Forget my concerns about REBEL 3199's relative lack of action in my review of the preceding four episodes. The first three episodes of this next release quartet (also titled The Incandescent Galactic War) comprise essentially wall-to-wall intense space battleship combat from beginning to end, and for those viewers who love brightly-colored, screen-filling laserbeams exploding spaceships left, right, and center, then this is the place to look. This kind of grand sci-fi anime spectacle fell out of favor with wider fandom decades ago, but I'm happy to report that the current season of Space Battleship Yamato does its 1970s and 80s predecessors proud. As a kid raised on 80s TV shows and OVAs like Macross and Gall Force, I feel like I probably giggled with glee through most of these spectacular episodes. Maybe I don't need such highfalutin concepts as nuanced characters and clever storytelling. Perhaps I'm at my happiest with “spaceship go shooty blam bang oooh pretty colors.”

Thankfully, REBEL 3199 also has the nuanced characters and storytelling chops to prevent itself from devolving into little but a shiny CG action showcase. Susumu Kodai gets a bit more to do this time, as he leads the charge against creepy machine intelligence antagonists, The Dezarium's enormous space station, at one point facing up against the “aberrant” Alphon in his remotely-controlled backup body (his original remains on Earth with Yuki Mori). There's something of an intergalactic love triangle slowly developing between the two men and Yuki. Neither Yuki nor Kodai knows if the other is alive, and Alphon's far from a one-dimensional mustache-twirling villain. While not exactly becoming best friends or lovers, Yuki becomes attached enough to Alphon that when his life (or at least his digitized personality) is in danger, she goes above and beyond to save him. There's definitely a hint of tenderness in the way she looks and interacts with him.

Likewise, Kodai's and Alphon's relationship is more than mere antagonism. There's a shared, if perhaps grudging, respect between them, with Alphon ordering Kodai to “not die.” As a “non-standard failure,” Alphon is merely tolerated by the Dezarium command structure, and we learn that he's not as privy to ruling AI Mother's plans as he first thought. A major twist regarding the Dezarium's deep space base blindsides both Kodai and Alphon, and it's used in a devastating propaganda offensive against the Yamato and its allied rebel forces on Earth. Once more, REBEL 3199 proves it has its finger on the pulse of modern politics with its thinly veiled criticism of the malign influence of rich technocrats on corrupt, ideology-driven governments.

With its primary focus on space battles, we don't see a whole lot of progress in the show's Earth-bound subplots, and that's absolutely fine. My criticism of previous installments included the lack of focus caused by trying to spin so many plates at once. What we can conclude is that the Dezarium have almost completed their ideological capture of Earth's people, as it's now become normalized for everyone to wear those ominous glowing command medals that share individuals' thoughts with Mother, and even, most worryingly, allow such thoughts to be overwritten and replaced. There's an extremely disturbing sequence where certain characters' personalities change spontaneously due to outside interference. It's another powerful allegory for the harmful effects of online misinformation on our loved ones, and the ability of populist movements to ensnare both hearts and minds, truth be damned.

We spend almost no time with Tsubasa or Makoto Kato, though we glimpse them struggling to survive in this terrifying new world order. Nor do we see much of Dezarium child Frulul, who previously voluntarily removed her command medal. I'm intrigued to see where her plotline goes next, but I'm patient enough to wait for the right time. No, for these four episodes, REBEL 3199 is mostly concerned with events of more cosmic significance, as a combined fleet of rebel Earth ships, plus Gamilan and Galman forces, fight against the almost overwhelming might of The Dezarium's huge space installation. Even the Bolar fleet eventually joins the fray, in what becomes a gloriously thrilling punch-the-air kind of climax to the battle. There are supernova-magnitude explosions. It is magnificent.

The Yamato herself even receives a late-game upgrade to its Cosmo Reverse System, courtesy of some incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo about how everything in the universe is composed of Wave Motion Energy, even the human heart. Um, okay. This kind of portentous gobbledegook is my least favorite part of the franchise, especially as the show takes itself a little too seriously at times. Essentially, it all boils down to “space magic helps the plot progress, and we'll make it sound important by trying to make profound statements about life.” I don't buy it, and it feels unnecessarily silly. We leave off with the upgraded Yamato using its newfound quantum duplication ability (which is not adequately explained, but let's not worry about that; it's best to just nod and smile), finally traveling to the future. What they find there… well, it's an incredibly ballsy cliffhanger to leave us clinging to for the next four months, I'll give it that.

As a remake that combines aspects of both the theatrical movie Be Forever Yamato (itself name-dropped in incredibly on-the-nose style in episode 18), and original third TV season Bolar Wars, with knowledge of these, it is possible to guess where the story may be headed next. In the 1980s storyline, The Dezarium's equivalent, The Dark Nebula Empire, was merely pretending to come from the future. REBEL 3199 has mixed things up to the point I'm unsure what to think anymore. The existence of a teenage version of Kodai's niece, Sasha, seems to confirm the reality of time travel, as does the black hole time gate that Yamato disappears into in this continuity. However, the fact that Mother has been proven to be able to rewrite the memories of every individual Dezarium throws into question anything they say. They may believe with all of their little electronic hearts that they truly are humanity's descendants, but what if it's all a lie?

REBEL 3199 continues to keep its cards close to its chest, making the wait between each four-episode release excruciating. Episodes 19-22 are scheduled to debut in Japanese movie theaters on June 26th, with a worldwide Crunchyroll streaming release sometime later. Crunchyroll remains frustratingly negligent with its marketing of the Space Battleship Yamato franchise, giving fans no indication of when to expect the next release. Episodes 11-14 streamed within seven days of the Japanese theatrical release; episodes 15-18 took closer to three weeks and dropped onto the service with a complete and total lack of announcement. This lack of communication is no way to build or maintain an audience. I am glad that REBEL 3199 is available at all. At this point, there's still no sign of an official English-language release of the 2014 movie Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark. It seems weird that the rest of the franchise is available worldwide, but not that one.

Anyway, episodes 15-18 of REBEL 3199 represent Space Battleship Yamato at its most entertaining. Exciting and intense space battles, intriguing plot, and disturbing plot twists abound. It's easily the best the franchise has been since it returned in 2012 with Space Battleship Yamato 2199. I love this show.