Harlock Saga (DVD)

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Audio:
You can watch the show with either Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Japanese or DD 2.0 stereo English. There is an option for English subtitles. I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles. There was some difference between the left and right channels, nothing outstanding, nothing terrible. The character´s voices come out clearly. I was rather surprised to learn that the Japanese voice actor for Harlock also played Tochiro.

Extras:
Central Park Media did an excellent job with the extras. In the main menu, listed first even, is an item called "The World of Harlock." It´s a few pages of text to get the viewer acquainted with some of the general background information on the main characters and situations.

"Character Sketches" has the usual gallery of production sketches of characters and objects used in the series. The slide show proceeds at its own pace, so you´ll have to pause on any image you really want to stare at.

"Interviews" contains text snippets from interviews with creator Leiji Matsumoto, director Yoshio Matsumoto, music director Kaoru Wada, and Harlock and Tochiro´s voice actor, Kouichi Yamadera. The full interviews, as well as two extra interviews with character designer and executive animation director Hideyuki Motohashi and scriptwriter Megumi Hiyoshi can be accessed with a computer´s DVD drive.

"Behind the Scenes" is a brief video of interviews with various English voice actors. They tell how they approached this job and give a few humorous anecdotes. There is also some footage of the voice actors actually recording different takes in the studio.

"Title-Free Credits" shows both sets of opening and closing animations without and credits. I especially enjoyed this feature because the closing songs are so beautiful.

--Miscellaneous--
The DVD case is empty, but is made out of a clear plastic so you can see information printed on the reverse side of the cover slip. There´s a list of the chapters, a Japanese and English voice actor credits list, and some production credits.

Film Value:
In entire Japanese animation media, Leiji Matsumoto is one of the giants. While all of his works are interwoven, Captain Harlock is by far the largest and best loved character Matsumoto has created. This OVA set is something of a departure from other Harlock adventures. For starters, there isn´t any mention of the mechanical humanoids that seek to enslave humanity, and Tochiro is alive. Plus, the plot is based off of a German operatic epic, instead of being entirely a creation of Matsumoto´s own imagination. Despite all that, this DVD is still pure Harlock, with a plot shot through with optimism, hope, and an undercurrent of melancholy. I wouldn´t have it any other way.

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