ANIME REVIEW: STAR BLAZERS: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO 2199 - THE COMPLETE SERIES

Star Blazers Space Battleship Yamato 2199 - The Complete Series
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 15
Running Time: 300 mins
Release Date: 29/6/2020
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

We're used to watching two alien races pose a threat to the human race, but it's rare that Earth has an alien race willing to help them fight against the threat.

In Star Blazers Space Battleship Yamato 2199, the threat is from the Gamulans, and their rescuers are the Iscandar and the Space Battleship Yamato is a ship with an able crew and one mission, a year to find a planet and obtain a device to stop Earth from being destroyed. Their only problem is the Gamulan and other phenomenon getting in the way.

When I think of all the space opera anime I have watched over the years, there are only a few I have liked as they appear samey with a brave and at times ultra stupid main character. As a remake of the original Space Battleship Yamato TV series, from 1974 it was popular in it's native Japan and has recently been released and appreciated by viewers who are familiar with the space operas they produce.

Star Blazers is more about the captain and crew and how they deal with their race against time. They have a limited amount of time to save Earth but here it is handled well by the main crew; Tactical Officer, Susumu Kodai, Staff Officer, Yuki Mori and Daisuke Shima. Space Battleship Yamato is held up as a classic in anime circles as it's original co-creator Leiji Matsumoto and Yoshinobu Nishizaki had the idea for it back in 1974 when the space opera genre was in its early stage. It made serious headlines when it was serialised in the US in 1979 as Star Blazers and had the credit of being their first serialised cartoon series. Star Blazers Space Battleship Yamato 2199 still has the potential to impress audiences today, so this is the English dubbed release for the UK market and should have existing and fresh space opera fans hankering for it, and for good reason.

This series has been updated from the 1970s look, yet has kept the original character designs, soundtrack and basic animation making it more of an update in quality, an enhancement that doesn't spoil the animes original look. This might sound like I am saying this is a perfect anime, it is apart from modern viewers might find it slightly annoying that it's pacing is rather slow. This isn't unusual as most 1970s space operas were just as slow, so if you can excuse this, seeing it as a quirk from 40 years ago then you can sit back and enjoy the show and what it has to offer.