Shopping Guide
Did you know that there are life-size monuments of Captain Harlock from Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Maetal and Tetsuro from Galaxy Express 999 decorating the area outside the direct connection deck of the Kokura bullet train station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture? Following these monuments also leads to the Kitakyushu City Manga Museum which is dedicated to the history of manga. The museum was created with the goal of assembling, preserving, and researching manga-related material, as well as conveying the charm and special characteristics of manga to future generations.
Appointed as special honorary curator of the museum is manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, who is from Fukuoka Prefecture. Matsumoto has created work that has had a huge influence on Japan’s manga world, including Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999. Indeed, the monuments on display are related to this.
Upon entering the museum, visitors are first greeting by a huge diorama of Captain Harlock. The display space features pictures by various manga artists, a section introducing the production flow of manga, a section screening interviews and anime, and more. There is also a section containing close to 50,000 manga where visitors can read past and present manga.
When the museum opened last year, Matsumoto commented, “Having such an establishment in the place where I was raised is like a dream. From here on as well, I want to try my best in my work.” This year, Matsumoto will release a new work to the world. That work is the CG anime film Space Pirate Captain Harlock that will be released throughout Japan on Sept. 7.
The film is picking up attention for its intense CG and the appointment of popular voice actors Shun Oguri and Haruma Miura in the main cast. The increasing feelings of anticipation toward the movie touching on the original manga and anime are also interesting.
Captain Harlock Film Official Site:
http://harlock-movie.com (Japanese)
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
