“I wander through the stars freely… People call me… Captain Harlock!”
All aboard mateys, set sail for grand adventure in this neverending sea of stars! ... ... Ok, never doing that again. Anyway, up for review today is the vintage classic, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, an anime from the late 70's about a ragtag group of pirates sailing with only freedom in mind. Watching Captain Harlock came about due to me wanting to watch something really old, older than anything I've ever watched before, in order to have a new kind of experience. So, does this show still shine like a golden treasure, or has its shimmer faded with the years?
A couple of disclaimers before I begin. First, like I said, I've never watched anything this old before. As such, I have no experience with other things to compare it to and am not sure how it measures up regarding animation. Secondly, heretical as it may seem, I almost never watch any subs unless a show is airing and a dub has yet to be made. As such, I have no plans to discuss, the quality of the voice acting in this review, as I have almost no experience in the matter.
Our story begins in the year 2977. Life has become so easy for humanity that people have lost any sort of dream or drive and spend all their time on leisure. Only one man and his crew still retain humanity's spirit - Harlock and the crew of the Arcadia, who have rebelled against the government and, after being declared outlaws, sail the stars with freedom as their only desire. Harlock's only remaining tie to Earth is Mayu, the daughter of his dear departed friend who he would do anything to protect.
Humanity's weakened state means that they're in no position to defend themselves when an alien race of plant people that "burn like paper," the Mazone, lay claim to the Earth as their homeland. Harlock and a scientist named Professor Daiba are the only ones to decipher the message, but no one believes them and the Professor is killed by a Mazone agent. Seeking revenge, his son Tadashi Daiba joins Harlock as he decides to take Earth's defense into his own hands.
The story basically continues in the same way for the first half to 2/3 of the series, feeling very much like a kids show with isolated plots about battles with the Mazone or the feeble attempts of SDF Commander Kiruta to capture Harlock. In the later parts of the show, it starts feeling like a much more mature show, both because it starts to deal with the harsher aspects of war like civilian casualties and the execution of traitors and because of content that seems out of place on a kids show.
The plot, while laughable at times near the beginning, really comes into its own as the show moves on and transforms into a truly dramatic and moving tale of galactic war. The characters are pretty bland for the most part though. On the plus side, Harlock is a great hero: manly, strong, and wise with a clear idea of what he believes and wants to protect. His friend Tochiro, shown in flashbacks, is an endearing and lovable character who shares Harlocks dreams and puts everything on the line for them. Commander Kiruta becomes an amazing heroic character in the later episodes, Mayu is an adorable little girl, and Queen Lafresia is a sympathetic and determined villainess.
That may seem like a lot, but there's still a large crew on the Arcadia to account for, and most of them are pretty one dimensional and usually get like one episode of backstory for development. Daiba is a hot-blooded but sensible teen driven by revenge; Kei is a pretty generic smart action girl; Yattaran is the first mate who likes plastic models; Miime is a mysterious alien indebted to Harlock who subsists on wine; Doctor Zero is the ship's alcoholic doctor; Masu, the ships cranky cook; and Maji, the engineer. The rest of the characters were one-offs or were pretty forgettable.
Artwise, well, it's a series from the 70's. It's bound to pale compared to newer things. Still, I thought, considering the age of the show, that the art did a repsectable job and the art was generally nice enough to look at. My biggest complaint is probably the fact that most of the female designs, particularly the Mazone, look REALLY similar. For animation, I again refer you to the decade. The shortcuts taken are pretty obvious most of the time, with lots of still shots, reused footage, and an eye glint effect use so much I swear I counted it like 5 times in one episode.
The music was really one of the shows stronger points in my opinion. The show relies primarily on a mixture of grand, sweeping, dramatic songs and slower, more resonant, ballad-esque tunes. They really set the mood with great effect and though there aren't a lot of different songs and a decent amount of remixes, the repetition helps to make the songs more memorable and catchy. Both the opening and ending favor the slower ballads and they both get get you in the moods openings and endings should. I found the opening in particular very catchy and couldn't resist humming along as the series progressed.
Wrapping up, this isn't a show for everyone. It definitely has some notable flaws, like the dated art and animation, the shallower early plot, and a lot of bland characters, and it requires an interest in the traditional kind of sci-fi, with long space voyages, alien planets, and lots of ship battles. If you like that kind of sci-fi though, this story of a great war with a memorable soundtrack may just be worth checking out.
P.S. : I've got a plan for a series of reviews coming up next, and my next one will probably be up real soon, so look forward to that!
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