Leiji Matsumoto's latest. Dai Yamato/Great Yamato.

[UN Spacy]

WOW.

Apparently they're already on the third episode, the last time I heard about this series it was still in pre-produciton. Take a look at the three preview videos, it looks like they're using even more CG than The Galaxy Railways.

I'm still not hooked on the Great Yamato design. But, anything new by Leiji Matsumoto and company can't be bad at all.

Check it out.

http://www.daiyamato-zerogo.com/index.html

[Opus]

I dunno. If I may drop a quick F-bomb, that thing is farting ugly. I think it strays too far from the original. I'd rather see something wholly original from the mighty Matsumoto-san.

disclaimer: I'm a born and bred pessimist who hates almost all thing new.

[UN Spacy]

I think it strays too far from the original. I'd rather see something wholly original from the mighty Matsumoto-san.

I never really mentioned this before, but the more I see Matsumoto's OTHER creations. The more I get tired by his "typical" character designs. Hehehehehehe.

Take a look at his website and you'll see how every series has a Harlock, Yuki, or Dr. Sano-type character.

http://www.leiji-matsumoto.ne.jp/

[Keith]

Matsumoto had to use a new design since Nishizaki is a freakin' lunatic who thinks he's responsasble for the good aspects of Yamato....

With all that said, this is freakin' awesome, I can't wait to see it!

[Opus]

I rather enjoy the consistency in Matsumoto's character designs and storylines. I'll probably like this one as well but like all new anime, I don't want to.

[KingNor]

i've always thought he drew the prettyest girls in anime.

but as for that ship, too many colors and weird lights.. for a few seconds i actually thought that was a jack-o-lantern hanging off the "wing" there

[Radd]

I really dislike the new Yamato design. I understand why it had to be redesigned, I just with Matsumoto hadn't given into overzealous CGI cheese. I imagine it would look better drawn instead of done in CG. Matsumoto has never had a great relationship with CGI.

Still, I bet the story will be solid, the character desgins I already approve of. I doubt this show will dissapoint.

[renegadeleader1]

I'm surprised no one has asked this before but why the hell does a spaceship need wings?

[Californium]

Why wings? The wings make it go, of course. That's like asking why it has an engine. The engine is there to create the thrumming noise which spills the captain's coffee when he calls for more power. Obviously. Really, I'm so tired of people who never bother to pick up a "superspatialthermohydrodynamic occillations and the spaceships who love them" textbook at least once in their lives.

[Pat S]

I'm surprised no one has asked this before but why the hell does a spaceship need wings?

It probably can land on Earth like in the 70's version...

Looks to me like the Starship Enterprise somehow had a baby with a WWII destroyer, and a giant fighter jet.

[renegadeleader1]

aright I'm gonna say it!

It looks like a ship straight outta red dwarf!

[Greyryder]

If nothing else, it needs to lose the disk. They really need to go back to the original design (the real one from WWII) and rework it from there.

I really wouldn't have a problem with it just being the WWII Yamato, with the Arcadia style engine section, but this new design is too much of a departure.

[GRAND CANNON]

I agree. As someone who grew up with this is the late 70's, I'm torn about this new incarnation of the Yamato. I think they've added too much, as seen with the disk and wings.

Won't stop me from finding out how to see this series, but just doesn't seem right. Guess you could bring up Syd Mead's Yamato from Yamato 2520, but that was supposed to be very different.

Found a pic of a GREAT YAMATO soudtrack that had a low-mod version of the Yamato....would've preferred this:

More possibly yucky(?) Great Yamato:

dunno.......

Yamato 2520(for what it's worth):

[KingNor]

i didn't see the disc before.. ok that thing is horrible. boo, bad design.

the original was better, and i was never a fan, or even heard of this show untill about a year ago.

never seen a single episode, have nothing invested in the original ship and i can say that this new one is NOT worthy to replace the old design. boo. hiss... yuck

[Keith]

Here's the deal, you either get the new ship design with Matsumoto's superior story & character designs. Or The old ship design with Nishizaki's newly contracted character designs & whatever half baked homocidal story he's coming up with.

I do beleive this is just the preliminary OVA though (which would explain the cheeseyness of the CG) that's being released directly from the site. The TV series probably has not been finished yet.

[UN Spacy]

Or The old ship design with Nishizaki's newly contracted character designs & whatever half baked homocidal story he's coming up with.

Any website to pictures of Nishizaki's Yamato universe?

[Panon]

Or The old ship design with Nishizaki's newly contracted character designs & whatever half baked homocidal story he's coming up with.

Any website to pictures of Nishizaki's Yamato universe?

There's really nothing to see yet.

http://www.enagio.com/yamato/

[Radd]

Well, it looks better than the 2520 design at least. I still think even with the disc it would look a whole lot better hand drawn instead of CGed. Make it tradtionally animated, and lose the disc (keep all the other changes, even!) and it would probably look excellent.

[Panon]

I like the design, disk and wings included - the old style design is 30 years old, it's time to move on.

The problem is the colouring they've done really makes it look bad. Too many lights/windows, and the colours chosen aren't good which just makes it really stand out as CG looking.

If you took the colours off this and gave it a single solid hull colour it would look fine:

Likewise I think the line art minus all that mess also looks good:

[Amped]

Adding the disk makes no sense to me! It makes the design look like a gag... 'OK, first we take the Yaamto... then we gene-splice in the Enterprise... and then... WINGS, it must have WINGS!!! Yesssss...'

Yuck.

[zeus the zentran]

It looks like it might be alright.any info on the story and characters.

