is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''

Space Pirate Captain Harlock , also titled Captain Harlock, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's ''Play Comic'' from January 1977 to June 1979, with the chapters collected into five volumes. The ser ...

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series created by

Leiji Matsumoto was a Japanese manga artist, and creator of several anime and manga series. His widow Miyako Maki is also a manga artist. Matsumoto was famous for his works such as ''Space Battleship Yamato'' and ''Galaxy Express 999''. His style was chara ...

. 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 i ...

, a

space pirate Space pirates are a type of stock character from science fiction. A take on the traditional seafaring piracy, pirates of history or the fictional air pirates of the 19th century, space pirates travel through outer space. Where traditional pirate ...

with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, 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"). He is a descendant of the Harlock clan, an ancient Germanic clan of pirate-knights based in Heiligenstadt. The character was created by Leiji Matsumoto in 1977 and popularized in the 1978 television series ''

''. Since then, the character has appeared in numerous animated television series and films, the latest of which is 2013's ''

''.

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 ''

'', 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 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 feature film depicting the origin of seminal character Captain Harlock, created by Leiji Matsumoto. 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 ...

'' 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 film 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 man ...

'', a mini-series based on ''

Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...

''. 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 . The compos ...

and pits them against a race of "gods" set on redesigning the universe to their liking.

''Gun Frontier''

'' Gun Frontier'', a

buddy comedy The buddy film is a subgenre of adventure and comedy film in which two people go on an adventure, mission, or road trip. The two typically are males with contrasting personalities. The contrast is sometimes accentuated by an ethnic difference be ...

set in the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

, began broadcasting in

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.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 ...

. 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 was the England, ensign flown by a piracy, pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the latter part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The vast majority of such flags flew the motif of a human skull, or � ...

. 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 film)

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. Slu ...

produced a film adaptation of the manga in 2013, titled ''

''. Toei developed the pilot for its planned computer-graphics remake of ''Space Pirate Captain Harlock''

and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

franchise in 2010. ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also retrospectively known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Na ...

'' 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 ...

, ''Appleseed'' mechanical designer Atsushi Takeuchi, 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 ...

'' character designer Yutaka Minowa 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 o ...

(formerly known as Sega Sammy Visual Entertainment). The official trailer/pilot was aired at the Kawaii-Kon Anime festival in Hawaii on April 17 of the same year, as a special presentation courtesy of director Shinji Aramaki. The film has the highest production budget ever at the equivalent of over 30 million U.S. dollars. The film premiered in Japan on September 7, 2013. The film also premiered on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

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 in 1948. As of May 2023, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. The company is known for publishing the manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Champ ...

's ''

Champion Red is a monthly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published on the 19th of each month by Akita Shoten since August 19, 2002 (cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the ...

'' magazine. ''Dimensional Voyage'' is a retelling of the original 1978 ''

'' 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 , also known as , is a fictional character and one of the primary protagonists of the ''Sailor Moon'' media franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. He disguises himself to support the series' central heroines, the Sailor Guardians. Wearing a mask ...

, 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 '' ...

''s Alex Row was modeled after the Captain. His basic character design is even thought to be a source of inspiration for

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

's manga character Black Jack. A parody of Harlock also appears in ''

Project A-ko is a 1986 Japanese animated science fiction action comedy film. The film focuses on 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl A-ko, who defends her best friend C-ko, as they face off against their classmate and rival B-ko while the Earth faces the threa ...

''.

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'') is a character in the comic book series ''The Adventures of Tintin''. He is Tintin (character), Tintin's best friend, a seafaring captain in the Merchant Navy or Merchant Mar ...

, in the early 1980s, a local comic series in

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

format was produced by writer Claude Moliterni and anonymous artists of Studio Five Stars. *

Eternity Comics Eternity Comics was an American 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 some lice ...

, an imprint of

Malibu Comics Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (launched 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 ''Th ...

, 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. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n production company, announced that it had signed a joint production contract with Japan's Genome Entertainment to produce a

live-action 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 feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

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 ''

'', ''

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'' 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 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, totaling u ...

'' 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 Departm ...

. 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 mor ...

'' 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'' 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-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 vanquish evil in al ...

. 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 slackers: mechanic Coop and his best friend Jamie, who find a mecha robot from the future ...

'', 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, actor, film director and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He ...

would often wear a Captain Harlock skull and crossbones T-shirt when he played in The Misfits. * In the cartoon series ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American 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 lives with the Crys ...

'', the character Lars Barriga takes up an appearance and role inspired by Captain Harlock in the season five episode "Lars of the Stars". * In the penultimate episode of the anime series '' Magical Project S'', also known as Pretty Sammy TV, the magical girl, Pixy Misa is seen cosplaying as Captain Harlock while she was piloting NASA's Endeavour shuttle with a rudder as she was flying towards the Magic Kingdom of Jurailhelm, all while mimicking the famous captain.

References

External links

The ''Captain Harlock'' archives

detailed production information
Anime News Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlock Anime and manga characters introduced in 1977 Eternity Comics titles Fictional characters missing an eye Fictional eyepatch wearers Fictional pirate captains Fictional ship captains Male characters in anime and manga Space pirates Toei Animation television Science fiction comics characters