hyped garbage

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Do not watch this unless you are a fan of this genre!

The year is 2017, I've just finished watching Harlock's end-credits, and I recall watching televised episodes of Capitaine Albator in the far gone days of my youth thinking that by the 2010's space travel would hopefully be as ubiquitous and spaceships as slickly designed and cool as the blue-plated 'Arcadia' or 'Atlantis' as the French aptly dubbed her (she's a girl btw, as all pirate ships are!).I now realize that I will never fly in space, not even in a leaky pod, let alone in a Yamato-style battleship with a death's-head ramming headpiece and clouds of dark-matter billowing behind during interstellar jumps or defensive maneuvers. Yet this film exactly recreated this action in such a phenomenal way, that I will not need to. There is the core concept of a classic space opera, in a few lines. Story and character-wise, there are strong resemblances to the pirate-heroes of old, such that I will forgive the sketchy story- line and the less-than developed personalities. There was certainly enough movie-time here, and I would have been inclined to flesh out & not diverge too much from the crew of the original series, but hopefully after a masterpiece of space artistry such as this, more will come in the near future. After all, the Japanese are well known for not sticking too closely to a particular story-line, so if captain Harlock is broodingly awaiting to be called back to action, I would urge him to polish his boots and feed the bird. Time flies, and we eagerly await!

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEADEvery once and a while, I like to take a survey of films and television shows of a certain genre. I've done superheroes, vampires, vampire slayers and spies. My current survey is Anime, as it was the one genre of which I hadn't done much watching. I'm currently making my way through Death Note, K and Blue Exorcist. I've actually purchased Akira and frequently watch it on a regular basis. I've seen select episodes of Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill, Sword Art Online, Black Butler and some others. I've finished watching Akame ga Kill, as well. Full Metal Alchemist and its following series are on deck. And, this weekend, I came across this one while looking for something shorter than a series. Glad to discover this one, as I have very little experience with 3D Anime, as well.As a Harlock virgin, I knew nothing about the menga (another entertainment genre I've not dabbled in) or the following anime, so the universe was shiny and new for me. And I enjoyed the presentation, for the most part. Despite needing to go back a few times to keep up with the subtitles if I looked away from my screen, as I enjoy foreign films and shows in their original language, I followed the story pretty well. Due to my slight understanding of Japanese culture, I was able to overlook most of what my fellow reviewers may complain about (i.e. the dramatics (over-the-top-weapons), the focus on the childish romance and the need to maintain balance by closing the circle.) For the con side of coin, the story needed some serious work. It needed to be clearer on who we were to follow: Yama or Harlock. Also, it needed to be clearer in what the endgame was, to present an origin story to "Captain Harlock" or if it was a resistance plot. Granted, it could be both but we needed clarity. Also, the antagonist wasn't real enough or constructed well enough to make the hero work for his title. Besides Isora being competently built as a character, he still was relatively flat. It is a must that we feel for both the hero and the villain. Both Yama and Harlock failed to earn their mantle as hero, despite each of them being built competently and Yama being the most dimensional character in the film, which isn't saying much. The others aren't built at all they seem to exist so that the dialogue doesn't sound monotone. We must care for these characters, the must make us empathize, but none of the characters made me do that, so the core of the film was hollow.On the positive side, the production value was excellent. Despite the re-use of some of the action cuts, the animation was top notch for my first outing. I enjoyed the Gothic cathedral design of the Legion ships and their technology, all the details, from the arch above the bridge to the insignia on the front of their ships spoke to their power and philosophy. My favorite ship, however, is not a surprise. I loved…LOVED…the design of the Arcadia!! It also spoke to volumes as to Harlock's mission and the attitude of his crew. I enjoyed its submarine-like design with its steam-punk flair, down to the old-school ship's wheel. It was rich in history and yet it still fit in the space theme. Its use of black smoke to conceal its arrival opposed the light used by the Legion ships. This juxtaposition highlights the conflict at the center of the universe. The music was well composed and the artistic value was well done. I enjoyed that the female characters were mostly not simply eye candy as most anime pieces tend to present women as. Granted they were not well utilized, but hardly anyone was anyways.As part of my survey of the anime genre, this was a good choice to study. But, due to the core being hollow, I can't say that the film was "well-done." If I needed to watch on a rainy afternoon, this one'll work as it takes you away from your living room and into a new world for a time. Just don't expect to remember it years later as the impression will most likely be fleeting.

There's a strange tendency in Japanese animation , it often uses cryptic and vague script to give the illusion of depth. Those who are familiar with animes or games would recognize this outdated pattern, the quirky storytelling would seem to be meaningful as the characters brood over a crisis, yet it barely tells anything relevant to the audience. In some cases it might even alienate the viewers.This is the persisting problem with Harlock. It certainly presents good quality visual as it floats across the light show, but the vague narrative hurts the presentation. The dialogues may sound flamboyant, yet it is actually shallow and superficial. Backstory is glossed over while the interactions are deprived of enjoyment. The characters, even though looking attractive, just can't generate enough interest as they banter with foreign jargon.It even resembles teen drama instead of space voyage at times. Development is often crude, only to give dramatic scenes without substance. The main story follows Yama as he tries to catch the titular Harlock. Both of them are not that audience friendly, they are already in lamentation with barely any introduction. It's hard to relate since they look like generic RPG cast with average mellow issue.Then it becomes heavily convoluted as the movie tries to mix strange terms, they sound ominously impaction like dark matter or ancient race, but material is too thin. After a hefty amount of scenery changes, cool poses and starship fights, the movie can barely hold interest for characters and with relatively long runtime it turns into a plodding endeavor.This is Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within all over again, glossy effect and drab boring story. It will be hard to either garner interest for new audience or please old fans with such lackluster narrative, but at least it works for an eye candy.