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Review of Space Battleship Yamato (Naoki Sato)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you're not familiar with the legacy of the music for this concept or if you desire an intelligent adaptation of its themes into a monumental revision that resembles the style of Western fantasy blockbusters more than ever before.

Avoid it... if you are a purist who staunchly defends the pop and vocal elements in Hiroshi Miyagawa's legendary music of the past and reject any melodramatic Westernization of that sound despite faithful thematic usage and an incredible recording mix.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Space Battleship Yamato: (Naoki Sato/Hiroshi Miyagawa) The legacy of the Japanese anime concept "Space Battleship Yamato" is one of such immense history that summarizing it here would require thousands words for only the back story leading up to the 2010 live action film on which this review solely focuses. The original series spawned an incredibly faithful following in Japan at its 1974 inception, eventually yielding several adaptations, sequels, and movies concentrated mostly in the subsequent ten years. Outside of Japan, the series was most commonly known as "Star Blazers," dubbed into English in the aftermath of the space opera popularity of cinema in the late 1970's. Not only was the concept one of the first major introductions to Japanese anime for Americans (despite being watered down from its source to meet more conservative broadcasting standards), but it has always been remembered as one of the few animated children's programs to successfully deal with frightening and serious adult subjects. A few centuries into the future, an alien race of technologically superior beings decides to irradiate the surface of the Earth as part of its plan to migrate to it out of necessity. Humanity proves no match for the invaders from Gamilas until a capsule from its supposedly sympathetic sister planet, Iscandar, contains the blueprints with which humans can build a ship to fight back. The wreckage of the Japanese World War II super battleship Yamato is transformed into this vessel, allowing a ragtag crew to embark on a journey to Iscandar to retrieve the secret to restoring Earth all the while fighting off the Gamilas forces. The concept is one of immense national pride for the Japanese, and although the names and deeper meanings of "Space Battleship Yamato" were stripped of their significance upon their translation to "Star Blazers," the combination of space opera grandeur and one of the greatest vessels of maritime history proved to be a romantic fantasy too alluring to resist. Despite all the offshoots inspired by the original series, the prospect of a live-action version of "Space Battleship Yamato" had always remained elusive. Walt Disney purchased the "Star Blazer" rights in the mid-1990's but never managed to put a production together.

The Tokyo Broadcasting System finally pushed forward with the endeavor in the late 2000's, and in 2010, Space Battleship Yamato debuted in Japan as the most expensive film (with a budget of $22 million) ever to be made there. While there had been an animated film version of the concept just a year prior, the live-action movie caused "Space Battleship Yamato" to be propelled back into the mainstream of Japanese culture, yielding a marketing blitz that included pictures of the famed battleship-turned-spaceship on packages of everything from curry to potato chips. It only took a few weeks in December for the studio to recoup its investment, but despite significant proclaimed interest from distributors, there has been fruitless discussion about bringing the production to America for a wider release. Understandably, the positive aspects of the film are highlighted by the nine months of CGI work put into it, using the phenomenal and, more importantly, loyal design aspects of the ship itself (including the very phallic movements of its primary weapon) to mask the rather wooden acting performances by its ensemble of Japanese actors (thankfully, the Scottish look of the original anime's characters, long something of a curiosity for many, was done away with). Another immensely popular aspect of the concept has always been its music, and the adaptation of that material for Space Battleship Yamato is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the production. While most television shows of the era that traveled overseas for dubbing typically lost their original scores, the themes of "Space Battleship Yamato" were so popular that they made the transition intact. In Japan, specifically, however, the music of Hiroshi Miyagawa for the concept has always been a national favorite, a source of patriotic spirit for fireworks shows and concert band performances. His themes are so revered that they became the basis for all of the music in the franchise thereafter, regardless of the composer's level of involvement with it. His understudy, classical pianist Kentaro Haneda, an accomplished anime composer himself, helped developed his music's symphonic evolution in the 1980's, and 40-year-old Naoki Sato, television/anime veteran of the 2000's, has ensured continuity for the 2010 film (as both Miyagawa and Haneda passed away just a few years prior)

