These are the adventures of Captain Harlock, an outlaw who fought to free us from aliens on earth and in space.

Title card of Space Pirate Captain Harlock

If you ever have to prove that subtitles are better than dubbing look no further than Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

The original English dub only got two episodes in the U.S. and thank goodness.

The old Captain Harlock Archives first article is called “Captain Harlock in English: A long and sordid story” stating

Rarely has a fictional character been subjected to as many and as diverse a spectrum of humiliations as our Captain has in the name of something so seemingly simple as transcending the language barrier

The Captain Harlock Archives

Listen to the dub “here!” it is a good laugh.

Created by Meiji Matsumoto, legendary creator of animation staples such as Space battleship Yamato, and Galaxy Express 999.

Captain Harlock is an oddity in media, the unique thing about his character is he is more archetype than a character you know everything about.

He was very popular in France, he had to be renamed to Albator because of mixups with Captain Haddock a popular comic at the time.

Harlock also won the first annual Anime Grand Prix for favorite character.

In 2010 he was ranked fourth in “10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes” by Thomas Zoth.

If you want a comparison he lists “Lupin the Third” at Eighth.

As befitting his archetype status, Harlock has inspired many other manga and anime characters with his strong, stoic appearance and manner.

Thomas Zoth

What I would call the biggest effect of his popularity is the character Tuxedo mask from the sailor moon series.

I get asked this by a lot of people, but there wasn’t a specific model. But I like did like gloomy anime characters like Captain Harlock of Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Chico of Armored trooper Votoms. Maybe tuxedo Mask is a collection of the things I liked about those characters.

An Interview with Naoko Takeuchi, author of the Sailor Moon Series.

Captain Harlock was more archetype than character in the way we know it today in modern media. Though his inspiration to the manga scene far out ways any of his flaws.

Captain Harlock always does what he believes to be right by his own heart. His crew while disorganized does the same. As they fight alien invaders, and stand up to the men of the earth who have no heart.

While that can seem shallow, his absolute conviction to do what is right and fight tyranny from earth and the stars, often with only his ship to back him up, makes him often an under dog worth rooting for.

It is a great series to watch from the time when Manga was just starting into animation. Harlock was one of the first greats. Which inspired many others.

But for the love of all things holy watch with subtitles only.