Space Battleship Yamato: Digital Edition Vol. 1

Space Battleship Yamato #1

by Leiji Matsumoto

Leiji Matsumoto's original science fiction masterpiece, first introduced to Western audiences as Star Blazers! It is the year 2199. The Gamilans, a hostile alien race, have bombarded the Earth, rendering it virtually uninhabitable and edging humanity to the verge of extinction. Mankind's last, best hope for survival is the Space Battleship Yamato, a legendary spaceship newly equipped with a faster-than-light drive and advanced weaponry. Its mission: to travel to the distant planet of Iscandar and obtain a mysterious device that could heal our planet. Can Yamato's ragtag crew traverse the galaxy, defeat an overwhelming alien force, and return home in time to save the Earth from certain destruction?

Genres: Science Fiction, Manga, Comics

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 20, 1975

About the author

From the Wikipedia page:

Leiji Matsumoto (松本零士) is famous for his space operas such as Space Battleship Yamato. His style is characterized by tragic heroes; tall, slender, fragile-looking heroines with strong wills and in some cases, god-like powers; and a love of analog gauges and dials in his spacecraft.

Reviews

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picture this: aliens invade Earth, and some American brains decide to convert the Statue of Liberty into a mech. She walks forth and smites aliens and spreads the American Dream to the stars! Space Battleship Yamato is basically that except for the Japanese: a great big patriotic cry when they needed it the most. If you think about it a little harder than that, apply it to the time period and to all the things they'd been through lately, it can get weird - so maybe don't overthink it and just enjoy the story.

The comic skips way too much and honestly doesn't do the anime much of a justice. They could have spread it to at least three full volumes. It's still good, but I'd recommend watching the original.

[Mhorg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly...

While i enjoyed this, I liked the animated version better. This is decent, but a lot of story from the animated movies and series are just told, rather than seen.

[Andri Nugraha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nenek moyang space opera Jepang karya mangaka legendaris Leiji Matsumoto. Penuh aksi tapi sekaligus juga pada beberapa sisi tidak lagi relevan dengan zaman. Tidak terhindarkan untuk artefak budaya populer.

[Paul Spence · Rating 2 out of 5]

This manga series was the inspiration for the Star Blazers animated TV show. This work is dated and it is not very good.

The basic premise of converting a WWII battleship into a space vessel is not bad, but it is poorly executed. The story telling is childlike and not particularly sophisticated. The art isn't very good, either. It is comparable to the type of cartooning you might see in a daily newspaper strip.

The big climatic ending mostly takes place off camera and instead of seeing it, we are merely told about it. This is boring and undramatic. I won't be reading any further volumes in this series.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il manga narra i principali episodi della prima serie, il Viaggio a Iscandar. Matsumoto lo realizzò in parallelo alle puntate settimanali dell'anime. Per questo, se uno non ha visto l'anime, può sembrare una storia troppo frammentaria e confusa. Molte idee, di solito buone, alcune ottime. Per fortuna l'anime originale, e ancor di più il remake del 2014, hanno espanso, corretto e migliorato il tutto.
Nel complesso questo albo merita due stelle e mezzo, ma sono generoso.

[Aphrodite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this fun action packed galaxy themed manga with beautiful art

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 3 out of 5]

De chico adoraba la serie de televisión y ahora que he encontrado las historietas me siento feliz. Obviamente no es la misma experiencia de antes y de hecho podemos sentir que en la historieta la historia corre más rápido, no hay mucho tiempo para empatizar con los personajes,. No te decepciona pero no es lo mismo. Una cosa interesante. Este tomo es autoconclusivo, o sea que en este tomo la historia termina. Veremos que tal están los otros.
La Tierra ha sido emponzoñada con radioactividad por los Gamilianos, una especie extraterrestre invasora. Las fuerzas terrestre no han podido con el invasor. Pero aún queda una esperanza. Los seres del planeta Iscander nos han mandado los planos para diseñar una astronave capaz de viajar hasta su mundo y cargar un aparato que limpiará de radioactividad nuestro planeta. Pero los Gamideanos harán todo para impedirlo.