Anime: Waga Seishun no Arcadia

This movie is the origin of Harlock, and as such, it will always be intresting to Harlock and Matsumoto fans, and I only finished seeing it for that matter. But it is unappealing in most senses anime could be for most people who can stand earlys 80´s anime.

Animation
The animation is not so good for his time, as being contemporary to Macross, it is overall worse in most senses, and only shines in the lack of repeating movements and long, quiet scenes that may overflow in a TV series. It is certainly no much better than the animation in the Harlock TV series, and yet it is four years newer. Also it is rather bad to modern standars, no matter how much effort in ignoring it you put. In all, it is just mediocre.

Sound
Voices are not bad, yet unappealing. I can hardly say they are good, but they level up the music, which is quite bad. Not bad composed, certainly, but not quite right whith the story and special mood the film has. That specially applies to the rock/pop ending totally out of the place.

Story
If this movie lacks in a particular place is here. It is about the events that make Harlock and his crew the men (and women) we seen the series, but it end up being just some moments, that although they are not unrelated, it cannot be considered an argument for a film. I personally think that trying to get the most of each of these events (the story of Arcadia, the meeting with Tsuchiro, etc) none of them leads the film to any special place, and then it just that, some events that "produce" Harlock, not a story on his origins.

Character
Harlock actually gets enough screen to get developed as character, even as he is introduced almost as bitter and experienced as seen in the TV series, I could say that he is re-motivated for hatred and solitude. Then Tsuchiro and Emeralda are way less treated, yet enough for eager fans. Some of the other characters, say the evil yet honorable commander of the ocupational forces, and Zoll, and ocassional friend and upmost hero actually get better development than the previous two, so the character part isn´t at all wonderfully made.

Value
It is absolutely non-rewatchable. Here I can say that even most Harlock fans would rather spend its time looking for new material than rewatching this movie out of boredom. Once you see why Harlock is the way he is, it just ends the only intresting side of the film. None of the other elements of this movie may call your attention except, maybe, nostallgy.

Enjoyment
Even as I write these harsh words, I don´t actually think I´ve wasted my time with this movie, since I like Harlock and Matsumoto´s work. It is not a good introductory movie for newcomers, and not all of the Matsumoto fans out there will stand to the end, yet it is a good movie to see once, specially you get to the idea that it is not rather good.

Everyone please excuse my bad english.

Arcadia of my Youth is about the the brave journey that a young captain makes, in world where aliens have enslaved mankind. It is a surprisingly humanising story, set in a stage where despair seems to be the norm.

When I saw Arcadia of my Youth, it was on the shelves as a dusty-looking VHS tape. That saying, it was one of the earlier animes made, and thus if you're looking for bright, fresh and spunky visuals, this anime is not for you.

That said, however, I feel that Arcadia of my Youth's animation is pretty good for -80s anime. The most important part of any anime art - characters - is wonderfully drawn here. Even by today's standards', the characters are exquisitely drawn. Though the aliens are pretty stereotyped, as "green men". The ships are also majestic-looking and give the proper atmosphere. The setting is gloomy, and hence the extensive use of dark colors. In fact, daylight is hardly seen.

Sound suffers, but this is probably due to the quality of the tape I watched. Music fits the theme(symphonic). The voice actor for Captain Harlock is well cast, as he manages to portray a range of emotions, that perhaps only the older generation of japanese will know.

The story kicks off with a hauntingly depressing and real scene of Harlock's ancestor, flying through a blizzard. Then, the story jumps back to modern time, where Harlock is captured by the alien empire that controls mankind now. While some viewers may find that the plot is hard to follow, you'll find that in the later part of the show, values of honor, staunch heroicsm, and love are brought into the equation, which makes up somewhat for its somewhat confusing start. This does not try to place things under the veneer of happy resolutions to problems, but instead follows Harlock as he makes very hard decisions.

The cast is not too badly developed. There is the customary funny-looking, joker kind of character (who even has a touching story behind him!), the hero and the heroine(s). Unfortunately, the relationships are not too deeply explored here, as the viewer is dragged from one action sequence to the next. You really have to read the original manga, if you're going for story. Just as well that there is a certain sense of mystery built up about the enigmatic Harlock.

That said, Arcadia of my Youth is pretty heavy watching - not for those days where you just feel like slumping into your couch. Though being a so-called "classic", you should not raise your expectations too high (a must for "classics"!). While not really a "must-watch" type of show, it is a rather thought provoking show. Perfect when you're feeling angsty, and have some emotional change to spare.