is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
and protagonist of the ''
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Play Comic'' from 1977 to 1979, with the chapters collected into five ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akita Shoten. The series follows the titular Capta ...
''
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series created by
Leiji Matsumoto
is a Japanese mangaka, creator of several anime and manga series. His wife Miyako Maki is also a manga artist.
Early life
Matsumoto was the middle child of a family of seven brothers, and, in his early childhood, Matsumoto was given a 35m ...
.
Harlock is the archetypical
Romantic hero
The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has themselves at the center of their own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist in ...
, a
space pirate
Space pirates are a type of stock character from science fiction. A take on the traditional seafaring pirates of history or the fictional air pirates of the 19th century, space pirates travel through outer space. Where traditional pirates target ...
with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn,
rebellious
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
,
stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be Earth-born or alien. In his own words, he "fight
for no one's sake... only for something deep in
isheart." He does not fear death, and is sometimes seen wearing clothing with the number 42 on it. In Japanese culture, the number 42 is associated with death (the numbers, pronounced separately as "four two," sound like the word "shini"—meaning "dying/death").
The character was created by Leiji Matsumoto in 1977 and popularized in the 1978 television series ''
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Play Comic'' from 1977 to 1979, with the chapters collected into five ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akita Shoten. The series follows the titular Capta ...
''. Since then, the character has appeared in numerous animated television series and films, the latest of which is 2013's ''
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Play Comic'' from 1977 to 1979, with the chapters collected into five ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akita Shoten. The series follows the titular Capta ...
''.
History
Though there are slight variations in each telling of Harlock's story, the essentials remain the same. Matsumoto presents a future (2977 AD) 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'' (1978 TV series)
In ''
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Play Comic'' from 1977 to 1979, with the chapters collected into five ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akita Shoten. The series follows the titular Capta ...
'', the Captain'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
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
legends appear to be walking the Earth again. The invaders turn out to be the Mazone, a race of plant-based women who explored Earth in the mythic past and are now back to reclaim it. Only Harlock and his mismatched crew are brave and capable enough to face the enemy.
''Captain Harlock – Mystery of the Arcadia''
This 1978 short film is ostensibly a retelling of Episode 13 of the 1978 series, 'The Witch's Ocean Castle of Death.' It consists primarily of recycled footage taken from this same episode, but presented in widescreen format. Some new alternate footage is added at the beginning of the story, and some soundtrack adjustments were made throughout.
''Arcadia of My Youth''
The ''
Arcadia of My Youth
is an anime film depicting the origin of Leiji Matsumoto's seminal character Captain Harlock. At one time, it was considered to be the central hub of the so-called Leijiverse with the events depicted in other works such as ''Galaxy Express 999' ...
'' feature film was released on July 28, 1982. The film, set in a different
continuity from the original TV series, chronicles Harlock's beginnings as a space pirate and his acquisition of the spaceship ''Arcadia''. The movie also includes flashback material dealing with two of his 20th-century ancestors.
''Endless Orbit SSX''
''Arcadia of My Youth'' was followed by 22 episodes of the TV series ''
Endless Orbit SSX'' starting in October 1982. Its official French title is simply ''Albator'', although it early became popular among French speakers as ''Albator 84'' since it was first aired in France as of 1984 and the 1978 series had been formerly named in French exactly the same: ''Albator''. The series 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 (''Arcadia of My Youth'') and second series (''Endless Orbit SSX'') 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 who originally appeared in a series of Matsumoto-penned graphic novels.
''Harlock Saga''
In the 1990s, Matsumoto released ''
Harlock Saga
is a manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. An adaptation of Wilhelm Richard Wagner epic music drama ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', it tells the story of space pirate Captain Harlock and his crew as they try to stop a m ...
'', a mini-series based on ''
Das Rheingold
''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), WWV 86A, is the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National ...
''. The series recasts the Captain and his crew in roles with analogues in
The Ring Cycle
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...
and pits them against a race of "gods" set on redesigning the universe to their liking.
''Gun Frontier''
On March 28, 2002 ''
Gun Frontier
is a 1972 manga by Leiji Matsumoto.In Matsumoto's works, there have been planets with towns modelled somewhat after the Wild West. In ''Galaxy Express 999'', one of them is called Gun Frontier. Another such planet appears in ''Cosmo Warrio ...
'', a
buddy comedy
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...
set in the
American Old West
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
, began broadcasting in
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
. The series follows Franklin Harlock Jr. and Tochiro Ōyama as they search for a lost clan of Japanese immigrants. In contrast to other works, Harlock appears here as Tochiro's sidekick.
''Endless Odyssey''
December 2002 saw the release of ''
Space Pirate Captain Harlock: The Endless Odyssey'', directed by
Rintaro
is the pseudonym of , a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse (company), Madhouse (which he co-founded), though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working i ...
.
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
Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy).
The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly ...
. The series details Harlock's return and his round-up of the ''Arcadia'' crew for a fight against the Noo, a mysterious and ancient evil which has caused the Earth to disappear, and who use fear to conquer their foes. As nearly every part of this series is geared to be a sequel to the original ''Captain Harlock'' TV series, ''Endless Odyssey'' reintroduces Tadashi Daiba to the ''Arcadia''.
