Thursday, January 31, 2013

Time to Talk About Captain Harlock

Well I say it's about time I make my first real official post on this blog. Okay, those first two count, but come on that was baby dribble. One random comic strip with no rhyme or reason and an introduction. That's nice and all but the introduction is way behind us.

So as part of my blog where I talk about whatever I want, I decided to talk about...something I saw on AnimeNewsNetwork.com this morning. ANN is a site I've been visiting since I was a teen, and it's grown on me with it's awesome up-to-date goody-good news bits on everything you'd want to know that's going on in the world of Japanese cartoons. And when I checked this morning I got what's probably going to be the coolest anime news bit of this week. So before I go into my thoughts about the story itself I'll let the video from it start things off with a bang:

 

Now I don't know about you but I thought that looked amazing. Really. Freakin'. Amazing. And maybe I'm saying that as someone who's familiar with the property. It's based on a classic space opera anime/manga from the 70s, and although I can't really say I'm a fan per say, I've read and heard enough about it to get the jist of it. Plus I've seen a few episodes of the original series. It's pretty cool stuff. My familiarity with the property also probably stems from the fact it's from Leiji Matsumoto, the creator of one my all-time favorite anime titles, "Galaxy Express 999". I've seen a few episodes of that series too but I'm really more a fan of the movie adaptation specifically, which I highly recommend:



Since the trailer has no English subs I'll give a synopsis: a boy named Tetsuo wants to go to this far away planet where he can get a mechanical body. He wants to get this mechanical body so he'll be able to kill this other guy with a mechanical body who killed his mom when he was a younger. In order to get what he wants he must accompany this hot, stylish woman named Maetel on a journey across the stars on the titular intergalactic train Galaxy Express 999. And wouldn't you know it, none other than Captain Harlock himself is in the trailer. Go figure.

But anyway back to the topic on hand. Dayum. That's really the best computer-animated film footage from Japan I've ever seen. I mean I've some other CGI-animated movie stuff from Japan before, and while they've looked good for the most part they don't give Pixar and Dreamworks a run for their money:


This... I think stands a chance. And as an epic sci-fi action flick. Wish we'd see more of that. But I think the most impressive part, at least from this short teaser, is that it has the look and feel of a modern film in its own right while still capturing the essence of the original's art-style. Is that just me? Here, let's compare this new thing and the original:




I could find some more sample images and videos for further comparison, but I think you get the idea (unless you want me to get more ;) ). I mean I know I'm not going into the plot so it's not like I'm  making a full-on take of whether or not I think this film will do the original justice (from what we've seen so far), but what that teaser says...is pretty self-explanatory. What that narrator says is enough of a basic idea of what the original plot is for those entering the world of "Space Pirate Captain Harlock".

But yeah, I have a good feeling about this one. A promising big-budget flick that has its own feel while still keeping true to the original. That's my prediction, 'bout time we get something like this. Keeping my fingers crossed. It's coming out in Japan this fall, and I most certainly smell an international release at some point.

So for those reading this here, whether you're a fan or not, know of Harlock already, are new to it, or even never heard of it until you read this blog, what do you think? This blog needs comments, give me some and tell your friends and family to leave a few too.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-01-31/space-pirate-captain-harlock-remake-english-teaser-posted


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