have become a boom if no Yamato and Gundam had suddenly emerged.
