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 movie ticket, you’ll get to watch an expanded version play out over … Continue reading →
Jun 24, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
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 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 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 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 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 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 22: September/October 1979
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.…
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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,…
Space Battleship Yamato 2205 Report 14
August 2022 was about average in terms of activity, but there’s never a dull month in Yamato world. The first full-scale book arrived and Star Blazers Lambda reached…
![Featured image for The Frontline Report [10/14/21]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20211019/1634601755.23520.49950.jpg)
The Frontline Report [10/14/21]
This week on the Frontline Report: thoughts on Heike Monogatari, Rumble Garanndoll, Platinum End, and more.
NC 1978
The 2011 anime series Tiger & Bunny takes place in NC 1977 to NC 1978. While this clearly isn’t our 1970s, there is no such place as Sternbild…
Top Weekly Manga Sold in the US: October 8 – October 14, 2023
There have been some changes to the reporting style here on the Blog. Please refer to the post here for further information. All the data you find below…
Japan Top 14 Weekly Light Novel Sales Ranking: October 23 – October 29, 2023
There have been some changes to the reporting style here on the Blog. Please refer to the post here for further information. It is thanks to the amazing…
Farming Life in Another World, The Eminence in Shadow, Classroom of the Elite
Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – October 14, 2023
Yuri Events The Yuriten Yuri Exhibition has opened today in Tokyo. In a newly refurbished space, they are doing same-day entrance tickets for fans who would like to…
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021 (October 07 – 14)
A Preview of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021 (Running from October 07 – 14)
1978: Anime's Greatest Year?
Japanese animation, anime, cartoons, manga, 1960-1990, Tezuka, Miyazaki, Ishinomori, Matsumoto, Yamato, Gatchaman, Star Blazers, Captain Harlock
Vintage manga Twitch stream!
Happy new year, friends! This Sunday (Jan 21, 2024), I'll be doing a chill stream where I'll flip through some vintage manga with y'all and ...
Inside Academy Studio, 1978
One of the most significant differences between the making of Yamato Series 1 and Series 2 was public perception. In 1974/75, there was no anime journalism to speak…
Vintage Yamato doujinshi archive
The importance of doujinshi (fanzines) in the early years of Space Battleship Yamato cannot be underestimated. Thanks to a handful of fans who visited the Office Academy animation…
14% of Local Assemblies in Japan Have Zero Women: Report
A new survey shows that women in Japan are often shut out of government, not just at the national level, but the local level as well.
Spotify J-Music Playlist Draft (Week 21; October 14, 2023)
This week’s features include: 帰りの会 (kaeri no kai), Hakubi, For Tracy Hyde, miida, and Sarasa Kadowaki
King Fang (1978 TV Special)
Taki’s father was a Sakhalin Husky, and his mother was a wolf who escaped from the circus. Severely injured as a puppy, Taki was taken in by a…
The Most Dangerous Game (1978)
A stylish noirish experience that offers many satisfying action moments and a chance for the male spectator to fleetingly savour an impossible fantasy of male desirability.
The Killing Game (1978) review
Murakawa delivers a satisfying sequel.
Kanada and Tomonaga, 1978-1979
This article is an annex to this piece 1979 was no doubt a busy year in the anime industry, and especially so in the careers of Yoshinori Kanada…
A Vintage Discovery – Death Hunter
One of my favorite hobbies is finding semi-obscure one-shot manga that will never be translated into English at second-hand stores. It’s nothing serious and I only do this…
Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ #14 first week sales report
© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社 The fourteenth volume of Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ debuted at the 5th position in Oricon’s weekly ranking, with an estimate…
Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ #14 second week sales report
© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社 The fourteenth volume of Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ dropped to the 12th position in Oricon’s weekly ranking, with an estimate…
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021: Online from October 7–14
The 2021 edition of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival kicks off in an hour’s time and it is online. You can watch the opening ceremony wherever you…
Yamato movie on Fuji TV, 1978
Article reproduction from Yamato Syndrome doujinshi, 2018 Space Battleship Yamato, Fuji TV August 4 Conditions on the production side Fierce competition at the top, Japan TV drops out…
Yoshinobu Nishizaki Q&A, April 1978
Originally published in issue 3 of the Yamato Fan Club magazine Q&A Series: Page of exchange between Chairman Nishizaki and fans Yamato is a roman of love and…
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021 Goes Virtual From October 7–14
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021 Goes Virtual From October 7–14.
Status Report
Status Report Hey gang. It is kinda frustrating for me to not be able to do what I’d like to do at times. When I quit playing Marvel…
The Fall Of Ako Castle (1978) review
Fukasaku has crafted a period piece that, due to its impeccable dramatic pacing, has to be counted among the best
The Demon (鬼畜, Yoshitaro Nomura, 1978)
When his mistress abandons their three children on his doorstep, a resentful father and his enraged wife take drastic action to be free of them in Yoshitaro Nomura’s…