The Captain Harlock FAQ!

Foreword: Well, this Frequently Asked Questions document is by no means complete, but i do believe that this early version will satisfy info-hungry fans. As always, I'll be accepting and appreciating any input, questions, feedback, etc...I shall be updating this FAQ all along, so feel free to keep E-Mailing Me for whatever questions you'd like to see answered.

Some of you might object to my constant references to translated works (i.e., the dubbed versions of Space Pirate Captain Harlock or SSX) but i must include them in there because I always had a lot of fun (guilty pleasures) in watching those badly dubbed episodes, and i thought they were worth mentioning. If i were to withold any info i have at all, i just wouldn't be doing my job. Here's a comment from Tim on this very touchy subject:
"You've made numerous references to the English-dubbed SPACE PIRATE episodes ("tommy hairball" "Zetons" "illegal aliens/underdeveloped galaxy" etc.), and since most of us generally consider these episodes an abomination, best viewed as something completely unconnected, they shouldn't be canonized in an otherwise serious examination of the Harlock series. There are two ways of dealing with this; either ignore them altogether, or take steps to attribute those mistranslated names and lines to the actual product they came from, NOT part of the overall picture."

I'll take door number two. After all, we were all kids once and innocently forgave such "blasphemy" like the english dubbed eps. It was the dubbed SPCH that i fell in love with as a kid and that led me to where i am now, so it served some purpose. Plus, i believe i can forgive "Tommy Hairball" if Yamato fans seem to forgive "Derek Wildstar". So whatever the reader's loyalties are, the info is here. You decide on which version or "timeline" to follow.

I have to thank Tim Eldred for the support he has given the page ever since its humble beginnings. I learned alot from Mr. Eldred, and being an art student, having his blessing on my page was a honorable experience. This is a very busy man who currently works on the unforgettable STAR BLAZERS magazine (a StudioGo! release), M.D. Geist and Armored Trooper Votoms (both by CPM comics), does storyboards and character designs for the upcoming "Wing Commander Academy" cartoon (to debut this september on the USA network) and still found time to cooperate with a starry eyed fan through e-mail and helped me make the page what it is. Also to thank is a Canadian fan who goes by the codename "Le Docteur". Through correspondence and from his work on "La Page d'Albator", i knew his love for Leiji Matsumoto's immortal creations was just as big as mine, and he has proven to be a great asset to the french speaking Harlock fandom.

More thanks to Arthur Painter, who taught me a lesson in not taking my anime TOO seriously. So, "Harlock FAQ go, HASSHIN!!!"(grin).

1) Introduction to Captain Harlock:

2) Other characters:

3) Arcadia & other Ships

1) Introduction to Captain Harlock

Captain Harlock is a Space Pirate of the 2970's. The captain of a Solar Federation warship, the "Deathshadow", during the war with the Illumidas, Harlock was forced into surrendering, which he did, but not without first rendering his ship useless before turning it over to the Earth Occupation Forces. Refusing a position offered by the Illumidas, Harlock associated himself with Tochiro, an engineer who built the Space Pirate Ship Arcadia. Together, they vowed to live in freedom and rid the Earth of its opressors.

B) Who created Harlock? And When?

Leiji Matsumoto, co-creator of Space Battleship Yamato, created Captain Harlock (at the time still under the name "Captain Kingston") in junior high school. Matsumoto brought back the character numerous times during his succesful career as manga artist, under different guises which even included Harlock as a pilot in WW2, a western gunfighter, and even, sometimes, as a villain (e.g., Dr. Harlock, in "Lightspeed Esper").

Leiji Matsumoto was born in 1938 and started drawing comics at the age of eight. In the early post-war years he (and friends Osamu Tezuka and Ishinomori) was heavily influenced by Disney's and Max Fleischer's works. Matsumoto received an award from the magazine Manga Shonen at the age of 15 for a comic story he submitted and was published. It was in Junior High that he created the character of "Captain Kingston", the prototype for Captain Harlock.

