The 5th SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO - Ancient, Kimura and Susumu are the bridge between the world of Yamato and the modern world! The 5th "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO" - Ancient, Kimura and Susumu are the bridge between the world of Yamato and the modern man! I rewatched the live-action version of "Space Battleship Yamato" which is actually respectful to the original work!

Japan is experiencing an unprecedented anime boom in 2025. In the world of live-action films, the presence of anime- and manga-based films is increasing even more than before.

On the other hand, many people may have the unfortunate impression that live-action films based on anime or manga are "ah, so it's live-action. ...... However! Are live-action movies based on anime and manga really all disappointing? Are we not being influenced by the opinions of those around us and making up stories based solely on images without having seen the full-length films?

So, let's re-evaluate some controversial anime and live-action films based on manga.

The 5th SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO

The 1974 TV broadcast of "Space Battleship Yamato" was an anime that stirred a yearning for space and navigation.

The Earth was on the verge of extinction after being attacked by a mysterious alien race, the Gamilas Empire. In order to save it, the Space Battleship Yamato, converted from the Battleship Yamato that sank in World War II, now sets out on a journey. Its destination is the planet Iskandar, 148,000 light years away. On this planet, the Yamato crew receives a device that removes radiation, and the crew struggles to restore blue to the contaminated and reddened earth. ......

The live-action film adaptation of "Space Battleship Yamato" is "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO," which was released in 2010. Aside from the topic of the live-action film adaptation of the legendary anime, the film also attracted attention for its star-studded cast, including Takuya Kimura of SMAP (at the time) as the main character Susumu Ancient, Meisa Kuroki as the heroine Moriyuki, Tsutomu Yamazaki as the captain Juzo Okita, and Toshiyuki Nishida as the chief engineer Hikozaemon Tokugawa (......). The cast also created a buzz.

Takuya Kimura is a star with a unique presence who is said to be "Kimutaku no matter what he plays. Susumu Ancient, the main character of this film, is no exception, transforming into a character that is "ancient but still Kimutaku. In addition, there are a few elements that have been changed from the original work, and depending on how these changes are received, it could be said that the film will be evaluated differently.

Pros and Cons! Moriyuki has been reworked as a martial arts character.

The storyline is the same as the original "Space Battleship Yamato," but "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO" is a bomb from the very beginning, which will be effective only for those who know the original story, so you can't be too careful.

The Earth has been contaminated by radioactive materials due to the Gamilas attack, and the extinction of the human race is just a matter of time. Under such circumstances, the Space Battleship Yamato was finally completed using the wreckage of the Battleship Yamato to disguise itself from Gamilas.

The ship was originally designed to allow a limited number of humans to escape to another planet, but Captain Okita says that after boarding the ship, he will leave for Iskandar.

Okita says, "Please give me this ship. Give me this ship. Let me travel for the hope of humanity, not for the survival of the elite for a short time. That way we can die with hope instead of despair.

The setting of ......, where you can get a radioactivity removal device if you go to Iskandar, is a basic premise in "Space Battleship Yamato. However, this film shakes things up and brings into focus the question, "Is there really such a thing as a radioactivity removal device?" The question of "whether there is really such a thing as a radiation removal device" is brought to the forefront again in this film. The Commander-in-Chief of the Earth Defense Forces, in response to Okita's words, mutters, "What kind of a story are you trying to spin, Okita?

After all, the director's cut version of "Space Battleship Yamato: Resurrection Arc" has a track record in the "Yamato" series, in which the Earth was swallowed by a cascading black hole and annihilated. It is interesting that the deeper the fans of the original, the more they are frightened by this device, wondering if there is no such thing as a radiation removal device in the world of ......? It is interesting that the deeper the fans of the original, the more frightened they are.

At the same time, fans of the original story have absolute trust in Okita. There is no way that Okita, the brave general, would do anything to ease the pain of destruction with false hope. On the other hand, he is also wondering, "Is this world so bad that even Captain Okita would think such a thing? The emotions of the viewers, wavering between anxiety and trust, are linked to those of the people of the Earth who are waiting for Yamato.

