Star Blazers Quick Episode Guide

Star Blazers - Episode List

Season 1

1-01. The Battle at Pluto
1-02. Carrier Attacks the Sleeping Yamato
1-03. Ultra-Menace Missile
1-04. Test Warp to Mars
1-05. Jupiter's Floating Continent
1-06. Paladin
1-07. The Reflex Gun, part I
1-08. The Reflex Gun, part II
1-09. The Asteroid Ring
1-10. "We will Return"
1-11. Desslok Mines?
1-12. The Sea of Fire
1-13. The Gamilon Pilot
1-14. Octopus Star Storm
1-15. Galactic Whirlpool
1-16. Stop at Beeland
1-17. Balanosaurus
1-18. Magnetron Wave
1-19. Communication Satellite
1-20. The Artificial Sun
1-21. Challenge of the Rainbow Galaxy
1-22. The Battle of the Rainbow Galaxy
1-23. Dragged to Gamilon
1-24. The Battle of Gamilon
1-25. Iscandar
1-26. The Journey Home

Season 2

2-01. Ambush at Jupiter
2-02. Blackout
2-03. Underground City
2-04. Battle Satellite
2-05. Crossing the Andromeda
2-06. At Planet Brumas
2-07. Sub-space Submarines
2-08. Time Trap
2-09. Mazor
2-10. Asteroid Ring Defense Revisited
2-11. Starflies
2-12. The Tunnel Satellite
2-13. The Conspirators Meet
2-14. Second Day at Telezart
2-15. Third Day at Telezart
2-16. Leaving Telezart
2-17. A Show of Force
2-18. Desslok's Escape
2-19. Memorial
2-20. The Carrier Fleet Battle
2-21. The Main Fleet Battle
2-22. Stop-over at Ganymede
2-23. Desslok's Victory
2-24. Desslok's Turning
2-25. The Final Battle
2-26. Argo, Make Us Proud!

Season 3

3-01. Solar System Faces Destruction
3-02. Great Battle in the Silver Stream (Milky Way)
3-03. Star Force Embarks at Dawn
3-04. Shoot for Planet Mars
3-05. S O S Legendra!
3-06. Great Battle Near Planet Brumas
3-07. The Rough Seas of Alpha Centauri
3-08. The Last Pioneer
3-09. Battle at Barnard's Star
3-10. Dagon's New Fleet Counter-attacks
3-11. Star Force Faces Danger at Cygnus
3-12. Stellar Prison Camp
3-13. Dreadful Bolar Federation
3-14. Subspace Submarine Captain: Galman Wolf
3-15. Star Force becomes a Prisoner
3-16. Festive Day for Desslok
3-17. Desslok's Empire in the Moment of Crisis
3-18. The Angry Sun
3-19. On the Way to Planet Phantom
3-20. Planet Phantom
3-21. Lost Hope
3-22. Farewell Planet Phantom
3-23. Battle at the Scalageck Star Cluster
3-24. The Secret of Planet Guardiana
3-25. Star Force, Shoot that Sun!

***

from http://www.desslok.com/

Frequently Asked Qs & As
Q:

I loved Star Blazers when I watched it as a kid. Wasn't Star Blazers originally a Japanese show?

Yes. The Japanese title is Uchuu Senkan Yamato which translates into English as "Space Battleship Yamato", though the Japanese themselves wrote it in English as "Space Cruiser Yamato". TV Season 1 aired in Japan in 1976. Seasons 1 and 2 were brought over to America and other markets as "Star Blazers" in 1979/80. TV Season 3 was brought over by a different dubbing company around 1984/85. Because of the time delay and other issues, it was only aired in a few regions of the U.S. .

Is Star Blazers available now on video cassette? Where can I buy Star Blazers?

Initially, a company called Kidmark bought the rights to distribute TV Season's 1, 2, and 3 to the American market on video. Soon, another company, Voyager Entertainment, bought the rights and is the current distributor. Voyager is apparently owned by Nishizaki's Westcape Corporation, the original Japanese producer of the Yamato saga.

