Captain Harlock (1978) 1.31

Arcadia - The Secret Story of Its Construction

The Mazone fleet continues to look for the Arcadia. They have searched all the planets multiple times. Queen Lafresia believes that they must be hiding among the asteroids and orders them all destroyed.

Captain Harlock continues to tell the story of his further adventures with Tochiro Oyama and Emerelda. Harlock and Oyama made Planet Heavy Meldar their home base. Commander Kiruta came looking for them. He led a fleet of SDF ships. He sent the Hoshino Force to Planet Heavy Meldar but they were destroyed by Emerelda and her space pirates.

Tochiro sent Harlock to the Ice Planet to find the enegry ore known as gravium. Harlock returned just as Commander Kiruta and the rest of Earth's fleet converged on Planet Heavy Meldar. Emerelda and Harlock kept them at bay long enough. Commander Kiruta and the SDF were forced to flee when Planet Ganda came dangerously close to Planet Heavy Meldar. Harlock, Tochiro, Emerelda, Mayu, and the pirates fled the planet in the Arcadia.

Tochiro Oyama died soon after they departed Heavy Meldar. They out his body in a casket and set it adrift in space. Emerelda left in a small ship. with the casket. She left Mayu in Harlock's care. 

The Mazone fleet finds the Arcadia just after repairs to the pirate ship have been completed. The episode ends with the Arcadia taking off from Pirate Island, the asteroid where they have been hiding.

Thoughts

This is a decent episode but there isn't very much in it about the secret origin of the Arcadia. I was a little confused when Commander Kiruta appeared in the episode. I wasn't sure, at first, if that part was set in the present or the past. Eventually it became clear that it was set in the past.

Will Emerelda ever return, in this series or another? I don't know. Tochiro's spirit is supposedly in the Arcadia. Captain Harlock has said something along these lines in prior episodes. I was a little surprised that there wasn't some greater reference to the connection between the Arcadia and the spirit of Oyama in this episode.