Captain Harlock

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Captain Harlock


caption =
ja_name = 宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック
ja_name_trans = Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku
genre = Space operaInfobox animanga/Anime
title = Space Pirate Captain Harlock
director = Rintaro
studio = Toei Animation
network = flagicon|Japan TV Asahi
network_other = flagicon|Canada Radio-Canada
flagicon|France Antenne 2
Flagicon | Dominican RepublicAntena Latina
flagicon|Puerto Rico WAPA-TV
first = March 14, 1978
last = February 13, 1979
episodes = 42Infobox animanga/Movie
title = Arcadia of My Youth
director = Tomoharu Katsumata
studio = Toei Animation, Tokyu Agency
released = July 28 1982
runtime = 130 min.Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Tomoharu Katsumata
studio = Toei Animation
network = Tokyo Broadcasting System
first = October 13, 1982
last = March 30, 1983
episodes = 22Infobox animanga/OVA
title = The Endless Odyssey
director = Rintaro
studio =
episodes = 13
released = 2002

nihongo|"Captain Harlock"|宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック|Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku|lit. Space Pirate Captain Harlock, (known as Albator in the French version) is a fictional character created by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto.

Harlock is the archetypical romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be earthborn or alien. In his own words, he "fight [s] for no one's sake... only [...] for something deep in [his] heart".

The character first appeared in "Adventures of a Honeybee" (1953). The first series featuring Harlock in the lead role is 1978's "Space Pirate Captain Harlock". As with most of Matsumoto's works, continuity is not a crucial issue. An appearance of any particular version of the character does not necessarily connect to any previous or following versions, and the interconnectedness of the various series is a common subject of speculation among fans.

Plot

Though there are slight variations in each telling of Harlock's story, the essentials remain the same. Matsumoto presents a future in which the Earth has achieved a vast starfaring civilization, but is slowly and steadily succumbing to ennui or despair, often due to defeat and subjugation by a foreign invader. Rising against the general apathy, Harlock denies defeat and leads an outlaw crew aboard his starship "Arcadia" to undertake daring raids against Earth's oppressors. Even though they have defeated Earth and devastated its peoples, the invaders are often presented in a sympathetic light, being shown as having some justification for their actions.

"Space Pirate Captain Harlock"

In the original television series, Harlock's crew included the mysterious, alcohol-imbibing alien woman Miime, a robot, and a drunken doctor. The series presented a story arc in which a huge black metal sphere strikes Tokyo and ancient Mayan legends appear to be walking the Earth again. The invaders turn out to be the Mazone, a race of vegetable-based, Modigliani-necked women who explored Earth in the mythic past and are now back to reclaim it. Only Harlock and his mismatched crew are brave enough and capable enough to face the enemy.

Directed by Rintaro, the series features split screen and flashbacks, excellently served by a symphonic score executed by the Tokyo Philharmonic. For all its pulpy space opera feeling and its action, the series raises a number of issues — from the importance of challenges in the life of men to the limits of violence as a solution to both small- and large-scale problems. The outcast Harlock is well aware of the plight of the Mazone, a refugee people fleeing a dying planet, and finds neither pleasure nor vindication in his battles nor in his final, melancholic victory. Some of the mechanical design on the series is strongly reminiscent of the first "Star Wars" film, even if the original Harlock manga predates the American movie, prompting some controversy as to "who stole what".

"Arcadia of My Youth"

The "Arcadia of My Youth" feature film was released in July 28, 1982. The film, set in a different continuity from the original TV series, chronicles Harlock's youth in the spaceship "Arcadia". October of that same year, it was followed by 22 episodes of the "Endless Road SSX" series, which dealt with Harlock and company's continuing struggle against the Illumidas occupying force, who still retained control of Earth at the end of the theatrical feature. Both film and second series feature a newly designed starship and lack most of the crew from the "Space Pirate" series, but are noteworthy for the presence of Emeraldas, a female counterpart to Harlock originally appearing in a series of Matsumoto-penned graphic novels.

