Anime Review: Space Battleship Yamato 2199
- Very Average Joe
- Feb 5
- 5 min read
English Title: Space Battleship Yamato 2199
Japanese Title: 宇宙戦艦ヤマト2199
Director(s): Enomoto Akihiro
Screenwriter(s): Izubuchi Yutaka
Studio: AIC, Xebec
Released: 2012
Series Runtime: 26 episodes, ~25m each.
Starring: Ono Daisuke, Kuwashima Houko, Sugou Takayuki, Ootsuka Houchuu, Tanaka Rie, Hisakawa Aya
This is a remake of the original 1974 series created by Nishizaki Yoshinobu and Matsumoto Leiji. I have not seen the original so this review is of this series only.
Earth is at war with an alien race called the Gamilas. The latter have thrown enough rocks at Earth that the surface is decimated. What remains of the population lives underground under the authority of the UN and they foresee that humanity will only last one more year.
The last hope is that a benevolent alien race called the Iscandar has offered a “Cosmo Reverse System” that can revitalize Earth but humanity must travel to their homeworld and retrieve it. Iscandar has also provided a Dimensional Wave Motion Engine, which basically facilitates FTL travel through hyperspace. (There is a reason, revealed later, to not directly provide the Cosmo Reverse System to Earth.)
Hence the engine installed on the Yamato, named after the battleship sunk in WWII. The series opens with a diversionary battle so that the Iscandar can deliver the engine core to Earth forces. The plot follows the ship’s launch and its journey to Iscandar, having to battle the Gamilas along the way.
The series starts with the point of view of Yamato’s crew but it does shift to various characters of the Gamilas.
As a military sci-fi space opera, the usual elements are there: a single Earth ship and crew aim to prevent humanity’s extinction and need to battle with an alien empire with numerical superiority. On humanity’s side, the main viewpoint character is a young male officer named Kodai Susumu with at least one female officer as a potential romantic interest.
One can see the influence it had on Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross. Both have a lone vessel trying to escape and/or go through the enemy forces in order to survive and achieve its objective. And both have a young male protagonist, although Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is not mecha anime and therefore does not have Kodai accidentally falling into the mecha cockpit in the first episode.
Similarly, Earth’s adversary in Mobile Suit Gundam, although not alien, is nonetheless a militaristic society ruled by aristocracy. As for Macross, the Zentradi are aliens that are militaristic and superior in multiple ways.
Whilst the stage is set for a grand conflict in Space Battleship Yamato 2199, these elements are somewhat superficial and insufficiently developed given there are 26 episodes.
It is appreciated that there is a relatively large number of characters. This helps keep things fresh instead of focusing on Kodai the entire time. However, neither the characters nor their relationships truly develop.
Kodai is young and reacts emotionally for the sake of drama. Whilst not outright trying to be emotionally charged like Macross, it is trying too hard to be dramatic and fails. The relationship between Kodai and Mori is subtle at first, which is appreciated, but then they conveniently go from being drawn to each other to sorta-maybe-have-a-thing just because the plot needs it.
Whilst Kodai is not particularly interesting, other characters such as Captain Okita Juzo, XO Sanada Shiro, Kodai’s friend Shima Daisuke, and technical officer Nimi Kaoru are interesting enough initially. The narrative does provide a bit of their background and intrigue. However, the story doesn’t use them well.
So-called politics is prominent throughout. Regarding Earth, there is a faction that favors looking for a new homeworld as opposed to going to Iscandar. That conflict is moderately captivating and whilst one does not expect that to go much further than what is shown in the series, it fails to make use of the characters and develop them and their relationships.
As for the Gamilas, their society is more complex than initially presented. At first, they are merely bullies. That is true and they are ruled with an iron fist by Abelt Desler. But their society is divided into classes and those from conquered territories are second-class citizens. They can serve and earn first-class citizenship but are often looked down on. Even amongst the ruling class, there are divisions and, at any level, some are honorable and some not. Class struggle and so-called racism are the obvious themes.
As is common, there is the question of how the war started. The view promoted on Earth is that they suffered an unprovoked attack and are the victims. Although it is reasonable to assume history is more complicated than first thought and maybe Earth forces were not entirely innocent, for Gamilas to resort to continuous planetary bombardment is nonetheless blatantly disproportionate to whatever Earth forces can dish out. In other words, the story tries too hard, and fails, to generate intrigue or a twist out of it.
As is expected of a story involving a ship named Yamato that was originally made in the 1970s, there is the overly romanticized presentation of the military. Setting aside the cheesy score, there is the occasional tackiness of honorable soldiers being honorable with the adversary who are also supposedly honorable. To some, this may be laughable whilst to others, it is cringe. Of course one should behave honorably but no need to be so dramatic about it.
Other cringeworthy aspects include the major characters mostly not dying. For a series that takes a darker tone with some sense of realism, one expects more significant deaths. There are casualties throughout but it is almost never the main characters. Either way, a deal is made of it when it suits the narrative.
The same goes for the ship. It suffers damage and it is appreciated that it can take time to make repairs. However, sometimes there are too few signs of damage given the fire taken or a seemingly damaged gun keeps functioning. This is not uncommon, whether it is anime or live-action, but it could be better for a series that is supposed to have some realism. At least it is nowhere near as bad as Star Trek: Voyager in which the titular ship looks brand new at the start of nearly every episode.
Visually, the designs are excellent with a lot of detail. The linework of the characters rightly has some variation whilst maintaining a very clean look. Generally, everything is nicely rendered and each shot is well-composed. However, the motion (animation) of the ships is too crude.
The glaring problem with the Yamato is that it seems to be able to fit more fighters and people than its size indicates. Again, this is common in anime but this can be better given the tone of the series.
Overall, the voice acting is solid across the board and it is mostly excellent visually. The pacing is steady; although arguably slow by today’s standards, it is understandable for a work that originated in the 1970s.
The primary problem is that Kodai is not particularly interesting and although some characters initially are, they are not interesting enough with little or no development throughout the series. There is nothing wrong with having a plot-driven series (instead of being character-driven) with its action-adventure set pieces, but the characters need to be interesting enough.
The final problem is that at 26 episodes, one would want some sort of denouement even if a sequel series is intended. The series just ends with the Yamato predictably arriving home.
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