Ask John: How Many Stories are in the Captain Harlock Universe?

Question:
I recently heard that Harlock Saga supposedly takes place in the same universe as the Star Blazers series. How many anime stories are set in this universe and which of these have been released in America?

Answer:
Although strict continuity would preclude the possibility of Matsumoto Leiji’s various characters from ever meeting each other, the “Leijiverse,” as it’s called, is a broad “universe” in which most of Leiji Matsumoto’s most famous creations all co-exist. Leiji Matsumoto is world famous for having created characters and series including Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, Queen of a Thousand Years, and Space Cruiser Yamato. While certain aspects of each continuity, such as Iscandar and the Gamilon race of Yamato don’t appear in Galaxy Express or Harlock, and the machine empire of Galaxy Express doesn’t appear in Harlock or Yamato, the Galaxy Express 999, Yamato and Arcadia (Harlock’s ship) do appear side by side in films including Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy and DNAsights 999.9. The recent Maetel Legend OAV series further confirms this strange, universe and time bending union by revealing that Queen Emeraldas of the Harlock series and Maetel of the Galaxy Express series are actually sisters.

In relation to the total existing amount of Leiji Matsumoto’s “Leijiverse” related anime, only a relatively small amount is available commercially in America: the first 2 of 3 theatrical Galaxy Express films, the Harlock movie “My Youth in Arcadia,” DNAsights 999.9, and the Harlock Saga OAV series. Central Park Media has announced that the Maetel Legend OAV series will debut in the US sometime next year. And while never released on home video, a horribly mangled, heavily edited mish-mash of the first Captain Harlock TV series and the Millennium Queen TV series, produced by Carl Macek, was broadcast on American television in the mid 1980s under the title “Captain Harlock and the Queen of 1000 Years.”