Classic Sci Fi TV: Our ongoing look back at many of the classics of science fiction and fantasy television.
What Is It? Earth is attacked by the Gamilon Empire and the planet bombs used by the aliens force the survivors to move underground due to the radiation. But that is just a temporary solution as the radiation will eventually eradicate all life on Earth. Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar contacts the remaining humans and informs them that she possesses “Cosmo DNA” which can clear the radiation. A sunken battleship from past wars is repurposed into a space cruiser and named the Argo and it sets off on a perilous journey to Iscandar with the Gamilons trying to stop them from reaching their destination. Subsequent seasons dealt with the Argo taking on other alien threats to Earth.
Aired: Syndication, 1979-84, 3 Seasons Totaling 77 Episodes
Starring: Kenneth Meseroll, Eddie Allen, Amy Howard Wilson, Mike Czechopoulos, Jack Grimes
Created By: Leiji Matsumoto
Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi TV? Yes. This early Anime space opera is definitely worth a look as a genre entry that delivered a grand tale of cosmic struggle and the impacts it had on the people involved.
The Skinny Star Blazers is the English-language adaptation of Leiji Matsumoto’s classic 1974 Anime Space Battleship Yamato and it was one of the early attempts to bring a Japanese Anime series to an American audience. But unlike shows such as Battle of the Planets (which adapted Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) and Voltron (which adapted Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV), it provided a more faithful translation of its source material. The characters’ names were Westernized, the significance of the original battleship was played down (the Yamato was a sunken WWII Japanese ship), and some of the violence was edited out (and all that “fresh water” they were drinking was actually sake). But the series still delivered the tale of a cosmic war and addressed the consequences of the conflict (including characters dying) and the feelings of those involved. This was not just a kiddie action-adventure show that wrapped up each episode with a nice moral. It had a serialized story arc, and well-developed characters (for an animated series) that had to deal with the impacts of the war they were caught up in.
The show could get somewhat repetitive at times with most episodes presenting the weekly attempt by the ineffectual Gamilons or villain of the week to stop the Argo (which got blown up more times than Voyager, only to be in perfect condition the next episode). And the science could definitely be sketchy at times. Later seasons repeated the same formula with the Argo facing off against other enemies that threatened Earth, but overall Star Blazers delivered a good cosmic saga with broad appeal and which delivered a more intense and challenging story than your average afternoon fare aimed at younger audiences. The original series, Space Battleship Yamato, is considered an Anime classic and Star Blazers was quite faithful to the source material, successfully introducing many people in the States to the true potential of Anime. Robotech would be the next significant Anime entry in the U.S. market (more on that one at this link) which would then spur an explosion of interest in the genre.
Cancelled Too Soon? No. All three seasons of the original show were adapted and included in the syndication package with the third season added in 1984. The show proved very popular on the West coast when it was first released, though I believe that its availability across the nation was rather spotty. And it unfortunately did not have a long life in syndication like other animated shows such as Voltron and Transformers, so memory of the Americanized version has mostly faded.
Revival: Space Battleship Yamato has had multiple continuations and reboots, including a live-action film (more on those at this link), and several of those (including an animated reboot of the first season) have been dubbed into English and sport the Star Blazers title. So you have the option of watching those in the original Japanese or the dubbed versions.
Interesting Fact: Space Battleship Yamato was actually cancelled in Japan after its first season in 1974 due to low ratings. But it was revived in 1978 after the popularity of Star Star Wars spurred interest in sci fi which led to the second and third season.
Where Can You Watch It? The entire Star Blazers series has been released on DVD, though it is a bit pricey. It is not currently available on any of the major streaming services, though Space Battleship Yamato is on Funimation. You can currently find Star Blazers on YouTube (more on that at this link).
Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
More Classic Sci Fi TV at This Link
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Next year will be the 50th anniversary of this great show. It premiered in Japan in 1974. The music is just as good as most film scores. The American translation was very good. How many “cartoons” had love, hate, and even death in them? I learned a lot in my youth by watching this show and I still watch it now and listen to the music.