A couple of days ago, I wrote up an article on one of composer Hiroshi Miyagawa's（宮川泰）delectable pieces for the "Uchuu Senkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト）TV series, and as a result, I ended up looking at some of the old YouTube videos of various scenes from throughout the history of the original franchise from the 1970s into the 1980s.
Then, I re-encountered "Final Yamato" which was, as the title would suggest, the final entry of the entire odyssey in 1983. And them I remembered this scene when everything was all fine and dandy at the end which was represented by the remaining crew (sorry, Mr. Shima) running toward the seashore to admire the safe and happy Earth. It was a chance for fans to say goodbye to the veteran officers and some of the newer crew that joined in the more recent years.
It was all accompanied by a relaxing song ("Have a nice dream") that I had first assumed was by either the vocal group Circus（サーカス）or Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）just from how the folks sounded. And I now notice that "Ashita ni Kakeru Niji" (Rainbow to Tomorrow) had that City Pop or J-AOR beat which would be great on radio. As it turned out, it was actually a duet with Tomoko Kuwae（桑江知子）and rock band Tranzam（トランザム）behind the microphone. I'm not 100% sure but I think it was Tome Kitagawa（トメ北川）working with Kuwae. Both of them had the song released as singles in January 1983, a couple of months before the movie came out. Lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）created the song with Tranzam arranging everything.
Along with the relaxing feeling, there is also something rather celebratory and "Miller Time!" about "Ashita ni Kakeru Niji", and I think after saving the Earth from the galaxy's biggest drowning accident, the gallant crew of the Yamato deserve a fine round of the suds. Of course, immediately after this tune came the scene (in the first theatrical run) of the Kodais thoroughly enjoying their honeymoon, if you know what I mean. 😜 That was all consummated (cough, cough) to Junko Yagami's（八神純子）"Love Supreme" (ラブ・シュープリーム）.
Thanks for another great post on Yamato! I didn't remember the ending of the show at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I had to be reminded that there was that seashore scene in "Final Yamato". Really, my favourites of the entire original franchise were the first two seasons.
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