Space Battleship Yamato (Leiji Matsumoto Manga Adaptation 1974)

Space Battleship Yamato (1974/1975)

While the television anime program Space Battleship Yamato was in production, director Leiji Matsumoto also created a version of the story in manga form, which ran from October 1974 to March 1975. Appearing monthly, it features some marked changes from what was shown in the televised series. It's interesting to note the methods by which Matsumoto managed to summarize several weeks of episodes into a monthly "catch up" episode and yet maintain a sense of suspense. Below are synopses of each monthly chapter.

1. In 2199 A.D., the people of Earth have been forced underground by radiation "planet bombs" dropped by the alien Gamilons. Earth warships intercept a Gamilon fleet near Pluto but are soundly defeated and forced to retreat. A torpedo ship commanded by Mamoru Kodai remains behind and is apparently destroyed. Meanwhile, two cadets, Susumu Kodai (Mamoru's younger brother) and Daisuke Shima, investigate a crashed spacecraft on Mars and discover the body of a beautiful alien woman. They also retrieve an information capsule which, back on Earth, reveals itself to be a message from Starsha of Iscandar, who tells mankind that she can help them if they journey to her planet. Later, while in pursuit of an alien fighter, Kodai and Shima sight the ruins of the WWII battleship Yamato, embedded in the dry earth.
2. In an underground medical ward, Kodai and Shima meet a nurse named Yuki, as well as a veterinarian named Doctor Sado and his robot assistant Analyzer. They are all summoned to Earth HQ where they board the space battleship Yamato. When a Gamilon carrier appears, Captain Okita has Kodai fire the Yamato's shock cannons, which destroys it. Next, a giant Gamilon missile approaches. The Yamato is forced to make an immediate launch in order to avoid destruction. 
3. The Gamilon missile detonates but the Yamato is undamaged. As it leaves Earth space, Gamilon destroyers approach. In order to evade them, Okita orders the Yamato to perform a space warp to Mars. However the "wave motion" engine goes out of control, causing a breach in the hull. Nearing Jupiter, the crew detect a Gamilon base stationed on the planet's fabled floating continent. They fire the "wave motion gun" which destroys the floating continent, and brings the wave motion engine back under control.
4. On Pluto, Gamilon Commander Schultz tests his "reflex gun" on a mock up of the Yamato and destroys it. Ten days later, Gamilon Leader Desslar is informed that the Pluto base has been destroyed by the Yamato. However, Commander Hiss reveals to him that the Yamato is trapped in a field of Gamilon space mines just outside the solar system.
5. After Analyzer defuses the space minefield master control, the Yamato crew clear the mines away from the ship with their bare hands. While approaching Rigel, the ship becomes hindered by a magnetic space net (force field). Desslar uses this opportunity to deploy a corrosive gas to destroy the Yamato, or force it to head towards Rigel. When a solar prominence from Rigel threatens to incinerate the Yamato, Okita orders Kodai to fire the wave motion gun, clearing a path. In order to escape the gravity well of the star, the Yamato does an emergency warp, but emerges in the Magellanic stream's "space sargasso".  
6. Outside the sargasso, Gamilon General Domel and his fleet fire at the Yamato while it is stuck inside. However, the Yamato receives a message from Starsha of Iscandar to follow a mysterious craft and escape through a gateway. After reaching safety, the mysterious black craft demands food and supplies from the Yamato. When the cloaked commander, Captain Harlock, recognizes Kodai amongst the Yamato's crew, he leaves them without asking for further aid. Soon, the Yamato approaches planet Balan. The Gamilons try to crush the Yamato with its artificial sun, but the wave motion gun destroys the satellite's core, causing it to crash into the Gamilon base. 
7. In the Dark Nebula on the outer border of Gamilon's own system, Domel attaches his saucer ship to the bottom of the Yamato and initiates a self-destruct sequence, hoping to take it down in the blast. Fortunately, the Yamato survives the explosion and sights Iscandar. Much later, the Earth receives an information capsule describing the Yamato's destruction of Desslar's capitol on Gamilon and subsequent arrival on Iscandar. While guarded in space by Captain Harlock's ship, the Yamato crew had obtained the cosmo-cleaner from Starsha and are now on their way back to Earth. On the Yamato, Kodai suspects that Harlock was in reality his brother Mamoru, and that Starsha was his lover. Suddenly Desslar attacks (emerging from a warp) and boards the Yamato, flooding it with radioactive gas. Yuki uses the cosmo-cleaner to disperse the gas but is injured in the process. After a brief retreat, Desslar attacks again, this time firing his wave motion gun at the Yamato, but Sanada's reflective shielding causes the blast to rebound on Desslar's own craft, destroying it. As the Yamato nears Earth in 2200, Captain Okita dies from his wounds, but Yuki regains consciousness.

For more on this manga series check out CosmoDNA's excellent articles here and here.

The Battle of Jupiter, ca. 2199

Eternal Story of Jura (1976)

In 1976, Matsumoto also published a "side story", which takes placed during Iscandar/Gamilon arc. In a framing sequence taking place after the Yamato has destroyed Desslar's carrier and is about to reach Earth, a woman named Jura thinks back on events which took place while the Yamato had still been journeying to Iscandar...

