The Gamilons seem to leave the Argo alone a lot of the time, only launching periodic attacks. At first you wonder why they would ever let the Star Force get a respite, until you realize that the Argo isn't simply flying along in a straight line, but is periodically making space warps (essentially teleporting) across vast distances, and the Gamilons probably have to locate them all over again every time it happens.
As lampshaded by fan Hideaki Anno - the battle between the Yamato crew and Gamilus isn't so much Japan versus America as two different incarnations of Japan doing war against one another. The Yamato and its crew represent a resurrected modern Japan that uses force for self-defense rather than aggression, while Gamilus represents the darker side of the pre-war militaristic, all-conquering Japan, and the final victory of the Yamato over Gamilus, and Kodai's lament over the loss, represents the defeat of the old Japan by the new. Some of this is carried forward in subtle details - for instance, Dessler is referred to as Soto (rendered in English as "Leader" or "Great Leader"). Although this is evocative of Hitler's Fuhrer title, it's also same term that Japanese Generalissimo Hideki Tojo used during the Second World War.
A small one, but it's both exacting AND obfuscating at the same time in the Star Blazers adaptation. The name of Derek Wildstar/Susumu Kodai's home is "Great Island", which is exactly what "Hiroshima" translates to. Plus, not counting the three other principal islands of Japan, it fits the definition of what the Japanese mainland is: a giant island.
2010 Live-Action Movie
Fridge Brilliance
Why didn't the Gamilas ship/missile fire upon the Yamato when the its crew is evacuating? The Gamilas ship have destroyed the Yamato's weapons and damaged its engines, so from Gamilas/Dessler's point of view the Yamato is already rendered combat-ineffective. The second Kodai reignited the engines the Gamilas ship started shooting.
Why do Gamilas ships lack visible thrusters? They're some sort of crystalline Hive MindEnergy Being, so it's entirely possible the ships are propelled by the same energies that powered the hivemind, possibly through some sort of process similar to telekinesis that allowed their ships to break Newton's Third Law.
