Star Blazers is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime television series . Star Blazers was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. It was the first popular English-translated anime that had an overarching plot and storyline that required the episodes to be viewed in order, which paved the way for future arc-based, plot-driven anime translations. It also dealt with somewhat more mature themes than other productions aimed at the same target audience at the time.
Plot Star Blazers consists of three television seasons. Each is an English-language adaptation of its Japanese counterpart Space Battleship Yamato. However, the Japanese saga entails more than just these three television seasons, and part of this missing portion of the saga occurs between Seasons Two and Three, in the movies Yamato: The New Voyage and Be Forever Yamato.
In the first season, Earth is attacked by Gamilon, a distant planet. The radiation from Gamilon's planet bombs forces everyone on Earth underground. With no way to remove the radiation, all life on Earth will be wiped out in one year. The Earth then receives unexpected help from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar, who offers a device called "Cosmo DNA" which will remove the radiation. However, since Iscandar is 148,000 light years away, Starsha also sends plans for the experimental Wave Motion Engine that, when constructed, will help whoever can travel to Iscandar by letting them travel at 27,569,736,000 miles per second (about 150,000 times the speed of light, permitting the journey to be made in one year). On Earth, a crew is recruited, headed by Captain Avatar, and an old sunken battleship (the World War II–era Japanese battleship Yamato) is transformed into a spaceship—renamed the Argo—outfitted with the Wave Motion Engine, and sent to Iscandar.
The second season takes place one year after the Argo returns to Earth with the Cosmo DNA and Earth's ecosystem is restored. It now faces a new, dangerous enemy, the Comet Empire, led by Prince Zordar. Unlike Gamilon, which was seeking to capture and colonize Earth, Zordar simply wants to conquer and annex Earth to his Empire. Desslok, the Gamilon leader, also joins forces with Zordar, mainly because he wants revenge on the Argo for having destroyed Gamilon. The series revolves around the Argo, now commanded by Deputy Captain Derek Wildstar, working with the Earth Defense Force to face Zordar.
In the third season, the Argo is caught in the middle of a war between the Galmans (the reformed Gamilon Empire) and the Bolar Federation. A stray missile fired during the war causes the sun's thermonuclear reactions to go out of control. Unless it can be stopped, the sun will destroy the Earth in one year and the entire solar system in three. Now officially in command of the Argo, Derek Wildstar is charged to help find a new home for Earth's population.
Episodes
Characters First and second seasons Major characters appearing in Seasons One and Two are listed below by their canonical (Westchester) names: Character Performer Position Origin Captain Avatar Gordon Ramsey Captain of the Argo and Star Force Commander Earth Derek Wildstar Kenneth Meseroll Deputy Captain, Argo (season 1); Acting Captain and Star Force Commander (season 2) Earth Mark Venture Tom Tweedy Chief Navigator, Argo Earth Nova Forrester Amy Howard Wilson Radar Operator, Nurse, Argo Earth Sandor Unknown Science Officer, Argo Earth Homer Michael Bertolini Communications Chief, Argo Earth Eager Patrick W. Lohn Assistant Navigator, Argo Earth Dash Eddie Allen Artillery Unit, Argo Earth Orion Gordon Ramsey Chief Engineer, Argo Earth Conroy Unknown Black Tiger Leader Earth Hardy Unknown Black Tiger Pilot Earth Dr. Sane Frank Pita Doctor, Argo Earth IQ-9 Stephen James Pastor Survey Robot, Argo Earth Sgt. Knox Chris Latta Space Marine Leader, Brumus Earth Captain Gideon Unknown Captain of Andromeda Earth Commander Singleton Unknown Commander, Earth Defense Force Earth Stone Michael Bertolini General, EDF Earth Miss Efficiency Unknown Medical Robot, EDF Earth Alex Wildstar Unknown Brother of Derek, EDF Earth Queen Starsha Lydia Leeds Ruler of Iscandar Iscandar Astra No vocals Sister of Starsha Iscandar Leader Desslok Eddie Allen Gamilon Leader Gamilon General Krypt Unknown Adjutant to Desslok Gamilon General Talan Unknown Adjutant to Desslok Gamilon General Lysis Unknown Commander of Balan Base Gamilon Volgar Mike Czechopoulos Adjutant to Lysis Gamilon Colonel Ganz Unknown Commander of Pluto Base Gamilon Major Bane Unknown Adjutant to Ganz Gamilon Prince Zordar Unknown Ruler of Comet Empire Comet Empire Princess Invidia Morgan Lofting Daughter of Zordar Comet Empire General Dire Chris Latta Imperial Command Staff Comet Empire General Gorse Frank Pita Imperial Command Staff Comet Empire General Turpis Unknown Combined Fleet Commander (script writers mistakenly turned Valsey into two characters) Comet EmpireGeneral BleekChris LattaCombined Fleet Commander (script writers mistakenly turned Valsey into two characters)Comet Empire General Torback Unknown Antimatter Missile Fleet Commander Comet Empire General Naska Unknown Advance Attack Unit Commander Comet Empire General Scorch Unknown Tank Battalion Commander Comet Empire Morta Unknown Advisor to Desslok Comet Empire Mazor Unknown Bomber Pilot Comet Empire Trelaina Lydia Leeds Sole survivor on Telezart Telezart