''Space Pirate Captain Harlock'' (2013 movie)
On March 24, 2010,
Toei Animation
() is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...
announced the release of the
new Harlock movie, they announced a completed pilot for its planned computer-graphics remake of
Leiji Matsumoto
is a Japanese mangaka, creator of several anime and manga series. His wife Miyako Maki is also a manga artist.
Early life
Matsumoto was the middle child of a family of seven brothers, and, in his early childhood, Matsumoto was given a 35m ...
and Toei's Space Pirate Captain Harlock
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
and
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
franchise, and it has revealed a preliminary image and the project's staff.
Mobile Suit Gundam
, also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting ...
UC author
Harutoshi Fukui, ''
Appleseed'' director
Shinji Aramaki
is a Japanese anime director and mechanical designer from Fukuoka Prefecture. He graduated from Fukuoka Prefectural Fukuoka High School and Okayama University. He was a member of Artmic and is currently the Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at SOLA ...
, Appleseed mechanical designer
Atsushi Takeuchi
Atsushi is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Atsushi (musician), Japanese singer and vocalist of the band Exile
*, Japanese voice actor
*, Japanese synchronized swimmer
*, Japanese professional wrestler
*, Jap ...
, and
Ninja Scroll
is a 1993 Japanese animated ''jidaigeki''- ''chanbara'' film written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, starring the voices of Kōichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono, Daisuke Gōri, Toshihiko Seki and Shūichirō Moriyama. The film was a ...
character designer
Yutaka Minowa
is a character designer and animation director who works with Madhouse, a Japanese animation company. His work is recognised in the Yoshiaki Kawajiri movies he has designed characters for, among them '' Ninja Scroll'' and '' Vampire Hunter D: B ...
worked on the new Space Pirate Captain Harlock pilot with
Marza Animation Planet
is a Japan-based CGI animation studio dedicated to making full-length feature films and video game cutscenes. Their extensive résumé includes CGI add-ins for television series and video games. Their head office is located on the 18th floor ...
(formerly known as
Sega Sammy
(also known as the Sega Sammy Group and generally Sega Sammy, stylized as SᴇɢᴀSammy) is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies are involved in the amusement industry (Sega ...
Visual Entertainment).
The official trailer/pilot was aired at the Kawaii-Kon Anime festival in Hawaii on April 17, 2010, as a special presentation courtesy of Director Shinji Aramaki. This is the first time it has been seen/aired in the United States. The CG animated film was tentatively scheduled for international release in 2012.
On January 31, 2013 during the presentation of its upcoming film lineup, Toei announced that the anime will be out in Fall 2013.
According to the news source Oricon, this film has Toei Animation's highest production budget ever at the equivalent of over 30 million U.S. dollars.
The film premiered in Japan on September 7, 2013. It also film premiered on Netflix under the title ''Harlock: Space Pirate'' with Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish audio and with English, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles, with some scenes cut from some versions.
Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage
In August 2014, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his debut, Matsumoto launched the manga ''
Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage'', illustrated by Kōichi Shimahoshi, in the pages of
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi.
Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines
* – Bimo ...
's ''
Champion Red
is a monthly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine, published on the 19th each month by Akita Shoten since August 19, 2002 (cover date October 2002), initially published as a ''shōnen'' magazine. Since 2015, the magazine slogan is .
was a sp ...
'' magazine. ''Dimensional Voyage'' is a retelling of the original 1978 ''
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Play Comic'' from 1977 to 1979, with the chapters collected into five ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akita Shoten. The series follows the titular Capta ...
'' manga.
Reception and cultural impact
Harlock has achieved notable popularity. In 1979, the character won the first annual
Anime Grand Prix
The is an annual Japanese anime awards giving to recognize the best in anime of the previous year, decided by the votes of readers of entertainment magazine ''Animage'', published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. The Anime Grand Prix started i ...
for favorite character. In 2006, Harlock and the characters of ''
Galaxy Express 999
is a Japanese manga series. It is written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a number of anime films and television series. It is set in a spacefaring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer ...
'' were recognized in the third set of "Anime Heroes and Heroines" stamps. Harlock was ranked fourth in Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes written by Thomas Zoth who commented that "as befitting his archetype status, Harlock has inspired many other manga and anime characters with his strong, stoic appearance and manner."
Several anime and manga characters have been, in some way, inspired by Matsumoto's creation.
Naoko Takeuchi
is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the author of ''Sailor Moon'', one of the most popular manga series of all time.
She has won several awards, including the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for ''Sailor Moon''.
Takeuchi is married to ...
drew inspiration from Harlock's stoic qualities ("strong, silent, unshakeable") when designing the character of
Tuxedo Mask
Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...
,
while ''
Last Exile
is a Japanese anime television series created by Gonzo. It featured a production team led by director Koichi Chigira, character designer Range Murata, and production designer Mahiro Maeda. The three had previously worked together in '' Bl ...
s
Alex Row was modeled after the Captain.
His basic character design is even thought to be a source of inspiration for Osamu Tezuka's manga character ''
Black Jack
Blackjack is a popular casino-gambling card game.
