Space Operas are very rare now a days in the anime industry. Just as the quality of mecha anime and it's audience has been downgrading and declining in favor of slice-of-life, ecchi and harem genres, space operas were always being overlooked at. After almost at least 40 years, one of the space opera classic during the 70's was given a chance to have a remake in order to introduce the series and gain a wider audience in today's anime community. But does the show itself succeed? Let's check it out:
Story/Characters:
Just as the title implies, the show is set during year 2199 and the once blue, green and thriving with life planet earth has been reduced to a radioactive wasteland because of the Garmillas aliens which forced the remaining population to hide underground. However, a friendly alien race from the planet Iscandar contacts the human race and gives them blue prints to build a powerful space battleship capable of retrieving a device to clean planet earth before humanity disappears. As they resurrect the long sunken ship yamato, they then applies the alien technology that they got from a messenger that came from Iscandar, transforming it into one of the most epic and greatest ship that will venture through the sea of stars to save their home planet. Enter Space Battle Ship Yamato.
Now i know most of you will think that the premise is pretty similar to Macross but the latter was aired during the 80's specifically after the success of an another behemoth called Gundam while the original Yamato was aired during the 70's. So therefore Yamato was the one who influence Macross. As i already said from the synopsis, this is a light years journey to Iscandar from planet earth and it will take a year in order to get through Iscandar and they also must retrieve the device in immediately before planet earth is forever doomed. As such we will encounter many kinds of phenomenon and typical issues from this long journeys such as trust issues, food shortage and of course battling their enemies, the Garmillans as they opposed the ship to reach Iscandar. Tactics to fend off enemies were heavily used and while the tactics many not be that good as LoGH, it still managed to give the feeling of unpredictability of the battles, plausibility of the tactics that were used and you will always be in the edge of your seat with the epic space batles that were occurring in your screen and backing it by great animation and intense old school soundtrack. The series also dealt with mature themes such as racism, genocide and politics. There is also fanservice in this series. Oh, i didn't mention that? But don't worry the fanservice in this series is not like in your ecchi show where it's distracting. The fanservice actually have some subtility. For the most part.
The characters were no slouch either. They were interesting and likable for the most part and the character interactions were well-written and probably the main forte of the characterization of the show. The way the Yamato crew interact is just fun to watch. Oh sure there are some characters like our main protagonist, Susumu Kodai who sometimes acts like an angsty teen and some characters do too but they don't exaggerate to the point that it become annoying. They still act accordingly to the situation and maturely to many situations. Many of the stuff that happens throughout their journey have challenged the Yamato's crew beliefs about the war and this anime is also not entirely black and white where humans are automatically good, and the garmillians are automatically bad. There are both good and bad people from each side and some good and bad decisions and deeds that both the Humans and Garmillians have made. Okay, maybe i'm saying the obvious but it's still worth pointing that out. The female cast are also strong individuals for the most part so don't worry about some very useless ass female characters that you mostly see.
Overall, the story is great and the characters were interesting, likable and fun to watch to. If there are criticisms that i would give is that there are some more potential that the series overlooked. With a good world building that the show created, that show could have last in more than just 26 episodes and that is why some scenes in the series felt rushed, some characters are really lacking for being fleshed out and development, and there are some very questionable decisions during the end BUT it didn't really detract for my own personal enjoyment. The original Yamato is also only 26 episodes and most people would rage quit to a series which is over 30+ episodes anyway so 26 episodes is still fine as it's still be able to tell a great story in a series which the scale and world building is pretty big.
Animation:
The studios that brought to us the animation are studio Xebec and AIC. The animation, the crisp of the characters and design, heck even the CGI are just fucking stunning and beautiful. Although some might say differ about the CGI but i didn't really find any problem with it as it really works perfectly to the scenery of the series and the CGI only made the battles more epic and engaging. The director is Yutaka Izubuchi who is known for directing and creating RahXephon. He was also responsible for the character designs of Gundam Wing. Hideaki Anno worked on the story board. If you didn't know who he is then you're probably living in a cave. Akihiro Enomoto whom have worked as the key animator in Char's counterattack also worked on this anime. Anybody here whom have watched Char's counterattack knows that the battles there were simply one of the best mecha battle and the animation was just absolutely gorgeous. Akihiro also brought his forte into this series as the key animator in most episodes so therefore the battle scenes, as i mentioned before, were engaging, terrific and epic like Char's counterattack. It feels like real space ships are really battling it out. As most of the budget were used in the CGI and the battles, the character movements felt really poor in many episodes but you know what? Most of the episodes they spend were sitting in the ship anyway. Just trying to point that out.
Sound:
Catchy and old school. Seriously, the opening song and the first ending song were retro songs during anime of 70's but it really fits perfectly well during the series(There are several different versions of the opening. The first opening is the classic version while the other version is still the same only much more modernized). I really appreciate how they decided to bring a retro song as an opening to a modern remake now it's stuck to my head and i can't stop humming it whenever i'm taking a shit or taking a shower. The OSTs that was used were also very catchy and old school but still felt intense during the battle scenes. The voice acting is also very well done. Ono Daisuke as the voice of Susumu Kodai who also voiced Sebastian from Black Butler, Kuwashima Houko as the main heroine, Mori Yuki who also voiced Tomoyo Sakagami(Clannad) and Clare(Claymore), Yamadera Kouchi as the main antagonist, Lord Desler who also voiced Spike Spiegel from Cowboy bebop, Otsuka Houchuu as Shiro Sanda who also voiced Jiraiya from Naruto and other famous VA's. Aside from the the opening songs, the OST's while catchy doesn't really warrant to be listen on it's own which kinda of a shame.
Enjoyment:
After watching LoGH and this, i am now craving for more space operas. This anime has many things that i could hope for. Engaging story, fun and interesting characters, beautiful ladies, epic and compelling space battles with great animation and a satisfying ending. It's really a shame that despite being a remake of a classic with great animation, anime like these is still being overlooked at the anime community today. Hopefully in the future, more anime fans would be able to watch this series and this is one of the primary reasons why i'm doing this review right now. Whether you think this anime is great or not is still up to you of course but if you find this review helpful(which i doubt) and decided to watch the anime and think the anime is good, then please do recommend this to your friends. Then maybe there is hope for more space operas in the anime industry and for this sub-genre to completely not die in the anime realm. Well, it really won't because of LoGH(Although there is also only a handful of people who have watched this) but you get my point anyway.
Verdict
Story: 9/10 - Epic and engaging journey to save planet earth.
Characters: 8/10 - A great cast and fun characters to watch to. Character development is there but lacking a bit due to the length of the show but characterization is solid.
Animation: 9/10 - It's Fluid in the battles and the CGI is good.
Sound: 8/10 - Nostalgic old school music and soundtrack.
Enjoyment: 10/10 - Never failed to entertain me and didn't make me bored while marathoning the whole thing.
Final Verdict: 9/10 - Amazing anime and a great space opera.
