The Quest for Iscandar is the name of the 1st TV series of Starblazers, or Space Cruiser Yamato. It first aired in Japan in 1974 and then in the US in 1978. The story starts in the year 2199. Earth has been bombarded by planet bombs sent from bases of the planet Gamilon. This has caused large amounts of radioactivity to cover the Earth, forcing humans to move underground. The Earth has one year to survive.

Captain Avatar commands the newly-restored WWII battleship, the Yamato (Argo). His commanding officers are Derek Wildstar, Nova, Mark Venture, and Sandor. They are also accompanied by a large crew and a genius robot, IQ-9. Captain Avatar commands the Earth's fleet and travels to Pluto. All ships but the Yamato are defeated in a battle there with the Gamilons. Then a message is received from Queen Starsha of Iscandar, offering the Cosmo DNA to Earth to remove the radioactivity. The Yamato begins the long journey to her planet.

Along the way, the ship encounters several troubles. The wave motion engine fails during a space warp, the ship gets caught in an asteroid belt, not to mention that the Gamilons are attacking them at least two times every episode. From a military perspective, the battles are amazing. Captain Avatar does an great job commanding the ship. Even Desslok is impressed by the courage of the Star Force. Eventually, they get to Iscandar, meet with Queen Starsha and receive the Cosmo DNA. Derek is surprized to discover his brother Alex is on Iscandar with Starsha. Alex chooses to stay behind, but encourages Derek to continue a relationship with Nova.

The Star Force encounters Desslok's fleet on the way back to Earth. (I'll try not to spoil too much!) They destroy Desslok's flagship and return home. The Earth is restored to its former beauty and Derek gets a promotion!