On the heels of an incredibly disappointing re-cap movie, space opera epic Yamato 2199 returned to the silver screen this past weekend in Japan with Yamato 2199: Ark of the Stars—a film that is less a stand-alone story and more of a beginning for a whole new epic.

These days, anime seems to follow a set pattern. If you have a successful series, you follow it up with a recap film. Most of the time, these films have something new in them—new footage, new characters, a new side story—but not Yamato 2199. It is completely unnecessary in every conceivable way.