One of the most important aspects of Miyagawa's music for "Space Battleship Yamato" to remember is its versatility. The title theme has been translated into a tune performed in nearly every conceivable genre of music over the past thirty years, including a painful period of enthusiastic disco treatment. While symphonic performances of the theme give it the march-like qualities that rouse the aforementioned patriotic feelings, it was also originally provided lyrics and performed with the suave, night-club tones of singer Isao Sasaki, whose career shot through the roof following his initial recordings of this theme. Decades later, Sasaki still performed the theme with marginal orchestral accompaniment to the screams of adoring fans, and his narration graces 2010's Space Battleship Yamato. Even from its inception, the tone of Miyagawa's music for the concept always maintained one foot in the door of the pop genre, rock percussion and electric guitar inserting a coolness factor into the symphonic performances that certainly made the music catchy. Even the style of the orchestral performances, led by flute and string lines, had the mannerisms of elevator music. Unfortunately, this everlasting association with mainstream 1970's style has also caused the music to sound perpetually dated. The idea of using a synthetic soundtrack was originally proposed by franchise father Yoshinobu Nishizaki, but he eventually agreed with Miyagawa that an orchestral approach would be necessary to reflect the depth of humanity's struggles. It's unfortunate (to only some listeners, of course) that Miyagawa's music has always tapped its way through countless lighter shades of pop style regardless of how ambitiously singular parts of it attempt to emulate everything from high opera to 20th Century classicism. Add to the equation two resulting historical factors, the countless songs and the cover versions of them and the score, and you have a truly muddied picture. Each incarnation of the concept seems to have enjoyed another mainstream song, another magnet pulling the scores away from strictly symphonic force. The live-action production of Space Battleship Yamato is no different, Steven Tyler lending his distinctive voice to the quite decent ballad "Love Lives" for the film's trailer and end credits sequence, released with much anticipation as a single in Japan at the time of the film's debut.

As for Naoki Sato's score for 2010's Space Battleship Yamato, it was clearly modeled as both an adaptation and a modernization of Miyagawa's work. It faithfully references the most famous themes by Miyagawa and does so with extreme zeal and careful attention to orchestration and the application of secondary ideas. At the same time, it completely drops the pop sensibilities and filters the themes through the same lens that shapes contemporary Hollywood blockbuster scores. Some listeners may casually disregard Sato's interpretation as being the continued influence of Hans Zimmer on the music of cinema, especially with the incorporation of the current fad of string ostinatos in the mix. That unfortunately oversimplifies Sato's work, however, and doesn't do justice to the intelligence with which he has written this adaptation. Those who have always appreciated the music's role in the concept but never cared to listened to it apart from the show directly because of its dated, pop-inspired tone will hear Miyagawa's music as finally reaching the monumental potential it always had but never realized. As such, some will consider Space Battleship Yamato an incredible and overdue revelation either despite or because of its "modernization" to meet the standard of orchestral majesty established in the 2000's by Howard Shore's The Lord of the Rings. Additionally, the bulk of the most famous recordings for the concept came before the luxuries of digital recording and processing, so many of the albums of Miyagawa's music (and there were many, especially in concert form) suffer from somewhat archival ambience. The 2010 recording not only modernizes the composition, but also does so in an absolutely stunning recording. The mix of Sato's adaptation is so well balanced, with fantastic reverb levels balanced by great emphasis on each performing section or soloist, you can't help but be absorbed by how resounding this music now sounds. The ensemble's assembly doesn't consist of any truly unique instruments, but each traditional sound is utilized in such richly textured ways that flashy overlays (outside of the vocals) weren't necessary. The percussion section is extremely well utilized, the drums and struck metallic objects employed masterfully as dynamic rhythmic contributors in several cues. An adult vocal ensemble is also heard in numerous cues of tragic majesty, usually representing destruction and sacrifice in the story. And, of course, operatic solo female vocals are always on order for this concept.

