"Space Battleship Yamato" returns... in a pachinko machine?!

by Chris MaGee

I feel a huge amount of nostalgia for the 1970s Japanese animated series "Space Battleship Yamato", mostly because the dubbed version that appeared on WUTV Buffalo when I was a kid was probably my first exposure to Japanese cinema and culture even though I didn't know it at the time. Because of this I was really excited to hear about the show's original producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki assembling a staff to make a new "Space Battle Ship Yamato" animated film, but with the completion and release date for that up in the air folks in japan can at least experience the sci-fi version of the most famous WW2-era battleship... as a pachinko machine.

Yes, that's right the people at Fuji have created a "Space Battleship Yamato"-themed pachinko machine complete with laser light, sound effects from the show and some really, really impressive CGI footage playing on its screen. Don't believe me? Then check out this extended commercial for the Cryamato2 (Yup, apparently there was a cryomato1 released last year.) You can't tell me that you inner geek doesn't salivate and sing when you see the Yamato bursting out of the ocean like that. Damn!

So, next time you're in Japan and want to throw away thousands of yen in a smokey and deafeningly loud pachinko parlor then at least do it playing on this amazing cool machine. For those of you not lucky enough to do that there are more clips and info on the Cryamato2 at its official site.

Thanks to Patrick Macias for the news and video of this.