List of references to Space Battleship Yamato in other works

This is a list of references to the anime series Space Battleship Yamato (and its American dub, Star Blazers) in other works.

References in other anime

* The Space Battleship Yamato occasionally makes cameo appearances in Leiji Matsumoto's Captain Harlock universe; most notably the recent Galaxy Express 999 manga. However, probably partially due to licensing restrictions, the crew is never seen or mentioned during any of these instances, and we are left to speculate whether the crew is the familiar crew or a different one altogether. Also, given the timelines of the various Harlock and 999 stories, it would appear to make the Yamato a time-travelling ship, as well. Equally likely, Leiji Matsumoto uses the Yamato as his trademark.

* A Space Battleship Yamato poster is seen on the walls of Noriko Takaya's private quarters in the anime Gunbuster.

* In Martian Successor Nadesico the character design of Admiral Jin Fukube (retired) and some of his background are similar to that of Juzo Okita. Also, in a scene where Yurika, captain of the Nadesico, is accessing computer files about famous naval captains of the past, one of the files shows a picture of Okita.

* Episode 22 of Excel Saga ("Invasion, Mother") is a satire of both Space Battleship Yamato and Captain Harlock.

* In an episode of the 2002-2003 anime series Mahoromatic - Something More Beautiful, Mahoro battles an enemy at the end where his arm forms the Yamato. It then fires at her using the Wave Motion Gun. In another episode, the series' male lead Misato Suguru is seen (in a short fantasy sequence) in Kodai's red-and-white uniform and anti-blast goggles preparing to fire the wave motion gun. Behind him is his nude, large-breasted teacher, Saori Shikijou, who is begging him to "shoot your wave motion gun of love into me."

* In episode 5 of Ultimate Girl, one of the cosplay costumes Silk is forced to wear by an enthusiastic Tsubomi is a red (and skimpier) version of Yuki's yellow catsuit from Space Battleship Yamato, which Tsubomi describes as "a little nostalgic"; the Yamato itself is seen in space behind her.

* In episode 11 of the 2006 anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the SOS Brigade is challenged to a game of The Day of Sagittarius III by The Computer Society President. In a brief scene where the characters imagine themselves in the game, The Computer Society President appears as Desslok, complete with a goblet in his right hand. His ship is destroyed by a weapon similar to the Wave Motion Gun.

* In the pilot episode of the cartoon series Megas XLR, when Coop is randomly pressing buttons to find out what they do, the front of Megas opens up to reveal the front end of the Yamato, which then fires the Wave Motion Gun.

* The level 4 boss of the arcade/console games Metal Slug 2 and Metal Slug X is a caricature of the Space Battleship Yamato.

* Keroro Gunsou's Platoon's favorite anime is Captain Geroro, a pun on Captain Okita in Space Battleship Yamato.

* The starship Halberd from the final episodes of ' is a stouter, "chibi" version of the Yamato.

* In episode 3 of Hanaukyo Maid Team, the scientist Ikuyo demonstrates an elaborate "laser toaster" which parodies the control system of the wave motion gun; when Tarou tells her he "knows this anime", she gleefully describes a show whose plot contains elements of Space Battleship Yamato, such as "a comet from 148,000 light years away" heading for Earth. She has also built a weather-control machine which resembles the Cosmo-Cleaner D device from Yamato (known as the Cosmo-DNA in Star Blazers).

References in other works

* The concept represented by the wave motion gun (an extremely powerful main weapon that requires time to charge beforehand and leaves the ship powerless and vulnerable after firing) has been used in other science fiction, including the Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade, the Watchtower in Justice League Unlimited, and the Yamato Cannon of the Terran Battlecruiser in the computer game StarCraft (the name of the cannon itself being a reference to Space Battleship Yamato). The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (released in America as the first part of Robotech) took the concept even further, making the ship rearrange itself into a humanoid form to fire the power-draining weapon.

* In the Art of Conquest Expansion pack for the strategy game Empire Earth, the UFAR Faction use a giant battleship in the last mission called the Yamato.

* A "Space Battleship Yamato" poster appears in Bobby Drake's dorm room in a late '70s issue of The Uncanny X-Men.

* In Marvel Comics' Bizarre Adventures #27/3, July 1981, in the story "Show Me the Way to Go Home," which featured Nightcrawler and the Vanisher, a single panel in which the two teleport through several dimensions simultaneously due to the interplay of their respective powers with the Darkforce, one wedge of the panel contains a drawing of the Yamato cruising through space.

