In 1977, before the debut of the American
Star Blazers series, the Japanese anime film
Space Battleship Yamato (or
Space Cruiser Yamato as it was known at the time) was dubbed into English and retitled
Space Cruiser. This film was sold and released in several countries, including the United States, Britain and France. The American release was extremely limited, and eventually ended up airing on television in the Los Angeles area in 1978. Following this, the Westchester Corporation identified the first
Space Battleship Yamato anime series from 1974 as a potential "kids' property" and bought the rights to the first two seasons (season three had not been made yet). Dubbing and editing were done by
Griffin-Bacal Advertising and production and syndication was handled by
Claster Television. The Japanese language elements such as series title and scene captions were replaced or removed. New opening credit rolls were created featuring the "Star Blazers" logo. The series 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 the development of anime fandom in northern California. Being marketed to a school-age audience, this animated
space opera was
bowdlerized by American editors in order to satisfy the
broadcast standards and practices offices of American television stations. However, far fewer edits were made than were made to the episodes of another 1970s anime series,
Battle of the Planets (an edited version 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. Principal changes in the transformation to
Star Blazers included westernization of character names, reduction of personal violence, toning down of offensive language and alcohol use (references to
sake were changed to "spring water", and the Doctor's perpetually drunken state was portrayed as merely good humor), removal of sexual
fan service, and reduction of references to World War II (though the sunken battleship ruins were still identified as the battleship
Yamato in dialogue). The most significant reference removed—and the longest single edit in the series—was a section from episode two depicting the Battleship
Yamato's final battle during World War II, including imagery of the captain tied to the helm as he went down with his ship. Many fans regard
Star Blazers as more "adult" than other cartoons shown in the United States at the time, as personal tragedy, funeral scenes for fallen comrades, and the extinction faced by humanity were left intact. The very Japanese theme of "the honorable enemy" was also a tremendously important aspect of character development; in particular, the major villain of the first series, Desslok, during the second and third seasons, as well as in the later movies. The most significant change made by Griffin-Bacal was purely narrative: In the original series, the
Yamato and its crew were regarded as a single entity, the narrator each week urging "
Yamato, hurry to Iscandar!". In English, the significance of the name
Yamato as a word the viewers would identify with, signifying the land, people, and spirit of Japan, is lost, so in
Star Blazers the crew were named the
Star Force and became the focus of the series. The ship is still the historical
Yamato and it is referred to as such in early episodes (although the ship's backstory is edited out), but it is renamed the
Argo (after the ship
Argo of Jason and the Argonauts); the crew keep calling "it" (not "her") Star Force and the ship becomes merely the vessel in which they travel. ==Reception==