©Courtesy of Tohoku Shinsha

khara, Inc., which Hideaki Anno serves as president, has been granted the rights to produce a new anime based on Space Battleship Yamato.

Anno and a mechanical designer/director Yutaka Izubuchi, and animation & special effects researcher Ryusuke Hikawa were the presenters during the 50th anniversary screening special talk show of Space Battleship Yamato to announce this project.

Anno’s comments were also posted on the official khara, Inc. website which says that Voyager Holdings, which manages the original rights to Space Battleship Yamato, has granted the rights to produce a new animated film, and Tohoku Shinsha will work with Anno’s khara, Inc 

According to the official comment, “A new theatrical work is currently under planning with the goal of starting production in 2025,” and will be “a work that will follow a different course” from the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and other remake series. Anno said, “If I had not encountered Space Battleship Yamato 50 years ago, I would not be where I am today. As long as I am involved with ‘Yamato,’ I would like to spend the rest of my life creating interesting works that mix the old and the new as much as possible to bequeath ‘Space Battleship Yamato’ to future generations, with gratitude, respect and repayment to all the ‘Yamato’ staff and cast.

Hideaki Anno’s actual comment

khara, Inc has been granted the rights to produce a new animated film based on Space Battleship Yamato by Voyager Holdings Corporation (President: Shoji Nishizaki), and has also received permission from Tohoku Shinsha Corporation to use the copyright.

The new theatrical film is currently under planning with the goal of starting production in 2025, in order to contribute to the further development of the Space Battleship Yamato series, which has a glorious history as a Japanese animation work, and to make it a work that many fans will enjoy.

This new animated film will follow a different path from the remake series that began with Space Battleship Yamato 2199 released in 2012 and will continue with Yamato yo, Towa ni: Rebel 3199, the second chapter of which will be released in theaters on November 22, 2024. We wish you safe voyages on the voyage of the remake series currently in production.

If I had not encountered Space Battleship Yamato 50 years ago, I would not be where I am today. As long as I am involved with the “Yamato” series, I would like to spend the rest of my life creating interesting works that weave together the old and the new as much as possible and bequeath the Space Battleship Yamato to future generations, with gratitude, respect and repayment to all the “Yamato” staff and cast.