Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 28, 2012 in Anime, Fandom
Recently a friend dropped an interest factoid onto my Facebook page: Thirty years ago today on August 28th, 1982 as part of the Creation Summer Expo*NY comic book con there was a mini-convention held inside which was called the Star Blazers Mini Con. Up until that point there were gatherings of anime fans in New York City thanks to the local chapter of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, but this was the first time that anime fandom found a place inside of a larger convention. My memory is fuzzy but the event lasted two full days, had about 100 people hanging around at any time and featured a mix of videotapes being played along with panel discussions. Read more…
It’s been tough times for Netflix. Between the whole Qwikster debacle, price changes, and inability to renew their contract with Starz, many subscribers have decided to move on to greener pastures. Those who’ve stayed are banking on Netflix to provide fresh content despite the recent setbacks. Fortunately for us, they’re trying.
As a retro anime fanboy my heart warmed up when I came across the table of Tara Tallan at the New York Comic Con — her webcomic Galaxion is very inspired by Star Blazers which happens to be one of my favorite shows in the universe. Unlike most science fiction stories this manga isn’t dark and gritty, if you love indie comics you can show Tara your support by buying the first two volumes of the series: Read more…
If you want a blast from the past, the official Star Blazers website has posted scans of the original Star Blazers fanzine from the early 80’s. Over 30 years ago, our Fanboy.com founder Michael Pinto started the fanzine in an attempt to see the series renewed after networks had dropped the show in New York. With the series returning to television later this month, these newsletters give us an opportunity to see the passion that fuled Star Blazers’ fandom. It’s a shame that they’ve had to wait three decades, but for those of us who were late to that party, we’ll be able to catch the series the second time around when it airs on SyFy starting April 21st.
Could we be seeing a Hollywood-produced Star Blazers live-action film in foreseeable future? Well, it’s not 100% official just yet. Skydance Productions are reportedly in the process of negotiating the license for the series. If some of you recall, Japan recently produced a live-action adaptation of their own that performed pretty well, so I imagine there’s probably some pressure to make sure the Hollywood adaptation will at least hold a candle to that. It probably won’t be a problem, seeing as they plan on hiring Christopher McQuarrie to write the script — he’s also working on the upcoming Wolverine “sequel.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 31, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
This amazing footage is a must watch if your grew up with Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) — it’s from a Japanese TV show which shows cast members breakdancing to the opening theme music while dressed in the appropriate costume. Found via Patrick Macias…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2011 in Animation
While doing a Google image search for Space Battleship Yamato I came across this very funny Japanese meme image of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin colored blue to look like Leader Desslok. It made the Star Blazers fanboy in me smile…Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2010 in Animation
Asahi.com has reported that Yoshinobu Nishizaki has passed away. Nishizaki was the producer of Space Cruiser Yamato which was known as Star Blazers in the United States — a franchise that played a pivotal role in the history of anime. What’s very sad about this was that after years of legal troubles a live action version of the cherished retro anime series is getting a great deal of positive feedback from those who have seen the first sneak previews of the film. Had he lived the triumph of that film would have been a great personal victory to Nishizaki. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 25, 2010 in Animation
This wonderful late 70s Japanese commercial features a Space Battleship Yamato bicycle — a show which was known to early day anime fans as Star Blazers. What I love about this bike is that it seems to have included a faux wave motion gun and came with its own uniform too: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 10, 2010 in Animation
A good friend just gave this poster to me and I have to say that just seeing it made my inner child scream for sheer joy! Also fans of Star Blazers should take note: Amy Howard Wilson (the voice of Nova) has announced that at the ICON science fiction convention this year that Eddie Allen (the voice of Leader Desslok), Ken Meseroll (the voice of Derek Wildstar) and Tom Tweedy (the voice of Mark Venture) will be in attendance! The convention takes place March 26-28th in Stoney Brook, New York.
The good news: Hollywood won’t ruin this film! The bad news: There isn’t a very strong tradition in Japan for making live action science fiction films. Mind you I’m not saying that this can’t be done, but the odds are against you. So given that I’ve got to say as an ancient Star Blazers fans that this trailer has me much more excited than the animated film that came out this year, which to be fair got better review than I expected. Here’s a screen-by-screen breakdown of my thoughts: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 6, 2009 in Animation
If you grew up loving Star Blazers the good news is that the website for the live action Space Battleship Yamato film is now live! The bad news? There’s very little detail on this film on the website at all. There’s a listing of the crew which stars Takuya Kimura, a launch date of December 2010 and a tiny visual of the Yamato stuck in the mud: Read more…
As a Star Blazers fanboy at heart I have to admit that I feel slighted by the slew of high quality Gundam merchandise I’ve been seeing hitting the streets of Japan. Well as if to answer my prayers I just spotted this amazing new replica of Leader Desslok’s wine goblet that just came out: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 6, 2009 in Animation
I have to say that I’m slightly disappointed with this trailer. This film was the result of a lawsuit that allowed producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki to make a new Yamato film. And frankly there’s nothing wrong with that, but a key ingredient that’s missing here is Leiji Matsumoto who directed the first film and gave really gave the franchise its soul. When that soul is missing you get the above trailer: A slow moving collection of pretty spaceships sporting a tired CGI look (and frankly that Blue Noah reference at the start is just adding insult to injury): Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 6, 2009 in Animation
This fan made video is brilliant — someone edited together every single scene from Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato) which features Leader Desslok firing the famed but ever so flawed Desslok Gun which is a cannon mounted on his flagship. Needless to say if he ever destroyed the Yamato with his gun the series would have been slightly on the short side. One things that’s interesting for me to note is that I like the American voice actor (Eddie Allen) for Desslok much better than the Japanese actor. By giving him a Boris Karloff he seemed much more original, interesting and somewhat twisted: Read more…
When I first came across this commercial my first thoughts were “this has got to be an upcoming CGI Star Blazers movie that I’ve been waiting for my entire life!” But then I noticed at the end of the advert that there seemed to be some sort of box — I figured then that it had to be some sort of amazing videogame:
Well after a minuter or two of googling the subject it turns out that this amazing animation is for a new Space Battleship Yamato Pachinko machine! By you’ve got to check out the website — it’s all in Japanese but the interface with make any old school Star Blazers fan weep with joy: Read more…
