Toru Hoshina is an Earthling security officer serving in the Earth Federation Cosmo Force and one of the most trusted advisors of Commander Heikuro Todo.
During the first voyage of the space battleship Yamato, he served as a junior member of the ship's security division. At Todo's orders, he infiltrated the Project Izumo Faction and played a vital role in stopping a mutiny that would have ended the mission. More than three years later, Hoshina helped his fellow crew members to steal the vessel for a journey to the planet Terezart, and later served aboard the starship Ginga during the Gatlantis Campaign.
He served as as Head of Security aboard the Yamato in 2205, and was later appointed Head of Security of Earth HQ. In this capacity, he aided Todo in the organization of Operation DAD and investigated the Dezariam sympathizers. As of October 2207, after Dezariam's takeover of Earth, he's working underground to establish a resistance network against the invaders.
History[]
2199: Voyage to Iscandar[]
Hoshina is promoted to warrant officer[4] and is assigned to Yamato's security division under Lieutenant Shinya Itou. Early in the voyage, he is part of the armed security response to a potentially dangerous Gamiloid robot that escapes from the ship's science lab ("Clockwork Prisoner"). Along with Itou, he monitors Lieutenant Susumu Kodai's interrogation of a Garmillas prisoner through a video feed from Yamato's brig ("A World I Once Saw").
Stopping the Mutiny[]
Hoshina's secret mission is accomplished.
Despite his relatively young age, Hoshina earns the friendship and confidence of Lieutenant Itou. He is eventually brought into a conspiracy led by Itou and Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi to seize Yamato and reactive Project Izumo, a plan to resettle human survivors of the Garmillas-Earth War on a habitable world ("Point of No Return"). Unbeknownst to them and the rest of the crew, Hoshina had already been secretly recruited by United Nations Cosmo Force Strategic Planning Office Commander Heikuro Todo to watch for and stop any pro-Izumo activity[5] ("A Choice for the Future").
After Niimi identifies a suitable Earth-like planet and the ship's commanding officer, Admiral Juzo Okita, falls ill in the wake of a devastating battle, the Izumo supporters prepare to make their move, forcing Hoshina to accelerate his own response. He convinces Lieutenant Daisuke Shima to go along with Niimi's invitation to join the conspiracy. Once the mutiny is underway and Itou's security team has taken control of key sections, Hoshina helps to free loyal crew members from captivity, and arranges for the ship's chief medical officer to prepare Admiral Okita for duty. Hoshina then makes his way to the main bridge and fires a single shot at Itou just before he can kill Niimi for betraying him, and before Shima can shoot Itou. Hoshina's shot merely disarms Itou, allowing Okita to resume command and for the mutiny to end without bloodshed ("Point of No Return", "A Choice for the Future").
Misaki[]
Misaki opens up to Hoshina.
During and after this time, Hoshina gradually develops a relationship with Assistant Warrant Officer Yuria Misaki. Hoshina approaches Misaki and finds that she is willing to chat amicably with him, although she is not especially interested in him. However, he shares a spreading rumor about a ghost aboard Yamato, and she confides in him that she regularly saw ghosts back on Earth ("Gravestone on a Frozen Field", "Farewell to the Solar System", "Wish Upon a Star"). Several weeks later, when Misaki begins to wander around the ship and to show an unusually keen awareness of and interest in wave motion energy and the alien planet Iscandar, Hoshina becomes concerned and keeps watch over her. He remains by Misaki's side whenever possible after he and the rest of the crew learn that she is being psychically controlled by an Iscandarian hidden aboard the ship ("Point of No Return", "Over the Black Light", "They're Coming!").
During the Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster, Hoshina leads her away from an observation lounge to a safer area of the ship. On the way, he notices three officers who are unfamiliar to him, not knowing that they are in fact disguised agents of the enemy Greater Garmillan Empire who had covertly boarded Yamato moments earlier. He demands that they identify themselves. One of the three draws a weapon and shoots Hoshina, wounding him and rendering him unconscious ("Under a Rainbow Sun"). While he recovers after the battle, the real Misaki admits that it was her own fear for Hoshina's life and her own desire to return to him that finally freed her from alien control ("Prison Planet 17").
In 2202, we don't exactly know when, but Hoshina married Misaki and now her name is Yuria Hoshina.
