I really wanted to see the shows more often but video cassette recorders were really expensive at the time. All I could do to satisfy my desire was to audio tape the shows. I convinced my parents to buy me a cassette recorder and dozens of blank cassettes. I taped everyday and listened to the shows over and over often reciting the words as the characters spoke them. One day, I threw out all of those tapes and all I had left were memories.
One day in the late eighties, I went into a local comic shop and the owner was playing a videotape. I recognized one of the characters on the screen immediately. I turned to my mom (my mom always came comic book buying with me) and said "Hey, that's Star Blazers, and that's Sandor!". I asked the owner what the tape was and he told me that it was Yamato: The New Voyage. I was shocked. I had no idea that a movie came out after the Comet Empire series! The owner said he had a copy made from the laser disc set but there was a problem, the voices were in Japanese! I told the owner that I didn't really care about the language barrier. I knew enough of the first two series that I could probably understand most of what was happening. He sold me a copy of the tape and I was instantly hooked into the Yamato universe again - this time as a teenager!
In 1989, I wanted to write a story. I decided to send the Yamato on another mission. I personally didn't like the way the creators of Yamato ended the series so I decided to ignore Final Yamato and just continue the saga after the Bollar Wars. It was easy writing a story about characters that have already been written. The hard part was trying to expand on the character's personalities without getting too repetitious or boring. So, all effort was made to keep things fresh and new.
The plot to Soldiers of Honor was based on a comic book I put together when I was in high school in 1987 called The Void. You may find similarities to this story and the one in the Star Trek: Voyager series. Please keep in mind that my story came out first and I have witnesses and proof to verify this including the original comic books themselves.
In Soldiers of Honor, nearly all of the characters are borrowed except for the Palmatians, the Xylotians and most of the crew of the Omega. It is a fun story with lots of action. Circle of Death is the sequel to Soldiers of Honor and is a fan fiction story based on the Space Battleship Omega and Leader Desslok from the Yamato (Star Blazers) universe. I started writing it around 1992 but the story has been changed and modified over time. A good majority of the story has been made up by me. For example, the following characters were borrowed: General Stone, Commander Todo, Jordy Venture, Desslok and Talan. I have taken it upon myself to re-write these characters as I see fit and expand on their personalities and the situations they encounter. For example, Jordy Venture is a lot older in this story than in the Yamato universe. In all actuality, he would not be old enough to be a member of the Omega's crew let alone be a senior officer. In this "alternate universe" that I have created, Jordy is approximately in his mid-twenties.
The only other character I "borrowed" in these stories other than from the Yamato universe is Captain Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor was a real person. He was a Christian missionary who ministered the Word of God to the Chinese at the end of the nineteenth century. I know very little about the man but I liked his name so much I thought I would pay tribute to him by using it in my story.
I used a few situations and characters without permission from Voyager Entertainment who owns the Star Blazers license. Most of the situations in these stories are original. Other than the war with Bollar, the planet Minerva (which the planet itself was mentioned to my knowledge in only one of the episodes of the original Quest for Iscandar series) and very little of the background story, the rest was written by me. If you are a fan of the Yamato universe, you will know that most of these stories are original.
So why didn't I write the stories from scratch using all original characters? The answer was simple. I love the Yamato universe. I believe it is one of the best series of movies and television programs ever written. Why other people have not realized this is beyond me.
I have just begun work on the third story in the series Space Cruiser Yamato: End Of An Empire. I can't tell you how long it will be or when I will finish it so stay tuned to chrismorin.com for updates to this new adventure!
I do not receive any money from these stories. I wrote them for me and for other fans of the Yamato universe. The creators of Space Cruiser Yamato ended the saga many different times and many different ways. I offer the long time hard-core and new fans of Yamato another "alternative universe". These stories are dedicated to them and to my mom, who took me to that comic shop that day and without knowing it, got me hooked on one of the greatest space adventures of all time all over again!
All of the Star Blazers television shows and theatrical movies have been released on DVD. Check them out at http://www.starblazers.com/. I now enjoy watching them over and over again - this time as an adult!
Enjoy the stories and let your imagination run free!
Chris Morin