After high school, Matsumoto illustrated run-of-the-mill girls' romance comics and met artist Miyako Maki, whom he subsequently married. It was his work on "I am a Man" published on the weekly boys' "Shonen Magazine" that first attracted real public attention. His real fame, however, came from his involvement with sci-fi and, especially, the anime medium. 1974 brought forth Uchuu Senkan Yamato (Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers), his most famous work, and since then Leiji Matsumoto has become a synonym of quality entertainment.

Uchuu Senkan Yamato began its life as a treatment for a proposed story called "Operation Asteroid Ship", in which the Earth fought the invading force of Desular (early blueprint of Desslok) of the Legendra. It was not about a battleship-turned-space vessel, but about a spaceship built into an asteroid. That treatment included a Captain Harlock in its core, as a secondary, yet fascinating character.

Few artists have been capable of detailing mecha the way Leiji Matsumoto has. His drawings of ships, planes, weaponry and assorted mecha are loaded with romance and symbolism. His other long lasting creations have been Galaxy Express 999 (with, of course, cameos by Captain Harlock) and Queen Millenia (which somehow got released here as "Captain Harlock and the Queen of 1000 years").

C) Is Harlock really Alex Wildstar/Mamoru Kodai??

One of Harlock's most famous incarnation was as Derek Wildstar's/Susumu Kodai's lost brother, Alex/Mamoru in the original "Space Battleship Yamato" manga. In that particular incarnation, Harlock's eyepatch AND scar were both on the same side of his face. That "cameo" never translated to the Yamato tv series, as it was nixed by the series director. In the manga, Mamoru's ship was destroyed and he was presumed dead, but in reality he decided to hide his true identity and emerge as the Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Any ideas where Mamoru got the idea for the name? You guessed it: he read it off a manga called "The Tale of Captain Harlock". Instead, in the tv show, Alex sacrificed himself to save Captain Avatar/Okita and disappeared until we discovered that he had been saved at the last moment by Starsha of Iscandar. A cop-out if ya ask moi...at least we were spared of seeing Harlock die of radiation poisoning.

D) How did Harlock lose his eye? How did he get that scar on the left side of his face?

The scar, it is assumed, is a genetic birthmark. All Harlocks have had one. Harlock lost his eye in a moment of discaution. While reaching out for Maya he was shot by an Illumidas Trooper.

E) Does Harlock have a first name?

Here's more guesswork: Since his ancestors' names were Phantom F. Harlock and Phantom F. Harlock II, we assume that his full name is...Phantom F. Harlock!!

F) Does Harlock have any love interest, or even, any interest in love?

In "Arcadia of My Youth" Harlock loses his beloved Maya. (Asides from implied involvement with La Mime, in the american comics,) Harlock seems to remain faithful to her memory . It'd be logical to assume that, if Harlock would not stay with Maya because of the war, then he would not look at another woman while fighting the Illumidas.

G) In which television series does Captain Harlock appear?

The character of Captain Harlock appears in the Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Harlock, 1977, 42 episodes), Endless Orbit SSX (Waga Seishin no Arcadia: Mugen Kido SSX,1982, 22 episodes), and Galaxy Express 999 (Ginga Tetsudo 999, 1980, episodes 79-81, "Pirates of the Time Castle") series.

H) In which Mangas does Harlock appear?

1953: "Adventures" featuring Captain Kingston
1968: "Lightspeed Esper" (a "Dr. Harlock" is the villain)
1969: "Pilot 262" Harlock's scar first appears.
1970: "Mrs. L Drifting's Story" (Introduction of eyepatch)
"Great Pirate Harlock". First appearance of Deathshadow.

'1971: "Dr. Devil's Horrible Brain Surgery"
1972: "Gun Frontier". Harlock meets Tochiro
1973: "Short Sighted Human Anthology" features a white haired Harlock

1974: "Goodbye Romantic Time" Harlock under the name "Akeno Kojiro"

1975: "Story of Unrecoverable Time"

1977: "Small Room in the Big Field"

1981: "Adieu Galaxy Express 999" feature film animemanga
1982: "My Youth in ARCADIA" animemanga .

2) Other characters:

La Mime, it turns out, is Cyborg. And no, she has no mouth.

B) There is someone called Meeme in the series "Space Pirate Captain Harlock". Is that the same girl? And Does SHE have a mouth?

