Zach Goodier
Harlock is a
2013 sci-fi anime feature film that takes place in a future where humanity left
earth to find new resources. After centuries, humanity has exploited and
depleted resources throughout space, and after the Homecoming War: a fight over
the rights to return to planet earth, the Gaia Coalition has emerged to
maintain peace by forbidding anyone to settle on the now holy grounds of our
home world. The story follows the character of Yama, as he joins up with the
pirate crew of the Arcadia, a cursed pirate spaceship under the command of the
Gaia Coalition’s most wanted fugitive: Captain Harlock. Yama joins on a mission
to end Harlocks reign of terror on the galaxy, as his ship has handily
dominated the skies for 100 years. Yama is eager to do this on behalf of his
older brother, admiral Isola, who offers this mission as a means of redemption
for Yama, who he holds responsible for the death of his own wife.
The story is interesting, with some decent twists and turns
involving the origins of Harlock himself, and immortal, seemingly invincible
pirate with an unstoppable ship. The only issue is that it all feels a little
excessive, as the Arcadia handily decimates entire fleets of military vessels
and only trivial damage itself, which is almost instantly repaired because the
ship can self-repair. This is all explained by the ships dark-matter drive
core, which is the only one of its kind currently in existence, which factors
heavily into the history of the ship, as well as Harlock’s strength, but it
still feels far-fetched that a 100 year old ship has no equal in a modern
armada of hundreds of ships that comprise the Gaia Coalitions fleet.
From a character standpoint, there is some tense drama
taking place between Yama and Isola, as Yama struggles to find his way after
losing someone close to him, and being condemned by his brother for it. Yama is
truly the center of the film, despite the title, with Yama struggling between
the voices of Isola, pushing him with guilt, and Harlock and his crew, who
encourage freedom and moving forward. There was some frustration, however, as
Yama tends to change his mind… a LOT. I felt like he spends half his time
trying to go back on the choice he made 20 minutes ago, just to change his mind
again and… well, it can make him feel less like a conflicted character, and
more like a mess who can’t commit to any choice at all.
Harlock, on the other hand, feels more like the haunted
character Yama was meant to be, as he is carrying a hefty burden himself, as
the story eventually shows, and he attempts to place 100 detonators around the
galaxy to somehow turn back time (which is never quite well explained how that
works), to undo a terrible mistake he made a century ago. This parallel between
Yama and Harlock is intentional, as both characters struggle with the weight of
their pasts as they try to make the right decisions moving forward.
The animation is very well done, but it is computer-generated
for those who aren’t into that style, so be warned. With lots of space battles
between ships, and some boarding going on. Some elements don’t really make
sense, like pirates swinging from ship to ship in space (no gravity… duh.), but
if you can suspend your disbelief about the setting, and see this as the fun
flick it is, then it isn’t too bad. The big draw is the characters, though, which almost all look exceptional.
Overall, this film is a decent stand-alone story about
Harlock and Yama, and the themes are simple, yet relevant to most of us.
However, Yama can feel like an irritating character with his indecisive
behavior, which results in a lot of death and destruction, undermining his “redemption.”
Characters like Harlock as much more interesting, but ultimately have to share
the spotlight with Yama. With a lot of unanswered questions about the details
of how Harlock’s plan could possibly work, or a sci-fi film sometimes feels
more like Pirates of the Caribbean.
Good:
-Great character models.
-Some great story elements with interesting themes here and
there.
-Some great space battle animations.
Bad:
-The Arcadia
seems
a little overpowered.
-Yama can be a little irritating with his moral back and
forth.
Scully Rating: 7 out of 10
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