AllMovie

This animated adventure is based on a manga by Matsumoto Leiji and a Japanese television series that ran for two year. The story is set in the year 2970, during a war between Earth and the alien Illumidas Empire. When the commander of an Earth starship, Captain Harlock, is forced to surrender his ship the Deathshadow to the invading fleet, he himself eludes capture and becomes the captain of the pirate ship Arcadia and wages a rebel war against the Illumidas. Although an English-language version of the series, released in the U.S. as Captain Harlock, was distributed on American television, this subtitled Japanese version is preferred by the cult fans of Captain Harlock.