Desslar's lover Mela (a telepath from the planet Siren) and their daughter Jura have been exiled to Siren so that they will not be able to read Desslar's thoughts and influence his policies. However, the Gamilon leader orders Mela to probe the minds of the Yamato crew and cause them to experience disturbing hallucinations. The Yamato detects the source of these dark psychic manipulations and heads towards planet Siren. Seeing this, Desslar asks Mela to transmit to him all of the Yamato crew's secrets before they arrive, but she resists. Desslar then sends a Gamilon force to destroy Mela and Jura, but the Yamato arrives just in time to destroy the Gamilon force with the wave motion gun. Mela takes her own life rather than help either the Gamilons or the Earthlings. Jura departs the planet alone and observes the Yamato's progress from afar.

For more on this manga series check out CosmoDNA's excellent articles here and here.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 (1978/1979)

When the film Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: Soldiers of Love and its resulting second series were in production, Matsumoto began writing and drawing a manga adaptation of this sequence as well (published from July 1978 to December 1979). Unfortunately, he only adapted about half of the narrative before abandoning it.

1. In the year 2201, Dr Sado honors Captain Okita at his monument alone. While commanding a transport patrol ship, Kodai intercepts an S.O.S. message from an Earth fleet outside the solar system. However the fleet is destroyed by unknown invaders. At the same time, Kodai's craft records a mysterious signal coming from deep space.
2. On Earth, Sanada begins to decrypt the mysterious signal, but in the process causes a massive system-wide overload. In space, the new fleet destroyer Andromeda takes off from Earth HQ on a test run, causing Kodai great anger when it cuts across into his own ship's flight path while returning from space.
3. Back on Earth, the former crew of the Yamato meet in honor of the 2 year anniversary of Captain Okita's death. With Analyzer's help, Sanada decodes part of the message received from deep space, revealed to be a call for help. Meanwhile, a strange comet approaches the Earth, although the Earth government is unconcerned about it. In fact, they have ordered the Yamato to be scrapped.
4. Kodai visits the empty Yamato, and the lights mysteriously flicker on the bridge.
5. The crew of the Yamato decide to take off against orders in the Yamato. As Earth HQ tries to order them to disperse, a blackout affects Earth, Venus and the moon, and an alien ship is spotted in the skies above Earth.
6. The Earth Chief of Staff has mines deployed outside the Yamato's underwater berth to stop the Yamato's take off, but the Director has them defused. The Yamato launches from its underwater berth and is unharmed by the mines.
7. With Shima making a late arrival at the helm, the Yamato breaks free of the surface of the ocean and heads into the sky.
8. The Yamato destroys the EDF battle satellites deployed against it in Earth orbit. Near Mars, the Yamato is confronted by the Andromeda and its commander Hijikata.
9. The Yamato and the Andromeda narrowly scrape by each other. Hijikata decides to let them pass in honor of Captain Okita. Kato and his Black Tiger squadron reunite with the Yamato. Additionally, some strange alien fighters appear behind the ship and then veer off. In short order the Yamato receives a message from Earth HQ asking them to go to the aid of the Eleventh Planet, which is under hostile attack.
10. The Yamato warps to the Eleventh Planet, but one of the alien fighters lodges in its hull just before the warp is complete. This compromises the Yamato's ability to engage full engine power.
11. Heading away from the solar system (and the Milky Way Galaxy), the Yamato crew dislodge the alien ship from the hull, but it self-destructs. Kodai thinks back on the events of the past few days...
12. When the Yamato had arrived at Planet Eleven the battle had already ended. However, a small craft containing Space Marines led by a man named Saito had been rescued. Kodai eventually tells Saito that an alien craft had crashed into the Yamato but that the aliens have been captured (although their ship self-destructed).
13. The Yamato warps towards planet Telezart, as one of the alien ships monitors their progress and reports back to their mysterious leader.

For more on this manga series check out CosmoDNA's excellent article here.

The Old Underground Earth HQ, 2201

 All of these comics are now available (in English) from Seven Seas.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978-79, TV)

Based on Leiji Matsumoto's designs and story concept (as well as his manga serial), the anime program Space Pirate Captain Harlock aired from 1978 to 1979, spanning 42 episodes. The premise is as follows:

In the year 2977, Earth's oceans have dried up and a sense of futility consumes the spirit of mankind. Although the solar system has been conquered and supply ships bring natural resources from the inner planets to Earth, the world's government practices a conservative policy of non-action, preferring instead to kill time on frivolous sports and games. They also keep the people of Earth docile and unambitious by broadcasting television soap operas and cartoons containing subliminal messages. 

However, a "space pirate" named Captain Harlock and his crew of 41 journey through space in the space battleship Arcadia, and conduct raids on the Earth planetary supply ships. Regarded as outlaws for crimes they did not commit, Harlock and his crew hold disdain for Earth's lack of ambition, and prefer a life of freedom and romance in the stars.

The ongoing conflict between Harlock and Earth's Space Defense Force is interrupted by the appearance of an alien invasion force made up of the Mazone, an alien race who had once thrived on the Earth in ancient prehistoric times, and now desire to return. Although the Earth's Prime Minister and his party choose to ignore the danger, Harlock resists, and eventually takes the fight to their leader, Queen Lafresia.

