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5th Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Anime Film's 1st 10 Minutes Streamed

The official website for the Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 (Uchū Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi or Space Battleship Yamato 2202: Warriors of Love) anime sequel project began streaming the first 10 minutes on Saturday of "Rengoku-hen" (Purgatory Chapter), the fifth film in the series. Bandai previously aired the video during a special program for the anime on Saturday on Tokyo MX and BS11.

The site also began streaming a 10-minute digest video on Saturday that highlights the story of the first four films.

The fifth film will premiere in Japanese theaters on May 25.

As with the previous films, the theaters that are screening the fifth film will sell a limited edition Blu-ray Disc of the movie. The film will also be available to purchase or rent digitally on the same day it opens in theaters in Japan. The regular edition Blu-ray Disc of the movie will ship on June 1.

The project is a seven-part theatrical anime project, and the first film, subtitled "Kōshi-hen" (Starting Chapter), premiered in Japan in February 2017. The second film, subtitled "Hasshin-hen" (Departure Chapter), opened in Japan in June 2017. The third film, subtitled "Junai-hen" (Pure Love Chapter), opened in Japan in October 2017. The fourth film, subtitled "Tenmei-hen" (Karma Chapter), opened in Japan on January 27.

The anime's story is set in the year 2202, three years after the Yamato's return from the planet Iscandar. The people of Earth restored their planet with the Cosmo Reverse System, and they signed a peace treaty with Garmillas. In addition to reconstruction, Earth developed a new defense fleet that includes the state-of-the-art battleship Andromeda. The Earth goes down a path of military expansion, despite Starsha Iscandar's wishes. The Yamato helps accomplish this so-called peace, but it comes at the price of many invaluable sacrifices. The goddess Teresa, who prays for tranquility in space, calls the Yamato to a new voyage. The threat of Gatlantis is sweeping over the universe and approaching Earth.

Nobuyoshi Habara (Fafner and Fafner EXODUS director, episode director and storyboard writer for Star Blazers 2199) is directing the new anime, and Harutoshi Fukui (Mobile Suit Gundam UC original novel writer, screenplay for Harlock: Space Pirate) is writing and overseeing the scripts. The late Yoshinobu Nishizaki is credited with the original work, and his son Shoji Nishizaki (Star Blazers 2199 planning, producer for Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection) is the executive producer. Additionally, Makoto Kobayashi is serving as assistant director, and Junichiro Tamamori and Yasushi Ishizu are the mechanical designers. Nobuteru Yuki is the character designer, and Akira Miyagawa is composing the music.

Crunchyroll began streaming the anime on May 9, and Funimation also began streaming an English dub on the same day.

The anime project is getting a television version in Japan this fall.

Sources: Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Anime's Official Website, The Mainchi Shimbun's Mantan Web