Terezart and the War with Gatlantis[]
Hoshina and Kiryu help Yamato to escape.
By 2202, Hoshina transfers from the UNCN to service in the broader UN Cosmo Force.[6] On December 8 of that year, exactly three years after Yamato's return to Earth, Hoshina gathers with other members of the crew at a statue honoring Admiral Okita to commemorate his life and the bonds that all of them continue to share. While there, he discovers that a vision that he received urging him to take the space battleship to the planet Terezart was shared by virtually everyone else ("Tension – Reach the Embassy on the Moon").
As preparations are made sometime later to launch Yamato without authorization, Hoshina joins most of the crew aboard the retired battleship Kirishima to slip past security. Yamato's progress out of its underwater dock is stopped when a control room is destroyed. Hoshina leaves Yamato with Mikage Kiryu, Susumu Yamazaki, and Misaki to help open the dock gates. He and Kiryu succeed in transferring control, but armed security forces impede their progress and they are unable to reach Yamato before water flooding the dock becomes too deep. From the safety of a secondary control room, Hoshina and the others salute the ship as it is forced to depart without them ("Departure to the Unknown!"). He is quickly caught and imprisoned along with the others, but is released after the Earth Federation president decides to authorize the new Yamato mission ("Clash! Yamato vs. Andromeda").
Mission to Salezar[]
Hoshina notices Domon for the first time
In 2205, Hoshina was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and became the head of security on the Yamato. The day before the 65th Escort Fleet's departure toward the Salezar system, at the end of the new recruits' training, a fight broke out between Tasuke Tokugawa, Heiji Bando and two other recruits aboard the carrier Hyuga. Hoshina quickly stopped them, threatening to kick out any troublemakers. He took note of cadet Ryuusuke Domon who silently watched from above, and decided to investigate him further. He discovered that he was the son of Ryuzo Domon, the former president of Domon Hightech, which went out of business with the closing of the time fault. After Domon Hightech had gone bankrupt, Ryuzo Domon died in a accident, although some believed he had taken his own life.[7]
He reported his findings to Commander Shiro Sanada who argued that due to Ryuusuke Domon's relationship with Domon Hightech and his father, he would not have been placed on the Yamato.[7] Hoshina met with Kodai, now Yamato's captain, along with Sanada and Captain Osamu Yamanami, the fleet commander. He tried to convince Kodai of the dangers of letting Domon on the ship, as he had most likely falsified the information during his registration on purpose with a grudge against him. Kodai still decided to let Domon on board and even allowed him control of the Yamato during take off.[8]
Hoshina hands Domon over to Hirata
After departure, Domon was checked for explosives in the medbay and, as Hoshina came to take him away, he admitted to falsifying his information. Hoshina replied that his military status will be revoked. He was taken away to the landing bay to be expelled from the ship, but Chief Accountant Hajime Hirata intervened, stating he had gotten permission for Domon to be handed over to the accounting department, as they were understaffed. Hoshina removed Domon's handcuffs and let him go.[8]
When Yabu, who had boarded the ship as a technological exchange officer for the Garmillas military, attempted to speak with him, he responded that he had nothing to say to outsiders, still cautious about his involvement in Itou's mutiny years earlier.[8]
Domon takes Hoshina to Captain Kodai
Days later, news of Garmillas’s destruction at the hands of an unknown enemy reached the Yamato. Domon and Tokugawa argued over Yabu's desire to leave in search of his family, while Hoshina observed the commotion Domon expressed his disillusionment with Captain Kodai’s lack of action, stating he would resign. He called out Hoshina, suggesting that he should throw him into a jail cell to make his job easier. Instead, Hoshina took Domon outside the meeting room, stating he had to resign in front of the captain. There, they overheard Kodai advocating for the Yamato and the rest of the fleet to assist Garmillas, even if it risked dragging Earth into another war. However, General Serizawa and other officials on board opposed this decision, deeming it too dangerous.[9]
Domon heard their conversation from outside the room. Rather than resigning as he had previously claimed he would, he left, labeling everyone in the room foolish. Hoshina watched with a smile, realizing that Domon had finally come to understand Kodai’s perspective.[9]
Dezariam invasion[]
Following the Iscandar Incident, suspicion began growing of a possible invasion of Earth by Dezariam, the enemy that had destroyed Garmillas. The 65th Escort Corps was dissolved, Hoshina was transferred to Earth HQ, promoted to full Lieutenant, and appointed head of security. As part of his Operation DAD, General Commander-in-Chief Todo gave him a secret mission to investigate Dezariam sympathizers within the military. He managed to uncover Space General Shino Todo as the ring leader of the group, but only as Dezariam launched their attack in October of 2207.[10]
Hoshina watches as the Ground Reverse lands in the New Capital.