Meeme is NOT LaMime. Meeme is a humanoid extraterrestrial with mysteryous psychic powers whose planet was destroyed by the Zetons. Yes, although it cannot be seen, she has a mouth through which she feeds on liquids only. She is capable of drinking a full bottle of sake in a single sitting, much to the bemusement of her shipmates, especially Tommy.

C) Who is that little girl, Mayu, and where does she come from?

Mayu is the daughter of Tochiro and Emeralda (Don't ask me why, but the spelling there changed from Emeraldas to simply Emeralda.). Before Tochiro's death, he made Harlock promise he'd raise Mayu in a free Earth, having no idea how low the planet would sink after the Illumidas retreat and the Zetons advance.

D) What is the little musical instrument she plays?

It is called an ocarina. Harlock himself made it.

E) Now just how many Zolls and Tokargas are there?

Again, that requires the darn timeline explanation thing. In reality, there isn't supposed to be a connecting thread in the Harlock universes, (although in a recent interview, Matsumoto alleged that there *IS*!) we attempt to do it on account of our feeling the need for it. That leads to guesswork, which is the only basis for any attempt of timeline explanation as all Harlock series are self-contained storylines.
Ok, in "Arcadia of My Youth" there was a humanoid Zoll from a planet named Tokarga. That Tokarga had been invaded by the Illumidas and was ultimately destroyed with a planetary bomb. That Zoll had a sister, Mira, who died calling his name. Then, in the Space Pirate Captain Harlock series came a yellow-faced "tokargan" creature, who wasn't completely humanoid in form, although pretty close, and whose planet too had been equally ravaged, but by the Zetons. Curiously enough, during his toast with Harlock, he did say "Gohram!"

F) Now how many Tadashis are there?

Well, I've counted three so far. There was one Tadashi in the Captain Harlock comic book who seems disassociated with any Tadashi i'd seen before (i.e., different origins). There was a "Tadashi Daiba" in the Space Pirate Captain Harlock series, but here we call him "Tommy Hairball Dexter". Then there is the Tadashi from Endless Orbit SSX/Mugen Kido SSX/Albator 84. "Tommy" is my personal favorite, since he does look like he'll most likely replace Harlock as captain someday. Heck, he evens looks a lot like Harlock! In "Matsumoto-land", Captain Harlock has many times appeared silhouetted against the sunset to a young boy to whom he'd eventually "pass the baton". There have been especulations that that boy, in those stories, was a metaphor for Matsumoto himself, being carried off into the Sea of Stars of his young dreams.

G) Why do all women in the shows have hair down to their ankles? And what's with the "potato-heads"?

That, one may especulate, is the most popular 2970's hairstyle for women (grin)....but in reality, i'd just dare say that it is the type of female Matsumoto is fascinated by. As a youngster, he was entranced by french actress Marianne Holt's looks in the film "Marianne de ma jeunesse" (Marianne of my Youth), and she inspired all his subsequent female characters. In the Matsumoto universe, women are tall, have a loooooong mane of hair and balance their skinny bodies on impossibly thin ankles and very small feet. As for the "potato-heads", well, in this universe the old people and the japanese are depicted as short.

H) Kei Yuki (or Keiko)....isn't that Nova?

Nope, Nova is Mori Yuki.

I) The Zetons/Mazones/Sylvidres...who are they and what do they want?

The Zetons, these "illegal aliens from an underdeveloped galaxy" (as they are referred to in the dubbed Space Pirate Captain Harlock) are pretty weird. They are really plant-life, capable of destroying entire planets just to grow flowers for their queen. In appearance, they resemble beautiful earth women.

The Zetons' original planet orbited a star that became a supernova. The Zetons inhabited the Earth in the distant past, where they built the pyramids.

J) Are there only female Zetons?

That brings to mind a very interesting line spoken by the english dubbed Tommy/Tadashi in the Space Pirate Captain Harlock series. As he identifies the Zeton intruder he exclaims: "That's not a person, that's a WOMAN!"

