Ask John: Are Harlock and Herlock the Same Thing?

Question:
Looking through Newtype magazine, I spotted an ad for the Captain Harlock DVDs to be released. But, instead of Harlock, it was Herlock. Has it always been this way and just spelled incorrectly in the past? Or is this a new guy altogether?

Answer:
Japanese is a phonetic language, therefore in Japanese, as long as the written spelling sounds correct when spoken aloud with a Japanese accent, the written spelling is considered correct. In proper spoken Japanese, there’s very little difference between the sound of “Harlock” and “Herlock.” While “Harlock” has traditionally been the commonly accepted spelling the space pirate’s name, the recent Space Pirate Captain Herlock Endless Odyssey OAV series uses the spelling “Herlock.” In fact, based on images found in the Galaxy Express 999 movie Roman Album books printed in Japan in the early 1980s, the little used alternate spelling “Captain Herlock” has existed and been used occasionally in Japan since at least the mid 1970s.