"Harlock Saga"

In the 1990s, Matsumoto released "Harlock Saga", a mini-series based on "Das Rheingold". The series recasts the Captain and his crew in roles with analogues in The Ring Cycle and pits them against a race of "gods" set on redesigning the universe to their liking.

"Gun Frontier"

On March 28, 2002 "Gun Frontier", a buddy comedy set in the American Old West, begins broadcasting in TV Tokyo. The series follows Franklin Harlock Jr. and Tochiro Ōyama as they search of a lost clan of Japanese immigrants. A similar old west looking planet named "Gun Frontier" appears in the "Cosmo Warrior Zero" series but it's not the same place as this story is actually set on Earth.

"Endless Odyssey"

December 2002 saw the release of "", [The word "harlock" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "hoarlocke," meaning "one with gray hair." Both "Harlock" and "Herlock" are common translations of the Japanese name into Roman script and both have been used in both Japan and America. "Harlock" has been used more often, but some recent American releases have used the "Herlock" spelling.] directed by Rintaro.

Originally meant as a TV series, delays to the production caused it to be released only on video. Matsumoto initially cancelled the "Endless Odyssey" series due to the use of the Star of David as the demonic aliens' symbol. Matsumoto was reportedly horrified and made the following statement: "My blood was frozen when I found the Star of David symbol appeared. I believe you cannot debase any religion...I bear that in mind whenever I make stories. I cannot allow my characters to appear in any anime that tramples on my philosophy."

The story is set after the original TV series, with Harlock on a self-imposed exile and his crew either in jail or flying under the Jolly Roger. The series details Harlock's return and his round-up the "Arcadia" crew for a fight against the Noo, a mysterious and ancient evil which has caused the Earth to disappear, and whom use fear to conquer their foes. Although nearly every part of this series is geared to be a sequel to the original "Captain Harlock", "Endless Odyssey" reintroduces Tadashi Daiba to the "Arcadia". The redheaded Mazone spy Shizuka Namino also reappears, now as a black-haired holographic assistant to Dr. Daiba, and the date of the series is approximately one hundred years after the events of the original series, demonstrating rather decisively the degree to which its author seems to disdain full and logical continuity.

Characters

The Captain

anime voice|Makio Inoue, Kan Tokumaru (stand-in for Inoue, eps. 9-10 only)

Captain Harlock and his world have been developed and occasionally re-developed as Matsumoto changes his conceptions about them. The original Captain Harlock television series was conceived as an independent, standalone work. Captain Harlock, the roguish space pirate, displays the full range of human emotions at one point or another during the course of the story.

When Harlock appears in "Arcadia of My Youth" feature film the sequel TV series "Endless Road SSX", his back story was significantly changed. He was a military officer before he became a space pirate, the circumstances of which were related in the film. This was also the only on-screen incarnation in which Harlock was married. The tragic death of his wife Maya at the hands of Earth's alien conquerors plays a large part in turning Harlock from unconquered space captain to brooding space pirate. The backgrounds of other major characters, such as fellow pirate Emeraldas and best friend Tochrio Oyama, were also altered in accordance with Harlock's new backstory.

When Matsumoto's works again became popular in the 1990s and he began to pen the "Harlock Saga" manga, he changed the backdrop of Harlock and his universe. This time it was based in part on Wagner's Ring cycle and required significant reworking of almost every one of Matsumoto's stock stable of characters in order to make the story fit. He is only a teenager when the Earth is conquered and his father Great Harlock is the first to take up the "fight for freedom" touched upon in "Arcadia of My Youth". As of 2007, this is the version of Harlock that Matsumoto considers in continuity. Harlock's appearance in "Space Symphony Maetel" tries to consolidate previous adaptations of the character.