The remainder of this review will discuss individual tracks in the score for Space Battleship Yamato, and keep in mind that English equivalents of many of the cue titles tend to differ slightly depending upon the translator. Sato arranges the most famous thematic identities immediately in "Space Battleship Yamato Opening Title," following a grim chime and cymbal introduction with a suite-like presentation of Miyagawa's main theme with the always beautiful "Infinitely Expanding Universe" theme serving as an interlude. The bravado of the fanfare is tempered by the defeat of the Earth fleet in this opening scene, thus yielding to the choral elements that most frequently represent the planet's suffering (as well as the intoxicating effect of Iscandar). One of the concerns some listeners may have about Sato's arrangements is likely how well he reconciles the bombast of the main march and the operatic "Infinitely Expanding Universe" theme; in concerts, these two highly disparate halves of the general score for the concept have always seemed miles apart in terms of style. Fortunately, the latter theme of lament is often joined by adult choral passages that help bridge the two halves, though they still fail to overlap in any meaningful way. On the other hand, one of the true highlights of Sato's work is how well he arranges the main theme for different emotional circumstances, starting in "Raggedy Men" and "Ship of Hope" while the despair of Earthlings is on display. As in many places in Space Battleship Yamato, Sato presents the idea in both intriguing new guises and poignant fragments, giving it a seemingly more genuine, three-dimensional character with quietly melodramatic orchestrations. At 1:45 into "Ship of Hope," he launches into one of the highlights of this new score, an ostinato and snare-driven rhythm and hopeful string hymn that picks up steam (and both the choral ensemble and featured female soloist) over the course of several minutes. The recording of this cue is particularly stunning, with fluttering flute lines and the tapping of the snare and timpani very well placed in the soundscape. This theme of hope for Earth receives a somber reprise on low strings in the first minute of "Earth" while brass perform extracted phrases from the main theme as counterpoint. Sato's integration of the main theme into his new battle motifs is heard extensively in "Wave-Motion Gun Firing," allowing the Yamato its due glory as it ascends from its grave on the surface of the planet and engages enemy forces with its most powerful weapon for the first time.

Sato's driving battle rhythms in "Wave-Motion Gun Firing" and elsewhere are informed heavily by Miyagawa's existing material, secondary phrases of the main title mixed in between new ideas liberally. The second half of this cue is particularly notable for its handling of the woodwind and percussion mixes once again; the trilling flutes that were often obnoxious in the original Miyagawa compositions are allowed to develop into more fluid background movements in the third minute of this cue, and forcefully tapped metallic percussion in the final passages will remind of James Newton Howard's journey music in The Last Airbender. Similar action continues in "Gamilas Fleet," the orchestra propelled by frenetic string activity with boldly harmonious statements by brass on the top. Also continuing are prominent roles for percussion and flute, the latter punctuating the opening broken crescendo with a ferociously entertaining shriek. The instrument's role in this cue, along with some of the more generic fragments of secondary heroic material from Miyagawa, will remind listeners of Jane Antonia Cornish's Island of Lost Souls. The same percussively rhythmic crescendo from the previous cue is joined by madly banging chimes here before a massively dissonant brass figure closes out the cue. The ominous "The Return" contains the darkest theme of Space Battleship Yamato, using progressions and repeating its phrases that sound lifted from a 1980's John Barry adventure score. As in many cues, this theme picks up percussive momentum as it develops over several minutes, and its reprises later in the score may suggest some kind of representation of the threat of Gamilas. The most unique cue in Space Battleship Yamato comes in the frantic dissonant eruptions of harrowing but creative symphonic noise in "Gamilasroid," similar in many ways (especially in the slurring trombones) to Michael Giacchino's music for the television series "Lost." In "Orders," Sato once again adapts the main theme into a quietly resolute form, completely shedding its fanfare mannerisms and infusing it with a genuine sense of drama that could be appropriate for any historical film of tremendous gravity. Rambling rhythms akin to Jerry Goldsmith's career open "Enemy Fleet Destroyed," a cue that finally presents the full version of the Gamilas march at 0:50. Moreso than in this theme's return in "Desslar's Revenge," Sato sprinkles the primary motifs amongst the orchestral chaos, the balancing of strings and French horns in the final thirty seconds not to be missed.

