La genèse d'Albator 78 ~ Version originale anglaise

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What makes man long for the sea? . . .
The sea is the place where dreams, hopes and endless ambitions for all men are stirring. Long, long ago, man’s confidence in the future uncovered those unknown parts of the ocean.
. . . Well, then, where is our future ocean? . . . Yes, this very universe is the endless ocean for the future.
In the future, men will surely open the ocean of the universe, by sailing out in space ships!
The film “Captain Harlock” is about our boyhood passions for the future and life-risking struggle.
THE GLORIFICATION OF HUMAN BEINGS IS THE MAIN THEME!

The main attractive points of the “Captain Harlock” are the unique ideas and mechanical matters included in it. However, they are not the main subjects in the film: “Captain Harlock” tells you that any mechanism, however excellent, can never have a great existence until man has perfect command of it. In other words, the main theme of this film is the glorifcation of man. Tadashi Daiba and Captain Harlock are the new heroes who realize this theme; Captain Harlock has marked individuality, and he never gives up his hopes for the future in the most difficult situations; Tadashi Daiba, on the other hand, is strongly influenced by Captain Harlock, and matures both physically and spiritually. These two characters will surely attract and move children.

STAGE SETTING (BACKGROUND)

In the year of 2976 A.C., the whole earth is united into one nation where science is almighty, while on the other hand these pioneer spirit is already gone and people mere indulged in easy, comfortable lives served by machines.
However, they still have trouble; pirate ships are infesting the Solar System which is now the only sphere of their influence, and are taking away their decreasing resources. But these spiritless people can do nothing about it.
One day, a big pennant is shot onto the earth from somewhere in space, resulting in a great calamity. People think that the pirates have done this, but it is a mistake. The big pennant is, in fact, a warning of the coming attacks against the earth by the Mazone Space Fleet led by Queen Lafresia. Captain Harlock is the only man who has noticed it!
Then he decides to defend the earth! Captain Harlock and his forty fellow pirates aboard the M/S ALKADIA proceed to fight with the great Mazone Space Fleet. . .

THE BACKGROUND (SETTING) OF THE MAZONE SPACE FLEET

Far beyond the Nebula of Andromeda, a great fleet is now heading for the Solar System from the Mazone, a planet two million light years from ours.
On the fleet are Mazonese (people from the Mazone) - vegetable beings. They appear as ordinary human beings, but they have green skin. They seem to be pretty women as they are hermaphrodites. But in fact, they are all highly-trained space fighters.
They have already lost their own planet due to a great explosion of its sun, and now they are on their way to the earth to seek for their second Mazone.
Why, then, are they coming to the earth?
Their ancestors, in fact, have ever visited our Solar System long, long ago.
Two million years ago, when the earth was just at the beginning of the fourth Cenozoic Period, they came down to the Venus, where they found the natives and sent some of them to the earth to settle there. Those natives are the very ancestors of us, human beings. But why? - The Mazonese bred the human beings just as we do to keep domestic animals, in order to use them for labour.
The Mazonese left the earth later, when those human beings settled on the earth. They could now leave the human beings on the earth until they grew up into full-fledged domestic animals.


After they left, there were traces of their existence left behind on the earth - the huge pictures of Naska, the great pyramid, Atlantis, the Moo’s Legend, the Bermuda Triangle, etc . . . There is certain equipment in that part of the sea, which the Mazonese people have left behind; it is a light buoy equipment sending dimensional electric waves so that the position of the earth can be easily recognized when they need their animals - those human beings - some day.
All the disappearances of people in that sea area are side effects caused by this equipment. And now, the Mazonese people are on their way to the earth, guided by the special equipment, led by Queen Lafresia, in order to find their animals and a place to live peacefully. Or, rather, their advance parties have already arrived here on the earth; they are the UFOs seen in various places recently.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Captain Harlock
A great pirate travelling all over space. When and how he was born, what he has been doing. . . everything is unknown about him. His estimated age is 28, and he loves freedom and adventure most of all. He is such an indomitable youth that he never gives up his hopes even in the most difficult situations.

Tadashi Daiba
The hero of this story, is fourteen years of age. He is the son of Tsuyoshi Daiba, the scientist who was murdered by a Mazonese. At first, Tadashi believes that Harlock was the murderer of his father and hated him. But later he finds that he was wrong and finally he even joins Harlock in various activities. Through such activities, he gradually grows up in spirits. He has a strong sense of justice, but is a little too straight-forward.