;Other appearancesCaptain Harlock, or characters indistinguishable from him, have made frequent "unbilled cameo" appearances in many other works of Leiji Matsumoto, including "Galaxy Express 999", "Queen Emeraldas", and "Galaxy Railways" as the joker in a deck of playing cards.

Captain Harlock was originally intended to appear in "Space Battleship Yamato" during their return voyage from Iscandar. The idea was dropped for a number of reasons which probably included the fact that the rights to "Yamato" were at the time owned by executive producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki. This idea evolved into simply finding Mamoru Kodai (Alex Wildstar) alive on Iscandar. The idea was still used later in a "Yamato" manga by Matsumoto where Yamato later encounters Mamoru who assumed the false identity of Captain Harlock (as revealed when hero Susumu Kodai finds a copy of a "Captain Harlock" manga among his supposedly dead brother's belongings).

In 2001, "Cosmo Warrior Zero" presented a version of the story in which Captain Zero, a human veteran of the Earth-Mechanized war, is commanded by the Machine Men, who won the war and now rule Earth, to hunt down the Space Pirate who is still resisting the invaders. This series focuses on Zero and his misfit crew as they take on the hopeless mission, fighting a more skilled enemy who also may be more justified in his actions than they are. Harlock, Tochiro and Emeraldas put in mostly supporting guest appearances, and are shown as being slightly younger than their previous incarnations; Harlock doesn't even have his trademark eyepatch yet.

Most notable is the return of Harlock's ship to the original Blue "Arcadia" Design (not seen since the original TV series), though now green and named "Deathshadow", the name of Harlock's first battleship which appeared in the "Arcadia" feature and the "999" films, where it had an altogether different design. As usual, the continuity is essentially nonexistent, even though the series does feature story points appearing in previous Matsumoto films and television shows.

Crew of the Arcadia

nihongo|Tadashi Daiba|台羽 正|Daiba Tadashi. anime voice|Akira Kamiya. Daiba is the audience surrogate, the viewer's gateway to Harlock's world. The 14-year-old son of a scientist who was killed by the Mazone, he joined the "Arcadia" crew following the death of his father. He lost his mother in a disaster on the Neptunian moon Triton when her pleas for help were ignored by the indifferent government. Tadashi is sometimes in conflict with Harlock early in the series, but he would become a trusted part of Harlock's senior staff as the series progressed.

nihongo|Kei Yuki|有紀 蛍|Yuuki Kei. anime voice|Chiyoko Kawashima. A lady with a unknown age human woman with blonde hair who was already part of Harlock's crew at the time Tadashi came aboard, Kei was rescued by Harlock when he raided a ship that was transporting her as a prisoner back to Earth following an assault by her upon a military officer who had belittled her father's death. There is the slightest intimation that she harbors a crush on Harlock (though this would be made more definite in the later "SSX" series), and initially seems inclined romantically towards Tadashi Daiba, though the two eventually settle into a platonic friendship. She is the "Arcadia"'s chief navigator and science officer, and she is the second-youngest crew member after Tadashi.

nihongo|Miime|ミーメ. anime voice|Noriko Ohara. A mysterious alien woman with long blue hair who thrives on alcohol and possesses psychic and psionic powers, she is the last survivor of her home planet Jura, from which she was saved by Harlock. After her rescue, Miime became part of the crew of the "Arcadia" and pledged her life to Harlock in gratitude for saving her. She is Harlock's closest companion and confidante and is willing to protect him at any cost when needed. She does not appear to have a mouth (apparently a common feature in Juran physiology), but she is able to absorb liquids through the general mouth area. She has a quiet, sensitive personality and, although she does not have an official position aboard the "Arcadia", she will help Doctor Zero tend to injured crew members in times of need, and her empathic nature makes her valuable in a counseling capacity (for example, when she consoles Miss Masu following the loss of the latter's estranged fiancé). She is musically skilled with the harp. In the 1999 "Harlock Saga" OVA, she is refashioned to appear as a human-looking woman (as well as given a different back story, making her a member of the Nibelung clan in the story and changing her musical instrument from the harp to a pipe organ with the ability to control time, but otherwise having the same abilities as in her previous incarnation), but she returns to her original appearance and origins in the 2002 "Endless Odyssey" OVA.