The softer, contemplative side of Space Battleship Yamato is led by string layers in a motif of reflection and sadness in "A Moment of Silence." Subsequent statements of this theme, seemingly sculpted from the same mould as Sato's theme for Earth, are joined by the full ensemble for glorious harmonic resonance. That demeanor then transfers to "Comfort," a similarly lovely string cue but this time with a larger scope of importance and a touch of Ennio Morricone's The Mission in its shifts. The ensemble choral lament of the "Earth" theme returns in "Beautiful Blue Planet," the brief expression of awe conveyed by nicely layered male and female lines at the end. This respite from action in the middle of Space Battleship Yamato is shattered by the sudden attack in "Crisis," a return to the main theme-led action heard in "Wave-Motion Gun Firing" and "Annihilation of the Enemy Fleet." Several points in this cue expose potential influences from David Arnold's renown action style. As the Yamato recovers and counterattacks in "Faith," Sato provides the most intact presentation of Miyagawa's main theme in its exuberant march-like form, only one of two such moments in this score to emulate that famously fanciful tone of bravado. The latter half of the cue shifts back to the established depth of Sato's previous action music, however. The film's inspirational speech moment comes in "A New History," allowing the main title to be conveyed first by ultra-slow tempo, stoic choral layers similar to Richard Harvey's Animal Farm and then by the full ensemble in similarly drawn-out heroism. Pounding timpani, crashing cymbals, outrageously noble French Horn and trombone counterpoint all raise memories of the great Christ-related epics of Hollywood's Golden Age. Opening "Cosmo Zero Launch" is a motif from "Gamilas Fleet" that now clarifies itself as a theme for the Black Tiger fighters of the Yamato. This, the last lengthy action cue of the score, rotates between all of the rhythmic devices inspired by secondary Miyagawa motifs before moving at 2:50 into the score's second and final reference to the upbeat march version of the main theme. A fascinatingly belching woodwind phrase at 3:25 takes the cue to its necessarily dark conclusion, lead by what sounds like a muted gong rhythm. For enthusiasts of the operatic "Infinitely Expanding Universe" theme, your highlight arrives with "The Truth About the Radioactivity Removal Device," a striking presentation of the idea's versatility. Sato extends the theme on strings over extremely slow tempi for several minutes, making it nearly unrecognizable before allowing the traditional female vocal to carry the tune over several increasingly powerful statements.

Listeners seeking the unequivocal harmonic beauty of a refined female voice leading an orchestral and ensemble choral group of significant size will be mesmerized by "The Truth About the Radioactivity Removal Device," especially if unfamiliar with this Miyagawa achievement. Again, without any hints of the pop elements that often accompanied this theme in the many arrangements by the original composer through the years, the theme transforms into a purely classical representation of motherly love not heard with such clarity since John Williams' A.I. Artificial Intelligence. As the sacrificial duties become clear in "Entrusted With the Future," Sato returns to the melancholy music of the score's middle portion, but this time with the finality of chimes added to these progressions. As mentioned before, "Earth" returns to the "Ship of Hope" theme and begins a series of ultra-heroic renditions of the title theme that will continue through the end of the score. A crescendo topped off by flourishing harp and ominous trombone figures (a la Arnold once again) leads to continued development of Sato's tortured, bass-dwelling material for Gamilas in "Desslar's Revenge." As the Yamato is evacuated before its final engagement in "The One I Want to Protect" (this cue title is the most difficult to translate cleanly to English), Sato initially extends the motifs of dramatic sadness from prior in the score (most specifically, the cue "Comfort"), but more prominently staggers it in three-note phrases that will recall Hans Zimmer's King Arthur for some listeners (or 10,000 B.C. by Harald Kloser for others, but let's not get into that plagiarism debate again). Those phrases merge with the title theme at the end of the cue. Admittedly, Sato goes perhaps too far in attempting to jerk tears in "The One I Want to Protect," using violins with as much emotional saturation as Howard's Defiance and other holocaust-related film scores. Similar shades of heightened drama are expressed in "The Final Salute," though with the once again slowed performance of the main theme joined by tapping snare. The "Infinitely Expanding Universe" theme is afforded two final glorious ensemble statements with the female voice sending the crippled battleship to its final destiny. One thing to note about this cue is its intentionally unfinished conclusion. The lack of a satisfying timpani-pounding, chime-banging crescendo leading to a full ensemble chord on key is because of how the film vaguely concludes its final action sequence. On screen, the transition to the end credits is immediately accompanied by the Steven Tyler song (which itself has nothing in common with Sato's work at the structural level), so the score was never meant to resolve itself. This is a minor but inevitable quibble with the score album's chronological and otherwise engaging presentation.

