# Space Battleship Yamato (1974)

> A ragtag crew sails a rebuilt battleship across the galaxy to bring back a cure that could save a radiation-poisoned Earth.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/12444

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 77
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, animation
- Network: YTV
- Cast: Kei Tomiyama, Gorō Naya, Shūsei Nakamura, Yoko Asagami, Takeshi Aono, Ichiro Nagai, Kenichi Ogata, Yoshito Yasuhara
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140644/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: earnest, melancholic, epic, tense, elegiac

## Synopsis

Space Battleship Yamato (1974-1981) is a Japanese science fiction anime series created for YTV, a seminal space opera that helped define the serious, character-driven anime that followed. Young officer Susumu Kodai (voiced by Kei Tomiyama) serves under the stern, dying Captain Juzo Okita (Gorō Naya) aboard a refitted battleship rebuilt from a wartime hull. Their engine is a desperate voyage across hostile space to fetch a distant cure that could save an Earth scorched by alien attack. Each episode is built from ship-to-ship battles, tactical debates on the bridge, and the crew's shifting loyalties as the journey wears them down. Across three seasons the story stays one continuing mission, carrying the weight of sacrifice and the cost of hope. The mood is elegiac and earnest, with a melancholy undertow beneath the spectacle of starship combat and a crew bound by duty. Fans of Mobile Suit Gundam, Star Trek: The Original Series and Neon Genesis Evangelion will find resonance in its blend of militarized sci-fi, emotional stakes and long-form character drama.

## Shows like Space Battleship Yamato

- [Starzinger (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/40677)
- [Battlestar Galactica (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/471)
- [Queen Millennia (1981)](https://ember.film/tv/32067)
- [Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/29205)
- [Captain Future (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/21207)
- [Martian Successor Nadesico (1996)](https://ember.film/tv/32691)
- [Star Blazers [Space Battleship Yamato] 2199 (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/41576)
- [The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/31471)
- [Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)](https://ember.film/tv/20024)
- [Star Blazers (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/7224)

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