Third Impact Anime Episode #136 – Captain Harlock: Arcadia of My Youth (1982) & Remembering Leiji Matsumoto

Hoist your wine glasses towards the infinite sea of stars! On this episode, we are reviewing the 1982 space opera based on the iconic manga from Leiji Matsumoto, Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Arcadia of My Youth. The primary reason we’re reviewing this is because back on February 13th, 2023, Leiji Matsumoto passed away at age 85. His manga are some of the most enduring and influential works of the medium, placing him up there with Tezuka and other greats. Sully had the chance to interview some scholars of his works back in 2021 (you can find those here) but we’ve never properly reviewed any of his works until now! We hope you enjoy our review and thanks to all the fine folks in our Discord who submitted their top 3 Matsumoto works lists!

00:00:00 Introduction, remembering Leiji Matsumoto, and reflecting on our personal histories with his work

00:30:16 Cast, Crew, & Production history

00:57:01 Captain Harlock: Arcadia of My Youth Review

01:44:57 Talking about the dub & our overall thoughts on the film

02:06:52 Outro

Do you agree or disagree with our takes on Arcadia of My Youth? Do you have any recommendations of Matsumoto works to review next? Send us an email at thirdimpactanime@gmail.com and let us know. We’ll respond on a future episode!

Sources & Additional Reading:

Interview with Leiji Matsumoto by Patrick Macias, Gwynn Cambell, & Tim Eldred: https://ourstarblazers.com/vault/41/
Animerica Interview with Leiji Matsumoto: https://galaxyexpress.fandom.com/wiki/Riding_the_Rails_with_Legendary_Leiji:_The_Definitive_Interview
Pure Tokyoscope Podcast Remembering Leiji Matsumoto: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/puretokyoscope/episodes/37-Remembering-Leiji-Matsumoto—Japan-Baffled-by-Iron-Ball–Coke-x-Takoyaki-e1vki0h
Vengeance Of My Youth’s Arcadia by Dave Merrill: https://letsanime.blogspot.com/2023/01/vengeance-of-my-youths-arcadia.html?m=1

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