Overall, the overarching narrative of the music for Space Battleship Yamato may not make complete sense for listeners not familiar with the concept's musical history. As such, you have to look at Sato's achievement from the perspective of the franchise. This is a painstakingly faithful adaptation score for essentially a remake, and the only other time in recent memory that such a scenario has led to a satisfying revision of existing music was John Ottman's Superman Returns. There are purists who will reject the translation of Miyagawa's work into the Hollywood mould. Indeed, this score's tone sounds like the Japanese composer's famous themes re-interpreted through the stylistic mannerisms of half a dozen Western composers. For Westerners who never could quite love the tone of "Space Battleship Yamato"'s music during all those years, though, Sato's version is a stunning turn of events. From that perspective, everything to love about the Miyagawa music has been retained while the tedious pop-influences have not, and regardless of the potentially generic sound that some will hear in the resulting transition to a live-action environment, there is no question that Space Battleship Yamato represents the concept's soundtrack its greatest evolutionary advancement, for better or for worse. For Sato enthusiasts, it's finally the symphonic explosion for the big screen long awaited, surpassing his strong but lesser orchestral scores for K-20 and The Silver Season. And then there will be anime novices who know nothing about any of this phenomenon and couldn't care less about its history; for these listeners, especially those in the film music collecting world, Space Battleship Yamato will blow you out of your seat without reservation. Much of that capability in the music owes, as mentioned before, to the exemplary combination of intelligent orchestration and a superior mix of the recording. In almost all of his cues, Sato maintains a level of activity that requires several listens to fully appreciate. It doesn't hurt, of course, that the reverb allowed in the final presentation causes the score to sound as ambitiously massive as nearly anything since The Lord of the Rings (without, remarkably, the same depth of ensemble). Only a small fraction of Space Battleship Yamato is troubled by dissonant interruptions to the score's pleasing harmonic stance, a few stringers at the ends of cues and the entirety of "Gamilasroid" perhaps still interesting enough to retain in an edited listening experience. The 65-minute score-only album for Space Battleship Yamato (no Tyler ballad) was released commercially in Japan but did not make the normal rounds as an import through international media sellers. This means, at least initially, that listeners seeking this monumental resurrection of "Space Battleship Yamato" music needed to order it from Asian distributors directly for $40, including shipping. Inventories of the CD have not been deep, however, so don't hesitate if you have any remote interest in this, the biggest and most pleasing surprise in the realm of film music in 2010.  *****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 65:28

• 1. Space Battleship Yamato Opening Title (3:35) • 2. Grungy Men (Raggedy Men) (1:14) • 3. Ship of Hope (4:16) • 4. Wave-Motion Gun Firing (Fire Wave Motion Gun) (4:38) • 5. Gamilas Fleet (Gamirus Fleet) (3:25) • 6. The Return (2:44) • 7. Gamilasroid (Gamirusroid) (0:47) • 8. Orders (1:39) • 9. Annihilation of the Enemy Fleet (Enemy Fleet Destroyed) (3:21) • 10. A Moment of Silence (4:23) • 11. Comfort (1:40) • 12. Beautiful Blue Planet (0:47) • 13. Crisis (2:13) • 14. Conviction (Faith) (2:10) • 15. A New History (2:27) • 16. Cosmo Zero Launch (4:37) • 17. The Truth of the Radiation Remover (The Truth About the Radioactivity Removal Device) (5:51) • 18. Entrusted With the Future (2:06) • 19. Earth (2:34) • 20. Dessler's Retaliation (Desslar's Revenge) (3:21) • 21. The One I Want to Protect (To Protect/Mamoru's Hope) (4:41) • 22. The Final Salute (3:07)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes note about both Sato and Miyagawa, as well as a list of performers. Almost all of it is in Japanese.

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