Star Blazers Series 2: the Scripts (2024)

Cosmo DNA has existed in one form or another since 2002. At the time it was founded, it only got six updates a year and was mainly a vehicle to revisit Star Blazers while also selling DVDs from Voyager Entertainment. Many years later, it has evolved into far more than that: the largest Star Blazers/Yamato platform on Earth for data, history, storytelling, analysis, and breaking news. But once in a while, something unexpected comes along that uniquely reaffirms the original purpose. This is one of those times.

In June 2021, a dramatic discovery was made on eBay: a large collection of Star Blazers production scripts being offered for individual sale by a screenplay broker called The Movie Wizard. The seller agreed to an offer for the entire set, and now they reside where they belong: in the hands of fandom itself.

The collection covers almost the entirety of the Comet Empire series, from the first episode to the last, with only two gaps near the beginning. All the rest are present and accounted for on this page.

These are the exact scripts that were handed to the voice actors, photocopied from hand-typed drafts that predated word processors. They are easily authenticated by their extensive technical notations, which are too granular and specific to have been invented. The name Star Force is prevalent, since that was the working title of the series before it was replaced by Star Blazers. (See more information on that bit of history here.) Based on the script dates, it appears that decision was made in late June, 1979.

Also note that whereas the Japanese productions of Series 1 and Series 2 consisted of 26 episodes apiece, Star Blazers was a 52-episode production. Therefore, Series 2 Episode 1 was referred to as Star Blazers Episode 27 and the numbering continued from there.

As you read these, you’ll find references to deleted scenes. Remember that these can be cross-indexed with our Series 2 commentary for visual confirmation of the original footage. And with that preamble out of the way, we’re off to outer space!

CODA: The final episode of Yamato 2 aired in Japan on April 7, just over five weeks before the date on the Episode 27 script. It is not known exactly when pre-production of these scripts began, but at the very least, Star Blazers Series 1 must have started production while Yamato 2 was still on the air.

CODA: The dates on these final scripts are very informative in terms of production.

Comparing them to a 1979 calendar, there was less than a month remaining before the series premiered in syndication. Those with good memories state that they remember seeing Episode 1 in the first week of September. If the entire syndication package had to be delivered prior to the premiere date, that would have left very little time to record and mix the concluding episodes. If it didn’t have to be delivered all at once, that would have bought a bit more time. Either way, it explains why Series 2 lacked the caption changes we saw in Series 1; there wasn’t enough time to generate them. Therefore, the scripts are full of notations regarding the cutting of “titles,” which refers to on-screen captions in Japanese.