Arcadia

The Arcadia is the starship of Captain Harlock and his crew. It was created by the late Tochiro Oyama as his final gift to his dear friend Harlock before his inevitable demise.

Production
The Arcadia is described as the brainchild of Leiji Matsumoto, having gone through multiple draft designs with the final version being the culmination between Matsumoto and Studio Nue, with Kazutaka Miyatake (of eventual Macross design fame) being the first to acknowledge it. This subsequent design for the 1982 film Arcadia of My Youth was based primarily on the notion of making the ship look like it was a ramming vessel. One of the main reasons for the multiple redesigns was due to competition at the time between Takara, which owned the copyrights to Space Pirate Captain Harlock (and thus the original blue ship design), and Bandai, which owned the copyrights to Galaxy Express 999 (and thus the more memorable green ship design). The skull-and-crossbones portion also went through a few redesigns until being settled.

It should be noted that Leiji Matsumoto's universe suffers from a great lack of coherence in general, both in terms of design and stories, which somewhat complicates the task of both publishers of derivative products and fans trying to establish what is canon and what isn't. One should be cautious of what details to accept and what to leave out, depending on what story or source one leans towards.

Overview
Arcadia was named as such for a utopia away from any and all shackles, including from that of Earth, serving as a physical symbolism for Harlock and his search for freedom. Some series even claim that the ship was named after the Harlock family's estate or prior aircraft owned by past members of the family line that were personally named "Arcadia". The vessel was created by Tochiro Oyama on either Heavy Melder or Earth, depending on the story. It was built using parts and equipment recycled from a prior spaceship called Death Shadow. How exactly the Death Shadow came to become Arcadia or was incorporated into its creation is quite inconsistent. In one telling: at some point throughout its adventures fighting the Illumidas, an incident involving Captain Bentselle (the former owner of Death Shadow) caused both vessels to crash in Heavy Melder. Living in the decrepit and rusting remains of the ship and nearing the end of his life, an ailing Tochiro uploaded his consciousness (in some languages, his soul or spirit) into Arcadia's central computer, effectively making Arcadia a sort of cyborg or living ship. The only people who know of this are Harlock, Miime, Tori-san, and in some tellings Tetsuro Hoshino. The ship's crew consists of around 40 people with a motley of figures and positions as well as including Tori-san, Miime, and the cat Me-kun.

Overall, Arcadia features a robust design with tough, heavy armour and enough firepower comparable to a mighty armada, supported by a loyal crew and an epic man of sheer determination with nothing to lose.

Appearance
The Arcadia has gone through numerous appearances due to a number of muddling copyrights, distribution, and marketing issues over the years. This has led to the vessel suffering from many inconsistencies and contradictions, some nuanced, others more glaring and painfully obvious.

The most common and iconic look of the starship resembles a cross between an old-fashioned galleon and a World War II-era battleship, uniformly coloured in a mossy, olivine, or deep military green. The back of the ship always appears to be made of a material resembling wood, and is in the shape of an ornate galleon stern and aftercastle, complete with gas lanterns and amber yellow lighting peering through its large windows. It is this stern that remains the most persistent aesthetic feature of Arcadia, regardless of the design it takes, bestowing the vessel with a unique impression. From below the stern are a pair of large boosters with two rudder-like winglets each. A pair of wings protrude from above this, bent downwards from the middle and ending in wingtip pods. The bases of the wings have many large vents and are in a sort of semicircular shape, forming part of the ship's quarterdeck. Resting atop the quarterdeck just before the afterdeck is a dome structure, from which two thin wings extend out from the sides, ending in wingtip pods. In front of the dome structure and behind the bridge is another thin wing, but vertically tall like a mast, that ends in a wingtip pod with two extensions out the side of it, resembling the shape of a trident head or perhaps a bird. Another thin wing with this same wingtip pod also juts out of the ship's keel. The keel also features four short fins and a bottom-mounted Pulsar cannon turret on the bilge vent. The bridge is situated on a tall superstructure, with fluorescent yellow lights shining through the windows, and atop it is a command center or "secondary bridge" featuring specialised antennae, radar, sensors, and other instruments. At the very top is a small blue observation deck. The roof of the bridge is branded with a skull-and-crossbones. The superstructure and quarterdeck are lined and bristling with plenty of small guns and missile ports. Two pentagon-shaped instruments extend from the sides of the superstructure. The hull is long and solid, extending far forward, helping to create many of the dynamic silhouette shots that the Arcadia is known for, and is also peppered with many panels and vents. The main deck features two Pulsar cannon turrets, the second higher elevated than the first. Behind the second turret and built into the superstructure's base is the Space Buster. Ahead of the first turret is a bulbous structure. At least six fluorescent yellow lights are on each side: four square ones below the first turret, and two circular ones below the skull-and-crossbones insignia. The forecastle of the ship is very smooth and noticeably protrudes from the bow, with large vents similar to that of the wing bases behind it. A small forward-pointing antenna sticks out of the top, and a giant, well-sculpted, and iron-solid skull-and-crossbones juts out of the prow, encompassing most of it. An intake vent is present underneath the forecastle. Occasionally, a giant Jolly Roger flag is hoisted up from the stern or mast wing with special equipment, that flutters by varying circumstances such as gravity waves. This depiction of Arcadia was solidified as the most definite and iconic for most people thanks to the 1982 movie Arcadia of My Youth.

