Space Pirate Captain Harlock | |
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Japanese release poster
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Directed by | Shinji Aramaki |
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Screenplay by |
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Story by | Harutoshi Fukui |
Based on |
Space Pirate Captain Harlock by Leiji Matsumoto |
Starring |
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Music by | Tetsuya Takahashi |
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Release date
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Running time
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111 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Budget | $30 million |
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Space Pirate Captain Harlock (宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku?) is a 2013 Japanese 3D CG anime science fiction film directed by Shinji Aramaki.
In 2010, Toei Animation announced that it had developed a pilot for a computer-graphics remake of the earlier manga-inspired TV series, and presented it at Tokyo International Anime Fair that year. In the next year they presented a preview of Space Pirate Captain Harlock at Annecy International Animated Film Festival. This is Toei's second highest production budget ever at the equivalent of over US$30 million. The story was reconstructed by the writer Harutoshi Fukui to reflect the themes of modern society and Toei provided the latest filmmaking technology for the film. An English-narrated international teaser trailer was released for promotion. It was shown out of competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival and was screened at the 33rd Hawaii International Film Festival. It received a mixed to negative response from critics and was nominated for the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year and won the Lumière award in Best International 3D Feature – Animated category at the 3D Creative Arts Award (2014).
In the future, mankind has discovered a way to travel faster than light and has built colonies on thousands of planets. With humanity fading and the resources of the universe starting to dwindle, some five hundred billion humans began the long journey back home, Earth. However, humanity has outgrown its capacity to repatriate that many people and thus began the "Homecoming War," where the many factions of humanity battled for a stake on Earth. The war was long and bloody, things wouldn't subside until an authoritarian universal government by the name of the Gaia Sanction declares Earth a sacred planet, and thus forbidden for humanity to repopulate.