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Yamato, Japanese Atom, Battle Spirits 2 Promos Posted

The official website for Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen, the first Yamato feature film in 26 years, has begun streaming a 30-second teaser trailer and a full 90-second tailer. (In the linked page, select the first blue-text "特報" link for the teaser and the "予告" link for the trailer.) The film with computer-animated battle sequences will open in December.

As previously announced, the new film is set in 2220, or 21 years after the first Yamato story and 17 years after the story of the last film, "Final Yamato." A 320,000-kilometer-wide black hole threatens Earth, so 300 million people set a course for Amaaru, 27,000 light years away. The transport fleet is attacked, and the new Yamato battleship leads the counterstrike. 38-year-old Susumu Kodai, the hero of the first series, is now a space captain, and he has a daughter named Miyuki with his wife Yuki (the heroine of the first series).

The Japanese promoters of IMAGI's computer-animated Astro Boy (Atom) movie have posted the third 145-second trailer for the film on the YouTube website. The official "Atomthemovie" channel also added the earlier teaser trailer and full trailer. The story centers on a robot boy abandoned by its inventor and raised by a kind professor to protect the world. The Japanese cast features Aya Ueto in the title role, Megumi Hayashibara (Cora), Atsushi Abe (Zane), Mika Kanai (Widget), Shinichirō Miki (Sparx), Kenta Miyake (Robotski), Kenji Utsumi (Ham Egg), Takaya Hashi (President Stone), Rikako Aikawa (Freezer), Yasuyuki Kase (Chief Heckler), Tomohiro Nishimura (Dr. Ochanomizu), Nami Miyahara (Sludge), and Kousei Tomita (Hige-oyaji). The English dubbing cast features Freddie Highmore in the title role, Nicolas Cage (Dr. Tenma), Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Kristen Bell, Matt Lucas, Charlize Theron, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film will open in Japan on October 10, followed by the North American opening on October 23.

Nagoya TV has begun streaming a 196-second preview for Battle Spirits: Shōnen Gekiha Dan, the second television series based on the Battle Spirits trading card game. The anime will premiere on September 13. The Sunrise anime studio will continue to produce along with the Nagoya TV station and the Asatsu-DK (ADK) advertising agency. Like the first anime series, the new series will incorporate computer graphics to portray the battles from the card game. Bandai has been exporting the game to America this past summer with demonstrations at Origins Game Fair, Anime Expo, Comic-Con International, and Gen Con Indianapolis.

Source: Nippon Cinema, Frederik L. Schodt, AnimeNation, Felix Ip

Image © 2009 Yamato Studio/Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen Production Committee
Image © IMAGI Crystal Limited
Original Manga © Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.
© Sunrise, Nagoya TV