This post is part of the "Leijiverse" and "Super Robot Wars" collection.
Space Pirate Captain Harlock is a science fiction series created by Leiji Matsumoto, and is part of the "Leijiverse." The series was originally a manga, and was eventually adapted into a number of anime movies and films. I used this article to help me get things sorted out.
How do you get into the series of Space Pirate Captain Harlock? Read on to find out!
How to Watch Captain Harlock
There are a good number of ways to get into the series, since the series are mostly independent of each other.
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978), being the original anime, is a solid place to start. After epsiode 13, you can watch The Mystery of the Arcadia, then continue the rest of the series. Released in 2003, Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey can serve as a sequel to the original, but makes a few changes to the story and characters. There was also a comedic series in 2002 called Gun Frontier that was a wild west story featuring alternate universe characters from Space Pirate Captain Harlock. It was based on a manga that Leiji made before Harlock, and ran for 13 episodes.
In 1982, a new movie, Arcadia of My Youth was released. It started a new continuity that you can start with. It had a sequel called Endless Orbit SSX, which was a series that ran for 22 episodes, being canceled at half the planned length. This version of Captain Harlock and the titular Arcadia are featured in Super Robot Wars T (guide coming soon!).
In 1999, there was a new adaptation called Harlock Saga, which was a 6 episode OVA based on a manga by the same name.
In 2013, there was a CGI movie released called Harlock: Space Captain. It is a good way to get into the themes of Captain Harlock as a series, but does not relate to the rest of the franchise outside of that. Captain Harlock in this movie is a bit different from other protrayals, and is a bit more pushed to his limit.
Most recently, there was a new manga series released in 2014 called Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, which is a retelling of the original manga. It has significant changes to the story, and a more modernized look. This series also incorporates elements from other series in the Leijiverse.
While that wraps up the series, Captain Harlock can be found in cameos in other series in the Leijiverse. So, to reiterate the two series with a watch order:
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Ep. 1-13) -> The Mystery of the Arcadia -> Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Ep. 14-42) -> Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey
and...
Arcadia of My Youth -> Endless Orbit SSX
There is also Cosmo Warrior Zero, which is at least partially within the Captain Harlock canon.
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