In the 1977 serialisation of Play Comic and the 1978 television anime series, the Arcadia is somewhat smaller and has a slightly wider beam, more obviously resembling the Death Shadow that it was originally built from, and in a uniform blue or blue-grey colour. The hull is in general much more slender and tapers to a flat red point at the prow area, save for two vented wings at the bow, which each feature a forward-leaning thin wing that ends in a wingtop pod. The wingtop pods at the ends of the main wings are red. In some publications, the twin boosters are also red. A pair of multipurpose pods are mounted underslung the main wings, and the keel cannon turret is absent. The part of the bow that connects with the forecastle is ornately gilded in the same manner as the wood-like galleon stern, with the skull-and-crossbones now resting on top. The design of the bridge, superstructure, and quarterdeck remained mostly unchanged, but the rest of the ship looks much different and not as detailed. This ship design is often considered by fans to be chronologically the first Arcadia vessel, due to the aforementioned likeness to a Death Shadow, and is sometimes even referred to as such.

From Galaxy Express 999 Another Story: Ultimate Journey, another design is seen that is virtually identical to the look established in Arcadia of My Youth, but bears a few key differences. That being, the ship is in a uniform gunmetal grey colour, it now has a fourth Pulsar cannon turret replacing the bulbous structure at the front of the main deck before the forecastle, and the ends of its boosters are sharp and conical in shape, rather than cylindrical. This design is referred to as "Attack Enhanced Type".

In the 2013 CGI film adaptation, Arcadia is given its most drastic redesign yet. While superficially from a distance it still closely resembles the classic shape of the older designs, the retro World War II battleship-inspired characteristics of Leiji Matsumoto have been abandoned almost altogether for something quite dominating and alien. It is far larger at double the size and mass, and much more ridiculously defined and grossly detailed, to the point that the skull-and-crossbones feature a lower jaw, hollow eye sockets, and a spinal vertebrae-like structure extending from it across the middle of the forecastle. Ominous red lighting emits from the underside layers and various holes and vents of the ship, including the eye sockets. Instead of three turrets, there are three rings encircling the hull of the vessel mounted with four cannon turrets each, capable of moving along the circumference to cover up any blind spots. There are three "masts", the last of which a Jolly Roger flag is usually flown from. In the place of wings, there are four bony harpoon-like protrusions that point forwards, with the top two being longer and skinnier than the bottom two. More protrusions jut out towards the stern of the ship, with two culminating in hook shapes, and one resembling a short bony tail. The middle of the ship is seemingly built around a large spherical mass. The vessel has an overall rocky or bony texture across the whole body, with some parts looking as if they were warped or fused onto the ship. Perhaps most interestingly of all, this depiction manages to still retain a semblance of the original bridge and superstructure, even the shape of the wood-like galleon stern remains intact. It is now powered with dark matter engines that are hexagonal in shape.

All incarnations of Arcadia portray it as being controlled by Harlock via a traditional ship's wheel.

In Harlock Saga, Tochiro mentions on a number of occasions that he wanted to procure an entire fleet of Arcadias consisting of at least seven or nine different vessels. Tochiro even invokes that one of these vessels would've been 1 kilometre long and weigh over 2,900,000 metric tons. If anything, this measurement corresponds to the CG movie Arcadia.