nihongo|Yattaran|ヤッタラン. anime voice|Hiroshi Ōtake. Harlock's first mate on the "Arcadia", he is usually portrayed as comic relief in the series, but when a battle against alien threats become imminent, he will be at the captain's side. He is also a brilliant mathematician and has a major interest in building plastic model kits of ships (he was even seen building a scale model of the "Arcadia" in one episode). Yattaran is based on manga artist Kaoru Shintani (best known for "Area 88") who, in his early career worked for Matsumoto building models for reference.

nihongo|Doctor Zero|ドクターゼロ. anime voice|Jōji Yanami. Chief Medical Officer. Like Yattaran, he serves as comic relief when he argues with the ship's cook, Miss Masu, over his raids of Masu's kitchen to get his beverage of choice, sake. He has a pet cat called Mi-kun (named Miaou in the French version), which he adopted after the then-kitten's mother, which was injured and apparently dying, brought him to Zero's office, and was later brought with Zero on board the "Arcadia". Doctor Zero's cat, Mi-kun also appears in "Space Battleship Yamato" as Doctor Sado's cat. Mi-kun also makes on-off appearances in several other anime such as "Queen Millennia" and "Galaxy Express 999". Mi-kun is based on Matsumoto's own pet cat, the latest of which is named Mi-kun III.

nihongo|Maji|魔地. anime voice|Kenichi Ogata. Chief Engineer.

nihongo|Miss Masu|ますさん|Masu-san. anime voice|Noriko Tsukase. The ship's cook. Masu Tsunajima is a cantankerous spinster who is intolerant of her kitchen being raided by Doctor Zero or his cat. She is also a comic relief character in the series, although her back story had her intended to marry her fiancé, Gozo Otowara, before circumstances prevented the wedding from taking place. Masu believed she had been stood up, until she learned the truth years later and reconciled with Gozo in a brief communication before Gozo was killed by the Mazone.

Characters related to Harlock

nihongo|Tochirō Ōyama|大山トチロー|Ooyama Tochirou. anime voice|Keaton Yamada. An old friend of Harlock's, he was the architect and chief builder of the "Arcadia". He died of illness prior to the events of the series, but his consciousness survives within the ship's computer.

Queen Emeraldas. anime voice|Rihoko Yoshida. A space pirate much like Harlock, she bears a scar under her left eye. She makes her first animated appearance in the 1978 "Galaxy Express 999" film.

nihongo|Mayu Ōyama|大山まゆ|Ooyama Mayu. anime voice|Chiyoko Kawashima. The daughter of Tochiro Oyama and Queen Emeraldas. Harlock takes her under his wing following Tochiro's death and Emeraldas' departure, but she is unable to remain with Harlock due to Tochiro's wish that she remain on Earth.

Professor Tsuyoshi Daiba. anime voice|Yonehiko Kitagawa. Tadashi Daiba's father, an astronomer and scientist. He was one of the few scientists who saw the aliens' threat and attempted to warn Earth's government before he was killed by the Mazone. Tadashi, affected by his father's murder, joined the "Arcadia" crew to seek his revenge.

nihongo|Mitsuru Kiruda|切田 満|Kiruda Mitsuru. anime voice|Hidekatsu Shibata. The leader of Earth's defense forces, he is Harlock's sworn enemy and will stop at nothing to try to eliminate him. Earlier in his life, Kiruta suffered the loss of his father, a government secret agent, during an ill-fated mission, followed by his mother and his younger sister Tami. Blaming the government for his family's death, he rose through the military ranks in order to effect change for the better and, like Professor Daiba before him, tried in vain to warn the Earth government of the Mazone invasion. Kiruda eventually puts his grudge with Harlock aside and sacrifices himself defending the "Arcadia"'s main computer against Mazone troopers.

