Captain Harlock - The Anti-Sports Anime

this year I learned a term that I found out is actually fairly common for describing anime and manga among Japanese speakers the term is Spokane a portmanteau of the words cone the Japanese word for guts and sports meaning Sports based on the writings of toei producers like takiyuki Suzuki and torahiriyama Spokane is more of a Vibe rather than a full-on genre it Rose to popularity in Japanese fiction in the late 60s and is characterized by protagonists who struggle with adversity but with hard work and determination overcome all obstacles in their path and forming bonds with others who share their hot blooded passion the late 60s saw an explosion of sports related media in Japan mostly attributed to the popularity of the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo Spokane is the lifeblood of Sports Anime Rising the prominence in popular culture through anime like attack number one and star of the Giants but by the 70s these elements were already being codified into other genres of Japanese fiction until they'd eventually become Universal themes of Manga and Anime when yoshinori Watanabe and torahiriyama were tasked with developing a new hero series series they immediately turn to Sports Anime and dramas for inspiration and this would ultimately become the framework of 1971's Kamen Rider in Kamen Rider the main character Takeshi hongo is kidnapped and turned into a cyborg because of his high intelligence and his athletic capabilities athletic themes and Sports Anime tropes are all over the series with torahiriyama citing the live-action drama Judo straight line and the anime tiger mask as their major influences it wouldn't be long until even the mecca genre would be dominated by characters displaying these traits like the team that Pilots get a robo and get a robo three hot-blooded youths utilize teamwork and guts to defeat the invading Army of the dinosaur Empire and toei's TV adaptation puts an even greater focus on the themes of athleticism and self-improvement with several episodes focusing on characters conquering their own personal fears like when Musashi has to overcome his fear of reptiles Ryo having to overcome his fear of falling Musashi's inferiority complex Musashi not being able to ride a bicycle beyond the 1970s I'm sure you can think of a lot of anime that have a spoken own Vibe especially shown in martial arts titles these traits have evolved Beyond genre tropes but rather are intrinsically linked to Japanese culture as an image that all should strive to achieve people who exhibit this spoken Spirit are people we should gravitate towards people we should emulate and it makes sense why Japan would emulate strong characters who work as a team considering they're a small island country who has frequently endured attacks from both other countries and God himself this idolization of strength Conformity and collaboration is why Japan has been so resilient and why they're able to survive so much hardship get a robo is formed by three ships combining and each pilot must perform at his Peak or risk the fate of his comrades and all of Japan it is a very Japanese robot and I'm not even reading into this too much the anime has an episode where they meet Jack King a pilot from America who mocks the team for needing three Pilots when his robot Texas Mac only needs one the episode of course ends where Jack gets in over his cowboy hat and the getter team have to sweep in and save the day and he learns a valuable lesson now all of that may have seemed like over explaining but I really wanted to emphasize how much of an influence Sports had on anime especially in the 70s the reason is because I want to put into perspective how crazy it is that at that same time when sportsmanship was being hailed as the new Bushido there was an anime that not only lacked Spokane themes but it asserted that they would lead to the stagnation of mankind and the collapse of modern society space pirate Captain Harlock is set in the year 2977 a time where Humanity has succumbed to apathy the Earth government provides people with necessities and they watch TV that delivers satisfying and non-challenging entertainment our protagonist the titular space pirate Captain Harlock believes that Humanity's inability to face challenges will inevitably lead to its end to prevent this from happening Harlock rebelled and fled to space the crew of Harlock shipped the Arcadia are 42 men to stand by a society that they have likewise rejected they are alcoholics they are ugly disabled obsessive nerds and horny aliens harlock's crew is composed of every type of person a proud conforming Society should pity at best and revile at worst and yet they are not only portrayed as the good guys but it is insisted that only through individuality can Humanity grow when Captain Harlock invites Tadashi daiba to join him all he asks is that ever fight for what he believes in Harlock only wants his crew to fight for what's in their heart meaning they aren't serving him or his goals or the goals of their other crewmates even they don't need to share a dream but they do need to want something with a passion and Harlock will nurture that passion and help them achieve that dream [Music] foreign the rejection of Conformity is a common theme seen in many of the works by harlock's manga author lady Matsumoto it's a common theme in a lot of Pop fiction actually but from Matsumoto it came from a very real place matsumoto's father Lieutenant suyoshi Matsumoto was the pilot in the Japanese air force during World War II it was the senior matsumoto's job to assign Pilots to their duties in the Pacific Theater many of whom he knew wouldn't come back sending young men on suicide missions weighed heavily on Matsumoto and the pain and anxiety only became stronger when the war ended after losing the war Matsumoto was obligated to visit the families of all the men who died under his command and informed them of their loved one's death most of the families blamed Matsumoto and the guilty felt made him unable to work for the rest of his life the senior Matsumoto a lover of planes and all things Aviation would never fly again even turning down simple commercial airline jobs due to the guilt and Trauma he felt having experienced The Fallout of World War II first hand Luigi Matsumoto conveys the danger of a government that erases individuality we could all be happy and equal if we can form act like ants performing our dedicated duties to ensure the prosperity of our Colony but Harlock reminds us that we are not insects and that life is something not to be wasted the prevalence of these themes is why I always specify that Legion Matsumoto is the co-creator when talking about the 1974 anime Space Battleship Yamato while many sources pushed Matsumoto to the Forefront and there's political reasons why that happens Matsumoto was actually brought on while the series was already in the midst of development prior to Matsumoto joining the production the series was headed by another man credited as co-creator yoshinobunishizaki nishizaki's name was for a period of time omitted when talking about Yamato because