Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock Movie

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock Movie (2013, Toei Animation, 1h 55m) on 9/28/2014.

Mankind is at its wit's end as life outside of a devastated Earth proves to be nearly impossible. But Earth is governed by a greedy alliance known as the Gaia Coalition. Space Pirate Captain Harlock commands the fearsome Arcadia battleship as he plunders the alliance's spaceships to fight for the freedom of Earth, but can we really be saved by a man himself shrouded in mystery?

8.5/10 – This movie was, in my opinion, a great reboot of the original story. As I've mentioned many times before, it's not like Leiji's Harlock works are consistent with each other to begin with but this was a pretty cool re-imagining compared to the rest. Most of the original characters were there with some new ones as well. Some of the character's names were changed to something else and even the official translation had names different from the new ones too, which was a little weird for me but I didn't really care because I knew who these characters really were in essence. Now, let's talk about the graphics. Wow. It's an improvement on movies like Advent Children if you've ever watched it. It is so visually stunning it hurts. And of course, they have to show off how good it is with some pointless scene where this chick does an air flip in the shower for no reason whatsoever. I was so lost. But the story was awesome. Actually it was a bit dull towards the first third of the movie but then there's a plot twist that really got me! This movie is decently long and I loved the way it ended even though I saw it coming. Awesome. Awesome stuff.

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Outside Legend - The Endless Odyssey

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Outside Legend - The Endless Odyssey (2002, Madhouse, 13 ep.) on 9/7/2014.

In this alternate reality sequel of the original series, Prof. Daiba unleashes the Noo, an ancient alien threat from its confines during an archeological mission to the end of the universe. Five years later, this threat reaches earth throwing into motion a reunion of Arcadia's Captain Harlockand his old crew.

7.5/10 - This sequel to the original series, if I can call it that, was actually pretty decent. At least comparing to that piece of garbage prequel known as Gun Frontier. So I guess that means I'll be comparing them both. Why? Because I know there are other shows and movies in the franchise and from what I heard none of them are very consistent with each other so I'm not even going to bother with them. That's why I'm sticking with only these two. Even Outside Legend was a little wonky in terms of continuity, but that's as far as my patience can go. Don't get me wrong, I think the whole Captain Harlock idea is pretty epic, but Leiji Matsumoto keeps annoying me with his inconsistency in this franchise. However, I'm willing to bet this series is the best Captain Harlock spinoff. Now, the reason why I'm not sure whether to call this show a sequel or not is because it behaves like both a sequel and a reboot. The reason why I say this is because the show is supposed to take place after the Mazone arc. Even Yattaran mentions fighting the Mazone in the past, but at the same time the show starts with Pr. Daiba still alive and his son, Daiba yet to meet Harlock for the first time. So basically Harlock defeated the Mazone without Daiba as part of the crew and Pr. Daiba was never killed by the Mazone, but instead... by the new threat known as the Noo. In 13 good looking episodes Harlock pursues this new enemy and I have to say, as a fan I was pretty pleased with the quality of the show. I never got bored, there was always something new happening each episode and the art was clean and crisp. The animation was also well done, specially with the Arcadia turning in some scenes to dodge laser canons. I do think that some other scenes didn't have to be so static though. It would've been nice to see Harlock exchanging a few blows with one of the bad guys as they exchanged a conversation between eachother. Other than what I've mention I really don't have much to complain about with this show. It was very awesome to see the old characters reunite in an updated art quality that would match that of today's anime shows. And as my last visit in my Harlock voyage as a true man, I shall move onto to watching the CG movie that was released recently. Til, then, may the hearts of passionate souls guide you through the stars of the universe.

Finished watching Gun Frontier

On July 10th, 2014 I finished watching Gun Frontier (2002, Vega Entertainment, 13 epi.) 10/07/2014.

Follow best friends Tochirou and Harlock in this comedic adventure as they travel the perilous Western Frontier of the United States looking for Tochirou's lost clan of Japanese immigrants. Along the way they pick up a mysterious young woman named Sinunora and together they challenge all sorts of wild west baddies and corrupt officials.

5/10 - Now, I don't know about the manga, but this show was absolute crud compared to what I was expecting out of a Leiji Matsumoto product. I came into it thinking it was going to lead up to the Space Pirate Captain Harlock events. But, no! There's no sort of connection whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned this was just a show with two characters who just happen to look like and have the same names as the ones from SPCH. Not only does it not lead up to that show but most of the episodes are just ridiculous with its pointless, blatant nudity from Sinunora. Most of the time she ends up getting naked for no reason whatsoever. If you asked her to strip in front of you in the middle of the street, she would, with no hesitation, with the most stoic face you'll ever see in your life. Oh, and did I mention how the women in this show have no nipples? What lines are you trying not to cross here? You already have blatant nudity on almost every episode, might as well just save me the cringe and add the damn nipples. The only thing that sort of saves this show is the art and animation quality. The lineart tends to be varied in value, which is rare to see in an animated show. Probably because it makes it difficult to animate. But even if I had watched this show for just what it is, I still don't think I would've liked it very much. The ending wasn't lead up to very well and wasn't that well written either. Definitely not one of my favorites.

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978, Toei Animation, 42 epi.) on 07/11/2014.

A race of plant-based alien beings known as the Mazone threaten a futuristic Earth claiming the planet once belonged to them before humans took over. But, without official consent from Earth, in their path stands Space Pirate Captain Harlock with his space battleship, the Arcadia, manned by his lively crew of space mateys as he departs on a journey to the source of the Mazone.

7/10 - For its time I'm sure the show was pretty epic, but I did fall asleep on a handful of episodes. Regardless, I did enjoy it in its entirety. I was left with some technical questions however about the plot, like why does Mime keep saying that she gave her life to Harlock. for example. I must've fallen asleep when it came up, maybe. Also, there were some scenes that were supposed to be serious but I couldn't help laughing because of the way they were directed, sometimes they were just downright awkward. There's also some sort of weird consistency with the storytelling too, like the Tokargan males having odd-shaped heads one episode and then looking like normal humans on another. I really think this must've been an awesome show to watch in late 1970's Japan. Again, It's not what I'm used to but I certainly enjoyed it. One very important thing to mention is that this is a show based on the manga by the same title which was created by Leiji Matsumoto who, by the way, supervised the creation of those Daft Punk anime videos. Yeah! Remember those? Interstella 5555 was the sh*t! In fact, you'll see a lot of character design similarities throughout most of his work. He has a stock of characters he likes to keep using. Most noticeable examples would be Doctor Zero or even Tochiro from this show.