Captain Harlock Pin-up # 1 FRAMED Space Pirate Anime

Description

Arcadia of My Youth (“Waga seishun no Arcadia” original title) is an anime film depicting the origin of Leiji Matsumoto’s seminal character Captain Harlock. At one time, it was considered to be the central hub of the so-called Leijiverse with other works such as Galaxy Express 999 and 1978’s Space Pirate Captain Harlock television series occurring sometime after. It is directed by Tomoharu Katsumata, with Kazuo Komatsubara as animation director. Captain Harlock/Phantom F. Harlock II was voiced by Makio Inoue.

Arcadia of My Youth was originally released on North American home video by Celebrity Home Entertainment under the “Just For Kids” banner. It was initially retitled Vengeance of the Space Pirate and was for many, the first introduction to Captain Harlock.

During the early 20th Century, some time after World War I, aerial explorer Captain Phantom F. Harlock is embarking on what is to be the magnum opus of his long career, the traversing of the Owen Stanley Mountains in New Guinea. His major obstacle is the phantom of the witch that haunts these mountains. In a last desperate attempt to cross the mountains, Harlock ditches all but ten minutes of fuel in order to gain altitude. He carries on to his fate, amidst the mocking laughter of the Owen Stanley Witch.

Arcadia of My Youth draws many parallels to the German occupation of France during World War II as well as the post World War II American occupation of Japan. Maya’s nickname as “The Rose” and the “Voice of Free Arcadia” mirrors the romantic image of the secret radio broadcasters of the French Resistance.

The prologue of this movie does not make it clear whether or not Phantom F. Harlock survived his mission. He is assumed to have survived as his voiceover monologue indicates that he is reading from his autobiography which is titled Arcadia of My Youth.

This movie is controversial in that Phantom F. Harlock II was portrayed as a German fighter pilot during WWII. The Tochiro of that era, who had read Harlock I’s book, at least found it unusual in that he asked Harlock II why he was flying an Iron Cross plane. The liner notes for the Animeigo DVD state that Harlock’s response, “Just paying rent”, hid a deeper meaning. It refers to the ancient feudal obligations a noble had to his lords for better or worse, even if he didn’t believe in their cause. The liner notes also mention that Harlock technically was no longer bound by these obligations since the feudal customs no longer existed at that time.

Captain Harlock (also known as “Captain Herlock” for the English release of Endless Odyssey and as “Albator” in French-speaking countries) is a fictional character created by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto and the protagonist of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga series.

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 earth-born or alien. In his own words, he “fights for no one’s sake… only for something deep in his heart”. 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 words “shi ni”—meaning “to death”).

The character was created by Leiji Matsumoto in 1977 and popularized in the 1978 television series Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Since then, the character has appeared in numerous animated television series and films, the latest of which being 2013’s Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

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.

On March 24, 2010, Toei Animation announced the release of the new Harlock movie, they announced a completed pilot for its planned computer-graphics remake of Leiji Matsumoto and Toei’s Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga and anime franchise, and it has revealed a preliminary image and the project’s staff. Mobile Suit Gundam UC author Harutoshi Fukui, Appleseed director Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed mechanical designer Atsushi Takeuchi, and Ninja Scroll character designer Yutaka Minowa worked on the new Space Pirate Captain Harlock pilot with Marza Animation Planet (formerly known as Sega Sammy Visual Entertainment).

The film premiered in Japan on September 7, 2013.

The film premiered on Netflix under the title Harlock: Space Pirate with Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish audio and with English, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles.

Frame is shrinkwrapped until time of purchase. Ships boxed with packing peanuts.

THE PERFECT GIFT!