n a far future when mankind has so thoroughly taken over the universe that entire planets are used as garbage dumps or space observatories, the bureaucratic powers that be think they've finally shut down space piracy. Kei Yuki, the last former crewmember of the infamous Captain Herlock (Harlock, in previous translations) has been captured, and Herlock himself is presumed dead. Of course, reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated, as a thuggish teenager named Tadashi Daiba learns when Herlock appears out of nowhere to save his life.
It seems Tadashi's father is a famous scientist who was once the only survivor of a space expedition that discovered something horrible. Years later, the corpses of Professor Daiba's fellow scientists suddenly reanimate, steal their old research ship and come after Daiba personally. The old man clearly knows something's up—he makes preparations with his virtual-reality library assistant and tries to have a last serious talk with his son, but Tadashi blows him off to go fight some yakuza thugs he's been antagonizing. The next thing Tadashi knows, the professor is dead and four floating, glowing corpses are preparing to kill him as well. Enter Herlock, who shoos the corpses away, slaps Tadashi silly for chuckling nervously over his father's body, and says something he apparently says on a regular basis: "If you want to become a real man, then come aboard my ship."
Tadashi doesn't follow at once, but when he learns that the local police are planning on arresting Herlock, he runs to join him. Along the way, he learns more about the force that murdered his father—it was an ancient evil named Noo, which Professor Daiba had been investigating. Tadashi joins Herlock, hoping for a chance to avenge his father and to visit Earth. But it turns out Noo has already destroyed Earth. Meanwhile, Herlock is plotting to rescue Kei Yuki and the rest of his crewmembers before they're executed for their crimes—even though their execution has clearly been scheduled just to bait him into making the attempt.
An amazing crew sticks close to the original
This newest installment in the decades-old Captain Harlock saga was assembled without the direct involvement of Harlock/Herlock creator Leiji Matsumoto, but character designer Nobuteru Yuuki (Heat Guy J) and screenwriter Sadayuki Murai (Satoshi Kon's writing partner on Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress) both stick closely to Matsumoto's original vision. Herlock is still the tall, square, immobile stick figure in a field of willowy women and short, lumpy, potatolike men, and it's still a noteworthy occasion whenever he betrays anything remotely like an emotion. In Space Pirate Captain Herlock, he looms about untouchably and unflappably, a giant among midgets, literally as well as figuratively. He doesn't deliver nearly as many bathetic speeches about manhood as he does in other Herlock installments, but he's still the only Real Man in a world full of dumpy, ground-bound doughboys, and consequently the only person capable of dealing with a threat like Noo.
Still, with super-stylish director Rintaro (Metropolis, X: The Movie) at the helm, and animation production by Madhouse, it's surprising that this series hasn't yet eclipsed Matsumoto's usual staid style and gone for the visual fireworks. Harlock stories are never really about fighting (aside from the terrible bastard-child installment Queen Emeraldas). After all, energetic battle might force Herlock to break a sweat and possibly even move the shaggy hair out of his eyes, and he's well above such things, as he proves with his efficient, offhanded treatment of the planetary policemen. Space Pirate Captain Herlock looks very pretty, with Rintaro's typical deep colors and movie-worthy art, but it's almost all a still, calm sort of beauty, which rarely seems worthy of Rintaro's talent for directing action.
And without any sort of action to build toward, Space Pirate Captain Herlock seems to be flailing for a center. Its pacing is often glacial, and as if to compensate, the story is initially dispensed in chopped-together, confusing fragments. Once the scattered storylines merge, they become coherent, but even more plodding. Captain Herlock's always been a specialized taste for those who like their space-opera heroes noble, distant and nigh-godlike. The newest version of him, name change and all, comes from an all-new source and sends him after an all-new threat, but it should appeal to much the same audience.
Harlock fans looking for their favorite secondary characters will find them here, but operating under name changes—Kei Yuki looks a lot like an unscarred version of Emeraldas, and seems to occupy roughly the same role, while the often-lipless Tochiro seems to have been reincarnated as the huge-lipped Yattaran.
— Tasha
Back to the top.