Black Jack or Blackjack may also refer to:
Places
Australia
* Black Jack, Queensland, a locality in Queensland
* Black Jack, a civil parish of Pottinger County, New South Wales
* Black Jack H ...
''. A parody of Harlock also appears in ''
Project A-ko
is a 1986 Japanese action comedy science fiction anime film that had several sequels and a spin-off. This film focuses on a happy-go-lucky 16-year-old red-haired, sailor-suited teenage schoolgirl, A-ko Magami, who goes on her magical adventure ...
''.
Adaptations in other media
* In France, where the anime was very popular, but renamed "Albator" to avoid mix-ups with
Captain Haddock
Captain Archibald Haddock (french: Capitaine Archibald Haddock, link=no, ) is a fictional character in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. He is one of Tintin's best friends, a seafaring pipe-smoking ...
, in the early 1980s, a local comic series in
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
format was produced by writer
Claude Moliterni and anonymous artists of Studio Five Stars.
*
Eternity Comics
Eternity Comics was a California-based comic book publisher active from 1986 to 1994, first as an independent publisher, then as an imprint of Malibu Comics. Eternity published creator-owned comics of an offbeat, independent flavor, as well as so ...
, an imprint of
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included '' ...
, produced an American comic book series based on ''Captain Harlock''. It was written by Robert W. Gibson and illustrated by
Ben Dunn
Ben Dunn (born April 17, 1964) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed February 1, 2011.WebCitation archive/ref> is an American comic book artist and publisher.
Biography
Dunn was born i ...
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.
*In April 2008, Eight Peaks, a
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n production company, announced that it had signed a joint production contract with Japan's Genome Entertainment to produce a
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
film based on Captain Harlock. Original creator Leiji Matsumoto expressed concern with the project, as neither company had approached him for consent to make the film.
Other appearances
*Captain Harlock, or characters indistinguishable from him, have made frequent "unbilled cameo" appearances in many other works of Leiji Matsumoto, including ''
Galaxy Express 999
is a Japanese manga series. It is written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a number of anime films and television series. It is set in a spacefaring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer ...
'', ''
Queen Emeraldas
is a manga written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a four-episode anime OVA of the same name. ''Queen Emeraldas'' is the story of the pirate spaceship, ''Queen Emeraldas'', which is captained by the mysterious and beaut ...
'', and ''
Galaxy Railways
is a Japanese anime television series produced by Leiji Matsumoto, creator of ''Galaxy Express 999'', and is about flying trains set in the far reaches of outer space. It began airing on October 4, 2003. Funimation has licensed the anime for ...
'' as the joker in a deck of playing cards.
*Captain Harlock was originally intended to appear in ''
Space Battleship Yamato
is a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, ...
'' 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
was a Japanese film producer best known as one of the two co-creators of the anime series ''Space Battleship Yamato''. He was sometimes credited as ''Yoshinori Nishizaki''. He was born in 1934 and graduated from the Nihon University Art Departme ...
. 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
is a science fiction third-person shooter video game released by Taito. It was adapted into an anime television series in 2001.
Plot
The long war between the planet Earth and the machine men is finally over, resulting in a peace that is more ...
'' 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.
*In the
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay
''Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay'' is a role-playing game system with multiple source books set within the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe. The first game using the system, ''Dark Heresy'', was created by Black Industries, which closed soon after the ...
tabletop games, the legendary Rogue Trader Solomon Haarlock is presumably named after Captain Harlock and Robert E. Howard's
Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane is a fictional character created by the pulp magazine, pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. A late-16th-to-early-17th century Puritan, Solomon Kane is a somber-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanqu ...
. Another member of the Haarlock Dynasty, Erasmus Haarlock, bears a number of physical similarities to Captain Harlock
the long, wild hair, a missing right eye (a cybernetic replacement rather than just an eyepatch) and scars around his left eye.*In the episode "Space Booty" of ''
Megas XLR
''Megas XLR'' is an American animated television series created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic for Cartoon Network. The series revolves around two teenage slackers: mechanic Coop and his best friend Jamie, who find a mecha robot from the fut ...
'', the villain is a parody of Harlock, his name even being Warlock. He invites Coop. Kiva, and Jamie onto his ship and tries to convince Kiva to stay with him and forget about her two friends.
*
Glenn Danzig
Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...
would often wear a Captain Harlock skull and crossbones T-shirt when he played in
The Misfits.
*Electronic music producer James Spinney uses "DJ Harlock" as his alias for production and live performances, and is known for loosely using themes in his tracks that echo Matsumoto's work with
Daft Punk
Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...
.
* In the cartoon series
Steven Universe
''Steven Universe'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who li ...
, the character Lars Barriga takes up an appearance and role inspired by Captain Harlock in the season five episode "Lars of the Stars".
References
External links
The ''Captain Harlock'' Archives detailed production information
Anime News Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlock
Comics characters introduced in 1977
Eternity Comics titles
Fictional characters with disfigurements
Fictional ship captains
Male characters in anime and manga
Space pirates
Toei Animation television
Science fiction comics characters