Space Battleship Yamato 2 23
Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 23
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 23 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

The White Comet re-approaches Earth after having worked over the moon while Desler’s fleet has located Yamato and prepares to attack. Yamato warps away to where the White Comet had been, but it has already moved a lot closer to Earth. Before Yamato can pursue, squadrons of Gamilus fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes arrive, courtesy of Instantaneous Material Transporter. Yamato is surrounded and Desler issues his final challenge. Desler’s forces begin pounding Yamato and it takes Sanada to get Susumu to snap out of it and order the heavily damaged ship to defend itself.

As Desler’s fleet closes in, Susumu orders Yamato to come about to fire on Desler’s command ship with the Wave Motion Cannon. Desler has been waiting on this and transports a bevy full of mines Yamato‘s way during the several minutes it takes Yamato to fire. Sanada sees the trap and the attack is called off. Desler taunts Susumu and then his ships open fire. Yamato is crippled, but is able to pull off a short warp, where it and a bunch of Desler’s mines arrive right in Desler’s path. The ship can’t get out of the way and is rammed by Yamato. Yamato‘s crew and the Space Cavaliers then take the fight outside of Yamato to board Desler’s ship. Many are apparently killed, including Daisuke. A wounded Susumu makes it to Desler’s bridge for a final confrontation while the White Comet lands in the ocean on Earth.

Thoughts/Review:

How convenient that Desler knew JUST exactly where Yamato was going to warp to so that he could use his Instantaneous Material Transporter to send several squadrons of fighter-bombers. Also, weren’t the hands on Yamato supposed to be ready to attack as soon as they emerged from warp? So why wasn’t the crew at battle stations? Why didn’t Susumu order some kind of defensive posture the moment Desler disappeared from screen? Heck, for that matter why didn’t he order it as soon as Desler’s fighters appeared? DUH! No, he has to wait for Sanada, who REALLY should be the captain with Yuki as 1st officer, to tell him to fight back. Way to go there, Susumu. Acting Captain indeed. Desler should win on principle.

Further, why wasn’t Yamato destroyed? Sheeze. Die already. Oh wait, we can’t do that because that would be the end of the show. So we’ll have Yamato take enough hits that would have destroyed Earth’s entire fleet but not Yamato. Oh no. Can’t do that. Nope, have to build the false drama. Ugh. Seriously, if they could short-warp, then frankly the second that Yamato was surrounded, I would have done it rather than waste time with a dopey attempt at counter-attacking with the Wave Motion Cannon, which considering their damaged condition and 50-million year charge time made no sense. 😑

I guess the writers forgot that the Gamilus people and the humans breathe different air. How convenient. They also forgot that Susumu had a bandaged and injured leg from earlier.

I doubt Daisuke is dead but we’ll see. People have a way of not dying in this franchise.

Maybe the Space Cavaliers will do something this time.

Finally, the guys at Central Anime pointed out that the maneuver pulled off by Yamato in this episode is somewhat similar to the “Picard Maneuver” in Star Trek: The Next Generation. For those who haven’t seen that, during Captain Picard’s prior commands, his ship came under attack and he ordered a short warp as well. The difference is that in Star Trek, it made the ship seem to be in two places at once for a moment while in this anime, it allowed Yamato to ram Desler’s ship before being totally destroyed. I didn’t see the relationship because warp technology in the Yamato universe is not the same as the Star Trek universe.

It is a shame this series isn’t as well written as the first. Oh well.

On a really unrelated matter, for those who’d asked about where I’ve been getting my larger images lately, I’ve been making them. 😄 So today, if you are a Captain Kodai fan, you are in luck cause you got a poster. 😉