The relationship between the hero, Susumu Ancient, and the heroine, Moriyuki, is also arranged in a shocking way that will surprise those who know the original story.

In the original story, Ancient was the head of the Yamato's battle group, while Snow was the head of the life group. During the voyage, the two become attracted to each other and eventually get together. The two are so close that if there were an "ideal couple ranking in the anime world," they would surely be at the top of the list. However, Snow in "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO" is a member of the battle group and holds a grudge against Ancient.

Ancient in this film was once an ace pilot in the Earth Defense Forces, but is now discharged and spends his days picking up scrap metal on the radioactive ground. His older brother, who was a soldier, was killed in battle as Okita's shield, and the character resents Okita because of that.

One day, Ancient was involved in the crash of a ship coming from Iskandar. His protective clothing was torn and exposure to radiation was inevitable, but somehow the radiation had disappeared from his surroundings. Ancient was about to strike Okita, who had come to investigate Iskandar's ship, with a vengeance, when a woman intervened. Her name was Moriyuki. She is an ace pilot of a space fighter. In this film, she is portrayed as a character who joined the Earth Defense Forces because of her admiration for Ancient, but resents him because he dropped out. Here, Snow beats Ancient up, and then he gives him a scathing "You, a civilian, what do you know?

The setting of Ancient's grudge against Okita is the same as in the original story, and the confrontation (!) with Snow, who has a grudge against Ancient, is a thriller that no one could have predicted. This is a thrilling setting that no one could have predicted. In the original story, Snow is a cheerful and solid woman who is engaged in the work of the head of the living unit, a job that is far removed from combat.

In this film, however, Snow is a full-fledged martial artist. When it comes to fighting, she drives a state-of-the-art space fighter, the Cosmo Tiger, and even in peacetime, she blows away Ancient times and other members of the combat team with a single punch. The depressing aspect of his growing resentment toward Ancient is emphasized. In this way, the character is the complete opposite of the cheerful and gentle Snow in the original story.

The author was quite taken aback by the fact that Snow is now a character who is at odds with and fights against the Ancient One. I was quite surprised to see Snow as a character who is in conflict or fighting with the ancient one. However, as the story progresses, the necessity of this arrangement becomes apparent. This film must combine all 26 episodes of "Space Battleship Yamato" (13 hours in total) with the essence of the 151-minute film version of "Farewell Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love" into a 138-minute film. In the course of the film, Ancient and Snow must deepen their relationship, and there are many other episodes that must be depicted. If Snow is assigned to the same combat team as Ancient, there will be more points of contact and things will run more smoothly.

In fact, it is not a novel idea to have Snow fight in the battle group. It is a well-known story that Snow was the leader of the Space Warrior Team in the early stages of the planning of "Space Battleship Yamato. Whether or not this film is based on this setting is unclear, but in a sense, it can be said that the character of Moriyuki has returned to his roots.

The Yamato World as Depicted through Ancient Times, Kimutaku, and Susumu

Kimura's unique hair style is also reproduced in this film, and the angle in which one of his eyes is hidden by his bangs is surprisingly Leiji Matsumoto-like. He has the intensity to take the lead in the battle against Gamilas, but when Yamato communicates with Earth, he shows his loneliness as he is left without a family to hold on to. Then there is the coolness of wearing anti-flash defense sunglasses as he squeezes the trigger of the wave motion cannon. And he is cool as he pulls the trigger of the Wave Motion Gun while wearing his anti-flash defense sunglasses.

Yet, there is also a lot of Kim Taku in his behavior. The most notable scene is when he is playing with his friends. Ancient reunites with the members of "Team Ancient," the unit he once led, on Yamato. When he sees the emblem of "Team Ancient" that they are wearing in respect for Ancient, he makes fun of them, perhaps to hide his embarrassment, saying, "You put an uncool emblem on ......." He points to his own emblem and says, "What! (I'm wearing the same emblem, too.)" This scene expresses the ancient human charm, but at the same time, it also makes us feel that he is nothing but Kimura Taku. In other words, Ancient is more like a life-size modern man, and I personally feel that this Kimutaku component serves as a link between the story of this film and modern people.