The Mazone

The Mazone, the major villains of the original 1978 series, are a race of intelligent plant-based beings in female humanoid form, with a few taking male form. As the race is asexual, their apparent gender is superficial rather than functional. Curiously, when a Mazone dies, its corpse spontaneously burns up until nothing is left but ashes. nihongo|Queen Lafresia (Rafflesia)|女王ラフレシア |Jo'ō Rafureshia. anime voice|Haruko Kitahama. The reigning monarch of the Mazone, she is determined to lead her people to make Earth their new home following the destruction of their home planet. As cruel as she is beautiful, Lafresia was once a wise and kind ruler, but the situation of her people leads her to change for the worse as the series progresses. She initially did not see Harlock as a major threat and even saved his life early on, but would later come to regret it. Faced with a plot to kidnap Mayu Oyama as a means to draw out Harlock, Lafresia resists at first, considering such a tactic as unethical at best, but she later gives in when faced with the threat of the "Arcadia" to the Mazone, which later causes discord among the alien invaders. During a final showdown against Harlock, it is eventually discovered that Lafresia is not Mazone, but human. After defeating her in their duel, Harlock allows Lafresia to leave Earth with her people and settle elsewhere. nihongo|Commander Cleo|司令クレオ|Shirei Kureo. anime voice|Akiko Tsuboi. The commanding officer of the Mazone Royal Armada and Queen Lafresia's chief confidant, she would come up with the plot to have Mayu kidnapped to get Harlock's attention and draw him into battle with the Mazone ruler. Cleo is later killed by Tadashi Daiba. Commander Cassandra. The ruthless commander of the Mazone Royal Armada's Third Quadrant, she is willing to use dishonorable tactics to attempt to win battles, including using the Mazone civilian fleet as shields against attacks by the "Arcadia", a tactic devised following the destruction of a civilian ship she tried to protect, which Harlock erroneously believed was a Mazone command vessel. She is killed when Harlock lures the main force of her fleet away with his mobile repair dock, leaving Cassandra's ship open to undefended attack. nihongo|Shizuka Namino|波野 静香|Namino Shizuka. anime voice|Nana Yamaguchi. A Mazone spy posing as the Earth Prime Minister's secretary. She attempts to assassinate the Prime Minister and set Kiruta up to take the blame for the deed, then springs Kiruta from prison and attempts to seek sanctuary on the "Arcadia", with the intent of sabotaging the ship from the inside. Harlock discovers Shizuka's origins and subsequently grants her asylum on his ship after Queen Lafresia deserts her and later orders her killed. Unable to return to the Mazone caravan, Shizuka, showing admiration for Harlock's noble actions in taking her aboard, forces him to kill her rather than face certain death at the Mazones' hands. Harlock later tells Kiruta, who had feelings for Shizuka, that she had died a hero battling the Mazone, never revealing to him that she was a Mazone herself. Shizuka would later return in the 2002 "Endless Odyssey" OVA series as the holographic assistant of Professor Daiba (aside from having dark hair in that series instead of the red hair she had in the "Space Pirate" series, she looked the same in both shows, but she is intended to be different characters in the two series).

Legacy

Studio Nue's take on the "Arcadia" makes a brief cameo at the end of the original "The Super Dimension Century Orguss" television series during middle of the show's climatic battle sequence (episode 34); and also in a couple of shots during the battle in episode 27 of "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross". The cameos were an homage to Matsumoto, who was then in the heyday of his "movie" period (the 1980s).

In Kia Asamiya's "Space Battleship Nadesico" manga, there is a comic one of the main characters reads called "Space Vagrant", in which a character called Captain Government features (who pilots the Death Skull mech). The Captain and his ship ("The Space Vagrant") resemble Harlock and the "Arcadia" closely, which is most likely intended as a homage by Asamiya.