* Star Blazers is mentioned in the song "Wave Motion Gun" on the Shapeshifter album by Marcy Playground (1999).

* The Wave Motion gun, Star Blazers' character Derek Wildstar, and the Comet Empire are referenced in the song "Wave Motion Gun" by the pop-punk band from their album "Laugh While You Can Monkey Boy". This is not to be confused with the Marcy Playground song of the same name.

* The "Wave Gun" is one of the best weapons in the Naval Ops/Warship Gunner series by Koei. It features a similar level of destruction and style.

* Episode 10 (4:00pm-5:00pm) of the fourth season of American thriller series 24 features a list of holding companies on a computer screen; among them are "Desslock Inc." and "Zordar Communications". These refer to the principal villains in the first two seasons of Star Blazers.

* In Final Mission, the ninth episode of the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the USS Enterprise responds to a distress signal sent from Gamilon V.

* The ' as depicted in Star Trek: Insurrection is equipped with a special multipurpose shuttlecraft named Argo, though it is not known for sure if this is a deliberate reference to the Argo of Star Blazers fame, or the Argo of Greek Mythology.

Similarities to other series

Parallels with Star Trek

Yamato is often called Japan's answer to Star Trek, and many similarities in the way the two sagas play out raise speculation as to whether they borrowed from one another.

* The original Yamato chief engineer Tokugawa (Orion in Star Blazers) bears a strong physical resemblance to Scotty, as seen in the movies. The English dub even gave Orion an Irish accent, an almost direct homage to Scotty's Scots accent.

* Be Forever Yamato and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan both feature the introduction of a niece or nephew of one of main characters: Kodai's (Wildstar's) niece Sasha, and Scotty's nephew Peter Preston. Sasha was initially introduced as chief mechanic Sanada's (Sandor's) niece, Mio. Both Peter and Mio/Sasha die bravely defending their respective ships.

* The Genesis device in Star Trek II, like the Cosmo DNA of Yamato, could be used to create/replenish life on dead worlds. Also, in Be Forever Yamato, the destruction the Dark Nebula Empire Fortress Dezarium caused the creation of a new galaxy from the Dark Nebula contained in a Double Gravity Galaxy. This is similar to the Reliant 's destruction triggering the Mutara Nebula to condense into the Genesis Planet in Star Trek II however smaller in scale compared to the creation of a new Galaxy in Yamato.

* "Be Forever Yamato" and "Star Trek: TNG and Voyager" both featured an enemy culture that replaced their anatomical structures or physiological processes with enhanced electronic and mechanical components. In Star Trek, they were called the Borg. In Yamato, they were the Dezariums of the Dark Nebula Force.

* Star Trek II featured the death of Spock, and Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato featured the death of everyone, save a few supporting characters, making continuation of either franchise unlikely. However, due to fan acclaim, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was written specifically to resurrect Spock, and the TV series Space Battleship Yamato 2 (essentially an extended retelling of the movie) was produced specifically to change the ending of the Comet Empire conflict so that at least the main crewmembers survive. Each addition ensured the continuation of the sagas.

* The plot for the beginning of the second season "The Comet Empire," which follows the Yamato landing on Earth and being taken, against orders, on a rescue mission back into space by Lt. Captain Kodai (Wildstar) and his crew, is echoed heavily in Star Trek III. Both include the theme of a more advanced successor to the main character's starship (The Andromeda and the Excelsior respectively), the total automation of said successor, and the haughty arrogance of its captain. Star Trek III and "The Comet Empire" both witness the breakout of the older ship from her docking port, and the subsequent chase by the more advanced vessel.

* The first season of Yamato featured a holographic recreational room 14 years before Commander Riker stepped into the holodeck to find Lt. Commander Data in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot "Encounter at Farpoint", though a 1974 episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series entitled "The Practical Joker" also had such a holodeck, called the "Rec Room." This feature is also known to have been proposed during the production of the original Star Trek television show in the late 1960s, so it is most likely a parallel development of the same concept by two different series.

* In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Where Silence Has Lease," the crew comes across a Galaxy class starship named after the World War II-era . There is some debate whether or not this is a direct homage paid to the anime ship of the same name, or if it is simply a coincidence. Rick Sternbach, a chief designer on the show and an anime fan, included many anime homages in the background, but has stated that the Yamato was named without his input. The explodes in a subsequent episode ("Contagion") when an Iconian computer virus infects its systems, and shuts down its anti-matter containment fields.

