There's something about this new sci-fi flick coming out of Japan that feels so awesome, but I can't quite put my finger on it. First of all, it's a space opera based on a wildly popular anime series that was broadcast in the States in 1979 under the name Star Blazers, about a band of humans who construct a spaceship to battle a race of aliens who are destroying Earth. The series lived on as an animated film franchise and will get its first live-action movie installment next December in Japan (which means we'll have to wait a little longer to check it out stateside, release date TBA).

But enough with the back story; on to the trailer! It's in Japanese, but you can get a sense of what it's going for from the vaguely Death Star-like visuals, the vaguely-Star Trekky music, and J-pop singer-star Takuya Kimura's perfect, boy band-worthy coif (check it out below the fold):





Thoughts, folks? I'm digging the gas-mask-on-a-desert-planet vibe of the trailer's opening, the space lasers and exploding spaceships, the hint of a romantic subplot with actress-model-singer Meisa Kuroki (who plays tactical crew member and romantic interest Yuki Mori), and that hair that just won't stop. But besides having a title that evokes awesomeness and a fun visual sense (not to mention the nod to the real-life historical Japanese battleship it takes its name from, downed in WWII and honored in Star Trek lore), does this strike you as a potential cross-over hit for American genre fans?