Kei Yuki
A graceful, pretty girl of sixteen years. She is the only survivor among those aboard a cargo-passenger boat which was attacked by the Mazone Fleet. She was saved by Captain Harlock. She has good knowledge of biology, as she was influenced by her father Dr. Yuki who is a famous entomologist. She helps Harlock biologically. Tadashi Daiba always takes off his hat to her pure and innocent heart.

Doctor Zero
He is quite a calm, peaceful-minded man, of fifty years of age, and is the only medical doctor on the M/S ALKADIA. He is a heavy drinker and is always drunk, and yet he is a skillful doctor.

Queen Lafresia
She is the queen of the planet Mazone. She is now taking command of the Mazone Space Fleet as the commander. Mazonese are not absolutely evil; in fact, they are higher species with a rich heart. Despite that, they decide to attack the earth as they regarded earthly people as their domestic animals and their species were about to become extinct. Such as it was, Queen Lafresia is so warm and kind to her tribe that she is praised as a great, wise queen. On the other hand, however, she can turn into a cruel devil to her enemy.


















SPACE MACHINES

Battleship “ALKADIA”

A pirate ship operated by Captain Harlock, which works for him and does everything. She is equipped with a time radar which can pursuit an enemy by catching the afterimage, a cosmo-radar covering a wide range and ordinary three dimensional radar. With these, the “ALKADIA” can catch anything. She has a variety of arms such as “Pulser Cannon, ” her main armament, a quick-firing gun “Space Buster, ” a missile, etc. In addition, she is loaded with ten fighting planes called “Cosmobats, ” and five special tanks named “Docros. ” The “ALKADIA ” is a great ship with overall length of 400 meters.



“Zones,” A Space Aircraft Carrier

A great space aircraft carrier which is the core of the Mazone Space Fleet. It is loaded with twenty bombers, 2,000 space fighting planes, 400 landing boats and 1,700 air-borne tanks, as well as a missile and a quick-firing gun. It is the strongest space aircraft carrier in world history.



“Z WING” the Loaded Fighting Sapce Ship

A fighting space ship with the maximum space-travelling speed of 300 L.M., equipped with a pulse razor and a missile. It has four crew - a pilot, an astronaut, a navigator and a machine gunner on board.



SYNOPSIS

In 2976 A.C., the whole earth has been united into one nation and science is now almighty; people are indulging in idle, peaceful lives.
One day, a huge pennant is stuck into the ground in a certain district in Japan, from an unknown place in the space. People think that it has been done by space pirates recently invading the earth. But it proves to be incorrect, the huge pennant is an electric wave light buoy which unknown spacemen have stuck as a mark for their attack on the earth. Even a long time ago, spacement sent new, stronger equipment to the earth, as they found their light buoy in the sea of Bermuda was not enough. Only two persons notices this fact; one of them is Captain Harlock, a space pirate, himself, and the other is an old scientist, Dr. Daiba.
Dr. Daiba is murdered. The murderer is, of course, a member of the advance troops of the Mazone Space Fleet led by Queen Lafresia who has stuck the pennant. Tadashi Daiba, Dr. Daiba’s son, however, believes that Harlock has killed his father. One day, Tadashi happens to join the ALKADIA, Harlock’s ship.
The Mazonese advance troops start by attacking cargo boats on the earth. Harlock is now quite sure of the earth’s crisis, and begins the battle with the Mazone Space Fleet.
A lot of battles are fought; sometimes there are battles with foreign creatures, and in other cases there were hand-to-hand struggles; fights with a great fleet, etc . . . Thus the battles endlessly continue. Through these battles, Tadashi Daiba gradually knows that he has had - a wrong idea about Harlock, which finally results in his remarkable spiritual growth.

EPISODE NO. 1

In 2977 A.C., a mysterious globuler object “PENNANT” is shot onto the earth from dark, unknown space.
An invasion by the spacemen (Mazonese) has already started. But earth people have not yet noticed the crisis. Dr. Daiba, who knew of the real enemy, is killed. Only Captain Harlock, whom people fear as one of the space pirates, begins fighting the battle by himself. Tadashi Daiba, the son of the murdered Dr. Daiba, also gets involved in this story, from the moment of his fatal encounter with Harlock. The government of the earth, troubled by the ALKADIA, a pirate ship led by Captain Harlock, a space pirate, starts to make a plan to control Harlock, by sending Tadashi as a decoy. Harlock saves Tadashi though he knew he is a decoy, and on his way back to the ALKADIA, he is attacked by Mazonese armed reconnaissance party. But Tadashi is saved by a hair’s breadth, and soon he finds himself on the ALKADIA.
It was very comfortable inside the ALKADIA. But Tadashi is still wondering who Captain Harlock can be and what the Mazone is, the enemy of the whole earth who killed his father. Tadashi Daiba is now at the turning point. Should he stay on the corrupted earth? Or, should he proceed to space together with Captain Harlock and his ship “ALKADIA?”
Tadashi Daiba, who has come down back to the earth, finds the enervated government of the earth. Just then, Professor Kusco, who was one of Dr. Daiba’s friends, decodes the mysterious “PENNANT,” which reads “This is the second homeland of the almighty Mazone. ” How could the earthly government know about the existence of Mazone? Now that Professor Kusco, too, has been killed by the Mazone, Tadashi Daiba gives up living on earth, and decides to start for the endless battle to seek freedom together with Captain Harlock.

