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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On March 17, 2023, the long-awaited Shin Kamen Rider or Shin Masked Rider, directed by Hideaki ANNO (1960-), Japan's leading animator and filmmaker, was finally released. As a big fan of Kamen Rider as well as ANNO's legendary Evangelion series, I went to see the movie, only to find it disappointing. Contrary to my ideal Kamen Rider image, ANNO's new / true (which are the meanings of the Japanese word shin) Masked Rider turned out to be so feeble, just as the manly character of Susumu KODAI was changed into such a tearful weakling by Harutoshi FUKUI in the 21st century reboot version of Space Battleship Yamato. Their good intentions are clear: reviewing Japan's militarism during WWII, both ANNO and FUKUI tried re-creating the famous characters, eliminating the belligerent elements they firmly believed to be bad. Although their attitudes might be politically correct, the results would be boring with anticlimaxes, while the cinema audience really wanted to see the heroes' brave fights with great determination. Shotaro ISHINOMORI (1938-98), the late manga artist who designed the superhero, would have supported ANNO's Shin Kamen Rider, because he was possessed by the same pacific belief as a typical Japanese postwar democrat. Just like ANNO, I (1966-) was fortunate enough to enjoy the first Kamen Rider series, from the very first episode aired on April 3, 1971 to the last of Kamen Rider V3, which ended on February 9, 1974, when the true identity of Shocker and Deathtron's boss proved to be Satan himself. Which means Hideaki ANNO turned the Devil into a human being named Ichiro MIDORIKAWA, who only hoped to make the world a better place. Therefore it is natural that the fighting against SHOCKER tends to be not only anticlimactic but also melancholic in ANNO's new Rider film. The original TV series was written not by Shotaro ISHINOMORI, but mainly by Masaru IGAMI (1931-91), who was good at samurai dramas. It was IGAMI that created the strict father figure of Tobei TACHIBANA wonderfully played by Akiji KOBAYASHI (1930-96) and that wrote about the unforgettable Kamen Rider Kid Corps, which ANNO completely ignored. The true Masked Rider was played by Hiroshi FUJIOKA (1946-), one of the most masculine living Japanese actors, who continued to act Takeshi HONGO in Toei's 2021 authentic Rider movie at the age of 75. As he has discovered and embodied it in his career, I must say the very essence of Kamen Rider is the soul of a samurai.

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