Space Pirate Captain Harlock

S_Yellow★ 9

"UNDER THIS FLAG WE SHALL LIVE IN ULTIMATE FREEDOM!" "Only real men can understand stuff like this." Ah yes, the reason why I tend to watch ANYTHING with the name Leiji Matsumoto attached. Let me first say that my five star rating is biased as I have happy childhood memories attached to this property and it was great to finish it after 30 years. What more could we want than the stoic badass known as Captain Harlock sailing the sea of stars fight evil and injustice with only his guts, moxie, and wits. For 36 years the space pirate has inspired hope and instilled fear in auniverse corrupt with hedonism and sloth. And here is where you get to see the birth of it all, this is what inspired sequel and spinoff after sequel and spin off and rightly so! How could this series end, and not leave you wanting more? Has any show been more inspirational to anime than Harlock? When I watch this show, I'm five years old again watching my dream unfold. So much so I can barely write a coherent review. I want to put, "WATCH IT IT'S GREAT!!! WATCH IT IT'S GREAT!!!" a thousand times and call it a review. but for the benefit of those who've never encountered Harlock I'll try harder. It's about fighting with honor and conviction, for what you believe in; about taking up the reins of destiny yourself, answering to no one. Yes, I love it so much because I dream of being Captain Harlock. I wish for such as his. Now excuse me while I sip some (beer) and stare longingly at the sea of stars. "The sea of stars shall be our home, our only home!"

BowlingJD★ 7

To me, 1978 is a special year in anime. We got so many good anime; I just have to watch them all. Of course, when someone says there is an anime about space pirates and by Leiji Matsumoto (Yamato series), shut up and take my money. It was also directed by Rin Taro, whom has directed many shows from Astro Boy Brave in Space to the 1999 X Movie. Basically, his stuff is a coin flip. Luckily this anime did not disappoint. Set in 2977, this is a world where technology does most of the work like in The Jetsons, and humans have become so lazyand relaxed like in Disney’s Wall-E. However, when a foreign “blue” alien invading race is bent on conquering Earth for their own reasons (sounds familiar), there stands only one man and his crew... Captain Harlock with his “strange” crew on the massive battleship Arcadia. Much like in Yamato, the alien invader is incredibly interesting. However, unlike in Yamato, the characters are also fairly interesting with some development and decent enough back stories. However, when it came to deep explanations, deep back stories, deep anything, this is where the anime lacked the most. The viewer always felt like some episodes that became “destroy the alien ship of week” could have easily been replaced with more explanations towards almost anything or just left out completely. This was a real shame, but still manages to not take too much away from the action and story progression. One example of this is Harlock’s closest companion, the alien Miime. We are shown in one episode of Miime’s total backstory that tries to explain everything. It feels rushed and you want more. This is how the anime works. You will get answers, but they are extremely simplistic and are never touched on again. The artwork, writing, story, and more are very similar to Yamato with some improvement, but there is no problem there and to be expected in Matsumoto’s work. Be prepared. This show has multiple side stories, a sequel that came out 20 years later, and a 2013 movie. This is a slower paced 42 episode anime. There are the occasional deep-gripping moments which were a real surprise, and had me fall in love with the show more. All-in-all, give the Space Pirate a try and if the first six or so episodes don’t convince you, then maybe it just isn’t for you.