As summer merged into fall, the world of Yamato was only getting bigger in the wake of The New Voyage, and Office Academy studio was only getting busier. The American premiere of Star Blazers and the Japanese premiere of Blue … Continue reading →
Mar 4, 2024 • Subscribe
More like this
Vintage Report 17: January 1979
At the dawn of 1979, Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s Office Academy studio was on the highest trajectory ever seen in the TV anime industry, which at the time was just…
Vintage Report 18: February 1979
As Yamato 2 moved into its post-Telezart phase with four very compelling episodes, development continued on The New Voyage, media coverage intensified, and new books kept the world…
Vintage Report 20, May/June 1979
This stretch of time can be described as a gap, since it marked the period between the Yamato 2 finale and the broadcast premiere of The New Voyage.…
Vintage Report 21: July/August 1979
For a two-month period that didn’t actually see a large amount of activity, this was a huge moment for Yamato fans. July in particular delivered a big one-two…
Vintage Report 19, March/April 1979
The spring months of 1979 saw the first slowdown in Yamato activity since the previous summer, which was inevitable given that the intervening period was the busiest in…
Vintage Report 23: November/December 1979
The fan community didn’t know it yet, but the end of 1979 tipped them just past the halfway point between The New Voyage and the next big adventure,…
Vintage Report 13: September 1978
The month following the incredible box office success of Farewell to Yamato was both a victory lap and the beginning of a marathon. As new media coverage and…
Vintage Report 6: September 1977
As summer gave way to fall, Yamato‘s fortunes just kept on climbing. The initial theatrical engagements ended just before September started, but far more theaters were picking the…
Vintage Report 29: September 1980
As Be Forever Yamato closed its premiere run in Japanese theaters, spinoff media became more concentrated as the first dedicated books appeared, and magazines became the first source…
Vintage Report 30: October 1980
You have to push pretty hard to top the premiere of a new TV series, but the publishing community did its best with the last big wave of…
Vintage Report 14: October 1978
To understand how significant this month was, here’s a metaphor. Imagine that it’s July 1977, two months after Star Wars exploded into the world. Now, without buying a…
Vintage Report 3: 1976
Of all the original production years, 1976 was definitely the leanest. Total “above-the-surface” activity was less than what occurs during a typical month in the remake years. As…
Vintage Report 2: 1975
The simplest description of Yamato‘s arc in 1974 would be “a herculean rise leading to a sudden fall.” An enormous amount of effort to get the thing off…
Vintage Report 16: December 1978
Stop the presses moment: in the course of writing these vintage reports, new discoveries inevitably pop up that belonged in previous reports. Sometimes they warrant special attention, and…
Vintage Report 31: November 1980
After Yamato III‘s first month on the air, Be Forever was still rippling through the publishing world and all seemed well in camp. At least on the surface.…
Vintage Report EXTRA, 1978-1981
It may be impossible to construct a complete timeline of Yamato history in the Vintage Report series since previously unknown artifacts can emerge at any time, and sometimes…
Vintage Report 26: June 1980
As Toei Studio’s animation staff labored through their final month on Be Forever Yamato, the publicity machine ramped up with major media coverage and the first live events…
Vintage Report 5: August 1977
The whole world changed for the better in August 1977, and that is not an exaggeration. With the August 8 premiere of Space Battleship Yamato, the entire anime…
Vintage Report 12: August 1978
This was the month when all the suspense finally broke. Farewell to Yamato destroyed all previous box office records for anime films (including that of Yamato itself) with…
Vintage Report 11: July 1978
The final month before the Farewell to Yamato premiere was a steady climb of excitement and anticipation as film production plowed through its final stages and publicity ratcheted…
Vintage Report 15: November 1978
Though Farewell to Yamato was no longer in theaters in November 1978, it continued to dominate the discourse, both in media and merchandising. But it was no longer…
Vintage Report 28: August 1980
The enormous momentum that built up in July burst wide open on the first two days of August with the hotly-anticipated premiere of Be Forever Yamato. Familiar patterns…
Vintage Report 32: December 1980
As we look back over the entire sweep of 1980, December was the lightest month with the least amount of activity. That wasn’t the case for Yoshinobu Nishizaki,…
Vintage Report 7: Fall 1977
The events and artifacts in this account took place several decades ago, but the actual research in putting them all in order inevitably leads to new discoveries. As…
Vintage Report 1: 1973-74
As Yamato Resurrection approached in 2009, this website took on a new dimension when the Yamato saga returned to real time and there was news to report every…
Vintage Report 27: July 1980
This was the last round before the premiere of Be Forever Yamato in theaters, and thus became the single busiest month in all of Yamato history until the…
Vintage Report 24: January-March 1980
The new decade dawned with the making of a new Yamato adventure that would be just one part of Academy Studio’s busiest year of them all. While the…
Vintage Report 34: 1981, second quarter
After the final episode of Yamato III aired in early April, Exec Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki found himself in an uncommon situation. For the first time since early 1978,…
Vintage Report 8: November/December 1977
If we were to name this specific stretch of Yamato history, the appropriate word would probably be “Afterglow.” The feature film was still burning up the box office…
Vintage Report 33: 1981, first quarter
After a banner year like 1980, it could only be expected that Yamato activity would decline, and it certainly did. In this time period, the second half of…
Vintage Report 10: 1978, Part 2
As 1978 approached its midpoint, Yamato fever was heating up. The publicity campaign was just starting to ramp up, but production was running at full speed as the…
Vintage Report 9: 1978, Part 1
As the new year began, the Yamato movie was still raking in box office profits after an incredible five months. After a slowdown in December, the New Year’s…
Vintage Report 4: 1977, Part 1
It is no exaggeration to state that the period covered in this report was the most pivotal time in all of Yamato history. The movie that would change…
Vintage Report 25: April/May 1980
The runup to summer 1980 was deceptively quiet on the surface, but momentum was building like a freight train underneath as Be Forever moved into the second half…
Monthly Report for September 2024
NOTE: For the next few months I will be devoting more time to adding events to the Regular Events and Festivals page. http://www.koyagi.com/...
