Space Pirate Captain Harlock

"A man learns little by little while in battle."The Mazone come attacking the Arcadia which has had too much free time lately. Tadashi, thinking he may find clues to Mayu's whereabouts, gives chase in a fighter and is wrecked on the Rainbow Planet. A Mazone civilian saves him. Believing their story that they escaped in search of freedom, Tadashi befriends the girl, Kirika. Though he's hated the Mazone up until now, Tadashi gives a grass whistle to Kirika and they quickly grow close. But then he sees that it was all a trap to get close to him. He's saved by Harlock in the brink of time and grows due to this mistake.

"If you can imagine, I drank whiskey that time..."While the Arcadia is being repaired at the dock of a Pirate Island, Tadashi and Tori-san come back with a pair of glasses. Harlock says they belonged to the man who built the Arcadia. Harlock met that man, Tochiro Oyama, in a bar in the Ulysses Nebula. The two of them got along great, but due to the influence of a mysterious woman named Emeralda, the two of them got a bad reputation and were sent off to the mines on Bad. The truth is Emeralda needed the help of the two men to rescue her younger brother Jimmy who was sent there already. After being freed from life in the mine, Tochiro and Emeralda got married and had Mayu.

"We're all as one, together on the Arcadia."The Arcadia is rapidly being repaired on a Pirate Island while Lafresia continues her bloodthirsty hunt for it. While this is happening, Harlock tells Tadashi the secret story behind the Arcadia's origins. As fate would have it, Commander Kiruta captured and enlisted the services of a brilliant scientist named Tochiro to build a battleship to help capture Captain Harlock. However, Harlock saves Tochiro after he is in a pinch on Heavy Meldar, a planet which was being cultivated and they escape on the newly built Arcadia. Though it was a close call, they escape, but Tochiro (is hit with a bullet and) dies right after. Emeralda, wishing to remain with Tochiro, entrusts their daughter, Mayu, to Harlock. She then follows Tochiro out into space in a burial at space sea.

"Earth is meaningless to me without Mayu."The Mazone plot to use Mayu to lure Harlock and the Arcadia to the Wind Planet and then attack with a powerful mine. As the Arcadia is making up its mind as to where they will go, they intercept a communication saying that the Mazone have sent advance troops to Earth. The crew asks Harlock if they can return to Earth. As Harlock is pondering what to do, the sound of Mayu's ocarina ominously comes to them from the Wind Planet, so they set their course to there. Thanks to the will of Tochiro, which remains on board the Arcadia, they are able to escape the Mazone's trap. Just as it looks like they will succeed in rescuing Mayu, she is whisked away to another planet.

"When a man is searching for his final resting ground, don't go running your mouth."Commander Kiruta learns of the existence of the Mazone and persistently tries to inform the Prime Minister of the impending doom. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister ignores his pleas and begins to think of Kiruta as a dangerous person who may pull off a coup d'?tat. Then, Kiruta encounters Commander Otawara in a drinking establishment once again. He was the former commander who was accused of being a murderer after killing his wife upon finding out she was a Mazone. Learning of the Mazone invasion, Otawara leaves in a fighter all alone and makes contact with the Arcadia. He then leaves his final parting words to his former lover, whom he broke up with due to a misunderstanding, Masu-san. He then charges into the Mazone's crosshairs. Harlock is impressed with Otawara and vows once again to rescue Mayu.

"It's time for our showdown, Lafresia."The Arcadia is trapped due to an artificial gravity device. However, they escape and protect Mayu from the Mazone base. However, she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being held captive for so long, and if she stops playing her ocarina, she goes into terrible bouts of terror. Worried that she'll die at this rate, Harlock turns to the main central computer which harbors her father, Tochiro's soul, in order to save her. Finally, after the computer plays her a lullaby, she is able to go to sleep.

"Mayu, come here. The Earth is beautiful."After rescuing Mayu, all that remains is the final showdown with Lafresia. Harlock decides that she cannot remain on the ship during the battle and to return her to Earth. At the same time, Commander Kiruta, after pleading dozens of times regarding the impending Mazone invasion to the Prime Minister, is accused of treason due to a plot by his secretary, Shizuka Namino. Kiruta is slated to be executed the following morning and there is nothing more he can do. However, Shizuka saves him from this fate. In order to save Shizuka from the hands of the police, Kiruta turns to his one-time rival Harlock for assistance. He swallows his pride to Harlock as he promises to take her someplace safe. It turns out that this was what Shizuka wanted all along.