Episode Guide

1. 
   The Jolly Roger of Space: The pirate space battleship Arcadia raids an Earth transport ship and takes its food cargo. Afterwards, Harlock visits his ward Mayu on Earth and gives her an ocarina. Unfortunately he is then captured by Commander Kiruta, commander of the Space Defense Force. Harlock soon frees himself when the Arcadia arrives from the sky during his staged execution. Meanwhile, astronomers around the world are being killed off, and a strange black sphere approaches the Earth from space.
2. A Message From the Unknown: When an Earth colony is attacked by a mysterious alien craft, the Arcadia destroys it. On Earth, Kiruta tries to lure Harlock into a trap by threatening Mayu. Harlock soon appears and saves Mayu from a wild wolf. Afterwards he attempts to warn the Earth Prime Minister of the alien sphere, but he is dismissed. Back in space, the Arcadia tries to destroy the approaching black sphere on its own, but the seemingly invulnerable giant object crashes into the Earth and lodges itself in the middle of the world capitol.
3. A Lady Who Burns Like Paper: When an astronomer named Dr. Daiba tries to warn the Earth of the Mazone, he is killed by a strange woman. Harlock arrives to save his son, Tadashi, from meeting the same fate. Tadashi boards the Arcadia and watches as Harlock defeats a Mazone scouting fleet.
4. 
   Under the Flag of Freedom: Pursued by the Earth forces and the Mazone on earth, Tadashi decides to join Captain Harlock's crew. The Arcadia encounters another Mazone scout fleet.
5. To the Shores of Distant Stars: After arriving on the Arcadia, Tadashi is disappointed at the lax attitude on the ship. However, after the crew snap to attention during a battle with a Mazone ship, he changes his mind. A captured Mazone soldier explodes herself after warning them of the Mazone leader, Queen Lafresia.
6. The Phantom Mazone: Harlock tests Tadashi's piloting skills while on a scouting mission where they recover wreckage from a Mazone ship. Later, on a rest stop at Harlock's base Pirate Island 1, Harlock and Miime reminisce about their first meeting. Soon, Queen Lafresia's image appears in a hologram and starts off a countdown to a bomb explosion. The Arcadia quickly escapes destruction by blasting open the exit doors of the pirate base, but Pirate Island is destroyed.
7. 
   The Pyramid on the Sea Floor: While investigating a “rift” causing the Earth to split in two, Harlock discovers the tomb of an ancient Mazone inside an underwater pyramid. They learn how to identify Mazone hiding on Earth with sensor technology and begin to hunt them down one by one. Kiruta attempts to destroy Harlock when he visits Mayu, but Harlock is rescued by an Arcadia crewmember who makes a timely arrival in a drilling vehicle.
8. The Queen's Space Fleet: Out of respect, Harlock releases a captured Mazone diplomat, but a vengeful Tadashi almost dies trying to pursue her ship. After the Arcadia defeats another advance Mazone fleet, Queen Lafresia tries to draw Harlock’s forces away from the Earth. However, Harlock recognizes the danger of leaving Earth unprotected and resists her lure.
9. The Fearsome Plant Lifeform: Seeking clues to the true nature of the Mazone, the crew of the Arcadia capture an ancient Jomon flame pot from a disguised Mazone curator in a museum. When Harlock and Tadashi then investigate a Mazone jungle in South America they are attacked. Yattaran saves them by deploying a snow-making machine, forcing the Mazone to go into hibernation.
   
10. Approaching the Mystery Planet: Daiba begins bombing the Amazon Mazone hive, but Harlock stops him. This convinces Queen Lafresia to countermand an order to immediately take over the Earth with the Mazone forces already in place on the surface. Nonetheless, a vengeful Mazone battleship attacks the Arcadia. During a fighter sortie, Daiba’s timing is thrown off by the beauty of his Mazone opponent. After the Arcadia destroys the Mazone battleship (by ramming it), the remains of the hull are identified as being from Venus.
11. When Lola Shines Golden: The Arcadia comes across a Mazone space wreck and finds only Lola, the beautiful Mazone who had escaped Daiba earlier. When Daiba is put in charge of her, Lola uses her mind powers to trick Daiba into mistaking her for his mother. When the Arcadia arrives at Venus, Daiba releases Lola to the surface of the planet.
12. Mother, Be Eternal: The Arcadia discovers an ancient abandoned Mazone base on Venus. Soon, a Mazone force attacks. The Arcadia destroys the main battleship with a ramming tactic. In a fighter, Daiba pursues Lola and is almost deceived by a giant illusion of his mother, but finally overcomes Lola’s power and shoots down her ship.
    