The world of "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO" is too harsh. The human race will soon become extinct, and the Gamilas forces repeatedly attack on their arduous journey. Even if they manage to reach Iskandar, they are not sure if the radiation removal equipment they rely on is real or not.

Facing such a hard world is Ancient, which has a strong Kimura component. His life-size, modern male-like reactions allow viewers to feel the harshness of the film more intimately, making it easier to imagine what would happen if we, living in the 2010s, were thrown into the same situation. At the same time that Ancient is the protagonist of this film, he is also a lens through which we can relive the story of "Space Battleship Yamato" with a modern sensibility.

And yet, the principle of Ancient's behavior itself is the same as in the original story. At first, he resents Okita for abandoning his brother, but when he is appointed acting captain, he comes to understand Okita and grows as a commander and as a human being by facing the reality that "in order to achieve a great goal, one must make ruthless decisions with tears in one's eyes. These aspects are interpreted in a modern way by Kimura's acting ability and the Kimutaku component. The ancient man in this film is both ancient and Kimutaku at the same time, and could be described as ancient, Kimutaku, and Susumu.

What the ancient one wears is an AI "analyzer" in a mobile terminal like a smart phone. This is quite a bold arrangement, considering that the original "Analyzer" was a human-sized robot and a comedy relief that often sexually harassed Snow.

At first, it was a lonely companion for Ancient, but at the climax of the story, it was set on Ancient's beloved "Cosmo Zero" and they went into battle together. When they land on Iskandar, the robot separates from the Cosmo Zero and fights as a combat robot. Its bright red body is large enough to be seen from above. It becomes a shield for the ancients and fights the countless number of Gamilas soldiers that come toward it, but in the end, it is destroyed.

The appearance of the robot as a mobile terminal may have seemed like a compromise that could not be achieved with CG (see ......), but at the climax of the film, the robot fights in the form of an adaptation of the original story and scatters for Ancient Earth, which must have surprised fans of the original story. While it is true that there are no comical or sexually harassing scenes like in the original, the relationship between Ancient and his comrades-in-arms is made more intense.

Needless to say, a robot that devotes itself to humans and then disperses is one of the crying points in science fiction. And because the voice actor who plays the Analyzer is Kenichi Ogata, the same as in the original anime, we can feel the severity of the "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO" world, where the Analyzer has no time for sexual harassment, and the sadness when it is destroyed becomes even deeper.

The CG Yamato shows powerful active scenes!

The CG Yamato and battle scenes are also worth mentioning.

The wreckage of the battleship Yamato towers over the sea, withered by the Gamilas attack. The sight of the Yamato flying out from under this wreckage, breaking the ground, is so cool that it is almost numbing. The battleship Yamato, the most powerful battleship of the tragic era, which was supposed to become the guardian god of Japan, is now revived to save the earth. This idea is still full of dreams and romance even half a century after the release of the original anime, and the CG that recreates the original is really powerful.

When the Wave Motion Cannon is fired, after the forced injector is connected as in the original work, a modern depiction of a ring-shaped shock wave is shown around Yamato, and the released energy blows away the enemy. The energy released blasts the enemy to pieces. This is the sword of the legendary family, drawn after endurance and endurance, and it is truly a cathartic experience in the Japanese sense. Okita, however, instead of being pleased with this great victory, says, "We exposed our hand to the enemy too soon. I want to get out of the solar system before Gamilas takes countermeasures. Of course, "that" theme music enlivens this scene, and the Yamato leaves the earth from "that" angle from the left oblique front, which is irresistible to fans of the original work.

Looking back, we can see that "Space Battleship Yamato" has a surprisingly large number of iconic scenes and songs that can be described as "that. This is a testament to the excellence of the original work, and "SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO" is a movie that has all the "umph" parts down to a tee.

At any rate, in order to reproduce the "left oblique front view" of the original Yamato, which was so perceivable at the time of its broadcast, a special "deformed display model" (which looks a little odd when viewed from the side) was even released. This is a good indication of how strong an impression Yamato's "that" made on viewers.