Third season Major characters appearing in Season Three are as follows: Character Performer Position Origin Derek Wildstar John Belucci Captain, Argo Earth Mark Venture Peter Fernandez Chief Navigator, Argo Earth Nova Forrester Corinne Orr Radar Operator, Argo Earth Sandor Unknown Science Officer, Argo Earth Homer Glitchman Unknown Communications Chief, Argo Earth Eager Unknown Assistant Navigator, Argo Earth Lt. Dash Unknown Artillery Unit, Argo Earth Orion Unknown New Chief Engineer, Argo Earth Cory Conroy Unknown Black Tiger Leader Earth Dr. Sane Unknown Doctor, Argo Earth IQ-9 Unknown Survey Robot, Argo Earth Jason Jetter Lionel WilsonWilson, Lionel (2018). ″and also in the cast . . . ″ : The Saga of a Supporting Player. p. 253. . Recruit Dish-Washer, Argo Earth Flash Contrail Unknown Recruit Pilot, Argo Earth Commander Unknown Commander, Earth Defense Force Earth Leader Desslok Unknown Galman Emperor Galman Sgt. Masterson (Talan) Unknown Adjutant to Desslok Galman Admiral Keeling Unknown Head of Staff Galman Admiral Smeerdom Unknown Commander of Eastern Task Force Galman Admiral Smellen Unknown Commander of Western Task Force Galman Admiral Gustaf Jack Grimes Commander of 3rd Local Fleet Galman General Dagon Unknown Commander of Carrier Fleet Galman Luchner von Feral Unknown Subspace Submarine Pack Commander Galman Major Cranshaw Unknown Technology Major Galman Bemlayze Unknown Bolar Prime Minister Bolar Federation Golsakof Unknown Adjutant to Bemlayze Bolar Federation Brozof Unknown Governor of Planet Berth Bolar Federation Ram Unknown Captain of Legendra Bolar Federation Queen Mariposa Corinne Orr Exiled Ruler of Guardiana Guardiana Queen Guardiana Unknown Goddess of Guardiana Guardiana
Production and release In 1977, before the debut of the American Star Blazers series, the Japanese anime film Space Battleship Yamato (or Space Cruiser Yamato as it was known at the time) was dubbed into English and retitled Space Cruiser. This film was sold and released in several countries, including the United States, Britain and France. The American release was extremely limited, and eventually ended up airing on television in the Los Angeles area in 1978.
Following this, the Westchester Corporation identified the first Space Battleship Yamato anime series from 1974 as a potential "kids' property" and bought the rights to the first two seasons (season three had not been made yet). Dubbing and editing were done by Griffin-Bacal Advertising and production and syndication was handled by Claster Television. The Japanese language elements such as series title and scene captions were replaced or removed. New opening credit rolls were created featuring the "Star Blazers" logo. The series premiered in the San Francisco Bay Area on September 17, 1979, as part of the weekday show Captain Cosmic on KTVU 2. Star Blazers initial broadcasts received high ratings, and subsequent rebroadcasts contributed to the development of anime fandom in northern California.
Being marketed to a school-age audience, this animated space opera was bowdlerized by American editors in order to satisfy the broadcast standards and practices offices of American television stations. However, far fewer edits were made than were made to the episodes of another 1970s anime series, Battle of the Planets (an edited version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman). Even in its edited American form Star Blazers retains practically all of its uniquely Japanese characteristics in terms of content, plot, character development, and philosophy.
Principal changes in the transformation to Star Blazers included westernization of character names, reduction of personal violence, toning down of offensive language and alcohol use (references to sake were changed to "spring water", and the Doctor's perpetually drunken state was portrayed as merely good humor), removal of sexual fan service, and reduction of references to World War II (though the sunken battleship ruins were still identified as the battleship Yamato in dialogue). The most significant reference removed—and the longest single edit in the series—was a section from episode two depicting the Battleship Yamatos final battle during World War II, including imagery of the captain tied to the helm as he went down with his ship.
Many fans regard Star Blazers as more "adult" than other cartoons shown in the United States at the time, as personal tragedy, funeral scenes for fallen comrades, and the extinction faced by humanity were left intact. The very Japanese theme of "the honorable enemy" was also a tremendously important aspect of character development; in particular, the major villain of the first series, Desslok, during the second and third seasons, as well as in the later movies.
The most significant change made by Griffin-Bacal was purely narrative: In the original series, the Yamato and its crew were regarded as a single entity, the narrator each week urging "Yamato, hurry to Iscandar!". In English, the significance of the name Yamato as a word the viewers would identify with, signifying the land, people, and spirit of Japan, is lost, so in Star Blazers the crew were named the Star Force and became the focus of the series. The ship is still the historical Yamato and it is referred to as such in early episodes (although the ship's backstory is edited out), but it is renamed the Argo (after the ship Argo of Jason and the Argonauts); the crew keep calling "it" (not "her") Star Force and the ship becomes merely the vessel in which they travel.
The first two seasons (The Quest for Iscandar and The Comet Empire) were broadcast in 1979 and 1980. By the time the third season of Yamato was released, the American production company could not reach the original voice actors. The third season (released as The Bolar Wars) played to a small test market and was not as widely seen until its release on video and DVD. It remains less popular than the first two seasons. Many of the original English voice actors have since been tracked down and interviewed for the more recent Star Blazers DVD releases.
The American dub version of Star Blazers series one and two aired in 1983 in Australia on the ABC National Television network. The series aired Monday through Friday at 5pm."Geek Out Central," Dean Mayes. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
Reception Christopher John reviewed Starblazers in Ares Magazine #8 and commented that "Starblazers is well worth more than one viewing, even if it is run at 6:30 in the morning. It may be the only chance you'll have to see a beautiful and exciting work of art."
Remake