Voyager has also reseased an English version of Yamato Movie #2 (Arrivederci Yamato) using the Star Blazers character names (although not without some error). The voices are all different from those in any of the TV Seasons, and the movie has had about 20 minutes of footage cut to bring it under 2 hours. As a result, some sub-plots have disappeared. Even though the English names are used, the ship is referred to as the "Yamato" (with one careless exception when Desslok slips and calls it the "Argo").

All Voyager releases are available either immediately or through back order at most big chain video stores. (Suncoast Video/Sam Goody, found in most malls, has them in their Japanese Animation section, or orderable through their Ingram Microfiche Catalogue).

The original Japanese versions of the Yamato movies are now available from various Anime dealers and also from Suncoast.

See the Yamato Dealers section for more details.

Who did the voices for the first two TV seasons of Star Blazers?

Talented, regular actors needing the work. This is why the characterisations are so GOOD, and is what really sets Star Blazers apart from other animation. They were not your run-of-the-mill 1970s anime voice actors. But, it was not union work, and so to cut costs, they agreed not to be listed in the credits. Because of this, no one knows (or is telling) who they were. This is one reason why the 3rd Season, dubbed much later, had to use different voice actors -- many of the same ones who did Speed Racer (which is why 3rd Season delivery is so annoying to fans).

The voice actress for Nova, Amy Howard, has been found (because she actually found this Web Page and dropped me a line). Also, the actor for Gamilon General, Volgar, has been found (Michael Chechopolous). A few of the other characters are now known be name (Tom Tweedy did Venture, Lydia Leeds did Starsha, and Eddie Allen did Desslok), but have not been located or contacted.

By the way, the guy who plays Garrick, the Cardassian on Deep Space Nine, seems to match Leader Desslok's voice very well, and would make a good sound-alike if Voyager Entertainment should ever decide to make new dubs and Mr Haynes could not be located.

What kind of printed material is available?

Lots in Japan. See the YAMATO BOOKS section of this web page.

What are the names (Japanese and English) of the characters?

See the CHARACTER LIST section of this document.

The music of the show was so good. Are there soundtracks for Star Blazers available?

Yes! See the Yamato Sountracks and Lyrics sections of this document.

How does the movie "Arrivederci Yamato"/"Farewell Yamato" fit in with the TV Series?

It doesn't, really. This movie, about the Comet Empire, is an alternative story that takes place after TV Season 1, and ends the Yamato saga. It was later replaced entirely by TV Season 2 (which was based on the movie), which differs primarily in that the Yamato does not get destroyed in the end. The later movies and TV series follow after the TV Season 2.

from joyner@cattell.psych.upenn.edu (Russell Joyner)
I noticed during the movie (Space Cruiser Yamato) that some scenes were 1) either not explained and 2) not shown from the Star Blazers series.

Yep. That movie was simply made from compressed footage from the First TV Season. They cut out a lot of scenes, and, they didn't do a good job at editing out all of the contradicting loose ends that process created... such as the Nova-Arm-Sling scene.

I guess I should also include Arrevedercci Yamato (the 2nd Yamato movie) which had scenes that were and were not in the 2nd Star Blazers series. (The Comet Empire) Did this series ever air on TV in Japan? Or were these series specially made for distribution here in the US?

On the other hand, TV Season 2 was based on Arrivederci Yamato, after Nishizaki realised the great success of the story and the market potential for an on-going story. TV Season 2 uses the same basic storyline, but only some of Arrivederci's footage. They altered the ending so that not as many of the crewmen died, and the Argo did not have to get blown up.

...But they were all brought back in Yamato - The New Voyage. Did the creators of Yamato have a change of heart and decide to continue the Yamato series?

Yeah, that's basically what happened. TV Season 2 was made to REPLACE the movie, Arrivederci Yamato.

Interestingly, this kind of thing happened with TV Season 2 also... to some degree. After killing Conroy off, they decided the character was too interesting, and brought back his near-twin brother in Be Forever Yamato (meaning that Yamato was without either Conroy during New Journey). Nevertheless, TV Season 2 was not replaced, as was Arrivederci. It is part of the canonic storyline.