In the episode "Space Booty" in the cartoon series "Megas XLR", Captain Harlock was parodied as a villain named Captain Warlock who bore a great resemblance to Harlock himself. The legendary establishing shot of Harlock's ship, the "Arcadia", is directly ripped in every detail in the "Megas" episode. Although the Harlock rip-off and the parody of the "Arcadia" are named differently, and the Harlock parody is considerably different in personality to the real Harlock.

In a storyline in Marvel Comics "Star Wars" series, the character Lando Calrissian adopted the alias of "Captain Drebble" for a mission, with his disguised appearance strongly resembling that of Harlock, prompting many surprised letters from anime-loving readers.

In the anime "Lost Universe", Kain Blueriver makes several references to Captain Harlock.

In the parody anime "Excel Saga", some members of the Puuchuu race parody Harlock and Yuuki in the later episodes.

In the anime "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann", the opening sequence of the first episode pays homage to the intro sequence of "Arcadia of My Youth".

Tuxedo Mask of "Sailor Moon" was inspired by Captain Harlock's stoic qualities.cite journal |last=Holzer |first=Stefanie |coauthors=Mrs. Okishita from Kodansha (translator) |year=1999 |month= July / August |title= Interview mit Naoko Takeuchi |journal=AnimaniA |issue=30 |language=German ]

In the early days of horrorpunk band the Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig often wore a costumized shirt with Captain Harlock's version of the Jolly Roger logo.

Media

List of "Space Pirate Captain Harlock" episodes

# The Jolly Roger of Space
# A Message From the Unknown
# A Lady Who Burns Like Paper
# Under the Flag of Freedom
# To the Shores of Distant Stars
# The Phantom Mazone
# The Pyramid on the Sea Floor
# The Queen's Space Fleet
# The Fearsome Plant Lifeform
# Approaching the Mystery Planet
# When Lola Shines Golden
# Mother, Be Eternal
# Witch Castle in the Sea of Death
# The Sphinx's Gravestone
# Unrequited Love! The North Pole Aurora
# Kei: A Song of Farewell
# The Skeletal Hero
# The Evil Shadow Soldiers
# Queen Lafresia's Trap
# The Dead Planet Jura
# Gohrum! The Tragic Soldier
# Space Graveyard Deathshadow
# Yattaran: Song of the Model Lover
# The Shooting Star of Virgin Love
# Doctor Zero and Mi
# The Long Journey From Afar
# The Will of the Arcadia
# The Ulysses Nebula
# Life-and-Death Struggle on the Rainbow Planet
# My Friend, My Youth
# The Arcadia's Secret History
# Call of the Star Flute
# The Lone Man's Charge
# The Galactic Lullaby
# The Beautiful Mystery Woman
# The Eve of the Showdown
# Tears on a Red Sweater
# Farewell, Mayu
# Courage: The Death of the Commander
# And Then the Angels Sang
# Duel! The Queen Versus Harlock
# Farewell, Cosmic Corsair

Releases

An English dubbed version of a handful of the 1978 "Captain Harlock" TV episodes saw limited release in the U.S. (1981), mostly on cable and produced by Ziv international. In all, four episodes of the series were dubbed, with the initial two episodes produced (episodes 1 and 9) appearing faithful to the original story. Several names were changed, such as the Mazones becoming Zetons and Yattaran becoming Youngblood. Two further episodes (2 & 3) were given a far less serious dub by Ziv, and one of the most highly joked elements in this adaptation was the change of Tadashi Daiba's name to Tommy Hairball. These episodes were subsequently acquired and redistributed in the early 1990s by Malibu Graphics, who advertised the episodes as "never-before-seen," and "completely unedited," neither of which were the case. The tapes were also mastered badly, with music often drowning out dialogue and the audio and video out of sync by as much as five seconds at times.

