Japanese science fiction writer Unno Juza and Okita Sōji. Japanese voice artist: Gorō Naya (original), Takayuki Sugō (2199) American voice artist: Gordon Ramsey (original), Brian Mathis (2199) Live-action actor: Tsutomu Yamazaki (Derek Wildstar, also known as Jason Kodai in the English dub of the first Yamato movie): A young orphan, it was the death of his parents during a Gamillas planet bomb attack on the Miura Peninsula that drove him to follow in his older brother Mamoru's footsteps and join the Earth Defense Force. He is initially hot-headed and prone to bursts of anger, and at first blames Captain Okita for the death of his brother in battle. However, he matures during the first season thanks to his responsibility as the Yamato 's battle chief, and ultimately Okita nominates him acting captain when he is unable to continue. Kodai continues commanding the Yamato and its crew for most of the rest of the franchise (although he is not formally promoted to captain until Yamato III), only relinquishing command twice: to Yamanami in Be Forever Yamato, and to a revived Okita during Final Yamato. He is also a talented pilot, flying his own Cosmo Zero fighter as the leader of the Black Tigers, and in the second season frequently joining the Cosmo Tigers in battle. His Japanese given name means "to go forward, to improve". He remains the lead character throughout the original timeline serving as the Yamato's commander until Final Yamato when a revived Okita retakes command. He retires from the military afterwards, joining the merchant fleet raising a daughter with Yuki Mori although the relationships become estranged as he spend more time away from Earth. Sanada recalls Kodai to command a rebuilt Yamato in Resurrection after Mori's ship goes missing. In the 2010 live-action film, his story begins as a scavenger who left the Earth Defense Force five years prior. He blamed himself for redirecting a Garmilas bomb toward a space station, killing his parents and Daisuke Shima's wife. He re-enlists prior to the launching of the Yamato as the ship's gunner before eventually being promoted by Okita as acting captain. Though the Yamato succeeds in retrieving the means to restore Earth's surface, the remaining Garmilas ship cripples it before preparing a missile to destroy the planet. After ordering all surviving crew to abandon ship, Kodai sacrifices himself and the ship to destroy the missile and save Earth. In