Rating: 
Summary: Yeah!!!
Review: Well, My youth in Arcadia is just flat-out one of the best movies ever. It's right up there with Labyrinth, Crouching tiger, The Matrix, Transformers: The Movie, etc.
The plot concerns Harlock, a man who decides to fight back against the corrupt rulers of earth. He joins with a genius called Tochiro, a space trader name Emaraldas, a soldier named Zoll, and other allies. This movie features some of the best music i've ever heard, like when Harlock takes a walk before reporting to General Zeta. Also, the ending is awesome and somewhat unpredictible. It's a nice break from those fluffy disney endings.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but still impressive - a classic of anime'
Review: What to say about this one? The plot deals with subjects Hollywood avoids like the plague - for obvious reasons: honor, loyalty, duty, sacrifice. But then the overall effect is crippled by the horribly hokey spaceships, silly characters, wholly unnecessary tangents, and confusing trips through time and space.At two hours, it's a bit of a butt-numbing experience for young kids, but then, would they want to see a subtitled cartoon anyway? It's a LOT more talky/preachy than anything else from it's day. It's no "Akira" in the animation quality department, either. Given that, though, there is still a lot of heart to this work. I have never seen the TV cartoons that followed, but the basic message from this movie is MANY times better than what you are likely to get from ANYthing out of Tinseltown. Defintely a classic, but with a few flaws that make it sometimes difficult to defend.
Rating:
Summary: A Matsumoto classic!
Review: Wow, where should I start? I have been a big fan of Anime (Japanese Animation) since my childhood in the seventies. I remember watching shows like Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman), Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato), Dangard Ace, and many more. My introduction to Captain Harlock (the star of Arcadia of My Youth) was watching Galaxy Express 999 on cable back in around 1980. I remeber thinking how different it was from US cartoons, so serious and mature, not stupid kid stuff. I moved to Japan in 1982, and plunged deep into Anime...I've been addicted ever since! I didn't really get into Captain Harlock until the early 90's though. Leiji Matsumoto, the creator, also created Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, Emeraldas, and many others. I was completing my Yamato collection and kept hearing about this movie. I found it one day and decided to buy it. All I can say is "Incredible"! While not as action packed as other contemporary Anime, Arcadia of My Youth has deep rooted issues and morals to teach (as most of Matsumoto's work has). Here's my review: The movie opens in the past, the early 20th cetury, before World War 2, but after World War 1. Harlock is an early aviator, exploring the world in the skies, constantly challenging himself, and conquering the unknown as well as his own fears. A proud man, who finds himself attempting to conquer the Owen Stanley Mountain range in New Britain, which had never been done before. He finds his biplane unable to climb high enough, and has to turn back in defeat. As he turns away, he imagines the spirit of the mountain laughing at him! Unable to accept defeat, he jettisons all of his fuel except for 10 minute's reserve, and turns back to conquer the mountain. He realizes it will most likely be a one way trip, with him crashing after he clears the summit, but is undeterred, focused on his dream and his goal. He succeeds, only by sacrificing everything. The movie makes a HUGE turn then, fast forwarding to the present (our future...sometime around 2277). Harlock's decendant, Captain Harlock, is the greatest and best in Earth's space fleet. Much like his ancestor, a proud man who would risk all for the right cause. Earth has been fighting against an alien race of conquerors, the Illumidas, who are very much like ourselves (human, with light green skin and different hair patterns). They appear to be similar to the Roman Empire, conquering one world after another, pressing the conquered into service, and harvesting all the resources available from the conquered world, however they have the habit of destroying conquered worlds once the resources have been tapped. Earth fought bravely against a much larger and more advanced foe, and has lost. Earth has been conquered by the Illumidas, who are pillaging our planet for all of its resources. Earthmen serve under the Illumidas, as workers, servants, and militia-fighting fellow Earthmen who rebell against the Aliens. Harlock attempted to save a bunch of Earth's refugees in his space battleship, the Deathshadow, and find a new world where man could live free. He is returning to Earth in defeat. The Illumidas foe is too great, and there are no places where we can go without running into the Illumidas. Harlock has given his all, and fought valiantly, but to no avail, only delaying the inevitable. He now returns with the refugees, to surrender his ship to the Illumidas, so the refugees can come home to Earth safely. Once he has landed, the enemy offers him a job in their service-he will never fly again otherwise, and they were impressed with his bravery against them. An offer that is refused, as he would rather serve no one than to serve the enemy. He faces unemployment, uncertainty, and eventual starvation, as Earth's resources are running out. Things seem to be as bad as they can get. His family is gone, and his woman is being hunted down, as she is the head of Eath's resistance movement. Just when it seems things can't get worse, he meets a small man named Tochiro, who at first seems to be a beggar, but in reality was the best Engineer in Earth's fleet before Earth's surrender. He has secretly built a ship. He has been waiting for the right person to captain it. He and Harlock become fast friends, discovering that their families have crossed many times in the past, with their ancestors meeting and becoming lifelong friends throughout history, usually during conflict. History repeats itself, with Harlock and Tochiro becoming inseparable, and rebelling together against the Illumidas, using Tochiro's ship, the Arcadia. The downside is they get exilled from Earth in the process, for disobeying Earth's current government, Harlock's woman is captured and is to be executed,along with one of Harlock's few remaining friends, Emeraldas, a free space trader (and sometimes pirate). At the same time, the Illumidas decide to destroy his other friend's planet, where his friend's family is waiting for him to rescue them from the Illumidas. Harlock must choose, save the people he promised to, or save his woman and other friend, who will be surely executed if he doesn't intercede. At the same time, the Illumidas fleet seeks his head! This film is different than most, telling how Harlock became who he is, and why he is the way he is. It ties together with the other Captain Harlock movies and TV shows, the Galaxy Express 999 TV and movies, Maetel Legend and the Queen Emeraldas ones. It also ties into the Space Cruiser Yamato Manga (comics). The animation is high quality, and technically very accurate in its rendering of mechanics. The story is riveting, and not very happy, but realistic in its portrayal of how life can be. It has an inner story to teach the audience, a moral. This is one of my favorite movies, and a must have for fans of realistic sci-fi and mature anime
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Sci-Fi Adventure!
Review: Yes the animation is outdated, yes the voices are a little weak, and yesthe film does run a little too long. Yet Arcadia of My Youth is also a brilliant display of how a space opera should be. Set in a future where aliens have seized control of earth only a small bandof humans, and aliens, can band together befor earth is lost forever. The only man to lead such a mission is Captain Harlock, once a space force captain now a reble/pirate. The overall story plays like a tribute to the classic sci-fi novels of the sixties and seventies. Dispite this films obvious weaknesses I would advise this film to any who are either looking for a return to old school anime or those looking for a good sci-fi epic. Warning this film contains violence and the recomended age is 10 and up.
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