Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark

Star Blazers: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark, known in Japan as Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark (宇宙戦艦ヤマト2199 星巡る方舟, Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199: Hoshi-Meguru Hakobune), is a 2014 film based on the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 anime series. The movie is set during the events of the series, primarily as the eponymous spaceship Yamato makes its way back to Earth after a long voyage to the planet Iscandar.[1][2]

Star Blazers: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark
Cover art of the DVD.
Directed byYutaka Izubuchi
Makoto Bessho
Screenplay byYutaka Izubuchi
Produced byMikio Gunji
Nobuhiko Fujisawa
Shinobu Suzuki
StarringDaisuke Ono
Eriko Nakamura
Aya Hisakawa
Masato Kokubun
Yuuya Chikaki
Junichi Suwabe
Ryuzaburo Otomo
Saki Fujita
Junko Iwao
Kouji Ishii
Masahiko Tanaka
Yuko Kaida
Shinnosuke Tachibana
Mie Sonozaki
Hiroki Touchi
Music byHiroshi Miyagawa
Akira Miyagawa
Production
company
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • 6 December 2014 (2014-12-06)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥269 million

Marketing

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Prior to advertising of the home video release of the movie, writers had used the English translations Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Star-Voyaging Ark and Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars.[1][3] Home video packaging announced in April 2015 revealed Xebec's choice of Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark as the official English title.[4]

Reception

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The film grossed ¥68.8 million at the Japanese box office in its first week of release,[5] and ¥269 million in total.[6]

Writing for the Kotaku blog, reviewer Richard Eisenbeis generally praised the movie, particularly the debut of Gatlantis as a potent threat, the portrayal of the Garmillon characters, the focus on two Yamato crew members who had received only minimal attention in the Yamato 2199 series, and Kodai's growth as a leader. However, the reviewer was less impressed with what felt "more like the first arc of a new series" rather than a completely self-contained story.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Yamato 2199 Films' Trailer, Teaser, Story Outline Unveiled". Anime News Network.
  2. ^ "宇宙戦艦ヤマト2199". yamato2199.net.
  3. ^ Ragone, August (15 May 2014). "Comet Empire returns in new "Yamato" film! Details & Trailer for Ark of the Stars (2014)". The Good, the Bad, and Godzilla. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  4. ^ "宇宙戦艦ヤマト2199". yamato2199.net.
  5. ^ Kevin Ma (10 December 2014). "Naruto overtakes Parasyte at Japan box office". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  6. ^ キネマ旬報 2016年3月下旬号』キネマ旬報社、2016年3月、p. 55
  7. ^ Richard Eisenbeis (12 December 2014). "Yamato 2199's Movie Feels like a Second Season Pilot." Kotaku. Retrieved 20 July 2015.