In the scene depicting "Yamato flying through space in the form of a floating ship on the sea," the smooth motion of the CG works effectively and reaffirms the wonder of the film. CG is particularly effective in the scene of the Yamato's entry into Iskandar. In order to reach Iskandar, which is heavily defended, the ancient Cosmo-Zero first stealths ahead to locate anti-aircraft weapons. Although he succeeds in locating the position, the enemy discovers it. At the critical moment, the Yamato descends vertically from satellite orbit and destroys the enemy one by one with its main guns. The Yamato then flies away at warp speed. The fact that the Yamato moves like a dive bomber despite being a huge ship is truly the wonder of Space Battleship Yamato, and the combination of weight and speed in the depiction is a strength that only CG can bring to the screen.

■Conclusion, this is it!

And let us not forget that the last part of the film incorporates the essence of "Farewell Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love".

In the Battle of Iskandar, Chief Engineer Shiro Sanada and Captain Hajime Saito of the Space Cavalry are killed in action to protect Yamato. And just before Yamato was to return to Earth, it was attacked by the super-giant Gamilas ship. The chief engineer, Hikozaemon Tokugawa, collapses and is wounded, having lost all his weapons. With its wave motion cannon already blocked, the Yamato has no means of resisting the Gamilas, but Ancient devises a plan. If the Yamato made a suicide attack, it could use the energy of its wave motion engines to defeat the enemy. Ancient orders everyone to leave, and he remains alone on Yamato.

This development is exactly like that of "Farewell Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love. Sanada tells Ancient "I thought of you as my little brother," Saito stands on his dignity under enemy fire, and Tokugawa, crushed by the wreckage, fulfills his duty by saying, "Although the power is low, it does not impair navigation. The development and dialogue, as in the original story, will bring tears to the eyes of fans.

The characters who add depth to the story are Ancient, Kimura, and Susumu. In the original story, Ancient even smiles at his comrades after deciding to go on a suicide mission, but in this film, his life-size, human-like reaction is emphasized. When he persuades Snow to escape, he sheds tears, and when he says, "Even if I die, if it revives the earth, it means that my life has turned into all the lives of the earth," he seems to be saying to himself, in contrast to the ancient figure of the original work who seems to have reached enlightenment. Through Kim Takulens' interpretation as a life-size modern man, we can feel the anguish of ancient times when he chose to die without his loved ones, as if it were our own.

There are many other changes, such as the fact that Gamilas is now considered an alien collective intelligence, rather than an alien species with whom we might have had a chance to understand each other, and that the bald-headed male military doctor, Sado Shuzo, was changed to a woman in the original film. Whether or not you can accept these changes will greatly affect your evaluation of the film. As for Snow in particular, many fans of the original story will remember her as the Madonna of their youth, and it is inevitable that there will be some controversy as to whether or not they can accept this setting.

However, the characters, including Ancient, are well reproduced, and the crew members such as Okita, Sanada, and Tokugawa are perfectly suited to their roles.

Personally, I felt that the respect for the original work was evident in the fact that the film kept to the essentials and even incorporated the essence of "Saraba (Farewell)," and that the CG expressions and character interpretations were modern and different from the 2010s "Space Battleship Yamato," in short, "this is an acceptable live-action adaptation. In short, I thought it was an "acceptable live-action adaptation.

On February 13, 2023, Mr. Leiji Matsumoto, who played an important role in the production of "Space Battleship Yamato" as director, mechanical designer, and character designer, passed away.

His animated works such as "Planet Robot Danguard A" and "Space Pirate Captain Harlock" and his manga such as "Galaxy Express 999" and "Battlefield Manga Series" were filled with many important things such as dreams, romance, adventure, and the will and ideal of a man. I was still young when "Farewell Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love" was screened, but I still remember the shock I felt when I finished watching it. When I learned of his death during the writing of this article, I was reminded once again of the great impact his works have had on me. I would like to express my sincere condolences to Mr. Matsumoto and his family.

(Text by Shinichi Yanamoto)