Prepare for the final voyage of the legendary star ship that defined generations of anime in the upcoming Uchū Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi better known to western audiences as Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202. The Space Battleship Yamato series tells the story of Susumu Kodai and a plucky crew from Earth as they make a perilous journey to the legendary planet Iscandar to gain the means of reversing the damage done to Earth by the Gamilian Empire’s attempts to conquer it.

Space Battleship Yamato has a long and storied past within anime. The series started in 1974 under three different names: Space Battleship Yamato, Cosmoship Yamato, and Star Blazers. The original 26-episode run inspired numerous incarnations and spinoffs throughout the years, before a very successful remake in 2012 titled Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 to which Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 is the sequel. The series has inspired other sci-fi creations, too, like Neon Genesis Evangelion and even Space Invaders.

Anime News Network reports that the seventh and final film of the Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 series will premiere later this year in Japanese theaters on March 1. It's fully titled Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 - Nova Chapter. The limited edition Blu-ray version will release alongside the theatrical version before a standard DVD and Blu-ray version hit shelves on April 26. Check out the trailer below.

The series is being helmed by Nobuyoshi Habara, who cut his teeth as the director of Fafner, and worked as an episode director and storyboard writer on Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamoto 2199. Meanwhile Harutoshi Fukui, the screenwriter of Harlock: Space Pirate, has been penning the scripts for the seven film series. Yoshinobu Nishizaki created the original Space Battleship Yamato and his work has been carried on by his son, Shoji Nishizaki, who has handled the planning for the 2012 remake and is serving as the executive producer on Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202.

One thing might be confusing about this news if you haven’t been a longtime fan of the series. Space Battleship Yamato 2199 initially released as seven theatrical films that were then broken up into a 26-episode anime series. The same has happened with Space Battleship Yamato 2202. Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 - Nova Chapter will be both an end to a heptology of films as well as an anime series.

Currently, the only way to view the series would be to purchase a physical copies of the film series. Both Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 were available through Crunchyroll and Funimation, but have been pulled from both platforms. It appears they both became casualties of the fallout after the two companies split last year.