Harlock Saga Part 2 Episodes 4-6

With the Rhine Gold now in the hands of a vengeful Alberich, the Gods of Valhalla slumbering at the center of the universe find themselves desperate to stop him and preserve their power.  Drawn into a conflict spanning millions of years, Captain Harlock and the crew of the Arcadia step up to defend a dear friend caught up in this mess.  The whole of the universe is at stake if this war cannot be stopped.  Once more, Captain Harlock enters the fray, not to save the Gods, but to save all life in the universe itself from certain destruction.

Thank freaking God that’s over and done with.  And I dare say that it only got worse as it went on.  Harlock Saga proved it was so unworthy of bearing the name of the famous Anime Space Pirate by being the most dull, boring, and incredibly unimpressive tale I’ve seen featuring the character to date.  This is just…this is just bad, it’s a whole laundry list of bad.

Let’s start with the fact that there’s a second Time Organ Player named Freia and she’s been promised to two not so jolly green giants.  These guys are in charge of building a defense fortress of Valhalla…but they tell Wotan that they’ll only do so if they can “touch Freia’s lovely skin”.  Ok creepy enough but when we see them approach Freia…they suddenly just run at her.  We don’t see what happens next but Freia tells it like it is to Meeme later…yes, amongst a mountain of boredom now we have rapist giant battleship builders…AND THEY EXPECT US TO TRY AND FEEL SYMPATHY FOR THEM TOWARDS THE END OF THE OVA????!!!!  That’s pretty freaking disgusting and infuriating in and of itself and theyre trying to tie it into the whole theme of everyone is in things for themselves and nothing else.  But this is anger inducing, more so that Wotan just lets it happen cause he’ll get his faux Death Star our of this disgusting act.

The worst that any character in this show gets is not a swift death…but a lecture from Harlock.  The good Captain actually gets off his ass to do something but his effort is minimal even though he’s only stood on the bridge of the Arcadia, staring at screens with his arms folded (one of his favorite past times in any Harlock tale).  Harlock is a bit of a bad ass for standing up to a bunch of elderly Gods.  But when it comes time to finally take down Alberich, he just shoots him.  No epic duel, no edge of your seat tension, just one shot and Alberich is done.  There in lies the biggest problem with Harlock Saga as a whole: everything is supposed to be at stake, the fate of all existence is on the line…but you don’t really feel that watching everything because not only are key details described in the same boring Meeme delivery fashion every single episode (as if they think you rightfully fell asleep at any given time), but I never felt that Harlock was in danger.  A battle on the scale of Gods and Monsters should have you slightly concerned for your merry band of heroes.  But the simple solution taken to stop Alberich feels cheap and it cheapens an already cheapened experience.  In the end, all that would be build up and cause for concern was for nothing.  And it feels like nothing has really changed from the beginning of the OVA.  In other words, this OVA was ultimately pointless.

This review feels like a ramble and it kind of is but that’s about how I feel about Harlock Saga: it’s a mindless ramble that makes no sense even when the same dialogue is being repeated every five seconds.  The trailers had promise and that promise was nowhere to be found.  Harlock just stood around for most of his own show while everyone else handled what little action there was.  Matsumotoverse legacy characters like Maetel and Emeraldas played little more than blink or youll miss it cameos rather than large roles.  And Tadashi…didn’t even need to be in the series past his intro episode because he contributed absolutely nothing to the story at all beyond making the ring because he was called a wuss.  The story was boring, the script literally repeated itself every episode, the new characters were annoying beyond belief and any attempts at action left me yawning rather than awe inspired.  Can I give any positives for Harlock Saga at all?  No.  If you want a good Harlock story or at least a better use of the good Captain in a large role, check out Arcadia of my Youth or Galaxy Express 999 (the first movie).  Some would think Harlock Saga is a hidden gem that might be worth a watch if youre a fan of the famous Anime Space Pirate.  In fact, it is a dud, a ring without shine, that has been lost to the depths of time and space for a reason.  Save yourself the effort and go check out those other titles like I suggested.

Dragon Ball Z: The Movie-Bio Brolly, X: An Omen, Godzilla: The Planet Eater, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals and Ronin Warriors Gaiden and Message, you guys have a new club mate.  Harlock Saga receives a big fat 0/10.  Here’s hoping our next title isn’t the same kind of lost to the ages badness.  Next week we head over to the universe of Macross for the not quite so talked about 10^th Anniversary OVA: Super Dimenaional Fortress Macross II-Lovers Again.  See ya then.