Special Report: October 6, 2024
The 50th anniversary of Space Battleship Yamato‘s original TV broadcast was overwhelming. Live events, news flashes, social media posts, and more brought fans together from all parts of…
Monthly Report for October 2024
Monthly Report for October 2024 Added local government page links to each of the 23 ku main pages. In time I'll also do this for the Tama A...
Omonomono Newsletter, September 22 Update
I have to say, it was a bit refreshing to not have to write this on a weekly basis. At the same time I think it does serve…
ContAnimeTed October 22-24 1993
CONTanimeTED 1993 - October 22-24, New Cobden Hotel, Birmingham. (the secound Anime convention to be held in Birmingham England). Photos ...
September 10 2023: The Anime Toronto Report
James returns to the table for the first time since Anime North. So we start by recaping his take on the anime summer 00:06:22 – A thought on…
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [1/30/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220130/1643582314.30161.57847.jpg)
The Frontline Report [1/30/22]
This week: Writeups on Princess Connect and Tokyo 24th Ward. Plus, a fond farewell to Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [2/6/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220206/1644161914.30546.58284.jpg)
The Frontline Report [2/6/22]
This week; There’s a new Precure in town! Plus; CUE! makes a surprise recovery, Princess Connect goes absolutely wild, and Tokyo 24th muddles the message.
CUE!, My Dress-Up Darling, Pretty Cure, Sabikui Bisco, Tokyo 24th Ward
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [1/3/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220103/1641209314.28455.55831.jpg)
The Frontline Report [1/3/22]
This week: we finish up the 2021 stragglers Rumble Garanndoll and Mieruko-chan
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [1/23/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220123/1642954114.29761.57377.jpg)
The Frontline Report [1/23/22]
This week: CUE! and Tokyo 24th Ward writeups. Plus Pompo The Cinephile, Gakkou Gurashi, Sabikui Bisco, and My Dress-Up Darling
CUE!, Pompo: The Cinéphile, My Dress-Up Darling, Sabikui Bisco, Tokyo 24th Ward
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [2/27/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220228/1646014714.32042.59994.jpg)
The Frontline Report [2/27/22]
The Frontline Report is a weekly column where I summarize my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week. Expect spoilers for covered …
Space Battleship Yamato 2205 Report 22
Yamato world held steady for another month with a new Yamaket fan gathering, another round of Hyuga parts, two live concerts, unexpected media blips and the next issue…
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [4/2/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220402/1648931914.33880.62176.jpg)
The Frontline Report [4/2/22]
This week: premieres premieres premieres! Plus, the Princess Connect finale, and a HUGE announcement.
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [3/6/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220306/1646598514.32444.60455.jpg)
The Frontline Report [3/6/22]
This week on the Frontline Report; Princess Connect does it again, plus, a short writeup on the zany toku office comedy Miss Kuroitsu From The Monster Development Department
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [1/16/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220116/1642345114.29315.56857.jpg)
The Frontline Report [1/16/22]
This week: Ousama Ranking, Tokyo 24th Ward, My Dress-Up Darling, CUE!, and Artiswitch!
Artiswitch, CUE!, My Dress-Up Darling, Ranking of Kings, Tokyo 24th Ward
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [3/20/22]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220320/1647781714.33165.61284.jpg)
The Frontline Report [3/20/22]
The Frontline Report is a weekly column where I summarize my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week. Expect spoilers for covered …
Princess Connect! Re:Dive, Princess Connect! Re:Dive Season 2