Recap: It is revealed that underneath the ruins of the WWII-era battleship, the Yamato, a new spaceship utilizing the blueprints supplied by the Iscandarians has been built in secret, away from the prying eyes of the invading Gamilas. However, the aliens catch wind of it and the forces of Earth are forced to rally the new Yamato’s crew and prepare for liftoff.
Gee’s Thoughts:
With this episode, we finally get to witness the Yamato in its full glory, and I gotta say, it’s damn glorious ship. Sure, the original Yamato may have been rather heavy on the nationalistic side, but so far I’ve yet to run into anything that’s too blatantly “GLORIOUS NIPPON”. Things are ramping up as the Gamilas bombard the planet, hoping to knock the Yamato out of the fight before it’s even started. Thankfully, unlike the jet Kodai hijacked in the first episode, this ship is fully loaded to bear.
In addition, we learn that our resident badass old man, Captain Okita, is in fact suffering from some terminal disease. If the days-remaining-until-we-all-die counter didn’t already add to the sense of urgency, Okita’s failing condition likely will. Not having watched the original Space Battleship Yamato beyond what I gleaned from Star Blazers, I can only wonder how many episodes we’ll have to endure before we get to the inevitable “I hid my condition from you because I didn’t want you all worrying about me” speech.
Sadly, we are also treated to a montage of quite a few crew members saying goodbye to their families and loved ones, claiming that they’ll be sure to return safe and sound. Anyone who’s experienced any piece of media ever knows exactly how this is going to end. One of them even states that even though he’s only two months from retirement, he’s going to embark on this mission anyway. I rest my case.
Lot of talking goes down in this episode in retrospect. We also start to meet the rest of the rather expansive crew of the Yamato. I guarantee you I’m not going to remember half of these peoples’ names, but I’ll certainly try my best. Worst comes to worst, just expect me to start referring to everyone by their easily-recognizable physical traits. I’m talking about you, Glasses Chick, Fatty, and Ambiguously Brown Girl.
I gotta say though, 2199 is doing a great job of keeping me invested. Things are moving a bit on the slow side, but it’s understandable considering we’re only 2 episodes in and hadn’t even reached space yet. I know if nothing else, I eagerly await the next episode.*
*(Of course, I’ll probably just watch the 3rd episode after finishing this writeup, seeing as half the damn series is already available online.)
The Glorio Blog 
Moving on the slow side is not correct. The events of this episode took 2 episodes to occur in the original series, where the Yamato leaves the Earth (with the IBM mushroom cloud behind it) only at the end of episoe 3. They cut a lot of fat out of the original (like a stroll around the ship’s various sections, including the muzzle of the WM Gun – without protective gear in a radioactive, poisonous atmosphere!) but they also added a lot of new stuff and much character exposition. Compared to the old show, the pace is frantic.
Understandable, I never watched the original, so I could only base that judgement on my own experience. I suppose this episode being considered short on the fat could say something about how methodical older anime was. In retrospect though after 8 episodes, I think the pacing has been great so far, so I have no complaints about how it’s been going about things.