An archive of the number of Arcadias mentioned and produced can be found here (note that the site is in French language).

Weapons
The Arcadia is built to be a top-class combat pirate ship with various weaponry, including a variety of beams and missiles to attack and defend itself.

Twin Pulsar Cannons

 * The main guns of the Arcadia are three cannon turret battery sets, two atop the main deck and one on the keel, each with three barrels able to individually change positions at an acute angle. The cannons fire beams of EM radiation that can take out entire fleets of ships and can release electric shocks as well.
 * In the 1977 blue design of the original Harlock manga and the 1978 anime, the underside keel turret is not present. Arcadia also relied solely on these cannons and ramming, with no Space Busters, beams, or missile salvos being used.
 * In the CG movie design, there are three rings encircling the hull of Arcadia mounted with four cannon turrets per ring, bringing a total of twelve cannon turrets. Each turret is capable of individually swiveling and moving along the circumference to cover any location an enemy may be and absolutely ensure no blind spots.

Space Buster/Rapid Fire Gun

 * A Space Buster is equipped below the bridge, primarily used to intercept enemy fighters. The guns also fire harpoons for latching onto enemy ships while releasing a freezing gas from within the opposing ship to numb the enemy occupants. In addition, there are four additional Busters, one on each side of the superstructure as well as two Busters further down the main body. On either sides of the bridge, the guns can combine fire for assaults.
 * In some early artworks, it is called "Pulse Missile Launcher" and has at least eight firing ports.

Gravitational Wave Missile Launchers

 * On both sides of the hull near the Space Busters are at least three sets of ports used to release guided missiles that can also be used in water.
 * In the case of the 1980 green design, there are three more launch silos on each side of the forecastle. A panel outside the launch silo slides open when they are about to be used.

Torpedo Tubes

 * Only present on the green design, dummy missiles that may be launched from the aforementioned panels on each side of the forecastle.

Combat Transfer Anchor Tube

 * The Anchor Tube is used to penetrate the hulls of enemy ships for boarding raids with the crew engaging in battle inside for traditional combat. The ends of these tubes can be opened and closed, so users can board ships directly through them once launched. Sometimes multiple anchors may be released at once, and sometimes these tubes are equipped with drills.
 * According to Harlock, boarding the enemy and fighting them in close-quarters is the "traditional pirate way".

Anti-Aircraft Beam Turret

 * Small turrets are spread around the general area of the bridge to intercept small flying objects like fighter crafts, projectiles, or space debris. There are also a few small retractable anti-aircraft turrets at the keel of the ship.

Knife Ram

 * Below the bow is a special retractable naval ram the Arcadia may use when engaging in close combat, even though the front skull combined with the flying mass of over 215,000 metric tonnes behind it is already a durable and effective weapon for impacting enemies at dangerously high speeds. When deployed and rotated out (presumably somehow from the intake vent underneath the forecastle), it reveals a giant ornately gilded jack knife-like weapon roughly the length of the ship's own forecastle that can pierce the hull and armour of opposing ships or buildings.
 * In the 1977 blue design, the ram is not as exaggeratedly large and is not decorated, and pops out more like a switchblade.
 * In the CG movie design, the ram is completely absent.

Anti-Ship Depth Charge

 * Explosive charges can be released from the ship's stern to ward off enemies from behind.

Dark Matter

 * The CG incarnation of Arcadia is capable of utilising the dark matter stored within to pull off feats that would normally be considered impossible or mildly breaking the laws of physics. Such examples include dissipating and reappearing in a mass of black smoke, avoiding point-blank range cannon fire, phasing through solid matter, cloaking/becoming invisible, deploying it as a shield to tank the force of a planet-destroying weapon, and limitless energy.

Self-Repair

 * The CG incarnation of Arcadia is capable of regenerating any damage it had sustained; this combined with the ship's natural durability has made it very hard to put down. Even after being directly hit by the Jovian Blaster and crashing, after a given amount of time, the ship managed to heal itself back to full health, complete with a new Jolly Roger flag. By extension, it is said that the vessel can never be truly destroyed for as long as the captain lives, and vice-versa.

