The series follows the titular Captain, an outcast who has turned into a space pirate to rebel against Earth's government and humanity's general apathy.

[4] In August 2014, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his debut, Matsumoto launched a retelling manga, Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, illustrated by Kōichi Shimahoshi,[5] which features some significant plot differences.

[7] In the year 2977 AD,[8] humanity has achieved a vast starfaring civilization, but is succumbing to ennui, often due to defeat and subjugation by a foreign invader.

Rising against the general apathy, Harlock denies defeat and leads an outlaw crew aboard his starship Arcadia to undertake daring raids against Earth's oppressors.

Their primary oppressors are the Mazone, a race of organic plant-based alien women who explored Earth in the mythic past and are now back to reclaim it.

She first met Harlock when he raided a ship that was transporting her back to Earth as a prisoner after she had assaulted a military officer who had belittled her father's death.

There is a slight intimation that she harbors a crush on Harlock (though this would be made more definite in the later SSX series), and initially seems inclined romantically towards Tadashi Daiba, though the two eventually settle into a platonic friendship.

In gratitude, Miime became part of the crew of the Arcadia and pledged her life to Harlock's support and safety, becoming the pirate's nearest companion.

Her empathic nature makes her a valuable counselor (for example, when she consoles Miss Masu following the loss of the latter's estranged fiancé) and is capable of quelling pain/anxiety of all on board by the strumming of her lap harp.

In the 1999 Harlock Saga OVA, she is refashioned to appear as a more humanoid woman and provided a different back story, making her a member of the Nibelung clan; here, her preferred musical instrument is the pipe organ and somehow possesses the ability to control time.

Harlock's first mate on the Arcadia, he is usually portrayed as comic relief in the series, but when a battle against alien threats become imminent he will be at the captain's side.

Yattaran is based on manga artist Kaoru Shintani (best known for Area 88) who, in his early career worked for Matsumoto building models for reference.

Chief steward, Masu Tsunajima is a cantankerous spinster who is intolerant of her kitchen being raided by Doctor Zero or his cat.

She is also a comic relief character in the series, although her back story had her intended to marry her fiancé, Gozo Otowara, before circumstances prevented the wedding from taking place.

Earlier in his life, Kiruta suffered the loss of his father, a government secret agent, during an ill-fated mission, followed by his mother and his younger sister Tami.

As cruel as she is beautiful, Rafflesia was once a wise and kind ruler, but the situation of her people leads her to change for the worse as the series progresses.

She is killed when Harlock lures the main force of her fleet away with his mobile repair dock, leaving Cassandra's ship open to undefended attack.

Harlock discovers Shizuka's origins and subsequently grants her asylum on his ship after Queen Rafflesia deserts her and later orders her killed.

While superficially a space opera the series raises a number of issues from the challenges in the life of men to the limits of violence as an effective solution to problems.

The following year, KIKU-TV distributed the series to other Japanese-language programmers on the Mainland, with KEMO-TV in San Francisco leading the way on Sunday nights at 8:00 pm.

Two further episodes (2 & 3) were given a far less serious dub by ZIV, and one of the most highly joked elements in this adaptation was the change of Tadashi Daiba's name to Tommy Hairball.

Toei only recently released the show in 2008 as a pay-to-watch-service on IGN's Direct2Drive, but then in 2009, it decided to provide it for free on Crunchyroll to those who are willing to wait a certain number of days, and as part of a subscription to those who want it immediately.

[12] In 2009, William Winckler Productions produced two all-new English-dubbed film versions edited from the original series, each running 105 minutes.