Manga Review: Captain Harlock: The Classic Collection 1 by Leiji Matsumoto
When a gigantic black sphere lands on Earth in the distant future, humankind has become too apathetic to care much about what it might mean. Top scientist Dr. Daiba warns of possible danger, but is ignored by the lazy President of Earth. When Dr. Daiba is murdered, his son Tadashi is approached by a mysterious figure that kills the assassin. To Tadashi’s shock, the woman bursts into flames and burns like paper!
The mysterious figure proves to be the notorious space pirate, Captain Harlock! Although the government of Earth considers him a criminal (because he is; stealing is illegal), Captain Harlock and his ship Arcadia are the only ones standing between the human race and annihilation. After Tadashi sees for himself that Earth’s military is useless, he cuts ties with the planet and joins Harlock’s cause.
This 1977 manga series was created by Leiji Matsumoto, who had been a major part of the Space Battleship Yamato anime series in 1974 and had created a manga loosely based on that show. He decided to follow up “battleships in space” with “pirate ships in space.” He also tried to make Captain Harlock a model of an ideal man, embodying traditional Japanese masculine virtues in a futuristic setting.
The enemy turns out to be the Mazon, plant aliens whose warrior caste looks like beautiful human women to the point that many of them have infiltrated Earth society with the help of heavy makeup. Their scouts have in fact been on Earth for thousands of years, but now the Mazon are ready for conquest.
Tadashi has trouble adjusting to life on the Arcadia at first. Most of the crew seem to be drunks and layabouts, the first mate is obsessed with plastic models and refuses most other duties, and Mimay appears to be just the ship harpist. The only crew member who is actively running the ship is second officer Kei, a woman of many talents.
But these appearances are deceiving. In times of actual danger, the crew is able to shift into battle mode. The lax discipline is because Harlock can trust them to rise to the occasion. (This somewhat reflects conditions on real pirate ships of the Golden Age of Piracy; the captain was elected and had to persuade the crew to follow orders, rather than be dictator.)
Over the course of this first volume, Tadashi becomes a fighter, and we learn more about the Mazon threat. There are hints about Harlock’s tragic past, and the deaths of his true love and best friend. (These do not necessarily match the information in any other Harlock story–Matsumoto isn’t in to tight continuity.)
While the overall mood of the series is somber, with the protagonists wondering if Earth and its feckless inhabitants are really worth saving, there’s plenty of comic relief with the golf-obsessed Earth President and the wacky Arcadia crew members.
This volume also contains an alternate universe story, where Harlock is the captain of the Deathshadow, protecting an Earth that is now nearly uninhabitable and known as the Red World. It’s pretty sexist.
Matsumoto does some fine spaceships of various unlikely shapes, and the action is exciting. On the other hand, he has one shape and face for beautiful women, and uses it over and over. Some folks may find the philosophy bits a trifle overdone and melodramatic.
Keeping in mind that this is an older series, and the manga industry has changed drastically (especially in roles for women), this is well worth looking at.
And here’s the opening for the anime!