Operation
Regardless of incarnation, the Arcadia functions much like a regular ship with a need for shifts for the occupants to come into play but works in tandem with the crew. Everyone alternates duties and can sleep whenever they want, or at the same time. This is because Arcadia's computer determines the crew's roles automatically, with shifts that even the captain is not entirely aware of. The same computer keeps Arcadia running without the need to dock or rest, allowing a small crew of just over 40 to operate, though the minimum number of personnel needed to run the ship is substantially less than 40, as many crew members are seen lounging about or operating the various smaller space vessels such as the Space Wolf and the Bullets. It has an auto-determining navigation system, allowing the Arcadia to find any place in record and guide itself without the need for a controller. In cases of emergency, the computer can even override and take control of Arcadia completely. All of this is because the computer's operating system is actually the uploaded consciousness or spirit of its creator, Tochiro Oyama. At times, Arcadia is often equipped with a holographic projector that can display a figure of Tochiro so that he can directly communicate with others.

Arcadia's bridge interior and the view it provides are large and bears more than a passing resemblance to the bridge designs of Space Battleship Yamato. The original bridge design was retained for the first two appearances of the Galaxy Express 999 anime and later Adieu, Galaxy Express 999, but was then replaced with the "battle gymnasium" version starting with Arcadia of My Youth and continuing until Endless Odyssey, when it reverted back to the original, slightly less grandiose scale.

On the helm of the ship is a traditional wood steering wheel that is often used by Captain Harlock or First Mate Yattaran to manually control the position of the ship. At times, Harlock will give out commands from his seat in the captain's quarters. Whenever someone else tries to steer the ship without consent, it usually endangered the crew and inhabitants by risking supplies and life-support systems. However, in the last episode of Endless Orbit SSX, Harlock goes out onto the afterdeck and steers from an external helm placed over the aft cabin. It has been noted that the ship’s bridge towering in front would make it very difficult to obtain decent visibility.

The Arcadia features multiple radars that can detect just about all obstacles as well as jammers that can throw off the radars and signals of opposing vessels. Depending on the series, Arcadia also features some equipment that has not been seen before or only used once and then forgotten, such as specialised computer interfaces that adjust to particular users.

Arcadia also features a hanger for storing a number of vehicles including but not limited to:
 * Multiple single-seat "Space Wolf" fighter jets for high-speed dogfighting
 * A "Cosmo Wing" medium-size high-speed fighting craft that doubles as a transport carrier and can deploy a smaller fighter craft from its fuselage
 * Small multipurpose craft called "Boreto/Bullets" numbered 1-6. Bullet 1 is a small, highly maneouvrable fighter craft that can be carried within the nose cone of the Cosmowing. Bullet 2 is a drill-nosed craft designed for penetrating enemy strongholds. Bullets 3 and 4 are land-based combat vehicles.
 * A large all-terrain vehicle called a "Space Trailer" that's not only armed, but can carry and deploy several Bullet craft
 * Unmanned automated fighter planes carried by Arcadia, though they are only seen once: when Harlock sends them through a wormhole to engage the Illumidas during a desperate attempt to rescue Emeraldas
 * A three-wheeled scouting buggy
 * A boat
 * A submarine car, sometimes called a "Seabike", though it looks nothing like a bike

Arcadia itself can also be used as a submarine, and works perfectly fine underwater.

The Arcadia possesses strong, thick heavy armour, able to withstand all manner of thermal energy, explosive munitions, beams, and particle weaponry. This, in combination with its overwhelming firepower, allows it to challenge large enemy fleets single-handedly without being at a disadvantage in overall effectiveness.

The ship is able, through the use of an "anti-shock balancer", to plunge into a planet’s atmosphere and dive into its oceans without being torn apart as it would happen to other spacecraft, completely enduring atmospheric re-entry. The ship displays warp drive capabilities starting in Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX. Although warping is not depicted as such in other works, it is generally understood that Arcadia can travel faster than the speed of light (e.g. in the Harlock manga, Mazon Queen Rafflesia orders her people to attack ships with warp speed capabilities, suggesting that the Arcadia is one of these ships even though no actual warping is explicitly described in the story. It is not implausible that Arcadia may have adopted Mazon technologies over time, such as "dimensional wave travel" or self-repairing systems).

