jmaruyama
Nishizaki Yoshinobu's "Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu Hen" is an ambitious yet ultimately disappointing entry into the "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" anime saga. While the impressive CGI and improved animation may be attractively eye-catching, it can't save the film from a confusing story with uninteresting characters and none of the heart that made the earlier "Yamato" movies work.Producer Nishizaki and acclaimed manga artist Matsumoto Leiji's 1974 "Yamato" TV series set the golden standard for anime series with its emotionally poignant and melodramatic "space opera" story. Matsumoto's signature animation style incorporating complex and highly detailed mecha, ethereal characters and sophisticated design work influenced a generation of animators/artists and helped usher in a renaissance of Japanese Sci-Fi fantasy and space drama films and series during the 70s. This achievement is even more amazing as "Yamato" predates George Lucas' "Star Wars" by a good three years.The 26-episode series was condensed into a 130-minute-long movie by combining elements from a few key episodes and debuted in 1978, successfully competing against "Star Wars": A New Hope's" in Japan. The success of both the TV series and abridged movie spawned a second and third TV series (1978 and 1980 respectively) and also generated four sequel movies (Saraba Uchuu Senkan Yamato/Farewell Yamato; Uchuu Senkan Yamato Ataranaru Tabidachi/Yamato The New Voyage; Yamato To Towa Ni/Be Forever Yamato and Uchuu Senkan Yamato Kanketsu Hen/Final Yamato).The dubbed version by Westchester/Claster, known as "Star Blazers" was considered by many one of the best adaptations of a Japanese anime series ever and is still fondly remembered by American fanboys who grew up at that time.While Nishizaki attempted to try and re-capture the "lightening in a bottle" success of "Yamato" with other similar nautically themed projects, most notably "Odin - Kôshi Hobune Starlight" (1986) and "Uchu Kubo Blue Noah" AKA Thundersub (1979), they were met with lukewarm results. Even, the much hyped "Yamato 2520" which had the gimmick of using new ship designs by famed "Blade Runner" designer and futurist Syn Mead was as a failure.Nishizaki's "Fukatsu Hen" (Resurrection) goes back to basics by making it a direct sequel to the fourth film "Final Yamato". 17 years after the events of "Final Yamato", Earth is threatened again with total destruction this time in the form of a "black hole" funnel of energy which is destroying everything in its path (similar to the "Comet Empire" saga). Earth's united defense force under the leadership of former Yamato science officer Sanada Shiro (Aono Takeshi) make plans to evacuate Earth's population to a distant world called Amal (arabic for Hope). However Amal and its sister planet belong to a coalition of Alien planets that are part of the SUS and the SUS refuses to allow the Earth refuges to colonize there and sends coalition forces to attack the first of Earth's convoys to Amal. Kodai/Mori Yuki (Yume Noriko)Captain of one of the escort battleships is "lost" in the battle while trying to escape in a warp maneuver. Captain Kodai Susumu (Yamadera Kôichi) is called back from deep space exploration and is tasked to lead Earth's next convoy to Amal. Sanada tells Kodai that he and his technicians have rebuilt the Yamato (last seen destroyed in remnants of the Aquarius water planet in the events of "Final Yamato"). The new Yamato is retrofitted with a new engine that bolsters the "Wave Motion" engine and also enables the Yamato to fire consecutive blasts of Wave Motion energy. Captain Kodai takes command of the Yamato and brings aboard a new crew of young recruits including hotshot pilot/helmsman Kobayashi Atsushi (Namikawa Daisuke), Nagivation Specialist Orihara Maho (Yuzuki Ryōka), Artillery specialist Goda Minoru(Takase Akimitsu), Chief Medical Officer and Cosmo Tiger pilot Sasaki Miharu (Fuyuka Ōura) and twin Engineers Sho and So Tenma (Sakaguchi Daisuke ). Estranged daughter and nurse Kodai Miyuki (Fujimura Ayumi) refuses to join her father opting to stay on Earth with Dr. Sakezo Sado (Nagai Ichirô) and faithful companion Analyzer (Ogata Kenichi).Together they guide Earth's second wave of refugees to Amal but can they withstand the onslaught of the SUS lead by Admiral Metzlar(Yanaka Hiroshi)and Commander-in-Chief Balzman (Iizuka Shōzō).The story by Ishihara Shintarô (elder brother of actor/singer Ishihara Yujiro and former Governor of Tokyo)focuses a lot on socio-political issues relating to immigration, sovereign rights and also hints at the current situation in Iraq but fails to really capture the emotional power of the earlier Yamato films particularly the first film. The SUS are a generic enemy and lack any of the interesting aspects of the Gamalus/Gamilon Empire. Metzler and Balzman are boring villains and I long for the days in which the charismatic Dessler/Desslock made for a worthy and noble opponent.Nishizaki's direction is competent but again lacks the thrill of early installment and he takes a "paint by numbers" approach at telling his story. There is little surprise and in fact the battle scenes are quite boring when compared to other films. Fanboys will be happy at seeing some neat references to other series. The revised theme song by JPop band The Alfee is terrible and makes one long for the original Sasaki Isao version.While some comparisons have been made to the "Star Trek" series, I think "Yamato Fukatsu Hen" shares more in common with the recent "Battlestar: Galactica" than anything else especially in that both films deal with humanities struggle to survive and endure amidst terrible circumstances and the threat of total annihilation by an alien empire. Of course, it's a "chicken and the egg" causality dilemma as one wonders who inspired who.Die-hard fans may find "Fukatsu Hen" enjoyable on a purely nostalgic level but for others it is an anti-climatic and unsatisfying footnote to an otherwise epic saga. The film leaves room for possible sequel ("The Search For Yuki"?) but this fan would rather just rewatch the first two movies and TV series and just leave it at that.
