The Freedom-Loving Space Pirate Returns to Earth! Anime Film “Captain Harlock” to Release This Fall!

Manga artist Leiji Matsumoto is a prominent figure in regard to Japanese anime. This fall, his masterpiece Space Pirate Captain Harlock will be resurrected in theaters as a new animated film!

Let’s delve deeper into this new work by first taking a look at the film’s staff and cast. The staff is comprised of Matsumoto himself, who is in charge of the screenplay, director Shinji Aramaki, who directed the masterpiece CG anime movie Appleseed, and writer Harutoshi Fukui, a novelist who created the original work for the anime Mobile Suit Gundam UC. This talented group from action anime is perfect for this movie. The voice cast is just as impressive. The main character Harlock will be played by popular voice actor Shun Oguri and a new character named Yama, an assassin tasked with killing Harlock, will be played by Haruma Miura. Other cast members announced include prominent live actors Yuu Aoi and Arata Furuta and popular voice actors Tomoyuki Morikawa, Maaya Sakamoto, and Miyuki Sawashiro. Space Pirate Captain Harlock will release on Sept. 7 throughout Japan.

Leiji Matsumoto is an integral person whose works helped lead to the anime boom of the ’70s and ’80s. The boom began with his 1974 work Space Battleship Yamato on which Matsumoto was primarily in charge of character and mecha designs.

During the anime boom, many of Matsumoto’s original manga, such as Galaxy Express 999, were adapted into TV anime and movies one after the other, each becoming big hits. As a sci-fi manga author, he gained popularity among anime fans. Many of the characters he created during this time are loved and seen as being popular even today, such as Maetel, Tetsuro, and the conductors from the first movie for Galaxy Express 999 that released over 30 years ago.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock was released as an original manga in 1977, and in 1978 the TV anime began broadcasting. The story depicts the battles of Captain Harlock and his comrades against the Mazone, an alien race set on conquering Earth. Due to Matsumoto’s precise and unique mechanical designs, his depiction of intense battles that unfolded in space between gigantic battleships, and the main character Harlock, a character overflowing with chivalry, anime fans in Japan at the time were mesmerized. The anime has even gained high favor in America and Europe.

Beginning with Captain Harlock, many of Japan’s current representative creators in the anime and manga worlds have been greatly influenced by Matsumoto’s work. Among those is the respected director of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hideaki Anno. Matsumoto is a great figure who created the origin of today’s anime and manga cultures.

With a total production cost of 30 million yen, anticipation is swelling among fans for the current revival of Space Pirate Captain Harlock. How will Captain Harlock be remade using the latest CG technology? So far, fans have only been able to see a trailer for the movie, and yet Matsumoto himself is making his voice heard in praise of the remake. Being produced by such a talented staff and being a work of Matsumoto’s, many are waiting in anticipation for the completion of this majestic space opera.

For those interested in this film, we recommend watching the TV anime version of Space Pirate Captain Harlock and the TV anime and film versions of Galaxy Express 999 to really get an appreciation for Matsumoto’s work before this new film is released. By doing so, you will definitely deepen your understanding of just how influential his work has been in shaping otaku and anime culture in Japan.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock Official Site:
© Leiji Matsumoto / Captain Harlock Film Partners

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.

"Arcadia of My Youth" (Japanese)  © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation Co., Ltd., Toei Movies
"Arcadia of My Youth" (Japanese) © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation Co., Ltd., Toei Movies
"Space Pirate Captain Harlock" Trailer (English Subbed)
"Space Pirate Captain Harlock" Trailer (English Subbed)
 © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
© Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
 © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
© Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation Co., Ltd.

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