13. Witch Castle in the Sea of Death: When a Mazone signal is detected in the Sargasso Sea, the Arcadia journeys there to investigate. They are soon attacked by an unmanned WWII submarine and then a rusty battleship. After destroying the battleship, the Arcadia goes underwater and penetrates a mysterious dome. There they encounter Aman, a Mazone witch who puts a sleeping spell on the crew. However, the Arcadia’s computer brain resists Aman’s power and helps Harlock gather the crew. The Arcadia then destroys the witch’s citadel and escapes to the surface.
14. The Sphinx's Gravestone: In Egypt, Kiruta kidnaps Mayu in order to lure Harlock into the desert. After travelling over 120 miles, Harlock finds Kiruta and Mayu near a sphinx. Kiruta reveals that the sphinx hides a Mazone super-weapon. When it is fired, it causes a landslide which buries the Arcadia, 120 miles away. The ship’s computer spontaneously flies out of the rubble and goes to Harlock’s aid. After the Arcadia destroys the sphinx with its main cannon, Harlock departs with Mayu.
15. 
    Unrequited Love! The North Pole Aurora: At the North Pole, Harlock investigates a strange aurora which appears to be a runway of some sort. He is eventually captured by a Mazone ice witch, who also causes the Arcadia to become swallowed up in a crevasse. Fortunately, Miime is able to overcome the Mazone ice witch with her strange powers, and when Kiruta’s forces attack the Arcadia, it inadvertently frees it from the ice.
16. Kei: A Song of Farewell: When Kei visits her parents’ grave, she is reunited with a former lover who now claims to be interested in furthering Kei’s father’s research. When Kei agrees to help him, he secretly uses hypnosis to try and pry secrets from her about Harlock on behalf of the Mazone. With Miime and Harlock’s help, Kei eventually sees through her former lover’s deceit and kills him.
17. 
    The Skeletal Hero: Chief Engineer Maji recalls his past, in which he had unknowingly married a Mazone and then had a child with her. After his commander Captain Yamanaki had identified and killed his Mazone wife, Maji’s child had then been kidnapped by the Mazone. In the present, the Arcadia discovers Yamanaki’s ship, manned only by corpses - apparently victims of the Mazone.
18. The Evil Shadow Soldiers: While passing through the Pleiades star cluster, phantom-like Mazone “shadow soldiers” distract the crew, while a “real” Mazone raiding party led by Maji’s now-grown daughter secretly boards the ship. When Maji is captured and held on a Mazone base, he sees that Mazone children are grown, not born. In the end, he uses the Arcadia’s pulse cannons to destroy a fleeing Mazone ship carrying his (adopted) daughter.
19. Queen Lafresia's Trap: On the way to the Horsehead Nebula, the Arcadia passes Harlock’s Deathshadow Island pirate base. Although Harlock orders it to remain behind, it follows the Arcadia for some reason. After passing through the nebula, the Mazone try to trap the Arcadia between gravitational tornadoes, an artificial comet and a volcanic proto-planet. Harlock uses Deathshadow Island as a shield and lures the comet into the planet. The Arcadia then destroys a Mazone fleet. Afterwards, a shadow projection of Queen Lafresia asks Harlock if he intends to challenge her personally.
20. The Dead Planet Jura: When the Arcadia makes a stop at Miime’s home planet Jura, she discovers signs of life. She soon learns that the nuclear war which had destroyed her planet had been due to the Mazone, and that her best friend Fuure had been a Mazone spy all along. In a duel, she kills Fuure.
21. 
    Gohrum! The Tragic Soldier: Under cover of a strange asteroid bombardment, a small craft attaches itself to the Arcadia. A squad of alien soldiers (Tokagans) raid the ship. Harlock captures a Tokagan named Zol, who reveals that his soldiers are being forced to fight because their families are being held ransom by the Mazone. After giving Harlock the location of the Mazone main battle fleet, Zol dies in a suicide attack against a massive Mazone battleship. The Arcadia destroys the Mazone dreadnought in honor of Zol.
22. Space Graveyard Deathshadow: The Mazone install one of their planetary pennants (black spheres) on Mars. Using the pennant’s homing signal, Harlock identifies the general location of the Mazone fleet (confirming Zol’s information) and then sets the Arcadia to intercept it. A few weeks later, the Arcadia is trapped on an antimatter gravity planet dubbed “Deathshadow” (ironically, the same name as one of Harlock's asteroid bases). Fortunately, when Lafresia’s fleet attacks, a mysterious force gives the Arcadia enough energy to escape and destroy the Mazone fleet.
23. Yattaran: Song of the Plastic Model Lover: During a fighter sortie, Yattaran is captured and taken aboard a Mazone battleship. There, a Mazone soldier challenges him to a plastic model building contest (but secretly hoping to get a model replica of the Arcadia in order to find weaknesses in the ship). Yattaran happily complies but becomes offended when she later demands the Arcadia model at gunpoint. During this episode he also recalls how, as a student, he had once failed to impress a suitor through a ship model. Eventually, the Arcadia arrives and Yattaran is rescued.
24. 
    The Shooting Star of Virgin Love: A Tokagan soldier named Zorba (Zol’s son) escapes from the Mazone fleet with his Mazone lover Lucia. They eventually seek refuge on the Arcadia. When Queen Lafresia’s fleet attacks the Arcadia en masse in order to recapture the lovers, Zorba and Lucia depart in their ship the Shooting Star in order to spare the Arcadia from the Mazone fleet. The Shooting Star is soon destroyed by the merciless Mazone mothership.
25. Doctor Zero and Mi: Outraged by the Mazones' treatment of Zorba and Lucia, when the next Mazone force attacks Doctor Zero insists on piloting a Space Wolf himself. Beforehand, he recollects his first meeting with his cat Mii. Later, he discovers that Mii has joined him in the cockpit. Also, during the battle, Harlock is shocked to learn that one of the ships he has fired upon contains Mazone civilians. He realizes that the Mazone are conducting a mass migration through the stars on their way to Earth.
26. The Long Journey From Afar: Due to Harlock’s continued interference with the Mazone migration to Earth, a civilian faction of Mazone led by Lafresia’s close friend Tessia breaks away from the convoy in order to seek out a different, less hospitable planet to live on. Putting aside her emotions, Lafresia sends out her fleet captain to destroy them. Lafresia then appears as a hologram to Harlock and reveals to him that it was she who had saved the Arcadia on the antimatter graveyard planet Deathshadow. She has been using Harlock’s continued threat as a device to help unify the conquering will of the Mazone (and root out dissension). Harlock vows that the Mazone will never conquer the Earth.
27. 
    The Will of the Arcadia: The crew of the Arcadia begin falling sick frm sheer exhaustion. Harlock has no choice but begin to leverage the Mazone’s civilian flotilla as a tactical weak point. With her fleet in near-rebellion from these attacks, Lafresia has her agents on Earth force Kiruta to reveal Harlock’s weakness: Mayu. Mayu is soon kidnapped by Mazone agents, despite Kiruta’s efforts to protect her. When Lafresia informs Harlock that Mayu is being held in the Ulysses Nebula, the Arcadia itself decides to break off the attack on the Mazone fleet heading towards Earth and instead heads for the Ulysses Nebula.
