See You, Space Pirate!: Captain Harlock: Space Pirate
Ahoy, mateys! This be the first post of Flashback February,
and for this week, I’ll be tellin’ ye a
tale of a swashbuckling pirate and his crew, an evil race of aliens out to take
over the Earth, and…well, space. But all
pirate talk aside, this week’s review is on one heck of a show, and that’s not
just because it’s the oldest show to be reviewed on Hanime on Anime. So let’s cast off me hardies and get started
on the first review for Flashback February 2016, Captain Harlock: Space Pirate.
Set in 2977, Earth has become a
dystopian paradise that pretty much echoes the setting of Fahrenheit 451 (the government controls everything and people are
brainwashed with television). Despising
the new views of the human race, Captain Harlock leaves Earth and is later
branded an outlaw after being accused of murdering several Earth
politicians. The military is constantly
out to capture this “outlaw” and is even willing to use children to make that
happen-in this case, I’m referring to the little girl Mayu, the daughter of an
old friend of Harlock’s. However, things
get serious when a mysterious race of aliens called the Mazone invades Earth,
and the people of Earth really don’t seem to care…at all. In light of this dire situation, Captain
Harlock decides to face the Mazone head on.
And this shouldn’t be too hard for him and his crew of misfits.
Captain
Harlock: Space Pirate was the first anime that came out of the seventies
that I’ve seen (the show was first released in 1978). I knew what I was getting into with the
oldest show reviewed thus far on Hanime on Anime. Even so, I was not disappointed with what I
saw. That’s why I’m giving Captain Harlock a four star rating. Obviously, my “80’s rule” applies to this
show. That is, I ignore the animation if
the show was released in the eighties or earlier-although anything post-Akira is fair game. Besides, the animation wasn’t the selling
point of this show anyway. Another
part to the “80’s rule” is that the plot becomes the focal point of the
show. And boy, does Captain Harlock have it! The
whole plot of the show is fantastic! Though
its overall concept is not anything new, the story is very well put together.
That being said, I almost gave this show a higher rating, but because I’m
barely ten episodes in, I decided to play it safe.
Despite how awesome I thought this
show was, there is one downside that I thought it had, and not for the reasons
that you’d think. Surprisingly, it was
the animation. Like I said, it’s not what
you think. The “80’s rule” still
applies. With an anime like this, the
animation is very stiff and bulky. For
those who started watching anime that came out in the late 2000’s-or better
yet, in the last year-, this show is less likely to spark an interest. Even I will admit it took a couple of minutes
just to get used to the style. But the trick
is to get past that. Believe me, this
show is a true anime gem! To pass it up
would be mutony!
So to finish me tale, Captain Harlock: Space Pirate be a grand
treasure any daring retro anime fan should seek! The show is available for purchase online, if
you so desire to have it. I highly
recommend Right Stuf because I had a pretty good experience with them I bought
the entire series on DVD from them. As
far as watching it online, you can try Hulu and Crunchyroll.com. Anyways, it’s high time I set sail! Be sure to stick around next week for part
two of Flashback February where I review the movie Angel’s Egg.
-Hanime
on Anime
P.S.: There will be no pirate puns or pirate talk next week! ;)
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