EPISODE NO. 2

Tadashi Daiba has taken the way to freedom, after swearing before Captain Harlock’s flag. The hateful Mazone who has killed his dearest father! What should he do now? . . .
The ALKADIA warmly welcomes Tadashi who is rather excited, when he happens to know of the smuggling by Shizuka Namino, the secretary for Prime Minister. What is the purpose of her smuggling?


The ALKADIA is sailing in the sea of space. Tadashi begins to become doubtful why the crew can be so idle. He wonders if they can fight with the Mazone in such condition. just then, a battle with the Mazone suddenly takes place and things on board change completely. Finally, the Mazone Fleet is defeated, and Harlock happens to know about Queen Lafresia from one of the enemy soldiers. What sort of woman is Queen Lafresia who is controlling his strongest enemy, the Mazone Space Fleet? And why does Shizuka Namino continue to cover up herself?

EPISODE NO. 3

A huge dome comes down to earth.
The ALKADIA rushes into the dome to check up on it. Inside the dome was a Mazonese laboratory where carboniferous air is whirling. There Shizuka is found, who has escaped as people knew about her smuggling. She is a Mazonese with heart. When she is moved by Tadashi’s warm heart and is about to tell him everything, the dome disappears and the Mazonese melts away. The Mazonese with heart . . .
Another difficulty has been found in fighting with the Mazonese.

EPISODE NO. 4

Tadashi passes a qualifying test by Harlock, as he succeeds in destroying one of the Mazone’s planes. On the destroyed plane, a certain letter is found. It is a letter used on the earth in ancient times. Why, then, is such a letter of the olden days seen on the Mazone’s plane? What is the relation between the Mazone and earth men? Are there any Mazonese among us human beings on the earth? . . . More and more questions are raised.
Suddenly, M/V Emeraldus appears in front of the ALKADIA ... . the ship which is so dear in Harlock’s memory. All the crew enjoy the dear, old memory, looking at the Emeraldus. It is, however, a strategy of the Mazone. The Pirate Island, the base for the ALKADIA, is now conquered by the Mazone. The Mazone is flirting with earth men. Harlock now hates the Mazone more than ever before.

EPISODE NO. 5

One day the image of the earth diverges into two. And from the center of that divergence, mysterious signals are sent. The center is inside the Bermuda Waters. The ALKADIA went deeper into the sea to solve the mystery, where they found an ancient pyramid on the side of which Mazonese letters are written. Suddenly, then, the pyramid emits light and attracts the ALKADIA. Now the ALKADIA is in danger!! is it also what the Mazone is doing?!
The ALKADIA has fallen forward into the pyramid!
Harlock and the crew members enter the pyramid to investigate it. Soon they find a woman lying sending the signals, which are guiding the Mazone. That is a beacon of the Mazone. The ALKADIA, guided by the Mazonese signals, sets out into the ocean of space, to fight with the Mazone Fleet.

EPISODE NO. 6

The ALKADIA proceeds, led by the Mazonese guiding waves. Queen Lafresia proudly sends to Harlock a Mazonese soldier in the form of a four dimensional virtual image, but soon the system is broken (by Harlock) and her soldier disappears. Now the ALKADIA is on the open sea without any sight of the stars. Far ahead of them the Mazonese regiments are waiting. What kind of tricks are waiting for them? Violent fghts with the Mazonese regiments take place. But their fighting power is still far behind that of the ALKADIA. One of the defeated Mazonese battleships . . . Harlock and his party members get on the Mazonese battleship, where they find a woman lying in the center just as they saw in the pyramid. And she is lying there alive as a computer. Their analyzing survey reveals that the woman has no frame-work; her whole body is made of chlorophyl. Are Mazonese vegetable creatures?! The ALKADIA goes still further in the mysterious space of the universe!

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