A "Screening with Yamatalk" of the latest work in the remake series of the popular anime "Space Battleship Yamato", "Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199", Chapter 2 "Red Sun's Sortie" was held at Shinjuku Piccadilly (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo) on December 19th, with general director Harutoshi Fukui, director Naomichi Yamato, screenwriter Hideki Oka, and Kia Asamiya, who is in charge of image drawings, in attendance. This was Asamiya's first appearance at a "Screening with Yamatalk" in about six years, and he spoke about his thoughts on "Space Battleship Yamato" and the remake series.
Asamiya is known not only as a manga artist, but also as an animator. The remake series was not Asamiya's first time participating in "Space Battleship Yamato". He also participated as an animator in "Space Battleship Yamato Final Chapter" released in 1983. At the event, he revealed the scene he was in charge of at the time, recalling, "The studio I was in at the time was a subcontractor for Toei Animation (now Toei Animation). It was the Dingir scene."
Asamiya took a break from his work as an animator after drawing the key animation for "Gekiganger 3" in "Martian Successor Nadesico" which aired in 1996, but returned to animating for the first remake series, "Space Battleship Yamato 2199," which aired on TV in 2013. Since then, he has worked on storyboards, layouts, and visuals for the remake series.
He said that he received a direct offer to return as an animator from director Izubuchi Yutaka, who worked on "2199," and said, "It's because it's Yamato. If it had been any other work, I would have run away. They're three magic letters. When I hear Yamato, I start wagging my tail."
He has also worked on packaging art for plastic models, and when asked "What is your favorite mecha other than Yamato?" he said, "There are so many... Maybe Andromeda. It was a formative experience that had a big impact on me. I was happy when I was able to draw it on the packaging."
Fukui will be the general director of "Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199," and will also be in charge of series composition and scriptwriting. Fukui was in charge of series composition and scriptwriting for the remake series "Space Battleship Yamato 2202: Warriors of Love" and "Space Battleship Yamato 2205: A New Voyage," and will also be the general director of this latest work. There are seven chapters in total, with Chapter 2, "Red Sun's Sortie," premiering on November 22nd. Chapter 3, "Ultramarine Asteroid," will be screened on April 11th, 2025.
