Report on "Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars" Special Screening with Greetings from the Stage!　Behind-the-scenes stories about the "Rocket Anchor" and more!

The official report of the special screening and stage greeting from the animated film "Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars" has arrived.

Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars" was released in 89 theaters nationwide on December 6, 2014 as a completely new version of "Space Battleship Yamato 2199," which was produced by a new staff based on the first TV series in 2012 and became a huge hit. Set on the return journey from Iskandar, the film depicts the battle between Yamato and a new enemy, Gatlantis.

In preparation for the BD/DVD release on May 27, special screenings with stage greetings were held in three cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto) from April 10 to 11. At Shinjuku Piccadilly, general director Yutaka Izubuchi, chief director Makoto Bessho, chief mechanical director Masanori Nishii, and Eriko Nakamura, who plays Mikage Kiryu, appeared on stage. At Namba Parks Cinema and MOVIX Kyoto, Mr. Izubuchi, Mr. Nishii, and producer Mikio Gunji took the stage. The BD version of the film, which has been upgraded from the original release, was shown along with behind-the-scenes stories about the production that only the main staff could tell.

At the greeting session in Shinjuku, Eriko Nakamura, who traveled around the country greeting people on stage when "Hoshiguruma Ark" was released at the end of last year, took the stage first. She said, "I felt that Yamato is really loved by the audience, to be able to come back to the theater at this time. After that, General Director Izubuchi and others took the stage to begin the stage greeting. Nakamura commented, "When I received the recording script, I was surprised at how thick it was, and I realized once again that I would be playing an important role. I turned the pages thinking that I would be able to read it in one night," he said. Then, General Director Izubuchi explained that there is a storyboard before the post recording script, and a scenario before that. It seems that even the notes of the staff in charge of storyboards were copied onto the recording script.
Mr. Nishii said, "Each of the eight staff members who were in charge of the storyboards had more feelings for 'Yamato' than the scenario," and revealed that the storyboards were much longer than the scenario that was put together for the overall length of the film (screening time). I honestly wondered if it was possible to make this film in one year. So, we cut the film in chunks scene by scene from a third-party point of view, and then asked, "General director, is it OK? We then proceeded with the film while getting confirmation from the general director. Mr. Nakamura, who was listening at the side, seemed to be deeply interested in the story.
Mr. Bessho added, "At the launch of the series (26 episodes), Daisuke Ono, who played Susumu Ancient, said, 'In the second half of the series, it was snowing! Snow! So this time, we decided to focus on the ancient times and tell the story from the ancient times to the next generation," he said. He also mentioned that "the scene where Susumu Ancient takes the lead in command, which was not done in the series" is the highlight of the film. Mr. Nishii, on the other hand, said, "We were able to use all of Yamato's weapons, including the detonators. I am especially happy that we were able to use the rocket anchor as a weapon. Then he added, "There are a lot of people who like the rocket anchor (laughs). I wanted to do that, too. He added, "It's like Ancient took over Okita's battle method and is creating Ancient's battle method." As a highlight, he mentioned the last scene where the Yamato and Gamilas fleets are lined up. He added, "Until now, Yamato's battles have been a solitary struggle, but it was good to have a fleet battle in this film, which is about mutual combat.
Mr. Nakamura concluded his speech by saying, "Please enjoy "Hoshiguru Ark" again with the high quality images on Blu-ray. Nishii said, "I put in what I could. Mr. Bessho added, "We have reworked the drawings and facial expressions that we were not able to fully capture in the movie, so please enjoy watching the movie over and over again. I also received a message from General Director Izubuchi: "There were some things that we didn't get to in the screening. It is our job to pay attention to the details that you don't notice, so please enjoy the film again.