Star Blazers

Star Blazers is the English adaptation of Space Battleship Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト Uchū Senkan Yamato) and its two sequel series. Star Blazers was first broadcast in the United States on syndication in 1979.

Significantly, it was the first popular English-translated anime that had an overarching plot and storyline (story arc) that required the episodes to be shown in order. It dealt with somewhat more mature themes than other productions aimed at the same target audience at the time. As a result, it paved the way for future arc-based, plot-driven anime translations.

Dubbing History
Space Battleship Yamato was initially identified as a potential "kids property" by the Westchester Corporation, who bought the rights for the first two series. Dubbing and editing were done by Griffin-Bacal Advertising and production and syndication was handled by Claster Television.

The dub was comprised of mainly newcoming actors (including future Transformers and G.I. Joe voice actor Chris Latta) based in New York, and was recorded at Filmsounds, Inc. with voice direction done by Tom Griffin and Ellen S. Leinoff. Due to its non-union status, none of the voice actors were given any credit. Many of the voice actors were discovered later, starting when Amy Howard Wilson (voice of Nova) discovered the devoted online community in the late 90’s. Most of the voices are still unknown or unconfirmed.

Marketed to a school-age audience, Space Battleship Yamato was bowdlerized in editing in order to satisfy the broadcast standards and practices offices of American television stations. The main changes included westernization of character names, reduction of personal violence, toning down of offensive language and alcohol use, removal of sexual fan service and reduction to references to World War II. The Japanese language elements such as series title and scene captions were replaced or removed and new opening rolls were created featuring the Star Blazers logo.

Even so, the edits performed to the show were far fewer than other anime at the time, such as Battle of the Planets (the original English adaptation of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman). Even in its edited American form, Star Blazers retains practically all of its uniquely Japanese characteristics in terms of content, plot, character development, and philosophy. Many regard ‘’Star Blazers’’ as more “adult” than other cartoons shown in America at the time, as personal tragedy, funeral scenes for fallen comrades, and the extinction faced by humanity were left intact.

The show first premiered in the San Francisco Bay area on September 17, 1979 as part of the weekday show Captain Cosmic on KTVU 2. ‘’Star Blazers’’ initial broadcasts received high ratings, and subsequent rebroadcasts contributed to build the anime fandom in northern California. The first two seasons (known by the titles ”The Quest for Iscandar” and ”The Comet Empire”) were broadcast between 1979 and 1980.

There was a long delay between the dubbing of the first two seasons and the third season (which had yet to be completed at the time of Winchester’s acquisition of the first two). In 1984, Westchester Films was interested in licensing the third series, however Hasbro now had a direct market and was no longer interested in Star Blazers. Westchester turned to Speed Racer voice actor and dubbing veteran Peter Fernandez about adapting the third series.

None of the original cast could be contacted about reprising their roles due to the non-union status of the first two seasons meaning there was no documentation kept about them. Because of this, Fernandez had little choice but to draw from his own talent pool, consisting of a limited cast of Peter Fernandez himself, Corinne Orr, John Bellucci, Jack Grimes, Earl Hammond and possibly a few other voices. Fernandez often humbly told fans (as well as Nova’s previous voice, Amy Howard Wilson) “don’t hate me!” upon meeting them at conventions because of the cast change.

From a production standpoint, Star Blazers was essentially a repeat of Speed Racer, with Fernandez responsible for localizing the scripts, casting, voice directing and voice acting. Season 3’s production was extremely rushed and cheaply done, only being picked up in limited markets, now competing with other anime imports such as Robotech. Most fans only saw the third season when it was released on VHS in the 80’s.

Additional Voices (Unknown Roles)

 * Earl Hammond (Season 3)
 * Lionel G. Wilson (Season 3)