A screening with YamaTalk for the third chapter of the latest installment in the remake series of the popular anime series Space Battleship Yamato, "Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199," titled "Ultramarine Asteroid," was held at Shinjuku Piccadilly (Shinjuku, Tokyo) on April 22. Titled the "CG Edition," the event featured general director Harutoshi Fukui, director Naomichi Yamato, screenwriter Hideki Oka, and CG director Masahiro Uechi, who spoke about the CG production of the main guns, explosions, and other aspects of the show.
Uechi explained the process of "how to make Grodeze," including the rough model, modeling, and texture. It took about six months to complete the CG model of Grodeze, but he said, "not all models take six months." He also explained the CG production process, from placing the model in 3D space based on the storyboard to deciding the timing, etc.
When the topic of "the expression of the main guns" came up, Uechi revealed his difficulties, saying, "I gathered up reference footage from past works and explained the movement of the barrels to the staff. The movement of the barrels also has Yamato's quirks. Pulse lasers are tricky. There are too many. A beam comes out of each barrel, so you have to control each one individually. The shock cannon is just right."
The explosion scenes are also a highlight. "We asked for some hand-drawn animation, but most are CG. The explosions are different for each production, and we created new ones for 3199. There are a variety of explosions, from battleships to fighter planes. Up until now, there have been a lot of simulation-type explosions in Space Battleship Yamato, but this production has a look that is closer to hand-drawn," he explained.
There seem to be other difficulties unique to "Space Battleship Yamato." "The bridge of the Yamato is very detailed. There are 200 monitors," said Yamato. "There is also communication on the bridge, and seats change. There is a lot of drama on the bridge." Fukui nodded and said, "You can't use the bank very much."
The second "Screening with YamaTalk" event, "Mecha Design Edition," will be held on May 8th at Shinjuku Piccadilly, with Fukui, Yamato, Oka, and mechanical designer Tamamori Junichiro taking to the stage.
"Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199" is a new interpretation of the third movie, "Be Forever Yamato," released in 1980. Harutoshi Fukui is the general director, and is also in charge of the series composition and scriptwriting. Fukui was in charge of the 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 for the latest film. There are seven chapters in total, with the fourth chapter, "Sasha, the Light Blue Maiden," set to premiere on October 10.
The first Space Battleship Yamato anime series was broadcast in 1974, and other films have since been produced, including Space Battleship Yamato 2, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato , Warriors of Love, and Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection. A remake of the first film, Space Battleship Yamato 2199, was screened in theaters and broadcast on TV from 2012 to 2014, and a sequel to 2199, 2202, was screened in theaters and broadcast on TV from 2017 to 2019. A two-part series, 2205, was screened in theaters in 2021 and 2022.
