Captain Harlock: Arcadia of my Youth

MS06FZ★ 9

I was never a particular fan of the original Captain Harlock series, personally finding it a bit slow and the ongoing plot not being hugely engaging. However, I decided to give the movie a fair shot and it was incredible. Gone are the animation errors and slow pacing, replaced with beautifully smooth and elegant art and animation. The plot is fairly simple, but well-executed and has a few good tear-jerker moments. The movie provides a sort of backstory for Harlock and the Arcadia, also featuring his fellow pirate Emereldas. The villains aren't the series' antagonists but instead the Illumidus, a force occupying Earth - which setsup a good plotline about the lengths to which humans will go for an easy life under occupation. The central conflict, however, is the rivalry between Harlock and an Illumidus leader which leads to a spectacular confrontation in space. The film manages to be incredibly hot-blooded and exciting without the need for loud and fast-paced music, or shouting attack names - the composure of all involved makes the final battle incredibly dramatic. The art is definitely some of the best you'll see, with Leiji's trademark slender and pale characters given fantastic rendering on the big screen and the ships and backgrounds being detailed not in the way, for example, Do You Remember Love relies on incredible amounts of small lights, buttons, rivets and panels, but instead an almost Go Nagai-like use of thick lines and shading. The character design doesn't aim for realism, but instead the traditionally Leiji caricature style where a character's build and expression tells you everything you need to know - heroes are stoic, scarred and wear capes, sidekicks are either square-jawed space heroes or dumpy glasses-wearing friends, and women either wear retro-future catsuits or floaty dresses as they breathily sigh their lines. It's a wonderful piece of retro-future styled sci-fi whose only real flaw is the slightness and predictability of the plot. And the ending song, which evokes the original series' dramatic opening, is stirring in its own way.

blueprincen★ 9

Arcadia of My Youth is an example of everything I believe a good adventure film should be. Taut yet deliberately paced, easy to understand yet never falling into clunky exposition, and full to the brim with raw, melodramatic emotion, this movie is a perfect introduction to the illustrious Leiji Matsumoto Universe. Speaking from my own experience as someone who was introduced to Matsumoto's works from this film, I can tell you that I cannot wait to learn more about these endearing, over-the-top romantic characters and their strange, anachronistic world. This film is a rare example of an adventure film that is not also paired with actionas the focus. While there are a considerable amount of thrilling sequences, the focus here is instead on the plot, which tasks the newly returned from war Phantom F. Harlock II with the fight for his people's dignity against the occupying forces of the Illumidus Empire. While the setting is in the far, far future, it seems to be much more inspired by the creators' experience of world war II and the western genre of live-action film. The antagonistic Illumidus empire seems to parallel the real-life american occupation of japan rather than a more ethereal evil empire typical of space operas such as this. These ties to more earthy, believable milieus serve to very effectively ground the film, allowing it to push the limits of believablility in other ways (a futuristic machine capable of viewing past lives, with the previous incarnations having the same appearance and names as their future counterparts is the most glaring example). The animation is spotty in places, but on the whole the grand, epic space battles (which are obviously modeled after world war II naval battles) more than make up for some spotty character animation early in the film. The character designs, tho perhaps odd to modern sensibilities, are on the whole very distinctive and evocative of the film's fantastic mood. One notable criticism of them, however, is Matsumoto's unfortunate tendency toward same-face syndrome, particularly on his female characters. That said, this does not noticeably detract from the film's quality, and as flaws go, is highly forgivable in the context of such a great cinematic experience. Overall, Arcadia of My Youth is a shining example of what japanese animation was and is capable of in terms of storytelling. A wonderful introduction to classic anime for newer fans, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to virtually everyone who has a taste for adventure and hope in their heart. You will surely be better for viewing it.