[KingNor]

all admit this looks ok, but only because it totally hides the profile of the wings and disc!!!

that other green image looks silly. if they didn't want it to look like an old navy battleship then why... just.. eh nevermind. ew.

[Boxer]

I say the wings look cool, but the saucer could stand to go. Out of all the Yamatos I've seen this one's probably the most outlandish (next to another one...)

I also noticed the wave motion gun doesn't look like it has a barrel. It's just...there. Like they added a texture but no geometry for it. And I assume those are smaller wave motion guns on the wings.

[Radd]

I'm not even bothered too much by the wings, it's mainly the disc and the Christmas Tree light assortment. Heck, the lights all over the place are the worst part, get rid of those and the ship looks decent, if still not nearly as cool as just about any other Matsumoto ship design.

[Chuey]

UN Spacy, I have to agree that it is nice to see Yamato stuff, even if it is not the stuff some of us grew up with. Personally for me, the Yamato will always be fondly remembered as a space batteship. Just as the original valkyries have history with the F-14, the Yamato reminded me of a time when the battleship served a centerpiece for navies.

Change can be good, but the Great Yamato looks like it was mashed together from three different ships. This ship design has a dish that reminds me of Star Trek federation starships, a body reminiscent of the original space battleship Yamato and wings like the Aradia. With the dish, it looks like a plate was thrown into the midsection of the original Yamato.

Great Yamato

Arcadia

Constitution (refit)

Yamato Mechanics

Starship Schematics page

Edited July 7, 2004 by Chuey

[GRAND CANNON]

Thankd for those great links Chuey. I also agree that it is good to see Yamato stuff.

This "newer" version of the Great Yamato looks like a quickly thrown-together that now looks too out-of-place for my tastes.

I mean, what the heck could be the purpose of the disk...fancy passenger suites for high-brow V.I.P.-types.

IMHO, if they stuck with the "older" version of the Great Yamato, there would be much rejoicing.

http://www.shipschematics.net/yamato/image...greatyamato.jpg

Oh, and a quick Amen on losing all of those pesky lights!!

[JValk]

why oh why cant everyone get along? the legal fights in macross and space battleship yamato are just hurting us fans. then we end up with Great Yamato and robotech toy junk.

[mechaninac]

I actually like the look of the battleship Yamato form 2520; it looks like a futuristic evolution of the space battleship concept, even though it may not be everyone's cup of tea. This "new" Yamato, on the other hand, looks like a convolution, a collection of different design elements cobbled together by a team of CGI geeks who thought that putting everything, including the kitchen sink, into the design would make it look cool.

[UN Spacy]

I'm also a fan of Syd Mead's Yamato 2520 design, it's way better than what the what they've doen to the Great Yamato. I like how Mead added sleek lines yet kept the overall profile. I'm suprised more people didn't like the design.

[Sundown]

This "new" Yamato, on the other hand, looks like a convolution, a collection of different design elements cobbled together by a team of CGI geeks who thought that putting everything, including the kitchen sink, into the design would make it look cool.

*Shudder* The new Yamato looks like an amateurish CGI kitbash. Eek.

-Al

[Keith]

Actually, the new yamato looks like a combo of Faust's castle (Adeiu GE:999) the Yamato, and the tail end of the Arcadia. Even so, I'd take it over the Yamato 2520 any day of the week!

[Chuey]

Actually, the new yamato looks like a combo of Faust's castle (Adeiu GE:999) the Yamato, and the tail end of the Arcadia. Even so, I'd take it over the Yamato 2520 any day of the week!

When I originally saw the first two episodes of Yamato 2520, it did not really grow on me. Now seeing the Great Yamato, I much prefer Syd Mead's interpretation of the evolution for the Space Battleship Yamato. You have to remember that Yamato 2520 take place a few hundred years into the future and the anime mechanical design itself is 20 years ahead of its predecesor.

Yamato 2520

[Radd]

I don't mind the 2050 design, I'd probably like it a lot on it's own, but it just does not say "Matsumoto" let alone "Yamato" to me.

If Great Yamato loses the dish and the Christmas lights, I'd take it over 2050 Yamato any day of the week. I can stand the wings, if they're absolutely neccessary to avoid legal entanglements. Minus the wings, basically going with the older Great Yamato idea, and you've got an excellent ship design that is still different from the original.

And for Heaven's sake, please animate it by hand and not use crap CG. Sadly, Matsumoto just does not have any luck with CG. In every Matsumoto production I've seen, the CG stands out like a sore thumb and really detracts from the show.

[Keith]

I don't mind the 2050 design, I'd probably like it a lot on it's own, but it just does not say "Matsumoto" let alone "Yamato" to me.

If Great Yamato loses the dish and the Christmas lights, I'd take it over 2050 Yamato any day of the week. I can stand the wings, if they're absolutely neccessary to avoid legal entanglements. Minus the wings, basically going with the older Great Yamato idea, and you've got an excellent ship design that is still different from the original.

And for Heaven's sake, please animate it by hand and not use crap CG. Sadly, Matsumoto just does not have any luck with CG. In every Matsumoto production I've seen, the CG stands out like a sore thumb and really detracts from the show.

I don't know, the CG 999 in Eternal Fantasy was actually pretty nice. In turn, Endless Odyssey has been awesome.

[UN Spacy]

Since we're on the subject of Matsumoto's works, I'd like to know if anyone else has been following The Galaxy Railways. I saw the first several episodes and was pretty impressed, but let's just say the action was close to nil after series premiere.

I just saw the 19th episode and it was pretty darn funny for a Matsumoto piece. Isn't the series already done? Was there any major action going on?