1970s animated SciFi show

October 1, 2005 11:57 PM

Help me with an old manga-type kids show, from the '70s?

It was in the same era as "Speed Racer", was that the mid 70s? Anyway, it was a Japanese manga/anime-type animated series, about these spacefarers who flew in spaceships that looked very much like naval ships. The ships had big mother plasma cannons in the front, and there were always plenty of cool explosions. That's all I can remember about it.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

posted by Meatbomb to society & culture (15 comments total)

Was it Starblazers aka Space Cruiser Yamato?
posted by gnat at 12:16 AM on October 2, 2005

Yo! That's exactly it, thank you gnat!
posted by Meatbomb at 12:36 AM on October 2, 2005

Damn, I was contemplating a FPP on Star Blazers recently. A documentary about Yamato/Star Blazers just came out, and the anniversary of the series premiere in Japan is October 6th.
posted by Fat Guy at 2:36 AM on October 2, 2005

Why "damn"? Go for it, fat Guy!
posted by Meatbomb at 3:44 AM on October 2, 2005

Thanks for the encouragement meatbomb. There is going to be a episode of NOVA this Tuesday called Sinking the Supership about the Yamato, and I was going to tie the two together.

Damn because it seems like there are only a handful of Star Blazers sites, and the subject is esoteric.
posted by Fat Guy at 7:37 AM on October 2, 2005

Used to get up at the crack of dawn to watch Star Blazers when I was 8 or so. Good stuff, bring in on Fat Guy!
posted by tetsuo at 7:45 AM on October 2, 2005

er, bring it on that is.
posted by tetsuo at 7:45 AM on October 2, 2005

Oh, you might want to check eBay for "star blazers" and "yamato". I picked up a great schematic of Space Cruiser Yamato, and a great "Roman Album" which is like a technical manual. I'm not saying you're in the market for any stuff, but it would make you feel nostalgic.
posted by Fat Guy at 7:49 AM on October 2, 2005

Used to get up at the crack of dawn to watch Star Blazers when I was 8 or so.

In the Philly area, Star Blazers was on right after school at 3:30 PM on (I believe) Channel 29.
posted by Fat Guy at 7:56 AM on October 2, 2005

I was contemplating a FPP on Star Blazers recently

Hell, you could put together a good FPP just about the theme song.

We MUUUUUUUUUST be strong and BRAAAAAAAVE...
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:21 AM on October 2, 2005

the subject is esoteric

Really? Were you even allowed to be an American boy in the 80's and not watch it?

"Desslock! Desslock! Desslock!"

Oh man, now you've got me all nostalgic...
posted by mkultra at 8:54 AM on October 2, 2005

I saw a link to a Japanese photo album the other day that included pix of an 81-foor scale model of the Yamato, which is on display in the ship's home port, if I understood aright.

All the various Yamato stuff out there could make a kick-ass FPP, Fat Guy. Look more under "Yamato" and less under "StarBlazers." In looking for that link, for instance, I found blueprints of the United Federation of Planets' USS Yamato, a very-large-scale lego project on the battleship underway, and many fansites devoted to the ship as it appeeared on the show.
posted by mwhybark at 9:22 AM on October 2, 2005

mwhybark, the Yamato in TNG was so named as a tribute to Space Cruiser Yamato. There are other anime references in TNG, all of which escape me presently.
posted by Fat Guy at 12:36 PM on October 2, 2005

You can rent all the episodes from Netflix. My husband and I just watched a bunch of them. I think there were some as part of our "On Demand" as well.
posted by nekton at 4:47 PM on October 2, 2005

And remember: there's a reason why the humans in Starcraft have fleet ships with a Yamato cannon.

Wikipedia has a nice little writeup on the concept of the Wave Motion Gun.
posted by linux at 10:13 PM on October 2, 2005