28. The Ulysses Nebula: Harlock reunites with an old friend, Doctor Ayn, who has established a human colony on one of the inner planets of the Ulysses Nebula. While searching for Mayu on the planet, Harlock and the Arcadia are attacked by sudden earthquakes and tsunamis. Harlock eventually learns that Doctor Ayn had created earthquake technology as a defence against the Mazone, but a secret Mazone spy has now forced him to use it against the Arcadia. When the Mazone spy tries to shoot his only grandson, Ayn sacrifices his life to stop her.
29. Life-and-Death Struggle on the Rainbow Planet: Daiba is lured to a Rainbow Planet where a colony of Mazone civilians reside. Although Daiba is suspicious, eventually he begins to trust a young Mazone girl and complies with their request to summon Harlock to help them hide from Lafresia. Unfortunately, when Harlock arrives, it turns out to be a trap and Daiba and Harlock are forced to shoot their way out to freedom.
30. 
    My Friend, My Youth: While the Arcadia undergoes repairs on Deathshadow Island, Harlock recalls his early exploits with his friends Tochiro and Emeraldas (named Emeralda here): After a bar fight on a frontier planet, outlaws Harlock and Tochiro are forced to flee to their secret asteroid base, where Emeraldas soon introduces herself. Soon, the Harlock and Tochiro are attacked by law enforcement and, due to ship failure, they are captured. Eventually Emeraldas arrives and attacks the mining prison where they are being held. During the confusion, Tochiro sabotages the Earth  battleship Everest, ensuring the prisoners’ escape.
31. The Arcadia's Secret History: (Continuing Harlock’s memories:) Years later, Tochiro and Emeraldas now have a child named Mayu. While Tochiro builds a new ship on the frontier mining planet Heavy Meldar, Emeraldas defends the planet from Kiruta’s SDF forces (who are seeking out Tochiro in order to force him to build a battleship to oppose Harlock’s pirate raids). Kiruta eventually locates Tochiro on Heavy Meldar but is driven off by Harlock’s sudden return from an off-planet mission. With Heavy Meldar about to be destroyed in a collision with another planet, the inhabitants of Heavy Meldar escape in Tochiro’s just-completed battleship, the Arcadia. Unfortunately, Tochiro then dies from overwork (anemia) incurred from the great effort required to finish the Arcadia in time. Emeraldas decides to spend her life escorting Tochiro’s space-coffin through space, and asks Harlock to raise Mayu on Earth.
32. 
    Call of the Star Flute: Back in the present, the advance Mazone fleet begins attacking Earth defense forces in the outer planets of the Solar System. Nonetheless, Harlock continues to search for Mayu in the Ulysses Nebula (just as Lafresia had expected). Drawn to the Nebula’s Windy Planet by the sounds of Mayu’s ocarina, Harlock and the Arcadia are nearly destroyed in several traps, but between the Arcadia’s “self-will” and Harlock’s tactical pre-planning, they escape (although Mayu is spirited away before she can be rescued).
33. The Lone Man's Charge: As the Mazone fleet attacks Mars, Kiruta tries to rally his forces to engage them. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister is not interested in mounting a defense, and Kiruta’s own men desert him. Only an old veteran commander named Otawara has the courage to take out a fighter craft and head towards the enemy fleet in a suicide charge. Before he dies, he contacts the Arcadia and reveals that he has always been in love with Masu, the ship’s cook.
34. The Galactic Lullaby: When Harlock follows Mayu’s trail to the Twin Planets, the Mazone use an artificial gravity mechanism to hold the Arcadia immobilized between the two spheres. Miime soon realizes that the gravity is artificial, giving Harlock the idea to destroy the mechanism itself with a blast of the ship’s cannons. On the surface, Harlock finally rescues Mayu from a Mazone base, just as the Mazone set the Twin Planets on a collision course with each other. Back on the Arcadia, Mayu is unable to sleep until the Arcadia’s computer (Tochiro's soul) sings her a lullaby.
35. 
    The Beautiful Mystery Woman: After Commander Kiruta is framed as a Mazone agent, the Prime Minister’s secretary Mizuno (actually a Mazone agent) gains his trust by helping him escape from the authorities. When Harlock returns to Earth to drop Mayu off back at her school, he grants Kiruta’s wish and gives Mizuno sanctuary aboard the Arcadia.
36. The Eve of the Showdown: Mizuno tries to seduce Harlock in order to gain his secrets, but Harlock suspects her of being a Mazone agent and openly mocks Queen Lafresia. Listening in and enraged, Lafresia has Mizuno set off bombs on the Arcadia, disabling its weapons systems, after which the Mazone advance fleet attacks. However, Harlock uses ramming tactics to defeat the Mazone fleet.
37. Tears on a Red Sweater: When Mizuno fails in her mission to destroy the Arcadia, Queen Lafresia cuts off communications with her. Harlock has her leave in a small ship, but Mazone fighters attack and try to destroy her. The crew of the Arcadia rescues Mizuno, after which she recuperates on the Arcadia. Ultimately, she sets off a chain of events which lead to her death at the hands of her true love, Harlock.
38. 
    Farewell, Mayu: The Mazone finally arrive on Earth and begin wreaking havoc. While the Arcadia creates a distraction for the Mazone, Kiruta takes Mayu to Africa for safekeeping. When the Mazone then attack Kiruta’s hideout in Africa, the Arcadia arrives just in time to save Kiruta and his family. The wounded Kiruta is brought aboard the Arcadia. Harlock reveals to Mayu that her father’s soul lives on in the Arcadia’s computer.
39. Courage: The Death of the Commander: The Arcadia intercepts a Mazone fleet near Jupiter and is almost overcome by numbers. Mazone fighters manage to enter the ship and hand to hand battle ensues. While protecting the ship’s computer, Kiruta is mortally injured. A gravitational disruption on the surface of Jupiter causes the Mazone fleet to fall into disarray, allowing Harlock to defeat them.
40. And Then the Angels Sang: Lafresia orders increasingly desperate attacks on the Arcadia, including the use of guerilla sabotage troops, fake hospital ships and civilian ships (as a shield). After an attack, Harlock brings a Tokagan woman aboard the Arcadia just as she is about to give birth. Lafresia orders her fleet to attack but the other civilian Tokagan craft in her convoy move to block Lafresia’s battleships. In the end, the woman gives birth and Lafresia orders her fleet to retreat, hoping to lure Harlock into a one-on-one confrontation.
41. 
    Duel! The Queen Versus Harlock: Although sustaining major damage from Mazone suicide attacks, the Arcadia destroys the rest of the Mazone battle fleet, leaving only Lafresia’s mothership, the Dorcas. With the Arcadia’s batteries out of action, Harlock leads a squadron of drill fighters in a coordinated attack on the Dorcas itself, and he eventually comes face to face with the Mazone Queen. When Lafresia’s strange mental abilities threaten to overpower Harlock, the Arcadia moves by itself and rams the Dorcas, breaking Lafresia’s mental hold. Harlock soon defeats Lafresia in a sword duel, but he spares her life when he sees that she bleeds red blood. Humiliated, Lafresia leaves Earth with the remains of her armada, but not before leaving behind a final mysterious threat.
42. Farewell, Cosmic Corsair: When the Arcadia returns to Earth, the crew are stunned when the Prime Minister wants them to leave the planet. Meanwhile, the Mazone pennant reactivates the Mazone still residing on Earth and a new hostile takeover ensues. Harlock has the Arcadia destroy the pennant and the Mazone are once again defeated. With the Arcadia crew now welcome on Earth once more, Harlock leaves his crew to build a new, better world, while he and Miime depart for outer space.

