Queen Emeraldas
Based onmangadrawn by Leiji Matsumoto in 1978, this OAV  series  continues the Space Pirate Captain Harlock cycle. Emeraldas, who once loved  Harlock, plies the sea of space in theQueen Emeraldas, a  starship that  resembles a blimp attached to a 17th-century sailing vessel.  Sepulchrally  thin, with a mane of blond hair and a prominent facial scar, Emeraldas  fights injustice--and anyone who dares to fly Harlock's skull-and-cross-bones  emblem. In "Departure," the first installment, spunky street urchin  Tochiro stows away to the planet Daibaran, hoping to start a new life--and  build a  starship of his own. Daibaran is a mined-out wasteland with an Old  West-style town, complete with a saloon. Tochiro comes into conflict  with  Eldomain, the captain of the Afressian space pirates, who makes the  mistake of defying Emeraldas--with predictable results. The conflict escalates  in  "Eternal Emblem," as Eldomain kidnaps Tochiro and the other inhabitants  of  Daibaran in an attempt to trap Emeraldas. She defeats Eldomain, the  entire  Afressian fleet, and their queen before sailing off.Queen  Emeraldaswill  delight Captain Harlock fans; critical viewers will find the poor  integration of the three-dimensional, computer-animated spaceship with  the  two-dimensional cel animation visually jarring.--Charles  Solomon