Otakon will be taking place August 9-11, 2013 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

In the film, the Yamato and her crew face the Comet Empire, a civilization from the Andromeda Galaxy that is intent on conquering Earth; this civilization is led by Zwordar the Great. The Comet Empire rescued Desslar, the leader of the Gamilas and the mortal enemy of the Yamato and her crew. Desslar is eager for revenge against the Yamato, in order to avenge the destruction of his home planet.

When the Yamato goes on a mission to try to stop the Comet Empire from destroying the Earth, the ship and her crew are aided by Teresa of Telezart. During the film, the Yamato and her crew must face off with both Desslar and the Comet Empire. While Zwordar’s plan is ultimately thwarted, a terrible price ends up being paid in order for this to happen.

There are several differences between Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love and the second Space Battleship Yamato series. In the film, Saito and the space marines are on board the ship when it takes off from Earth; however, two conflicting stories are given in the film as to why they’re there. In the first story, the doctor claims he enlisted the space marines to join, but later in the film, a high-ranking military officer claims he sent the space marines to accompany the crew of the Yamato. In the television series, the space marines are rescued when the planet they’re stationed on is attacked by the Comet Empire.

Also, in the television series, Teresa of Telezart is a flesh and blood woman who has telepathic powers, instead of the anti-matter woman that appears in the film version. Since she is an actual person in the television series, a romantic interest between Teresa and one of the crew members of the Yamato was added. Since I had seen the Star Blazers version of the second television series before seeing this film, I find the idea of Teresa being anti-matter hard to reconcile.

In many respects, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love needs to be looked at as an “alternate timeline” story for the Yamato franchise. If a viewer doesn’t look at the film with that thought in mind, then everything that comes after this film would make absolutely no sense. Between the film version of the story and the story as it appears in the second series of Space Battleship Yamato, I personally prefer the second series. One of my personal favorite sections in the second series takes place on Telezart, and that portion of the story is completely missing from Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love.

This DVD release of Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love includes the original theatrical trailer, which runs for about three minutes and is subtitled. There is a promotional artwork gallery, where the viewer can choose to move forward and back and to view the artwork at their own pace.

You can also see scans of the original program book that was distributed at the theaters that screened Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name Of Love; this feature has a similar navigation to the promotional artwork gallery. However, there are two extra buttons: “Detail” and “Text.” “Detail” allows you to take a closer look at the page of the program book, while “Text” accesses a readable translation of the page.

There is also a section labeled “The Making of Farewell to Yamato.” There are two text sections that are available in this section. The first is “The Yamato Story,” which tells the story of how the film came to be, the history of the film, and the audience reaction to the film. The other text section has cast and producer interviews.

Overall, this is a decent DVD release. It definitely needs to be in the collection of anyone who considers themselves a fan of Space Battleship Yamato or Star Blazers.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love DVD that my husband and I purchased.

Anime Expo will be taking place July 4-7, 2013 in Los Angeles.

Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game GN 2
Cage of Eden GN 10
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex GN 4
The Limit GN 5
Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus GN 1
The Sacred Blacksmith GN 1
Sailor Moon GN 11
Saturn Apartments GN 7
Sunny GN 1
Wandering Son GN 4

Gaiking: The Movie Collection [DVD]
Gunbuster 2: The Complete Series [DVD]
Howl’s Moving Castle [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
K-ON! The Movie [DVD]
K-ON! The Movie [Blu-ray]
Love <3 Love? Complete Collection [DVD]
Lupin the 3rd: Green Vs Red [DVD]
My Neighbor Totoro [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, Part 1 [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, Part 2 [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]

The anime being screened during this festival includes:

• The U.S. premiere of Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge on August 3, 2013
• The U.S. premiere of Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower on July 28, 2013
• The U.S. premiere of Resident Evil: Damnation on July 28, 2013
• The San Francisco premiere of Wolf Children on July 28, 2013
• An encore screening of Tiger & Bunny The Movie – The Beginning on August 2, 2013

Austin Tindle is Shu Ouma
Micah Solusod is Gai Tsutsugami
John Swasey is Makoto Waltz Segai
Alexis Tipton is Inori Yuzuriha
Emily Neves is Ayase Shinomiya
Monica Rial is Tsugumi
David Trosko is Yahiro Samukawa
Corey Cleary-Stoner is Souta Tamadate
Charlie Campbell is Shuichiro Keido
Martha Harms is Haruka Ouma
Tia Ballard is Hare Menjou
Jarrod Greene is Argo Tsukishima
Joel McDonald is Daryl Yan
Caitlin Glass is Arisa Kuhouin
Leah Clark is Yu
J. Michael Tatum is Shibungi
Alexis Tipton is Mana Ouma
Apphia Yu is Kanon Kusama

At this time, the company has not specified whether or not there will be an English dub for the series, or on what formats the series will be released on.

The company also announced that it has become the master licensee for the K television anime series. The rights include domestic home video, television rights, online rights and distribution, and merchandising.

The film will debut on Neon Alley on June 2, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. EDT.