In the history of Japanese animation, few titles resonate as profoundly as Space Battleship Yamato. First broadcast in 1974, this pioneering series (later broadcast in the USA as Star Blazers) charted a bold course across the universe and into the hearts of fans. With its deep emotional undercurrents, high-stakes drama, and stirring music, Yamato helped define the potential of anime as a serious medium. More than fifty years later, its legacy continues to shape how science fiction is told in Japanese animation and beyond.

For Hideaki Anno, creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Yamato was a revelation. Born in 1960, Anno was a teenager when the series first aired. “Japanese anime began with Space Battleship Yamato,” he recalled in 2024. “I don't think I would be who I am today if I hadn't encountered this epoch-making work at that time.” That encounter launched Anno on a lifelong creative journey, and its echoes can still be felt in the themes, imagery, and ambition of his own work.

Curating a Legacy in the Science Fiction Genre

A Continuing Voyage

In March 2025, Anno curated and produced the Space Battleship Yamato Complete Record Exhibition in Tokyo. The exhibition featured rare production materials from the original series and films. These included animation cels, design sheets, and promotional art, as well as a timeline display chronicling the full scope of the Yamato universe. Anno personally selected and arranged many of the materials. “This exhibition is my way of giving back to the work that gave me so much,” he said.

Beyond the recent Yamato exhibition, Anno is also spearheading a brand-new Yamato theatrical anime film through his own company, Studio Khara. In October 2024, during a 50th anniversary screening event, it was announced that Studio Khara had acquired the rights to produce this new project. The film is set to begin production in 2025 and will chart a fresh course separate from a separate ongoing remake series titled Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199. This marks the first time Anno will directly lead a Yamato narrative, offering a reinterpretation of the universe that inspired him as a youth. “This is my way of expressing gratitude to Yamato,” he said, “by ing it forward in a new form.”

Space Battleship Yamato is a Bold New Kind of Anime

From Ratings Failure to Pop Culture Icon

The original Space Battleship Yamato was conceived by producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki and artist Leiji Matsumoto in the early 1970s. Their goal was ambitious: to create a serious science fiction anime for older viewers, something never attempted on Japanese television before. The plot follows a retrofitted WWII battleship as it flies through space in search of a device that can save Earth from radioactive destruction. The series tackled heavy themes like death, duty, and the cost of war: ideas that were rare in a medium still mostly seen as children’s entertainment.

Despite its innovation, the first Yamato TV series aired in a difficult timeslot and struggled in the ratings. It was cut short at 26 episodes, with little fanfare at the time. However, reruns and word of mouth slowly built an audience. In 1977, Nishizaki released a re-edited theatrical film version, which became a surprise hit in the wake of Star Wars. The film’s success finally turned Yamato into a cultural phenomenon in Japan, spawning sequels, concerts, novels, and a merchandising empire. Its arc from failure to success is often cited as the root of the first major anime boom.

Bridging the East and West

The Inspiration of a Generation

In the 1980s, Yamato was brought to the U.S. under the title Star Blazers. It was one of the first Japanese anime series to be fully dubbed and aired for Western audiences. Though altered for American television, its long-form storytelling and serialized structure made a deep impression on early anime fans (like me). Star Blazers played a key role in introducing Americans to Japanese animation, paving the way for later global successes like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Evangelion itself.

Countless creators in Japan cite Yamato as a turning point in their lives. Hideaki Anno is among the most vocal. In an NHK interview from 2010, he said: “When I watched Yamato, it felt like the world was opening up. I didn’t know animation could do this… could be this emotional.” He later co-founded Studio Gainax, producing innovative anime works that carried Yamato’s spirit forward, such as Gunbuster and eventually Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Space Battleship Yamato Echoes in Evangelion

Archiving Anime’s Golden Age

Anno’s own work on Evangelion bears unmistakable traces of Yamato. The image of a vessel carrying wounded souls through an apocalyptic battle is mirrored in NERV and the Evangelion units. The emotional breakdowns of Yamato’s crew find parallel in Shinji Ikari’s struggles. Even the pacing and orchestral cues in Evangelion episodes often feel indebted to Yamato. Anno has itted: “There would be no Evangelion without Yamato. It taught me that animation could be grand, serious, and beautiful.”

Anno has long advocated for preserving Japan’s entertainment legacy. At a 2023 meeting of the bipartisan Manga, Anime, and Game Parliamentary Association (MANGA), Anno urged lawmakers to create a national museum for anime and Japan’s special effects productions. “If we do not act now, irreplaceable materials and memories will be lost,” he said. His concern stems from experience: many Yamato production assets were nearly discarded before fans intervened. The Yamato Complete Record Exhibition, curated and presented by Anno in 2025, was a rare opportunity to gather and display what remains of that golden age.

Honoring a Lifelong Debt

A Future Yet to Be Written

Anno has described his work on the Yamato exhibition as “an expression of gratitude, respect, and repayment.” He explained, “I hope that as many people as possible will see, know, , and share the excitement of Yamato in their hearts with the world at large.” For him, Yamato is not just a piece of animation history. It is a guiding star. His efforts to preserve and promote it reflect a desire to ensure that future artists and fans can continue to draw inspiration from its journey.

With Anno now serving as one of anime’s elder statesmen, his stewardship of Yamato feels both natural and necessary. Whether he will one day direct a full-length Yamato saga or continue to others behind the scenes remains to be seen. But his commitment to the franchise’s legacy is already secure. As Yamato: Rebel 3199 continues its run and the new Studio Khara project enters production, one thing is clear. The epic voyage of Space Battleship Yamato is not over. Through Anno, its journey continues across time, space, and generations.