nishizaki was uh a little too based yeah nishizaki's gun and drug charges led to Matsumoto receiving more credit for Yamato and the reason I bring this up is because there's a lot of political opinions and elements of Japanese nationalism in Yamato that I personally believe Matsumoto would have completely opposed episode 2 has a whole scene talking about the brave men who fought alongside the original battleship Yamato how they knew they would die in battle and that they knew they were on a suicide mission but they followed orders dutifully with the scene in its sentiment meant to reflect on our protagonist boarding the Space Battleship Yamato and how now our protagonists will fight with that same spirit this is not a Matsumoto sentiment all people will die and should live life to the fullest therefore you should not take death lightly asking if a person would die for others is nonsense depending on the situation the person can choose for themselves while Yamato is a story of how many people can work together to achieve an impossible task Harlock conversely is about a crew who doesn't need a single unifying goal each member has their own ass inspiration and the passion they have for that dream is all they need to motivate them to work together while the crew of the Yamato works together through a societal obligation the crew of the Arcadia is working out of a personal obligation but what's interesting about Harlock as an anime is that we can actually see the internal conflict between societal expectations and personal conviction in the Arc of a single character Commander karuda Commander karuda is a member of the earth military and is essentially a main antagonist for the majority of the series however despite being an antagonist he isn't really a bad guy the best comparison I can think of is if Harlock was lupon III Cruda is zenigatta haruda seeks to capture Harlock but not just because it's his job he's not blindly following orders karuda genuinely cares about the safety of Earth's people especially children and opposes Harlock Because he believes Harlock is a threat to that safety he serves the Earth government but retains his individuality making him a more sympathetic and even tragic character he embodies the spirit of individuality so much that even though he was being hunted by him Harlock eventually comes to understand him when the mazone first appeared at karuda in what is probably the scariest [ __ ] scene in the entire show they forced Garuda at gunpoint to turn over all records on Harlock and his crew Cruda notices that harlock's goddaughter Mayu is included and immediately tries to run away knowing should be an easy target for them a Zone when kuruda is unable to escape he pleads with the prime minister to end the charade he wants the Earth government to reveal them his own's existence so that the Earth's people can oppose them with military force however the Prime Minister refuses unconcerned about the possible loss of one child in the face of a planetary war from this point on karuda grows to despise the Earth government and the Mazon began to take notice even trying to convince him to join their side at one point and this is how those negotiations go down [Music] foreign let's swing back to Yamato for a sec the series opens with mamaru kodai sacrificing himself so Captain okita can escape to fight another day kudai's death in the first episode of Yamato not only has an underlying sense of nationalism but the reveal towards the end that he survived and is actually living with this beautiful Alien named starsha has this unintentional Arc where mamaru sacrifices himself for the greater good and as a result sort of achieves Valhalla this isn't what the creators intended but it could easily be read this way this is ironic because in the original outline for the series mamaRoo was meant to re-enter the story becoming a main character and take part in the climax of the series but this was removed when the series Lost 13 episodes due to low ratings I called ironic because upon his return mamaru kodai was meant to adopt a new moniker and that moniker was space pirate Captain Harlock I'm actually glad that harlock's anime debut wasn't in Yamato because I think it would have tied Harlock as a character down to a lot of Yamato's themes imagine if the man who gave his body and soul to protect his Commander was now telling his crew to die for No One But themselves the 1978 Harlock anime wouldn't even exist or if it did it would be something completely different than what we got and what we got was something special Harlock was the hero anime fans needed he is the person that tells you that your hobby or your Niche interest the one that everyone says is childish and a waste of time actually isn't Harlock is the patron saint of anime fans one of my favorite scenes is at the end of episode 16 after foiling an evil scheme set up by her ex-boyfriend Harlock finds K sitting on the beach in a kimono holding her mother's shamisen with the sun setting and waves crashing case simply asked Harlock to listen to her play and so he does foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] foreign [Laughter] [Laughter] too many adaptations seem to forget why Harlock meant so much to anime fans it wasn't because he was cool and that he killed a bunch of people without hesitation empty Geist is cool and kills a bunch of people without hesitation and I'm the only one who loves and respects him Harlock was cool because it came out at a time when every show told kids to improve themselves become stronger become more sociable while Harlock said if you aren't strong and sociable that's fine do what you're good at do what you personally love doing while the spoken Vibe of the 70s was meant to instill the sports team mentality into kids Harlock reminded them that they are individuals and that they shouldn't let any system erase that even Beyond childhood inspiration I feel like Harlock really resonated with me because of how much he detest stagnation humans becoming too stagnant is the entire reason he fled to space in the first place and I've met so many people in my life who I felt could achieve great things but they just refused to do it because they were lazy or didn't think it was worth it but as cliche as it sounds I would rather meet someone who tried a million times and failed than a person who didn't even bother in the final episode of the series Harlock abandons his crew on Earth with the mazzone defeated and the government toppled they no longer need to serve Harlock or the flag of freedom because now they can live peacefully and achieve their dreams I want to make one last comparison to Yamato I find it interesting how Captain okita's goal is to survive his illness long enough to see the mission through to the end so that he can peacefully die on Earth while Captain harlock's goal is to see his mission through to the end so that his crew can peacefully live on earth foreign [Music]

Channel: MercuryFalcon

Views: 255,614

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Id: q0dTxdac6Yo

Length: 14min 40sec (880 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 27 2022