Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage

In the world of animation, one of the best things that can happen to a well established television series is having the opportunity to make a film in order to continue the story-line that an animation studio worked so hard to tell the best story they could. Usually with films, you have a much bigger budget and more resources in order to put the best piece of animation you can out there for an audience that an animation studio has worked so hard to please. You think this would be an easy recipe for success but despite more resources and a possibly bigger budget, thebiggest fault that can often come out of taking a well established property is you have to try to tell the best story you can in a 90 minute time frame which can often be hard especially when you have two seasons of a well established show to build from. Can you truly make a great film based on a really great story that took two full seasons to earn it's legacy? The harsh answer is - kind of. This is sadly the case when it comes to Space Battleship Yamato: The Second Voyage. The second voyage is technically the third part of the Space Battleship Yamato story-line, but it's also the third movie with regards to Space Battleship Yamato because the first two Space Battleship Yamato films were condensed versions of the the first two tv seasons of the Space Battleship Yamato story-line. For me personally, this is my first entry into the world of Space Battleship Yamato but I often want to look at films on their own individual merits instead of trying to compare it to what was already established in the world of Space Battleship Yamato. There is quite a few good things to take out of this film but the biggest problem with this film is that it has it's share of pacing problems and it does take a really long time to get to the action especially when your expecting this gigantic space opera just from the cover art alone. The film focuses on the character of Kodai as he and the rest of the Yamato crew take on a brand new set of fresh recruits onto the Space Battleship Yamato while they race to save their friends Queen Starsha and Mamarou from having the planet of Iscandar strip mined by the Dark Nebula Empire so they can have the resources needed to order to contribute to their war efforts. They also lend assistance to Desler and the remnants of the Gamilas Empire as they try to fight them off the best they can until the Space Battleship Yamato arrives on the scene. For a film that showcases the Space Battleship Yamato, you barely get to the see the huge battleship in action. However, when it does get into the middle of the action it leads to some of the best action set pieces that the film has to offer. I just personally wish we could of seen more of the Yamato in action, The film does start off incredibly boring for the first half of the film. The space battleship is back on Earth for repairs especially for what that ship had to endure in the last epic battle it had to be a part of. They're low on crew members and they have to bring in a new set of cadets to assist with the running of the space battleship and there are plenty of scenes where we get to see their inexperience on a space battleship first hand as they struggle to run the battleship correctly and even use the weapons on the ship incorrectly. Unfortunately when you have a story that is condensed into a 90 minute time-frame you don't get to spend a lot of time learning about the new crew since the focus and rightfully so are focused on the well established characters of the Space Battleship Yamato story-line. There is a nice little memorial moment dedicated to the deceased members of the original Yamato crew during the beginning of the film. For a film you can't really expect a lot of character development especially for characters that are already established in the Space Battleship Yamato story-line. They do a good job of adding a little more development to the existing characters and we do get the conclusion of one character's story in the world of Space Battleship Yamato. In the realm of science fiction you really have to suspend your sense of belief to get engaged in the film's story especially when it comes to dealing with a runaway planet that can hit warp speed with no sense of explanation. It's an unbelievable plot device, but a plot device all the same in order to keep the plot moving. One thing I do appreciate when it does come to the space battles is there is some great care put into realistic tactics when the space battles do begin. It's not as simple as showing up and blasting everything in site. You have to make sure the enemies are in range when firing the cannons, if your cannons don't work and the enemies ship is shielded then there is nothing wrong with trying to ram it, and even trying to find a way to attack the enemy while the enemy is using the planet as a shield to stop the good guys from firing their most powerful weapon. The good guys and bad guys have their share of casualties, more so for the bad guys and rightly so. Even Desler and the remnants of the Gamilas empire lose a lot of their ships while waiting for the Yamato to arrive. I do appreciate for as powerful as the Space Battleship Yamato is, it's not invincible and it does suffer it's share of the battle damage in the concluding space battle. Another problem throughout the entire film is the inconsistent animation. When the film wants to look gorgeous for 1979, it absolutely looks gorgeous but there are several scenes of the film where you see a huge drop in animation quality. The best animation quality is definitely in the space battles and the long wide shots that show a lot of landscape or the high intensity space battles but it's usually during character interactions where you can often see the biggest drop in animation quality. The art as expected is absolutely beautiful as it would be expected when Leiji Matsumoto's character designs are involved. I still stand by the fact that he does some of the best and original designs of female characters in the world of anime to the point that it often feels like a new age renaissance of the female body as an art form. The music also suffers some of the same fate. The movie does have a beautiful musical score but it's very inconsistent. When the musical score is utilized it is always a treat to listen to, but there are scenes throughout the animated film where little to no music is even used especially when it comes to some of the action in the film. You also expect in certain scenes that your going to hear this excellent musical score and you get sadly disappointed when there isn't any music to be heard of throughout the film. At least on the bright side, when the musical score is utilized in the film it's absolutely wonderful to listen and for the scenes it is used for absolutely matches the aura of the scene that it's trying to elevate. The film is a serviceable attempt at continuing the overall story-line of Space Battleship Yamato, but a very boring first half and the inconsistencies with regards to animation quality and the lack of a musical score in certain scenes really hold this film back from being anything memorable. Once the space battle is over it does have a very touching and somber ending that will hit you in the feels and I think one thing that we can take from the world of Space Battleship Yamato is regardless if they're putting their best work forward or a lackluster attempt forward - they will always find a way for the viewer to take a somewhat positive experience out of what is being presented to you.