| Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Manga) | |
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Dates of Publication: |
1977-1979 |
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku) is a manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, serialized Akita Shoten's Play Comic from 1977 to 1979.
The series follows the titular Captain, an outcast turned space pirate after he rebelled against Earth's Government and mankind's general apathy.
Plot
In the future, Mankind 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.
The oppressors are the Mazone, a race of vegetable-based women who explored Earth in the mythic past and are now back to reclaim it. Only Harlock and his mismatched crew are brave enough and capable enough to face the enemy.
Characters
Captain Harlock
Harlock is the archetypical romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be earthborn or alien. In his own words, he "fight[s] for no one's sake, only for something deep in [his] heart".
Arcadia's Main Crew
Tadashi Daiba (台羽 正 Daiba Tadashi).(Terrence "Terry" Drake, in English) Daiba is the 14-year-old son of a scientist who was killed by the Mazone, he joined the Arcadia crew following the death of his father. He lost his mother in a disaster on Neptune's moon Triton when her pleas for help were ignored by the indifferent government. Tadashi is sometimes in conflict with Harlock early in the series, but he would become a trusted part of Harlock's senior staff as the series progressed.
'Kei Yuki (有紀 蛍 Yuuki Kei). (Kayla "Kay" Kerry in English) A young human woman with blonde hair who was already part of Harlock's crew at the time Tadashi came aboard. She first met Harlock when he raided a ship that was transporting her back to Earth as a prisoner after she had assaulted a military officer who had belittled her father's death. There is a slight intimation that she harbors a crush on Harlock (though this would be made more definite in the later SSX series), and initially seems inclined romantically towards Tadashi Daiba, though the two eventually settle into a platonic friendship. She is the Arcadias chief navigator and science officer and the second-youngest crew member after Tadashi.
Miime (ミーメ). (Melody in English) A mysterious alien woman with long blue hair who thrives on alcohol and possesses psychic and psionic powers, she is the last survivor of her home planet Jura, from which she was saved by Harlock. After her rescue, Miime became part of the crew of the Arcadia and pledged her life to Harlock in gratitude for saving her. She is Harlock's closest companion and confidante and is willing to protect him at any cost when needed. She does not appear to have a mouth (apparently a common feature in Juran physiology), but she is able to absorb liquids through the general mouth area. She has a quiet, sensitive personality and, although she does not have an official position aboard the Arcadia, she will help Doctor Zero tend to injured crew members in times of need. Her empathic nature makes her valuable in a counseling capacity (for example, when she consoles Miss Masu following the loss of the latter's estranged fiancé). She is musically skilled with the harp.
Yattaran (ヤッタラン) (Caliban in English). Harlock's first mate on the Arcadia, he is usually portrayed as comic relief in the series, but when a battle against alien threats become imminent he will be at the captain's side. He is also a brilliant mathematician and has a major interest in building plastic model kits of ships (he was even seen building a scale model of the Arcadia in one episode). Yattaran is based on manga artist Kaoru Shintani (best known for Area 88) who, in his early career worked for Matsumoto building models for reference.
Doctor Zero (ドクターゼロ). Chief Medical Officer. Like Yattaran, he serves as comic relief when he argues with the ship's cook, Miss Masu, over his raids of Masu's kitchen to get his beverage of choice, sake. He has a pet cat called Mi-kun (named Miaou in the French version), which he adopted after the then-kitten's mother, which was injured and apparently dying, brought him to Zero's office, and was later brought with Zero on board the Arcadia.
Maji (魔地). Chief Engineer.
Miss Masu (ますさん Masu-san). The ship's cook. Masu Tsunajima is a cantankerous spinster who is intolerant of her kitchen being raided by Doctor Zero or his cat. She is also a comic relief character in the series, although her back story had her intended to marry her fiancé, Gozo Otowara, before circumstances prevented the wedding from taking place. Masu believed she had been stood up, until she learned the truth years later and reconciled with Gozo in a brief communication before Gozo was killed by the Mazone.
Supporting characters
Tochirō Ōyama (大山トチロー Ooyama Tochirou). (Roger Devlin in English) Harlock's old friend and chief builder of the Arcadia. He died of illness prior to the events of the series, but his consciousness survives within the ship's computer.
