Character History
Captain Harlock - the hero of the manga of the same name, based on which a full-length film was removed. This is an immortal character suffering from the shipment of past mistakes, but at the same time driven by the good goals of the salvation of mankind. Strong, unshakable and consistently polite harlok became an archetypical noble hero and the basis for other popular images in the genre of Anime, for example, a Taxed Mask from Sailor Moon.History of character creation
Harlok came up with Japanese artist Laidzi Matsumoto. First, the captain made his debut in a manga as an episodic character, but later got his own series of publications and animated films. According to the author, he invented the hero in school years, and then his name was Captain Kingston. At the age of 12, Matsumoto heard the surname of Herlock on TV and found it more appropriate. Over time, its own universe has formed around the captain, and stories about it became the basis for animated series and books.
Externally Harlock - a young man dressed in black (only in the series Space Pirate Captain Harlock he wears white pants). His features hide long hair falling on face. During the war with Hamanoids, Harlock lost his eyes and since then wears a dressing. On the body of the captain there are other scars from battles. The indispensable feature of the image - fluttering black raincoat, and the favorite Harlock weapon is a sword, capable of producing a laser beam, and a gun "Space Dragun".
Harlock is difficult to give an unequivocally positive characteristic, however, it is far from real pirates. His flag symbolizes the beliefs for which the hero is ready to give life, but the Captain Code of Capital is not associated with the laws of countries and generally accepted moral norms - he himself establishes the rules for himself and decides when to retreat from them.
On the territory of Japan, the franchise with the participation of the captain is enjoying great popularity. In 1979, the author received the Anime Grand Prix Prize. A year later, the series about Harlock was shown in France, but before this hero had to change the name to avoid confusion with the Character of the Comic "Adventures of Tintin" by the captain Haddow. French roller chuckled the name of the albator for pirate.
In 1985, the series "Space pirate Captain Harlock and the Millennium Queen", which is a 65-serial compilation of two previous multi-sized films with the preservation of canonical chronology.
Biography and the image of Captain Harlock
According to the description of the character's biography, the captain is a direct descendant of the Great Harlock, the famous cosmic pirate, who led the battle against the aliens from the Wallharla Planet. The action of manga about the captain unfolds in the distant future - 2977. The heyday of the Earth has long passed: it still remains the capital of a giant interstellar civilization, but regularly impose defeats from aliens, and its inhabitants suffer from depression and despair attacks. In an attempt to confront the universal apathy, Harlock collects a gang of like-minded people and on his ship "Arkady" begins to make raids on the most zealous oppressors of the native planet.As soon as the captain manages to return the world to Earth, a new threat appears on the horizon - the army of humanoids under the direction of Queen Sylvidra. Before the fierce battle, Harlock will have to re-assemble its team and combine the forces of earthlings to confront the invaders together.
Based on the manga on Harlock, several anime serials came out. In 2013, the TOEI Animation studio shot a full-length animation film "Space Pirate Harlock", whose director became Shinji Aramaki.
For the studio, the film became the highest-budgetary work in the entire history, but he eventually honored with highly contradictory. Critics counted the images of heroes with non-life, and the script is absurd. Characters are endowed with a very vague idea of freedom, justice and hope, because of which their actions seem aimless. In addition, the authors were accused of abuse of scientific terminology without its correct understanding, excessive pathos and lack of drama: because the captain is immortal, and "Arkady" is invulnerable, then the viewer is nothing to worry about, because nothing will happen to them.
Despite the criticism of the scenario, the technical side of the film received the highest estimates. Detailed backgrounds, luxurious space ships, carefully worked 3D effects look really impressive. Time Out magazine advised the audience not to try to understand what was happening on the screen, but simply relax and enjoy the picture, and Kotaku's blog swamped his "a pretty militant with a stupid plot."
Bibliography
- 1977 - Space Pirate Captain Harlock
- 1978 - Queen Emeraldas
- 1979 - Galaxy Express 999
- 1982 - Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX
- 1998 - Harlock Saga
Filmography
- 1978 - "Space Pirate Captain Harlock"
- 1982 - "Arkady my youth"
- 1999 - "Harlock Saga: Nibelong Ring"
- 2001 - "Kosmovoin Zero"
- 2002 - "The Infinite Odyssey of the Captain Harlock"
- 2002 - "Gan Frontyr"
- 2014 - "Space Pirate Harlock"