Harlock Saga: Nibelung no yubiwa 'Rhein no ôgon' (1999) (V)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Nobuo Takeuchi

Writers:

Megumi Hiyoshi (writer)
Leiji Matsumoto (comic)

Release Date:

25 January 1999 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Anime | Based On Comic | Based On Opera

Cast

Kôichi Yamadera	...	Captain Harlock / Tochirô Ôyama
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arisa Andô	...	Walküre 13 Communications #1
David Brimmer	...	Tochiro (voice: English version)
Chiemi Chiba	...	Walküre 13 Communications #2
Shigeru Chiba	...	Yattaran
Frank Frankson	...	Alberich (voice: English version)
Dan Green	...	Fasolt (voice: English version)
Kumiko Hironaka	...	Walküre 13 Captain
Matt Hoverman	...	Captain Harlock (voice: English version)
Masako Ikeda	...	Maetel
Tarô Ishida	...	Wotan
Carol Jacobanis	...	Elda (voice: English version)
Tara Jayne	...	Captain (voice: English version)
K'	...	Erda
Yûko Katô	...	Walküre 13 Marine
Masako Katsuki	...	Queen Emeraldas
Takehito Koyasu	...	Fasolt (voice)
Rachael Lillis	...	Fricka (voice: English version)
Shinichirô Miki	...	Fafner
Robert O'Gorman	...	Wotan (voice: English version)
Lisa Ortiz	...	Maetel (voice: English version)
Nathan Price	...	Yattran (voice: English version)
Scottie Ray	...	Tadashi Daiba, Fafner (voice: English version)
Kôichi Sakaguchi	...	Arcadia Computer
Anthony Salerno	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jill Seifers	...	Meeme (voice: English version)
Toshihiko Seki	...	Tadashi Daiba
Emi Shinohara	...	Freia
Veronica Taylor	...	Emeralda (voice: English version)
Miyuki Ueda	...	Fricka
Kazuko Yanaga	...	Mime
Yoshito Yasuhara	...	Alberich

Also Known As:

Harlock Saga: The Ring of Nibelung: The Rhinegold (USA) (literal English title)
Siegfried: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Japan: English title)

Runtime:

USA:180 min

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

Spain:7 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Movie Connections:

References "Uchû senkan Yamato" (1974)

Welcome, if imperfect, return of the space pirate

Having first seen Captain Harlock, subtitled, on a Japanese UHF-TV channel here in New York in the late 70's, I was hooked on the highly stylized, sci-fi melodrama. The 42 episode series was quite unlike anything that was on TV at the time and it's unfortunate that it hasn't found some sort of re-release in Japan or here in the U.S. That said, Harlock has been seen here in the US release of the Galaxy Express 999 feature film and the unusual "Arcadia of my Youth" which was produced later but is a prequel to the original TV series. One thing to note is that the author of the all of the comic books, TV series and movies is very loose with the chronology and he doesn't mind changing the background stories of the characters to suit the plot of his present project.

That said, anyone who remembers the original series or the other works will have to accept that two of the recurring characters, in this release, have been changed yet have the same names. This collection of a six episode limited series is loosely based on the Wagner Ring operas and the excellent music heard is either Wagner or very closely based on Wagner. The animation style is very much like the original 1970's series, right down to the sometimes clumsy perspective rendering of the highly detailed spaceships. The story seems to have been patched together rather quickly and there are some large plot holes because of it. A big disappointment is the promised big battle between Harlock's ship, the Arcadia, and the main villain's massive space force. Each episode starts with an opening montage that shows the battle about to start but when we finally get to it in episode six, it doesn't happen. Something else rather interesting happens but no super battle.

It's great to have Captain Harlock back in series form and many of the qualities that made the original series memorable for me in the late 70's are here too. It's hard to enthusiastically recommend this to anyone who is expecting the usual anime pyrotechnics and bombast. Harlock has always been more of a hard drama. Hopefully we may someday see the original series released on DVD.