As the Ground Reverse approached the Earth, Hoshina was at Earth HQ along with his wife Yuria as well as former Yamato crewmembers Miki Saijo and Yuki Mori. As the EDF's communication networks were sabotaged, Hoshina affirmed his belief that the Dezariam sympathizers were behind the operation, prompting Todo to commence Operation DAD. Hoshina, along with the rest of the personel at HQ, later watched the Ground Reverse enter the atmosphere and land in the New Capital.[11]
As the former Yamato crew was ordered to escape Earth as part of Operation DAD, Hoshina waited for a Type 5 Medium Transport Boat to pick them up, but it was shot down by Dezariam soldiers as it approached HQ. The group was thus split up into two and Hoshina attempted to escape with Yuria, but was unsuccessful and the couple remained stranded on Earth. As Dezariam occupied the planet, the two went into hiding within the New Capital.[12]
As they hid within the capital, Hoshina checked how well the Dezariam invaders were integrating into Earth society. He returned to the ruins of an old building where Yuria was waiting and she asked if the people truly believed the Dezariam to be future Earthlings as they were claiming. He responded that the people of Earth wanted to hold onto the power that had been demonstrated to them when the Dezariam Army had destroyed a Bolar Federation fleet live.[13]
After telling Yuria they had to leave the area and being asked what they should do, Hoshina said he'd try to establish contact with Lt. Yasuo Nanbu, hoping he'd be their "ace in the hole" if he still held a grudge against his father, Kozo Nanbu, a prominent figure among the Dezariam sympathizers. He assured her that Operation DAD was not yet over and that Mori and Kodai were still carrying out the mission.[13]
Hoshina alongside Nanbu (left), Ota (right), and Aihara (center)
Over the following days, Hoshina started building an underground resistance force against Dezariam. He observed the Second Platoon of the Space Cavalry transporting a Wave-motion Core for Dezariam alongside Nanbu, and former Yamato crew members Kejiro Ota and Yoshikazu Aihara as they supposedly steal a wave motion core together with the air cavalry.[14]
Hoshina eventually starts planning an operation to rally anti-dezarium forces on earth as well as turning the people against dezarium. The planning takes place in the Ageha branch museum where Hoshina, Aihara, Ota and Nanbu discuss how to enter the grand reverse by using the newly constructed battleship Arizona. Once inside, Nanbu will reveal the truth of what happened to the crew of the alpheratz when they came into contact with the grand reverse. [15]
They also plan to burn Vincent van Gogh's "starry night" in order to prove that the painting inside the grand reverse isn't the same. If dezarium truly are from the future, burning the painting in past should make the one they have disappear. Despite voicing displeasure of burning the painting, Ageha Mikio agrees with the plan.
Yuria asks Hoshina about helping in the operation despite his concerns.
Before leaving for the operation, Hoshina encounters Yuria who tells him that she wants to help with the operation. Hoshina responds that he doesn't want her to get involved because that he doesn't want another thing to worry about as Nanbu and the others are inexperienced with operations like this. Yuria appears to be both worried and unhappy by this.[15]
Hoshina inflitrates the grand reverse with a disguise and pretends to serve drinks to the guests. As the Space marines and Nanbu enters the area, he goes to the upper floor and watches from above.
Hoshina's reaction to failing the operation.
The plan goes awry when Skulldart takes to the stage and explains that he did not know about the consequences of humans coming into contact with the grand reverse and that they can heal them back to health. Furthermore, he explains that he is aware that changing the past will result in dezarium disappearing but that they are well aware of it. He even explains that the painting 1000 years in the future can be burned, as it will disappear anyway.
