I used to watch this show all the time as a young boy. I have never been much into anime but as a fifteen year old boy this was just the stuff I was looking for.
Star Blazers consists of three television seasons. However, the Japanese saga entails more than just these three television seasons, and part of this missing portion of the saga occurs between Seasons Two and Three.
- In the first season, Earth is attacked by Gamilon, a distant planet. The radiation from Gamilon’s planet bombs forces everyone on Earth underground. With no way to remove the radiation, all life on Earth will be wiped out in one year. The Earth then receives unexpected help from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar, who offers a device called “Cosmo DNA” which will remove the radiation. However, since Iscandar is 148,000 light years away, Starsha also sends plans for the experimental Wave Motion Engine that, when constructed, will help whoever can travel to Iscandar. On Earth, a crew is recruited, headed by Captain Avatar, and an old sunken battleship (the Yamato) is transformed into a spaceship (the Argo), outfitted with the Wave Motion Engine, and sent to Iscandar.
- The second season takes place one year after the Argo returns to Earth with the Cosmo DNA and Earth’s ecosystem is restored. It now faces a new, dangerous enemy, the Comet Empire, led by Prince Zordar. Unlike Gamilon, which was seeking to capture and colonize Earth, Zordar simply wants to conquer and annex Earth to his Empire. Desslok, the Gamilon leader, also joins forces with Zordar, mainly because he wants revenge on the Argo for having destroyed Gamilon. The series revolves around the Argo, now commanded by Deputy Captain Derek Wildstar, working with the Earth Defense Force to face Zordar.
- In the third season, the Argo is caught in the middle of a war between the Galmans (the reformed Gamilon Empire) and the Bolar Federation. A stray missile fired during the war causes the sun’s thermonuclear reactions to go out of control. Unless it can be stopped, the sun will destroy the Earth in one year and the entire solar system in three. Now officially in command of the Argo, Derek Wildstar is charged to help find a new home for Earth’s population.
There are many fan sites around the net that keep this show alive;
Web
Our Star Blazers is a dedicated site for the show. Much like their Facebook page. You can find music, video, articles and the history here.
Space Cruiser Yamoto is a site dedicated to the ships and the show. Site is not configured correctly and will show up somewhat small on a pc but it has some good stuff on there.
Article sources and media include YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook, Imdb and certainly my own recollections of the show.