A talented producer Yoshinobu NISHIZAKI (1934-2010), who is famous for his legendary anime movie Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato (1978), was disgraced as a "scoundrel" in his first biography titled The Man Who Made Space Battleship Yamato: The Madness of Yoshinobu NISHIZAKI (2015). Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato and its TV series Space Battleship Yamato II (1978-79) were recently remade as Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 (2017-19) by Harutoshi FUKUI, novelist known for film versions of his original works such as Lorelei and Gundam Unicorn. Contrary to Yamato fans’ expectations, the new Yamato 2202 turned out to be a sheer failure, or another disgrace to the lamented NISHIZAKI.
In this paper, a close comparison is made between Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato and Space Battleship Yamato 2202, with some reference to NISHIZAKI's other Yamato films and FUKUI's own novels. As a result, their themes are proved to be opposed to each other: NISHIZAKI, belonging to the war generation, evaluated "Tokko" suicide attacks as respectable acts to protect compatriots, while FUKUI, postwar democrat, blindly believes in the "Peace" Constitution of Japan given by the US general Douglass MacArthur, from which protagonist KODAI's unbelievably obsessive, pacifistic deeds originate.

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Yoshinobu NISHIZAKI's 1978 anime movie Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato was a milestone in the history of Japan's animation, moving an audience of four million Japanese to tears at the ending where protagonist KODAI made a "Tokko" suicide attack on the White Comet in order to prevent it from invading the Earth. I, the author of this paper, saw the unforgettable film as a schoolboy knowing almost nothing about the background to the source of the powerful emotions. As I grew older, it became clear that we cried for the souls of the kamikaze members who chose to make self-sacrifice just to defend their mother country Japan where their parents, siblings and friends lived; the crew of Japanese Navy's largest and strongest battleship Yamato were such unselfish patriots thinking first of other people's happiness. Through creating the Yamato series, NISHIZAKI devoted his life insisting on the true value of their deeds.
Due to the postwar "peace" education in Japan, many of the ex-Yamato fans grew up to be typical Japanese adults who bitterly criticize the theme of Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, ashamed of the tears they once shed. One of them Harutoshi FUKUI remade the legendary movie to Star Blazers 2202, removing the essence of NISHIZAKI's lifework. However, let us remember that it was the Yamato spirit that overcame the 2011 disaster of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and that Takashi YAMAZAKI's 2010 live-action movie Space Battleship Yamato was true to the original, paying a tribute to the memory of Yoshinobu NISHIZAKI(1934-2010). I also wrote this paper for him with not only respect but everlasting gratitude.

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Ken WAKASAKI (1947- ) novelized as many as 27 titles of Japan's popular anime, manga, and TV dramas from 1978 to 1990. As a multi-talented novelist who graduated from Tokyo University, he was able to create unique books retaining the very essence of the original visual works by using his knowledge of not only science, but also human beings both male and female. So, it was quite natural that the intelligent author became very popular among young Japanese from junior high school to high school students as soon as his novel version of the epoch-making anime movie Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato came out in August, 1978.
Just after the success of this book, he was recognized as a master hand at novelization. His works include The Galaxy Express 999, Mu's White Whale, and Triton of the Sea, not to mention all the Space Battleship Yamato series. In addition to these major heroic fantasies, he also novelized the TV animations of King Arthur and Marco Polo, both of which are now almost completely forgotten in Japan. WAKASAKI's less known novelizations of manga and TV dramas dealing with everyday lives of junior high school baseball players, junior high school teachers, girl actresses, and high school baseball players with beautiful female students are respectively Akio CHIBA's Captain, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television's 1-B Class Teacher Shinpachi-sensei, Suzue MIUCHI's Glass Mask, and Mitsuru ADACHI's Nine, all of which are masterpieces as novels. Which means you can enjoy reading them without knowing the originals.
While Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs boasts of "Cool Japan" anime and manga, it ignores the important contribution of WAKASAKI's hard work. It is lamentable that his old books have become less and less accessible at online bookstores and even in public libraries. Now is the time when his novels are properly stored for future generations of those who love Japanese pop culture, regardless of nationalities.

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