Zetons are female only in appearance and most of them are shapeshifters, changelings capable of disguising themselves as both male and female humans. With their being members of the vegetable kingdom, one would say that gender distinction does not apply as they are most likely hermafrodites. The Zetons' offspring actually grow on trees! And they are ugly-looking little green babies with black eyes and spikes on their heads.

K) Are there only male Illumidas?

No. But the Occupation soldiers are all male.

L)Is Alexandre Nevich an original creation?

This is what Tim Eldred told me:

"As far as I know, Nevich and Darghund and the rest were original Gibson characters. Only Tochiro, Harlock, and certain Arcadia crewmembers were brought forward from the animation. (Though you can briefly see a younger form of the sadistic Earth officer from Space Pirate in one issue, and the same character who later became Faust in Adieu, Galaxy Express...)"

It is also possible that Nevich was a version of Mr. Purple (Mr. Zoh), the nefarious earthmen that the Illumidas sent to catch Harlock...."Send an Earthman to catch an Earthman, but Purple had plans of his own...

3) Arcadia & other Ships

They are both green in the manga, though different from each other in appearance. After many adventures, the Arcadia was no longer in top condition, and the ailing Tochiro begun construction of a new one. He was shot after completion of his work and buried in the planet Heavy Meldar along with the Arcadia.

The two Arcadias resemble each other in many ways, their most obvious differences being that the skull on the front of the first one is much larger than the second one and that the Arcadia Mark II is blue.

Also, one can observe the addition of a retractable blade on the second Arcadia, something the first one did not possess.

B) What the heck is up with the computer of the second Arcadia?

Although Tochiro has been buried on the planet Heavy Meldar with the original Arcadia, he seems to be haunting the new one. I would say that Arcadia was a part of his soul, and that now his soul is a part of the Arcadia.

C) What is the Deathshadow?

The Deathshadow, in this case, is the name of Captain Harlock's Solar Federation ship during the Illumidas war. Harlock, upon surrendering his ship to the Earth Occupation forces, crash-landed it and made sure it was too damaged for the Illumidas to bother fixing and using it.

From here, the story takes two different directions: In the American comic, ex-Solar Federation Officer Alexandre Nevich rebuilds the Deathshadow and attacks Harlock in the comic book mini-series "Deathshadow Rising", while in the Endless Orbit SSX series the ship is fixed by the aliens who send the computer-controlled Deathshadow into battle against Harlock.

In early manga versions of Harlock, the Deathshadow was the name of Harlock's Pirate Ship, and not a Solar Federation Ship. The Deathshadow first appeared in 1970, in Matsumoto's "Great Pirate Harlock", and reappeared several times, including in "Space Battleship Yamato".

D) Do the ships have artificial atmospheres surrounding them? I see people walk on them wearing no space suits all the time....

In the Matsumoto universe, if the Yamato can exude fire and smoke in outer space after being hit, then so can the characters defy common laws of physics. It is weird, since obviously they acknowledge the vaccuum of space. Whenever there is a hull breach you can see objects flying out into space., but people seem to do just fine not wearing a whole lot. One off-shoot example is Desslok floating in space, waiting to be rescued by the Comet Empire. Or Tetsuro walking on top of the 999.

E) How come i've seen Harlock pilot the Arcadia from the outside?

I've seen that too, isn't it cool? And i have no problems with it, but his cape fluttering in outer space requires suspension of disbelief....But then again, space is not completely just vacuum...there are concentrations of gases and all...
I'd say that the best example of Harlock flying the ship from the deck was depicted in issue #2 of "Deathshadow Rising", the american comic book mini-series by Robert Gibson and Tim Eldred.

August 1, 1996

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Disclaimer: Captain Harlock is a trademark of Toei animation. I am not affiliated with Toei nor do I profit from this work. It's a fan thing, ya know..."Harlock's Arcadia-The Captain Harlock Home Pages" is an on-line non-profit information source intended to further interest in Space Pirate Captain Harlock, and to benefit the fans and trademark licencers. All pages are the property of Cristian R.. I acknowledge all copyright holders listed and unlisted (if unknown) for their source material: Toei Animation, Malibu Graphics, F.H.E., AnimEigo, Voyager Entertainment, Viz Video, Bandai, Medcom and Columbia Nippon.