A synopsis of the manga version can be found here.

Space Battleship Yamato (Ishizu/Toyota Novelization)

A novelization of the Space Battleship Yamato "Iscandar" series (first season) was published in 1974 and 1975, written by Arashi Ishizu from a draft by Aritsune Toyota (and of course adapted from concepts introduced by producer Nishizaki Yoshinobu and director Leiji Matsumoto, amongst others). Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Tim Eldred at CosmoDNA, the entire novel can be read here in an English translation. Below is a brief synopsis of the novel (originally published in two volumes), followed by a more detailed breakdown of the book's chapters. It's interesting to note how the premise and plot differs dramatically from what was eventually developed for the TV series. In general, the tone is much grimmer and the ending much more pyrrhic.

Brief Synopsis: In 2199, a mysterious alien fleet destroys all of Earth's space warcraft and lays waste to the surface of Earth with radiation bombs. However, an envoy from the planet Iscandar manages to deliver a message capsule containing information about the Gamilas invaders. Although the envoy dies from her journey, a team of scientists and soldiers led by Captain Okita use salvaged Iscandarian technology to launch from Earth in a refurbished-for-space WWII battleship named the Yamato to reach Iscandar and seek out additional help. Although the Gamilas repeatedly attack the Yamato on its journey, the mysterious Captain Harlock (who pilots his own star craft the Phantom) sometimes appears to assist.

