The Harlock / Leiji Matsumoto thread

Jeni Nielsen · Post by **Jeni Nielsen** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:31 pm

I had such a long post, and I'll post more when I have time (stupid graduate school ^_^)

I love all things Herlock. (I use the Herlock spelling because apparently it's Leji Matsumoto's preferred spelling). I started reading Galaxy Express 999 when it started appearing in Animerica (does that date me or what? ^^). It's a shame they never finished it.

As I said in a previous post there's so much that's Japanese about Herlock and Tetsuo and the whole "Lejiverse." There's a sense of post WWII nostalgia, a longing for youth and times past. There's something so Japanese about a steam train leaving for space that it's kind of awesome to think about. The juxtaposition and the thrust of old versus new, you don't really get the same feeling from American comics or cartoons.

As for the character himself, I love how iconic a character he is. he may only appear once in a while in a manga like Galaxy Express, but when he does he makes a huge impact. I don't really want to know what his whole story is because to me it doesn't matter much. He's more like an archetype.

I'll post later on what I feel about Matsumoto's female characters (i kinda have a love hate relationship with them. ^_^)

GhostLine · Post by **GhostLine** » Wed May 14, 2008 8:10 pm

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... lock-movie

Captain Harlock movie...Korean production....

GhostLine · Post by **GhostLine** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:32 pm

CGI Film, coming out Fall 2013.
Directed by Shinji Aramaki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ_ek6o_ ... r_embedded

Post by **Jeff Georgeson** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:36 am

That looks fun! Been a long time since I watched that ...

GhostLine · Post by **GhostLine** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:00 pm

First 12 minutes of Harlock film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEaYGl_ib8I

GhostLine · Post by **GhostLine** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 12:22 am

I finally saw Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

I basically rate the story as comparable to other Shinji Aramaki films...some great parts, but maybe a bit overdone in others. I hate there were some slow parts while other more important parts and characters were largely ignored. Although Captain Harlock is the title character, it was another character who got more screen time, but considering the ending, I could understand why.

With the bad things aside, I thought it was a beautiful film. You couldn't do any more justice to the utter look and coolness of Harlock and his Arcadia. The CG rendering was so well-done, that you could easily make out the different textures and material in costumes...flesh seemed more fleshly. The space battles and action were well done...with lost of explosions and laser beams. It many ways it was your typical Harlock saga with the crew of the Arcadia fighting against surmounting odds.

The story focuses on Logan, a young man who becomes the newest crewmember of the infamous Arcadia under Harlock's command. Logan is immediately thrust into having to prove himself worthy in the middle of Harlock's mysterious mission around the galaxy...yet Logan desires more than belonging to a pirate crew...as he has other motives. Captain Harlock himself has an unspoken motive as well, harboring a guilty secret that will shatter everyone's dreams of returning home.