Space Battleship Yamato 2 19
Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 19
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 19 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

As Yamato approaches the 11th planet, Saito requests permission to go down to the planet to pay respects to the men he lost. Susumu refuses since they are on a tight time line as it is. Saito is angry, so he tries to steal a fighter, backed up by his men. The pilots refuse, so the squadron leader and Saito come to blows. On the bridge, Susumu asks the opinion of the others about making a very short stop at the 11th planet. The senior staff are opposed to the idea when Analyzer comes in to report the fight. Susumu and others break it up and Susumu gives Saito an order — go down to the 11th planet with Analyzer and perform a quick investigation.

After accepting a large sake bottle from Sado-sensei, Saito and Analyzer are off in a scout ship and land on the planet, where Saito makes for the remains of the old space cavalier base. His actions are noted by a force of White Comet troops, who’ve set up a secret base there. When Yamato is spotted descending to the planet (to better grab Saito), the worst is assumed and the base reveals its large missile battery while the 25th Assault Fleet comes in to attack Yamato. Yamato avoids the first wave of missiles, but soon starts taking damage and returning fire. Saito uses the scout ships own weapons to destroy some of the missile launchers before being ordered back. His attempts to land his ship are thwarted by the intense enemy fire. He manages to land the craft, but not without totaling it.

With Saito and Analyzer back on board, Susumu orders the Wave Motion Weapon fired, which then takes out both the 25th Assault Fleet and the missile base. This is reported to Admiral Balsey, who is not happy with this bit of Yamato news. However, his fleet presses ahead and destroys an Earth observation drone, while Yamato makes magical repairs to the ship. With the repairs done, the only way for Yamato to get to the Earth Defense Fleet in time is to warp to Saturn. This they do, whereby they accidentally destroy a manned White Comet observation craft. Meanwhile, Saito and Sado-sensei share some sake with Saito commenting on how Acting Captain Kodai is.

Thoughts/Review:

I’ve never understood the whole Saito element to the story. He’s a complete and utter waste of space and acts like the giant gorilla in the room. I just can’t imagine a real military leader acting like such a buffoon. He’s completely unprofessional, completely unable to see anything past his nose, and he’s no leader. He and the space cavaliers have been such a wasted opportunity. I had hoped that these guys would provide a ground-force punch in the series for those ground encounters with the enemy. They only time they were used, it felt contrived. It is just one of many disappointments that this sequel series has had to offer.

Not that Captain Kodai is any great leader. Gah. He’s pretty pathetic most of the time, but at least he is better than Saito.

So where is Desler? I had thought for sure that Desler would get an attack in just before Earth was attacked, but I guess not. Maybe he comes in to help Admiral Balsey, who suddenly finds himself not doing as well as he’d hoped.

Another thing — if the White Comet forces on the 11th planet could observe Saito, then why couldn’t they figure out that he was there to visit the graves? That was another head scratcher.

Overall, thus far things have been very disappointing with this sequel. I’ll continue to the end, but I don’t expect anything great or good even.