Eventually, after many battles and the loss of almost its entire complement, the Yamato reaches Iscandar and learns from the lone planetary computer that the Gamilas are a creation of the Iscandarians which had gone out of control. The surviving crew are also informed that humanity's only path to survival is a form of genetic modification which will allow them to withstand the irreversible radiation damage done to the Earth. When the Gamilas stage a final attack on the humans on Iscandar, Okita and Harlock destroy the Iscandar computer by detonating the Yamato in a suicide attack, remotely-deactivating the Gamilas and allowing the two surviving crew members (Kodai and his lover Yuki) to return to Earth with the genetic modification technology.

A more detailed chapter-by-chapter breakdown follows.

Book 1: The Fall of Earth

1. Mysterious Invaders: On January 1, 2199, Pluto base is destroyed by unknown forces. Earth's ruling body, the Republic Federation, sends the space warship Torrante to Pluto to investigate, but contact is soon lost with the ship. When bases on Uranus and Neptune are also destroyed, the superpower nations "A" and "B" begin preparations to defend their inner planet bases. In the meantime, the Japanese representative to the Republic Federation proposes a global alliance named the Earth Defense Force.
2. Desperate Struggle of Mimas: A space fleet commanded by Nation A’s General Grudai intercepts the invasion force at Saturn but is soon caught in an ambush. When Grudai's fleet tries to escape, the only path available is barred by space mines. The fleet is eventually destroyed in a last futile suicide attack against the Gamilas armada. In short order, Nation B’s force at Jupiter is also destroyed. Back on Earth, a physicist named Juuzo Okita is made leader of the new Earth Defense Force.
3. Mars War: A fleet made up of ships from all over the world gathers at Mars to confront the alien invaders. When the enemy fleet arrives, Okita is stunned to find out that his fleet is greatly outnumbered. A diversionary tactic and surprise attack strategy is adopted, but when the enemy craft are fired upon, they take no damage whatsoever. With the Earth fleet soon taking massive losses, Okita orders a full retreat. However, Captain Mamoru Kodai of the God Wind, refuses to retreat. After putting his younger brother Susumu and his friend Daisuke Shima in an escape craft, he has the God Wind remains behind to fight to the last.
4. Strange Spaceship: On the way back to Earth in their shuttle, Kodai and Shima decide to follow a mysterious object as it heads towards the moon. They soon discover that the object is a small ship, which has crashed and killed its only occupant, a beautiful woman. They can only retrieve a strange capsule from her body.
5. Earth Crisis: The alien invaders reach Earth and begin dropping bombs which cause the surface to become irradiated. In an underground base under Tokyo, the capsule obtained by Kodai and Shima on the moon is examined. It reveals a message from Starsha of Iscandar, promising that her sister Sasha (the occupant of the spacecraft) will help Earth survive the Gamilas aliens’ attack. Unfortunately, with Sasha dead, Okita realizes that they must make a trip to Iscandar themselves to seek help directly from Starsha. He orders his staff to study the Iscandarian ship in order to reverse-engineer the technology necessary for such a long trip.
6. Phantom Battleship: While Kodai and Shima lead a team to the moon to obtain the advanced propulsion technology from the Iscandarian ship, Okita brings the surviving Japanese cabinet ministers to his secret underwater base near Gaja Island, where he reveals the WWII battleship the Yamato. He explains that he had once planned to use the Yamato as a possible refurbished spaceship in order to carry out experiments on how space might affect human biology, but now it can be used as a vessel to travel to Iscandar.
7. Super Engine, Warp: In a command meeting, chief engineer Tokugawa explains that the Iscandarian ship uses a form of warp technology to leap great distances. Another scientist named Sanada also proposes that a “Wave Motion Gun” weapon could be developed through the Iscandarian warp technology.
8. Space Battleship Yamato: Assigned to organize the ship’s crew, Kodai and Shima recruit Doctor Sado and the prime minister’s granddaughter, Yuki Mori, who looks exactly like Sasha of Iscandar. Meanwhile Okita’s scientists calculate the general location of Iscandar, based on Starsha’s capsule message. It turns out that Iscandar (and it’s sister planet Gamilas) are in the Salezar binary planet system. The Yamato quickly prepares to take off from its underwater dome.
9. Yamato Departs: Almost immediately after the Yamato takes to the sky, a Gamilas fleet begins approaching. Unable to warp while still in the solar system, Okita orders a sub-light course to be set for the asteroid belt beyond Mars. After a large asteroid is split up by the Yamato's shock cannons, the Yamato’s hull is magnetized so that the ship is covered by asteroid rock fragments. Thus camouflaged, the Yamato then heads into a pack of Gamilas ships and then releases the magnetic hold on the rock fragments, causing them to hurl outwards. This causes several Gamilas ships to crash into each other and explode. The Wave Motion Gun is then used to destroy the rest of the Gamilas fleet. One surviving Gamilas soldier is retrieved from the wreckage to be interrogated. Just before he dies from his wounds, he rants about their ruler, Leader Desslar.
10. Graveyard of Space: During the voyage, Yuki and Kodai gradually form a bond. After emerging from the Solar System, the Yamato performs its first warp, but emerges near a spaceship graveyard and is caught in a space “sargasso”, filled with wrecks and ice lumps. A scout ship is launched to investigate the space wrecks. At the same time, a strange non-Gamilas ship appears and lures the Yamato away from the drifting wreckage. In short order, a Gamilas booby-trap causes a massive explosion, destroying the scout ship. Okita wonders if the strange ship had purposely saved the Yamato from being caught in the explosion.
11. Mystery of the Spaceship Phantom: After performing a warp of 1000 light years, the Yamato is caught in a Gamilas-directed meteorite storm. After dodging the meteor swarm, the Yamato runs into a massive fleet of Gamilas ships. The mystery ship from before reappears and attacks the Gamilas fleet from behind. It reaches the Yamato and tells the crew to follow it (the Phantom) to safety. The Phantom leads the Yamato to safety through a black hole. Their savior identifies himself as Captain Harlock and then disappears.

