Space Battleship Yamato 21
Uchuu Senkan Yamato Episode 21
宇宙戦艦ヤマト Ep. 21 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

General Domel has returned to Gamilus where he is before the military tribunal, headed by Vice President, General Hiss. Domel attempts to shift the blame for the Balan base loss on Gale, but Gale responds that he was only being extremely loyal to Supreme Leader Desler. The other military commanders find that Domel’s plan to sacrifice the Balan base was bad to begin with. With the base ultimately destroyed, the impact on other military units has been great. Thus, the tribunal reaches a unanimous verdict to execute Domel.

General Hiss takes the verdict to Supreme Leader Desler, who reads it and rejects it. Despite the fact that Domel failed to destroy the Yamato, Desler sees no value in killing the one general he feels can actually destroy Yamato. Hiss takes Desler’s decision to Domel, who’s relieved to be given a second chance. After all, Domel’s only motivation has been to serve Desler and destroy Yamato. Hiss tells Domel that his orders are to have the Yamato destroyed before it reaches the Large Magellanic Cloud.

On Yamato, the crew is analyzing the samples gathered from the planet Balan. Susumu gets a report from Sanada. It is Sanada’s theory that the people of Gamilus are trying to colonize Earth. Sanada has some materials which shows that the Gamilons were sending progress reports to Gamilus about the spread of the contamination on Earth. It is clear that the base on Balan was an important one, so now that it has been destroyed, the Yamato should expect some kind of attack as a response.

Gale presents Domel with a list of places to attack the Yamato. Domel settles on the Rainbow Star Cluster because of the large number of gas planets there and the gas cloud which would help hide the Gamilus fleet and kill Yamato‘s radar. Domel has a couple of surprised for Yamato. First, he has the Drill Missile which will take out Yamato‘s Wave Motion Gun. Then, he has the Instantaneous Material Transporter, which will allow his fighters to be sent to Yamato instantly, thus making for the perfect surprise attack. Domel orders Gale to send a challenge to Captain Okita and the crew of Yamato to meet them for a final battle at the Rainbow Star Cluster.

When the crew of Yamato receives the challenge, Susumu is excited and ready to face the Gamilus forces right away. Sanada advises against going into a head-to-head battle with the Gamilons since they don’t know the area. This annoys Susumu, who asks if they should run like cowards. Daisuke also advises against accepting the challenge since they are already behind schedule and combat will only delay them more. Susumu is undeterred, wanting either lose or have the path cleared. Captain Okita decides that they will accept the challenge, which will happen in seven days.

On Gamilu, three carriers and one battle carrier arrive after being summoned by Domel to prepare for the upcoming battle while preparations are underway on Yamato as well. On the morning of the battle, Desler sends Domel’s forces off. The three carries, the battle carrier, and Domel’s command ship take up position at the Rainbow Star Cluster. Back on Yamato, Captain Okita musters all hands and gives them all a cup of water (looking like it is distributed in sake cups) with the promise of more (the actual sake I’m guessing) after the battle is won. With that, the crew goes to battle stations and Yamato enters the cloud at the Rainbow Star Cluster, thus entering the trap Domel has laid.

Thoughts/Review:

Hiss was again referred to as “Vice President” in this episode. So I guess that he holds the position of vice president and the title of general, which makes sense. The anime goes back and forth on how he should be addressed and I guess most fans just refer to him as “General.”

I liked how Domel was given a court martial for the loss of the Balan base. As military commander, the loss was his responsibility and he had to face the music.

I did not like how Susumu is so eager to get into a fight. Seriously, if you enemy sends you a challenge, you have to know it is most certainly a trap, especially with all the traps they’ve laid out previously. The argument that the Yamato will have to face Domel’s fleet at some point or other is valid, but not at the time and place of the enemy’s choosing. That’s why it was disappointing to me that Captain Okita seems to have blindly agreed to the challenge. This scene also shows me why Susumu is not ready to be captain.

Yuki was pretty mute this episode. Well, war is a man’s world. Maybe she can make coffee and tea for everyone. ^_~

Next episode is the actual fight between Yamato and Domel’s fleet. How lucky for Yamato‘s crew that they are only facing five ships vs. the swarms of ships that the Pluto base had.