The 1978 series was dubbed again in 1985, this time by Harmony Gold USA (of "Robotech" fame) and known as "Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years". Using the same style as "Robotech" to meet TV syndication's 65+ episode requirement, the "Harlock" series was connected with another Matsumoto series, "Queen Millennia", to tell an intertwining story (Harmony Gold had originally planned to combine the original series with the 1982 "Harlock" series, "Endless Orbit SSX", but they had to change their plans upon learning of the cost of obtaining the American rights to the second show [http://www.cornponeflicks.org/harlock/harlock1000.html] ). Unlike "Robotech", however, episodes were made by inter-cutting whole scenes from each of the component series in each episode, with the "Queen Millennia" story not actually reaching its original conclusion. The story as it unfolded was very confused and difficult to follow, and plot points would often change from one episode to the next with no apparent explanation. Despite the title, the two titular characters never appear onscreen together. This version never saw wide release in North America.

In 1979, a subtitled version of the original series appeared on Japanese language UHF broadcast channels in Hawaii, New York City and San Francisco. This version was shown once.Fact|date=August 2008

;International releases
*In France and Quebec, "Captain Harlock" is known as "Albator, le corsaire de l'espace", to avoid confusion with the completely different character Captain Haddock, and is very popular there. The name "Albator" was first proposed by Eric Charden, who designed the French version of the 1978 series introductory song, in memory of one of his friends, whose family name was Balator, sometimes nick-named "The Albatross" and having a psychological profile close to Harlock's.

*"Albator" debuted in Canada on Radio-Canada Télévision in 1979, and in France on Antenne 2 in 1980. Since that massive airplay on French and Canadian TV, Captain Harlock/Albator has become a cult hero for an entire generation of French-speaking people, so that French people often use the expression "Génération Albator". The whole soundtrack has been re-recorded for the French version. The Tokyo Orchestra was replaced by intimist but futurist synthesisers performed by the French musician Eric Charden. And, last but not least, the French main theme of "Albator 78 - Les Sylvidres" was anthemic and a big hit on French radio. Both complete series "Space Pirate" (1978) and "Endless Orbit SSX" (1982) have been dubbed into French (respectively known in French as "Albator 78 - Les Sylvidres" [Sylvidres being the French name for the Mazone] and "Albator 84 - L'Atlantis de ma jeunesse") as has the "My Youth in Arcadia" movie.

*In Latin America, a dubbed version was widely shown in the early 1980s. In this version, Harlock was renamed as "Capitán Raymar". The series shown there were the complete uncensored original series. Another complete version dubbed in Spain also exists, and retains the original character names.

*A South Korean production Eight Peaks production company [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-04-11/korea-eight-peaks-plans-captain-harlock-movie announced in April 2008] a live-action Captain Harlock movie. This movie is being [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-04-16/matsumoto-korean-harlock-film-planned-without-consent made without the consent] of Leiji Matsumoto.

;Comics
Eternity Comics, an imprint of Malibu Comics, produced an American comic book series based on "Captain Harlock". It was written by Robert W. Gibson and illustrated by Ben Dunn and Tim Eldred. The storyline allegedly started two years after the events in "Arcadia of My Youth" but ignores the events in "Endless Road SSX" while still borrowing elements from them. The comics discontinued in 1992 after it was discovered that Malibu did not have the rights to use "Captain Harlock". Reportedly, the alleged representative for the rights to "Harlock" with whom Malibu exchanged money turned out to be fraudulent and was in no way connected to the rights holders.

References

External links

* [http://www.cornponeflicks.org/harlock/harlockmain.html The "Captain Harlock" Archives]
* [http://www.vap.co.jp/herlock/ "Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey" official wesite]
* [http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/zenith/134/ch.htm The "Captain Harlock" Memory Museum]
* [http://web.cheapnet.it/magenta/the-dark-universe-of-harlock/ The Dark Universe of Harlock]
*ann anime|id=1238|title=Captain Harlock
*imdb title|id=0182646|title=Captain Harlock