Where does the 3rd Star Blazers series (The Bolar Wars... ugh) take place? Did it take place after The New Voyage or after Be Forever Yamato? Which movie is it supposed to be based from? Or was just a TV series?

It takes place after BeForever Yamato, and is just a TV series. It's not based on a movie. It takes place in 2205, rather than the "2203" that the video tape boxes say.

See the Timelines section for a detailed breakdown of the canonical storyline dates.

Why did the Gamilon's start out the colour of humans in the first season, and then change to have blue skin?

There is no formal, storyline explanation. The writers decided, about 1/3 of the way into TV Season 1, that the Gamilon's would look better blue. They made the change sudden, with the exception that at the beginning of Episode #11 of TV Season 1, Desslok changes colour as he enters the hall leading to the tactical room. By the time they can chant "Desslok, Desslok, Desslok" five times, he has faded from mauve to blue.

Gravity! What about gravity? And why do Yamato ships all resemble sea-going craft?

There is no denying the fact that Yamato ships were designed based on a nautical theme. Fighters which do most of their flying outside an atmosphere, have wings. The Yamato itself has airfoils. Gravity seems to act the way it would if the ship were always flying level to the surface of a planet. None of this is very realistic. We just accept it as a matter of style.

Didn't AstroFighter pilot Conroy die in the Japanese version of Season II as well as the movie, Arrivederci Yamato?

Yes. But, the American version covered up his death. Later, in Season III, when we see what is really Conroy's /brother/, the American version simply let's us assume he is Conroy (since they look identical). We might wonder why the Japanese producers brought in a brother who looks just like the dead Conroy. My guess is that they regretted killing the original Conroy off, and wanted the character back.

Didn't Desslok really shoot General Krypt when he began questioning Gamilon's war against the Star Force?

Yes, but the American version covered this up.

Why way Gamilon General Talan's name changed to "Sargeant Masterson" in the American version of Season 3?

Sloppy character research. TV Season 3 was translated and dubbed by a different company than the first two seasons. The people who did it did not notice that Talan and Masterson were the same character. Some of the recent Argo Press comic have attempted to accomodate this mistake by introducing "Masterson" as contrived family name for Talan.

The American version of TV Season 3 tells us that Desslok and the Star Force fought the Comet Empire together. I've heard this never happened.

Because American TV audiences had mostly never seen either the TV Film "Yamato, New Journey" or "Be Forever Yamato," both of which occur between TV Seasons 2 and 3, those audiences could not know about Desslok's and the Star Force's cooperative battles against the Black Nebula Empire. So, when any references were made to this war in the Japanese TV Season 3, the American translators simply called the Black Nebula Empire the Comet Empire. While this invariably irritates long-time Yamato fans, it does have one advantage. There is the general feeling that the Comet Empire should not have been so limited to the White Comet itself, that this empire should more reasonably have spanned many star systems. So, it seemed too easy that the Empire should be defeated merely by destroying the White Comet itself. The Black Nebula "cover-up" serves the purpose of allowing the Comet Empire to be a for realistic empire, one that took a while to defeat.

What happened in the Japanese TV Film, "Yamato, New Journey"?

See synopses for "Yamato, New Journey" and "Be Forever Yamato".

Why did the Star Force never re-use the reflector force field technology they invented at the end of TV Season #1?

No one knows. It would tend to make for the same-old-same-old Star Trek-style battles if they did use it. Instead, the Yamato uses the better solution of re-directing all enemy fire to its useless Third Bridge! (I'm trying not to laugh)

Why isn't Star Blazers on TV today?! Doesn't it seem an ideal thing to show on the cable stations like TV Land or the Cartoon Network?!

Yes, it would be an ideal product for those networks. But, I am told by fans that the current rightsholders to Star Blazers are asking too much for Star Blazers. This may or may not be the case. One would have to ask the rightsholder directly for a clear answer. If anyone has any information on this subject, please let me know at "k o s h @ p r i m e n e t . c o m" (without the spaces, of course).

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