Hoshina orders to burn the painting, saying that people will take the side which is easiest to accept, but Saito who is ready with a flamethrower replies that burning the painting won't prove anything in the end. An irritated and defeated Hoshina realises he has lost, and promtly orders the retreat of the resistance. Masking their escape with smoke bombs hidden under the tables.[15]
Personality[]
Hoshina maintains a cheerful and supportive demeanor in most situations ("Gravestone on a Frozen Field", "Farewell to the Solar System"). He is persistent and easily develops trust, traits that serve him well in his attempt to infiltrate the highest levels of the Izumo conspiracy aboard Yamato and to recruit allies to stop it ("Point of No Return", "A Choice for the Future"). He continues to be friendly with Misaki even after she initially rebuffs his advances, and is mindful of her as her behavior becomes increasingly unusual. His steadfastness with her is eventually rewarded as she begins to reciprocate his affection ("Wish Upon a Star", "Out of the Forest of Memory", "Prison Planet 17"). At the end of 2202 or early in 2203, Hoshina and Misaki are married.[16]
At 26 years old (2207), he has become cold on the inside, but hides it behind his calm demeanor which puts others at ease. He still has a good relationship with Yuria, but as he begins to build the resistance their relationship is tested.
Hoshina first swam on Iscandar after then he has taken a liking of swimming. ("The Distant Promised Land").
Manga[]
In the Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga by Michio Murakawa, Hoshina has several character differences from his anime counterpart. His role is swapped with Shinya Itou and he is part of the pro Izumo faction, but the mutiny fails as Itou reveals he is working undercover.
Hoshina's relationship with Yuria Misaki progresses a lot faster in the manga than in the anime. He takes a liking to her when the Yamato hides underwater on Pluto. Hoshina sees Yuria being stressed with the amount of wounded and offers to help her treat them.[17]
Hoshina being dressed as a maid by Makoto.
During the line crossing ceramony, both Makoto and Hoshina are tricked by Ota to wear maid dresses. When Itou questions what he is wearing he simply responds that Ota told him to wear it.[18] Hoshina later finds Yuria, who is feeling sick from seeing Sugiyama's ghost and is ordered to provide escort back to her room by Niimi who mistakes him for a girl.[19]
Yuria begs Hoshina to come into her room where they cuddle, kiss and talk about her ability to see ghosts. Hoshina cheers her up using her teddy bear namned Mr.Ku and they embrace, starting their relationship.[20] Hoshina can be seen around Yuria, being concerned and comforting her when she is affected by Yurisha's possesion.[21]
Hoshina takes part in the pro Izumo faction mutiny, but is betrayed and captured by Itou who in order to find out his secrets begins to torture him by sending electric shocks through his fingernails and forcing him to listen to loud sounds.[22]
According to Itou, Hoshina is a high-grade military clone created for the Izumo plan. Itou explains that clones lack heart because they have a void within them and many seek to fill it, which Itou finds pathetic. It's hinted that Hoshina's relationship with Yuria is his way of doing so.[23]
Behind the scenes[]
References[]
- ↑ Official Space Battleship Yamato 2199 website character data
- ↑ https://yamato2202.net/character_mechanic/
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Hoshina's uniform shoulder boards just before the launch of Yamato show a rank below that of warrant officer.
- ↑ Embers of the Izumo Plan, Ki 8-Type Prototype Airboat, reported in "The Yamato 2199 Secret Files"
- ↑ Hoshina wears the standard junior-level uniform used by UNCF personnel to the Yamato crew reunion.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Galactic War is About to Begin! Assemble the Yamato Fleet!!"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Yamato, a New Departure!!"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Save Iscandar! Rebellion of the Young Heroes!!"
- ↑ starblazers-yamato.net CHARACTERS entry for Toru Hoshina (archived on Cosmo DNA)
- ↑ "Begin the Secret Operation! Head for the New Yamato!"
- ↑ "The Silent Invasion! Ginga, Take Up Your Arms!"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Fire the Starting Gun! The New Battleship Yamato Comes to Life!"
- ↑ Be forever Yamato: Rebel 3199 Ep.6
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Be forever Yamato: Rebel 3199 Ep.8
- ↑ Official Space Battleship Yamato 2202 website character data
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.3, page 84-85
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.4, page 22
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.4, page 85-86
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.4, pages 88-89,93-95
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.7-8
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.8
- ↑ Space battleship Yamato 2199 manga Vol.9