DICK STEEL
I think I'm a kid again in deciding to watch the Space Cruiser Yamato take to outer space in new missions from where it last left off some many, many years ago. Of late the interest in this Japanese Star Trek equivalent was piqued due to the fact that there will be a live action film due end of this year, starring Takuya Kimura as Kodai and Meisa Kuroki as Yuki. One cannot let a good space ship down of course, and until then, we have to make do with this continuing film of the space opera, which I liken to be something like Star Trek's The Next Generation.Set in the Year 2220, Earth gets threatened by a black hole heading into the Milky Way and swallowing everything in its path, so the humans have decided to prevent an extinction, and to ditch the planet since a new surrogate one has been found in another star system. Civilian shuttle arks have been built for the mass emigration, but two waves have been attacked at the mid way mark and lives lost when an alien conspiracy is abound to want to ensure mankind is destroyed. So if you happen to be the former Science Officer aboard the Yamato, and now the Secretary of Science for Earth, you're inclined to get one of your ex-colleagues who's now a top notch maverick and hands-on Captain in his own right, Kodai (Koichi Yamadera), to lead the next mission. Kodai of course has his own agenda to want to do this, as his wife Yuki is assumed to have perished in the earlier mission, and daughter Miyuki (Ayumi Fujimura) is pinning the blame on Dad.And what good is an awesome captain if he's not given the best possible ship in the fleet? The Yamato gets rebuilt (hence the title) because of the philosophy of never letting a good ship be forgotten and die off. After all, the Starship Enterprise has had its many variations and improvements over the years, and this new Yamato comes with an improved weapons system updated to face its current threat, such as a full complement of fighters and bombers on board, and a new transwave motion gun that can fire up to 6 charges before a recharge is required (and thus leaving the ship vulnerable). The ship can take plenty, and I mean plenty of damage, and long range warp drive also looks good on screen. I guarantee goosebumps when the Yamato gets launched into its first mission escorting civilian vessels to get to Planet Amare's moon, accompanied by its theme song for dramatic impact.Like Star Trek TNG, this film provides that base introduction to the ship's new crew under the guidance of a new captain, though some of the old crew like Doctor Sado and the red robot Analyzer still feature in bit roles but outside of the battleship. It takes a while for the new crew to gel, each being a specialist in their field, and some have duo vocations. The story plays on the fact that the Yamato (just like the Enterprise) is a morale-boosting ship, and truly for fans, it's likely you'll feel that way as it takes on its multiple threats in its mission, one being the battle against the confrontational aliens bent on stopping the emigration programme, and another being caught in political intrigue as the Planet Amare, a member of the Star Union led by the war-like SUS, gets issued with a threat for it being friendly to a non-Union planet. And not to forget that black hole approach toward Planet Earth, which gives rise to a quick last minute reflection on environmental damage and the human failure to appreciate what Mother Earth has given us, and our continued exploitation and raping of the planet.Being an animated film, it had the surprising feeling that it's quite pro-war. Disagreements get solved using force, and the Yamato being an essential part of the war-effort when driving away aggressors, in line with the adage that to maintain the peace it must be prepared for war and willing to dish out massive damage to enemies not willing to give the human race a fighting chance for survival. But before you go into a frenzy, do note that there's a large military influence in the source material, so there. The battle sequences are some of the best, almost resembling a Star Wars on Steroids, with planes and cannons going into overdrive, filling the screen in a sensory assault. While the design of the Yamato is largely unchanged, the alien ship designs are something to gawk at as well.For those who cannot wait for the live action film, then perhaps this animated one will be able to whet your appetite for the time being, and prepare the groundwork for the next generation Yamato crew to take over with new adventures.