Emeraldas. She is Tochiro's lover and Mayu's mother. She decides to use a spaceship to follow Tochiro's coffin into space after his death.
Mayu Ōyama (大山まゆ Ooyama Mayu). (Maia Devlin in English) The daughter of Tochiro Oyama and "Queen Emeraldas" (referred to in this series as "Emeralda"). Harlock takes her under his wing following Tochiro's death and Emeraldas' departure, but she is unable to remain with Harlock due to Tochiro's wish that she remain on Earth.
Professor Tsuyoshi Daiba. Tadashi Daiba's father, an astronomer and scientist. He was one of the few scientists who saw the aliens' threat and attempted to warn Earth's government before he was killed by the Mazone. Tadashi, affected by his father's murder, joined the Arcadia crew to seek his revenge.
'Mitsuru Kiruda (切田 満 Kiruda Mitsuru). (Alexander Kamerov in English) The leader of Earth's defense forces, he is Harlock's sworn enemy and will stop at nothing to try to eliminate him. Earlier in his life, Kiruta suffered the loss of his father, a government secret agent, during an ill-fated mission, followed by his mother and his younger sister Tami. Blaming the government for his family's death, he rose through the military ranks in order to effect change for the better and, like Professor Daiba before him, tried in vain to warn the Earth government of the Mazone invasion. Kiruda eventually puts his grudge with Harlock aside and sacrifices himself defending the Arcadias main computer against Mazone troopers. Throughout the Series, he is constantly concerned with the welfare of Mayu, even going as far as to take a Scorpion sting for her
The Mazone
The Mazone, the major villains are a race of intelligent plant-based beings in female humanoid form, with a few taking male form. As the race is asexual, their apparent gender is superficial rather than functional. Curiously, when a Mazone dies, its corpse spontaneously burns up until nothing is left but ashes.
Queen Lafresia (Rafflesia) (女王ラフレシア Jo'ō Rafureshia). (Regina in English) The reigning monarch of the Mazone, she is determined to lead her people to make Earth their new home following the destruction of their home planet. As cruel as she is beautiful, Lafresia was once a wise and kind ruler, but the situation of her people leads her to change for the worse as the series progresses. She initially did not see Harlock as a major threat and even saved his life early on, but would later come to regret it. Faced with a plot to kidnap Mayu Oyama as a means to draw out Harlock, Lafresia resists at first, considering such a tactic as unethical at best, but she later gives in when faced with the threat of the Arcadia to the Mazone, which later causes discord among the alien invaders. During a final showdown against Harlock, it is eventually discovered that Lafresia is not Mazone, but human. After defeating her in their duel, Harlock allows Lafresia to leave Earth with her people and settle elsewhere.
Commander Cleo (司令クレオ Shirei Kureo). The commanding officer of the Mazone Royal Armada and Queen Lafresia's chief confidant, she would come up with the plot to have Mayu kidnapped to get Harlock's attention and draw him into battle with the Mazone ruler. Cleo is later killed by Tadashi Daiba.
Commander Cassandra. The ruthless commander of the Mazone Royal Armada's Third Quadrant, she is willing to use dishonorable tactics to attempt to win battles, including using the Mazone civilian fleet as shields against attacks by the Arcadia, a tactic devised following the destruction of a civilian ship she tried to protect, which Harlock erroneously believed was a Mazone command vessel. She is killed when Harlock lures the main force of her fleet away with his mobile repair dock, leaving Cassandra's ship open to undefended attack.
Shizuka Namino (波野 静香 Namino Shizuka). A Mazone spy posing as the Earth Prime Minister's secretary. She attempts to assassinate the Prime Minister and set Kiruta up to take the blame for the deed, then springs Kiruta from prison and attempts to seek sanctuary on the Arcadia, with the intent of sabotaging the ship from the inside. Harlock discovers Shizuka's origins and subsequently grants her asylum on his ship after Queen Lafresia deserts her and later orders her killed. Unable to return to the Mazone caravan, Shizuka, showing admiration for Harlock's noble actions in taking her aboard, forces him to kill her rather than face certain death at the Mazones' hands. Harlock later tells Kiruta, who had feelings for Shizuka, that she had died a hero battling the Mazone, never revealing to him that she was a Mazone herself.