This is the Yamato that got away, and three episodes in you can feel exactly how big it was supposed to be. The premise alone is pure teenage revenge fantasy done straight: kids born under Seiren Federation rule find the ancient hulk of the old Earth Federation battleship, lift its data disk, and then build their new Yamato inside the occupier's own automated shipyards. Eighteenth ship to carry the name, and the show treats that lineage like scripture rather than nostalgia bait. Syd Mead's hand on the hardware gives the 1994 animation a cold industrial gleam that looks nothing like the 1974 silhouette, which is precisely why old-guard fans fought about it and why it still looks expensive today. Then it stops. Three episodes, legal wreckage, no ending, and a generation of Yamato diehards left holding a beautiful unfinished ship.

Centuries after the original Yamato story, the Seiren Federation holds harsh control over the planet Rinbos, a neutral zone left behind by the 100 Years Galactic War. There, Nabu and a group of teenage friends from Earth find the ancient hulk of the Earth Federation battleship Yamato. Taking its data disk gives them enough to begin building a ship, and they turn the Seiren's own automated shipyards to the task of creating the eighteenth vessel to carry the Yamato name. The discovery also makes Nabu a target of the Federation. This three-episode science fiction OVA was cancelled before its planned run was complete.