During Yamato's heyday, there were many high-quality picture books devoted
to the Yamato TV serieses and movies. Perhaps the best of these were
known as "Roman Albums". "Roman" is the word the Japanese use for
"romance". Roman Albums are square-spined magazines packed with lots of
full-colour glossy stills from the animation cels, character layouts,
story digests, and producer information. Though they are all in Japanese,
they are /the/ source of information for any Yamato fan. The first Roman
Album ever produced was devoted to Yamato. Here are the Album numbers
for those that relate to Yamato:
Roman Album #1 Yamato TV Season 1 ........ 480 yen Roman Album #11 Arrivederci Yamato Movie .. 680 yen Roman Album #31 Yamato TV Season 2 ........ 680 yen Roman Album #36 Be Forever Yamato Movie ... 680 yen Roman Album #43 Yamato TV Season 3 ........ 680 yen Roman Album #53 Yamato Perfect Manual #1 .. 1200 yen Roman Album #54 Yamato Perfect Manual #2 .. 1300 yen Roman Album #56 Final Yamato Movie ........ 890 yen
Perfect Manual #1 contains information on the stories also found in #1, 11, and 31. This is valuable since RA #1 has been out of print for years. Perfect Manual #2 contains information found in RA #36 and 43, plus coverage of the TV Film, "Yamato, New Journey". It's likely that you will only find the Perfect Manuals and RA #43 in stock in any given Japanese book store. I do not have current information as to exactly what is in print any more, but as of 1986, only these three were still being printed. It varies with demand.
Other Roman Albums of interest:
Other creations of Reiji Matsumoto seem to be popular with Yamato fans. Some fans believe (though this is not given official sanction) that all Matsumoto's works are somehow linked. Matsumoto has denied that Yamato is linked to any of them, at least officially. Neverthelss, we see many similar characters and themes in the Yamato, Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express, and Queen Millenia sagas. Roman albums for these stories are:
Roman Album #24 Galaxy Express 999 ................. 680 yen Roman Album #30 Space Pirate Cpt. Herlock TV Season 680 yen Roman Album #45 Adieu Galaxy Express 999 ........... 680 yen Roman Album #49 Queen Millenia ..................... 890 yen Roman Album #52 Harlock: My Youth in Arcadia ....... 890 yen
Other Yamato books similar to Roman Albums:
Shogakukan's This is Animation: The Select #2,
All-Yamato Tribute (colour glossy)...... 780 yen
Shogakukan's This is Animation: The Select #4,
Final Yamato (colour glossy)............ 780 yen
Cell Books: these contain 10 to 12 foreground/background cell
stills. Resolution of most foreground cells is not
too great. (colour)
Cell Collection #1: Arrivederci Yamato .......... 1200 yen
Cell Collection #2: Arrivederci Yamato .......... 1200 yen
Cell Collection #3: Galaxy Express 999 .......... 1200 yen
Cell Collection #4: Galaxy Express 999 .......... 1200 yen
Cell Collection #5: Be Forever Yamato ............ 1200 yen
Champion Graphic's Anime Comics cover the first 3 Yamato movies
in colour:
Space Cruiser Yamato, Part 1 .................. 750 yen
Space Cruiser Yamato, Part 2 .................. 750 yen
Arrivederci Yamato, Part 1 .................... 750 yen
Arrivederci Yamato, Part 2 .................... 750 yen
Be Forever Yamato, Part 1 ..................... 750 yen
Be Forever Yamato, Part 2 ..................... 750 yen
Sun Comics: those listed below are black and white versions
of TV Season 3:
Space Cruiser Yamato III, part 1 ............. 350 yen
Space Cruiser Yamato III, part 2 ............. 350 yen
Rido Sha's (Lead Company's) "Perfect Memorial Deluxe #4":
Be Forever Yamato & All-Yamato (colour) ...... 780 yen
This small book is like a mini Perfect Manual.
Covers all things Yamato (characters and ships)
from TV Season 1 through Be Forever Yamato. Also
contains thematic sections covering love and
battle tactics. I always thought it was very
interesting that the "Love" section covers the
rivalrous relationship between Wildstar and Desslok.
The notion that ones rival may be ones love is
a fact much missed by today's society.
Westcape Corporation Comics #1-5
THESE ARE IN ENGLISH!!!!!!!
True Starblazers comics using colour stills from the
American (Westchester) TV Season 1.
Dialogue closely follows the American
Westchester translations, though at least one word
per sentence has been changed (probably to avoid
copyright infringment). These are available in
most Anime book shops today ................... $5-$10
Most of these books will be hard to find, and many are sure to be out of print, but I have found the Sun, Anime, and Westcape Comics, as well as Roman Album #36 in stock at Books Nippan in Los Angeles and in other stores. Perfect Manuals can still be seen floating around from store to store. Check with your local dealer to see what can still be ordered. Also, any of these books may appear sporadically at Sci Fi conventions. Be prepared to pay a little to get them, though. Roman Album #1 is a rare collector's item.
