Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Captain Harlock (1978) 1.27

The Will of the Arcadia

The Arcadia continues to battle with the Mazone fleet but Captain Harlock's men, including Yattaran, are overworked and need a break. Captain Harlock comes up with a a stratgy to buy them some time. The Arcadia attacks the civilian portion of the Mazone Fleet. This creates problems for Queen Lafresia.

The Mazone warriors are divided over the civilians within their midst. Some want to kill them. Queen Lafresia is not among them. She sends her agents to Earth to find out why Captain Harlock continues to fight for Earth. Her agents learn about Mayu. She is reluctant to kidnap Mayu but when various factions of the Mazone fleet start to turn on one another she decides that it must be done.

Commander Kiruta, on Earth, always an enemy of Captain Harlock meets the Mazone and realizes the threat they pose to Earth. He tries to tell the prime minister but is unsuccessful at convincing him of the danger they all face. He learns that Mazone know about Mayu and her ties to Captain Harlock. Kiruta tries to protect her but the Mazone are too powerful.

The Mazone whisk Mayu away to a distant planet in the Ulysses Nebula. Queen Lafresia contacts Harlock to let him know what she has done. Captain Harlock turns to the Arcadia, which is inhabited by the spirit of his friend who built the Arcadia and is Mayu's father, for guidance. The ship decides not to stand and fight the Mazone, which are in a state of disarray. The ship decides to head for the Ulysses Nebula.

Thoughts

This is another solid episode. The Mazone and Queen Lafresia, as in the previous episode, play a pretty big part. It is almost as much her episode as it belongs to Captain Harlock and his crew. Commander Kiruta also gets more than a couple moments to show how he has changed.

The show feels like it has turned a corner. The mostly faceless aliens have become a little more interesting. They seem more three dimensional. I think that's a good thing.

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