The space battleship is fast and nimble for its size, being able to maneouvre through various obstacles, fields of asteroids and space debris, or cross a considerably long distance unbothered while in the midst of large-scale firefights and warzones, enter close range of enemy vessels, and smashing into them. The Arcadia's signature high-speed ramming is a dangerous feat for enemies to witness because the ship's engines also allow it to attain velocities unprecedented by most computers and tracking systems, often bypassing defences and avoiding gunfire from point-blank range by sheer speed alone. In the case of the CG movie design, the dark matter engines of that incarnation take the performance of the ship to new heights; aside from granting Arcadia infinite energy, they allow the ship to perform feats that, amongst other things, break or ignore conventional laws of physics. The names given to the engines may very greatly, from "Wave Motion Engines", to "Compressed Gravitational Wave Motors", to "Dimensional Hydrokinetic Gravity Engines".

The crew itself seems rather lazy and uncoordinated, and do not abide by any particular set of rules, making them prone to idleness. The total disorder aboard the ship is especially notable in Der Ring des Nibelungen, where it is said that at times the dining/mess hall had looked like it has not been cleaned for several years. That being said, when an important situation arises, the crew will always spring into action, ready to protect their home. Everyone performs his or her duty efficiently within the chain of command. This fact reflects one of Harlock's principles: "This ship is also our family, and in families, nothing gets done by standing on ceremony. As long as everyone does what they need to do when the time comes, everything will be fine."

It is through such principles and resolve, as well as the clear emotional bonds Harlock has with his ship (in the sense that it is both an extension of himself and the continued life of his best friend) that has led to the popular in-universe belief that Arcadia would never truly die, as long as its captain remains alive and fighting, and vice-versa. The CG movie incarnation of Arcadia has decidedly took this legendary belief to a literal level, complete with regenerative capabilities.

Of the 1978 blue version, it is possible to exit the ship from the skull-and-crossbones sections on the side, and conversely the skull can receive small ships by opening sideways. The 1980 green version usually has a broadside hatch from which crew members enter and exit the vessel. In both designs, there is an airlock on the keel that doubles as a launching bay connected to the vehicle storage hangar, from which crewmen can take off and land.

Other facilities Arcadia is mentioned to have include a sick bay, operating room, laboratory, meeting and recreation rooms for the crew, a radio telescope, and a dedicated liquor storage room.

Trivia

 * Emeraldas has claimed that the only other vessel worthy of flying the Jolly Roger in her eyes, is the Arcadia.
 * Most Japanese fans call the two main versions of Arcadia "sharpnose" and "skullnose" after the shape of the bow. Most Western-language sites and their respective fans refer to these as the "blue" and "green" Arcadia, respectively.
 * Models of Arcadia released by Bandai would sometimes be called "Captain Harlock's Ship", probably because of lingering copyright issues.
 * Although it is famous as an invincible pirate ship, in one episode of the anime, there was stated to be a dead space, or blind spot. According to Harlock, it is at both sides of the ship’s stern, at 8°5′. However, this is never brought up again in any other media.
 * Because of its many designs, the Arcadia is subject to numerous stat changes and inconsistencies, such as length, weight, armaments, rooms, internal appearance, and origins across different media appearances.
 * The Arcadia is an entirely custom-made ship design which would designate it an "Arcadia-class" battleship, but in some media it is referred to as a "Death Shadow-class" battleship, referencing back to Harlock's original vessel whose parts were later used to build Arcadia.
 * In most versions of the Leijiverse, there has only ever been one Arcadia design in each timeline, although flashbacks in Captain Harlock: Endless Odyssey and Der Ring des Nibelungen have alluded to both blue and green designs. There are no onscreen instances or plot elements involving the ship being replaced, rebuilt, or refurbished to account for the two different designs . One exception, however is possibly in Cosmo Warrior Zero (which depicts a younger Harlock): the old blue Arcadia design is depicted here as the Death Shadow, recoloured green and named as such, the assumption being that this will either be rechristened as Arcadia in the future or that its replacement of the green Studio Nue design is still under construction. Either direction is a possibility as Tochiro is still alive and well during the events of Cosmo Warrior Zero.
 * Because of this confusion, as well as other discrepancies and continuity problems, it is generally accepted that all forms of Arcadia (including the CG movie version) are all technically the same vessel, for the sake of simplicity.
 * According to Der Ring des Nibelungen, there are four "strongest swords in the universe" with roughly equivalent power levels: the Arcadia, Space Battleship Yamato, Time Sweeper Mahoroba and Queen Emeraldas.