Uchuu Senkan Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato

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I think this is a fun manga to read if you go into it with appropriate caveats. Without any spoilers, these are as follows:

- It is hard science fiction with dated humor (this doesn't mean it doesn't work though). You have to accept what is happening and going on at face value.

- The story is not complete. Probably due to how it was serialized and its release alongside the show version, the three parts are not themselves complete nor does it conclude in an overall story arch. Story 1 kind of "wraps up" but is missing quite a bit at the end - it gives ... you a conclusion as an "after the event" situation - but you have to just accept that all those events got wrapped up. Story 2 and 3 are connected, with a better pacing but an even worse "ending" - as in there is none. The last two chapters have continuity issues and it just kind of ends. Some people are much more unhappy with the open ended/uncompleted story aspect of certain manga - and if so you will not find this to be a 7/10.

With those caveats aside, if you are willing to accept them it is a fun manga with great art. The story is engaging enough, and the characters are fun. It is still a 70/80s manga, which means it isn't a deep story masterpiece like a lot of manga are shooting for today. It is more along the lines of a fun scifi comic run. The art really appealed to me, and the characters/humor worked for me. About as much as I can cover without any spoilers! If the story was more overarching completed and didn't do some scene jumping, it would be a firm 8/10.

People who enjoy vintage sci-fi will enjoy this. I'm not saying this is the greatest or even the most entertaining manga ever, but it is one that feels quintessential of the time period. One of those things where reading it almost transports you back to the 70s. I can hear Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Aerosmith, AC/DC and The Rolling Stones in these pages. I can imagine being a child reading this and going in line to see Star Wars. As it is about 50 years old, there are some things that don't necessarily age well in that it has a simple good guys vs. bad ... guys with nothing really complex about it. I was also caught a bit off guard when this manga also felt more like a pilot for the mega franchise it spawned in particularly in its non-ending. The pacing doesn't give the audience any room to breathe and kind of jumps around. Nonetheless I enjoy the characters. They are mostly archetypes of 70s sci fi characters and some don't quite standout but the main cast is iconic. The best aspect is the art. Where Leiji Matsumoto feels limited in his writing, he more than makes up in his art. Some battles a little difficult to make heads or tails of, but he knows how to make the universe seem big. He draws space as more than just a black background. He also presents interesting concepts of space travel such as warping which puts the ship through portals to weave through showcasing more world building. People who only follow the trendy manga like Chainsaw Man and My Hero Academia may not find much of value here, but the ones who like studying the history of manga and reading the foundationals such as Astro Boy, Golgo 13 or Lupin III will also enjoy checking this out.