Back in the late 80s, comic book company Comico produced a 4-issue
miniseries on Star Blazers. Since the producers assumed that its readers
would not have seen the Yamato movies that come between TV Season 2 and
TV Season 3, the story's purpose was to bridge this gap. They relied on
the tragic mistranslation found in Season 3 regarding the Star
Force's and Desslok's battle against the Black Nebula Empire fortress,
Goruba. The Goruba was mislabeled
as the "Comet Empire". So, to try to cover this up, the comic's storyline
introduces a home world for the Comet Empire, and has its forces
attack Earth.
The artistry in this comic is typical of comtemporary American comic style, and does not much resemble the style used in Star Blazers. These comics can still be found in the "used" bins in some book stores.
Now, in 1995, Voyager Entertainment licensed Studio Go! to work for
its "Argo Press", producing a line of full-colour comics that doubled
as the magazine for their Star Blazers fan club.
These comics (so far twelve issues) re-tell the story
of each of the yamato movies using the English Star Blazers names and
terminology. Some of the illustrations are close adaptations
(tracings?) of stills taken from movie and TV series footage. This
seems to please most fans. Others are not (note the blooper on the
cover of Issue #1 that the Wave Gun muzzle of the Argo is not rammed
in Desslok's flagship, as it should have been for the scene drawn).
While they re-tell the traditional
Yamato story, they also introduce a few new plotlines, primarily
attempting to create new personal lives of the characters.
Sasha, daughter of Alex Wildstar and Queen Starsha of Iscandar,
gets much of this effort, and seems to be somewhat re-made
in the image of the bratty teen-ish girl found in today's
anime (pick a any title).
Each issue has a fairly large section on Star Blazers information, reader write-in forums, and merchandise information.
Following the news of the fall of Nishizaki's company in Japan, this Star Blazers comic appears to be on hold. The latest issue is #11 (issues started at #0), and fans are wondering if this will be the end of the series.
For those of you who like English publications about Yamato, /Starlog/ issue #35 (June 1980) is still available as a back issue from its publisher for only $4.00. Orders must be made using the company's order form, so call 212.698.2830 to reveive that first. Issue #35 contains a 3-page story by James H. Burns on the Star Blazers phenomenon, and is perhaps the most flattering American account of Yamato I have read. It contains 4 black & white pics from Season 2, including a nice cut-away of the Argo's interior, and one glossy colour print of the Argo, Wildstar, and Nova. The address is:
Starlog Back Issues
475 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Here is a list of the Japanese black-and-white comic books (manga) that I know of. Info from edward@isomedia.com:
MANGA :
SUNDAY COMICS : COSMOSHIP YAMATO (Matsumoto version)
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 50 (50/7/20) - 7/20/75
SECOND PRINT : SHOWA 53 (53/9/10) - 9/10/78
350 yen (each)
4x7 : 200pg
1 : SC287
2 : SC350
3 : SC362
SUN COMICS : FAREWELL SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 53 (53/9/10) - 9/10/78
SECOND PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/2/15) - 2/15/79
350 yen (each)
4x7 : 200pg
1 : 910490
2 : 910491
3 : 910492
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
NOVEL :
MOVIE NOVELIZATION : SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 52 (52/7/20) - 7/20/77
SECOND PRINT : SHOWA 53 (53/10/20) - 10/20/78
800 yen (each)
4.5x6 : 200pg
1 : 703004 Yamato Hasshin-hen (eps #1-#10, season 1)
2 : 703005 Yamato Shitou-hen (eps #11-#20, season 1)
3 : 703006 Yamato Kaiten-hen (eps #21-26, season 1)
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
FILM COMICS :
PERFECT MEMORY : SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO (FILM COMIC)
67595-04
480 yen
3x6 : 210pg
TV ANIME SERIES : BOOK (COMICS)
6x6.5 : 42pg
BATTLESHIP YAMATO : 920025 (1) (series ID)
: 64511-12 (5) (pub ID)
PART ONE : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 53 (12/20/53) - 12/20/78
SECOND PRINT : SHOWA 54 (2/25/54) - 2/25/79
BATTLESHIP YAMATO : 920026 (2) (series ID)
: 64511-1 (6) (pub ID)
PART TWO : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/1/20) - 1/20/79
SECOND PRINT : ??
FAREWELL BATTLESHIP YAMATO : 920027 (1) (series ID)
: 64511-14 (7) (pub ID)
PART ONE : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/2/20) - 2/20/79
SECOND PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/3/20) - 3/20/79
FAREWELL BATTLESHIP YAMATO : 920028 (2) (series ID)
: 64511-15 (8) (pub ID)
PART TWO : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/3/20) - 3/20/79
SECOND PRINT : ??
BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2 : 920030 (1) (series ID)
: 64511-17 (10) (pub ID)
PART ONE : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/5/20) - 5/20/79
SECOND PRINT : ??
BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2 : 920032 (2) (series ID)
: 64511-19 (12) (pub ID)
PART TWO : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/6/20) - 6/20/79
SECOND PRINT : ??
YAMATO NEW JOURNEY : 920038 (1) (series ID)
: 64511-25 (18) (pub ID)
PART ONE : 260 yen
FIRST PRINT : SHOWA 54 (54/11/20) - 11/20/79
SECOND PRINT : ??
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
COLOUR GLIFF : MOVIE COMICS
YAMATO CONCLUDING CHAPTER :
380 yen
06468-5
PRINT : SHOWA 58 (58/5/30) - 5/30/83
8x11 30pg
Thank you
Edward
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