Space Pirate Captain Herlock - The Legend Returns (Vol. 1)
Subtitled "The Endless Odyssey: Outside Legend," this new series continues  the long-running adventures of Leiji Matsumoto's dashing Captain Herlock  (usually translated asHarlock). The swashbuckling Captain is pitted not  against human malefactors, but ghosts controlled by Noo, a demon that briefly  ruled creation immediately after the Big Bang. As they explore the cosmos, humans  are inadvertently breaking the seals that imprison Noo--to the peril of every  living thing. Herlock has been living quietly on the Planet of Rubbish Heaps,  a spacefill for archeological ruins, including the palace inhabited by an  ancient spirit that explains the threat to him. Director Rin Taro uses 3-D  computer animation to good effect: the Arcadia is now a solid vessel with an  embossed Jolly Roger on her prow. He also stylizes the violence and much of the  action to create a punchy, dramatic narrative. (Rated 13 and older: brief nudity,  violence, alcohol use)--Charles Solomon