"Even within all this silence, a flame is toiling."The beautiful, dazzling Shizuka Namino becomes a bit of a celebrity on board the Arcadia after being rescued. However, she's really a spy sent by Queen Lafresia. Upon the Queen's orders, she takes photos of the ship with a camera in her earring and seeks to discover Harlock's true intentions. However, Harlock doesn't fall to her sexual advances and provokes Lafresia, almost as if he knows Shizuka's true identity. Lafresia, hearing his words over her earring transmitter, becomes infuriated. She suddenly sends her main fleet out. At the same time, Shizuka realizes that the forty-second person on board the Arcadia is Tochiro Oyama.

"It's cold in space."Upon realizing that Harlock knew who Shizuka's real identity is, she deems that she has failed in her mission. Harlock was going to banish her from his ship but he sees Shizuka help someone out and reconsiders. He decides to let her stay on the Arcadia but she then tries to blow up the main computer! Harlock scrambles to get the bomb out of the way and almost dies! The truth is that Shizuka was in love with Harlock, and as she couldn't live her life as a failure, she wanted to die by Harlock's doing.

"Commander Kiruta gave me his word. I have trust in a man's promise."The invasion Mazone forces finally begin their attack on Earth. With no power to resist, the air space on Earth is quickly dominated. The Arcadia passes the main Mazone fleet by utilizing an electromagnetic storm and quickly rushes to Mayu's school to get her to safety. Kiruta says that the elder Hasshi who took care of him when he was young, in Egypt, would be able to look after her. Harlock agrees to entrust Mayu to Hasshi. As they make their way through the battle field to deliver Mayu to Egypt, Kiruta is injured. Nevertheless, they get the Arcadia to safety. It's there that Harlock tells Mayu the truth behind her father, the main computer.

"Have a drink and talk to me. Sometimes people need to clear the air between them."The Arcadia leaves for space with Kiruta on board, after he was injured while trying to save Mayu. Before the final showdown, Kiruta confesses his true feelings to Harlock. About how he rescued a bunch of juvenile delinquents who were branded criminals, and how he wanted to create a future for them. He then drums up the courage to ferociously fight and closely battles with Mazone who board the ship. He then sacrifices himself to put up a defense and to protect Tadashi and First mate, Yattaran. Harlock buries him with respect.

"I want to have a drink with you. Once the battle is ended."After a bunch of skirmishes, the true battle finally begins. The Mazone use an underhanded tactic by camouflaging a medic ship and sneaking in to attack. Harlock then rescues a pregnant woman from a civilian ship that they accidentally attack. As this is more important than being friend or foe, they ignore the Queen's orders for the time being. Neither party attacks until the baby is safely born. Seeing this side of Harlock for the first time, the Queen decides to stop the petty tricks and to fight Harlock directly.

"I want to make a flower bloom. A flower of the future."Making its way past countless gunshots, the Arcadia finally arrives at Queen Lafresia's flagship. The crew sans First mate Yattaran makes a full assault on the ship. Harlock then confronts Queen Lafresia, who is wearing a battle uniform. They clash swords as she furiously battles the man who trying to crush her dream. Then, Harlock's friend who is in the Arcadia helps Harlock to victory. When Harlock sees the red blood flowing from Lafresia's veins, he decides to let her and the Mazone go. However, her final words are "I will leave."

"Mayu, plant flowers on this burnt field. Then call the butterflies and birds back here. Daiba, make history."Harlock and his crew go for their triumphant return to Earth, but, all that awaits them is an order that they've been banished from Earth. Harlock, thinking for the young crewmembers' sake, pleads to the Prime Minister to just pardon them and to disband as pirates. However, even that plea is rejected. At that moment, all the Mazone that were lying dormant on Earth arise. Harlock realizes that the Queen hinted at this happening but it was too late, cities are laid in ruin. The Prime Minister cries for help to Harlock and they decide to have their final fight for the sake of Earth. Peace is restored. Harlock entrusts the remnants of Earth to Tadashi and the gang and once again heads for space.