* In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds," Commander Riker, Ensign Crusher, and Lieutenant Commander La Forge devise a superweapon to use against the Borg. Like Yamato's Wave Motion Gun, this weapon channels the main power through a forward emitter, (in this case the main deflector dish), and fires it as a destructive energy beam. Also similar to the Wave Motion Gun, this weapon requires charging, and renders the ship incapacitated for a limited period of time.

* The entire third season of Star Trek: Enterprise revolved around a story arc quite similar to that of the first season of Yamato. The arc actually began in the second-season finale "The Xindi", in which seven million people are killed in a surprise attack against Earth by the Xindi. In response, the starship Enterprise (NX-01) is sent on what turns out to be a year-long mission to contact the Xindi and prevent them from launching a follow-up attack which would destroy the planet.

* In the "Star Trek: Enterprise" Xindi Saga, Star Fleet command issues the use of Space Marine fighters similar to "The Comet Empire" saga where their invaluable service and sacrifice were to neutralize the enemy. Enterprise's Major Hayes and Yamato's Seargent Knox both suffered heavy trauma and died in the line of duty.

*Doctor Sado (Dr. Sane)'s rustic common sense and eccentric personality is similar to Dr. Leonard McCoy.

* In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Warhead" numerous alien super missiles which were capable of destroying distant cosmic targets with super deadly consequences were similar to hyperion missiles in the Bolar Wars Saga of Yamato. Similarities included warp capable missiles that were able to travel long light-year distances. Such warp missiles were fired by the Bolar Federation against Deslar's new homebase on planet Galmania.

Parallels with Crusade

Many fans have noticed a number of strong similarities between Star Blazers and Crusade, the short-lived spinoff of Babylon 5.

* Both shows featured an untested new starship design that was essentially in a class by itself (the Argo in Star Blazers, the Excalibur in Crusade).

* The principal ships in each series were on long-duration missions against great odds, and were essentially operating autonomously from all but the most nominal outside authority for long periods of time.

* The basic over-arching plot of both series involved a desperate attempt to save Earth from utter destruction in a finite period of time. (In Star Blazers, the crew only had one year to save Earth from radiation poisoning, or everyone on it would die; in Crusade, the crew only had five years to find a cure for the Drakh plague, or else everyone on Earth would likewise perish.)

* Both shows made frequent use of a large weapon (the Wave Motion Gun on Star Blazers, the Excalibur 's Main Gun on Crusade) that offered massive destructive power, but took a long time to recharge, and left the ship largely defenseless for a period of time after firing it.

Parallels with Star Wars

* Analyzer (IQ-9 in the US version) was a dome-headed, track-wheeled robot with AI, multiple utilities, the ability to fly, and an often stubborn personality. Three years later, a similar little robot would become well known to American audiences as R2-D2.

* Over the course of the Star Blazers saga, Derek Wildstar (Kodai) transforms from a brash young man into a capable and wise leader, a career path that would be followed in a similar fashion as Luke Skywalker progressed from fighter pilot-wannabe to Jedi Master. Both lose their immediate families to the forces they ultimately battle, and both later discover a family member thought to be lost still lives after all (Wildstar's older brother, and Skywalker's father). In addition, both "Wildstar" and "Skywalker" convey a certain important destiny to be met in outer space.

* The Gamilon uniforms in Star Blazers loosely resembled the Nazi-era uniforms worn by the German military during World War II. This is also true for the uniforms worn by Imperial officers in Star Wars.

* At the end of Yamato and Star Wars, the leading villains (Desslar and Vader, respectively) each have a change of heart just as final victory is in their grasp, and ultimately side with their respective adversaries (Wildstar and Skywalker).

* In one of the "Yamato" movies "Be Forever Yamato," a "Death Star" like planet called "Dezarium" was made entirely of super alloys. The crew could only destroy the enemy auto-planet from the inside similar to how the Rebels in "Star Wars" in the "Return of the Jedi" had to knock out the main power source at the center of the artificial base. The destruction of the central core caused a cascade effect completely obliterating the enemy. However, though the Death Star's destruction was localized over Endor, Dezarium's destruction was so violent from the nuclear reaction between WME and the enemy powersource that it destabilized the enemy's Double Gravity Galaxy, creating a new galaxy from the explosion.

* When the series was first shown on American television in 1979, many TV critics and first-time viewers saw the show as a Japanese animated version of Star Wars; several of these later recanted after learning the show predated Star Wars by three years. (George Lucas had already written a treatment and rough draft by the time of the show's Japanese debut.)

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