Book 2: The Revival of Earth

1. The First Fierce Battle: On Gamilas, Desslar is briefed on the Yamato’s progress, but he dismisses them as an inconsequential threat. On the Yamato, Shima learns that Yuji has decided to turn down his marriage proposal. During a confrontation with Gamilas fighters, a distraught Shima disobeys orders and takes Kodai’s place in his combat fighter. Nonetheless, Okita orders the Space Fighter Squadron to corral the Gamilas fighters into a small area and then orders the Wave Motion Gun to be fired into the concentrated zone. The Gamilas fleet is destroyed, but several Yamato fighters (including Shima’s) are also caught in the blast and apparently destroyed.
2. Planet Bolzon: In need of titanium ore for repairs, the Yamato lands on planet Bolzon. On the surface, Okita, Kodai and the landing party meet a representative of Bolzon, who demonstrates telepathy and telekinesis. Okita and his crew are then led to the central city where many different kinds of lifeforms can be seen. The Bolzon King Sruu tells Okita that they know of the Gamilas and have resisted them through their respectful relationship with the planet itself, which is a living force. Later, King Sruu introduces Desslar to the surprised humans. Desslar is unimpressed by the “barbarians” and departs. Afterwards, Okita spots a strange scarred figure with an eye-patch and suspects him to be Mamoru Kodai. Okita tells the figure that he is in truth the true father of Mamoru Kodai, and asks for forgiveness for giving him up for adoption. Okita is then wounded by a mysterious poisoned arrow, apparently fired by a Gamilas soldier under Desslar’s command. When Sruu tells Desslar to leave Bolzon, Desslar vows vengeance. After delaying another three weeks on Bolzon waiting for Okita to recover, the crew debate on the risk of continuing the mission.
3. Infiltrator of Fear: Kodai discovers that the high gravity of Bolzon is a cure for Okita’s condition. By artificially increasing the gravity in his chamber, Okita is cured from the poison arrow and the Yamato continues on its journey. A short while later, a derelict ship is found containing the still-living Shima. Shima explains that he had been captured by the Gamilas but had managed to eventually escape. Although the crew are overjoyed at this reunion, they soon become dismayed by various fatal mishaps which increasingly occur on board the ship, leading Okita and Kodai to suspect a saboteur. When Sanada is murdered, the crew begin to suspect Shima. Okita tells Kodai that he suspects that he (the captain) will be Shima’s next target (if he is really the saboteur). Okita uses himself as bait and eventually exposes Shima as a Gamilas cyborg. Kodai destroys the mechanism, but not before Shima had earlier poisoned the Yamato’s food supply, which causes even more casualties. In the end, only 8 surviving crew members (out of the original 120) still remain alive onboard the Yamato.
4. Mystery of Iscandar: The Yamato encounters a black, mass-less stellar object which soon turns into a star. The star begins drawing in the Yamato to a fiery death but suddenly expels its radiation harmlessly. Okita theorizes that the star goes through a regular cycle of expansion and contraction and urges immediate evasive action. The Yamato almost immediately comes across the Salezar double system, their final destination. They begin to approach a verdant green planet but are soon informed by Captain Harlock that they are in fact heading towards Gamilas. Okita allows Kodai and Yuki to board Harlock’s ship the Phantom which will take them to Iscandar. On the rust-colored wasteland planet of Iscandar, Kodai, Harlock and Yuki discover Starsha, who tells them that she is in reality a planetary computer, able to create organic “life images” such as her “sister” Sasha. She tells them that, a century ago, she had created Desslar and the Gamilas as a form of personal guard. However, the Iscandarians who built her soon tried to turn her off, resulting in their immediate extermination by the Gamilas. Starsha gives Kodai an object which she says will allow humans to “remodel themselves” in order that they can withstand the radiation enveloping the Earth. She also warns them that the Gamilas are approaching to destroy them before they can return to Earth. Okita contacts the landing party by radio and asks Harlock to allow Kodai and Yuki to use the Phantom to return to Earth with the Iscandarian “cure”. Okita explains that he will “deactivate” the Gamilas by ramming the Iscandarian computer with the Yamato and detonating the Wave Motion Gun. Soon, Harlock joins Okita on the bridge of the Yamato, just before it heads towards its final fate with Iscandar. In the end it is only Kodai and Yuki aboard the Phantom as it heads towards Earth with the genetic modification technology.

More episode guides on this site related to Space Battleship Yamato can be found here.