Captain Herlock Vol. 2:
The Endless Odyssey, Outside Legend
(Geneon Region 1  DVD)
(2004)
review by Big McLargehuge

It’s time to check in with our friends aboard the Arcadia once more…

Continuing the story from Captain Herlock: Volume 1, Volume 2 expands the space opera goodness for three more episodes.

Here’s a little background on the Captain Herlock characters and story arc from the Volume 1 DVD review: Fans of classic Anime will recognize Captain Herlock immediately. A veteran of one feature film and two long running series, not to mention a fantastically cool cameo in Galaxy Express 1999, this new adventure reunites the good captain with his long standing crew of brigands, drunks, and leggy women aboard the good ship Arcadia, the most powerful vessel in space.

When the demons of Noo return in the lost ship Fata Morgana and blink the Earth out of existence, and self-serving politicians use this even to rest control of democracy away from the people, it’s up to Herlock and his crew to face down the threat of the Noo and restore freedom to all of Earth’s space-bound children.

All the well-known characters are here too, Dr. Zero, Meimie, and Herlock’s former prodigy Kay, not to mention the ship Arcadia. However, the tone of this adventure is darker, more desperate.

The characters of Herlock’s universe should be instantly recognizable, and that’s one of Matsumoto’s strong points, from Herlock with his herringbone scar and eye patch to flowing 18th century type clothes and distinctive long-sword gun to the massive skull and crossbones emblazoned across the Arcadia’s bow, follows many of the conventions of Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999. The other characters flow between Herlock (as the ideal) and super deformed, but the design never seems visually jarring.

The second DVD in the series follows Herlock and the crew as the watch the universe slowly descend into madness brought on by the demons of Noo. Entire navies turn on one another, soldiers massacre families, townspeople tear each other to pieces, all because Noo has a link to the deepest and darkest fears stored in Earthling DNA.

Herlock and his crew though, appear immune, as if their very nature protects them from Noo’s horrible influence. In one great scene one of the Noo demons attempts to spook Herlock and the crew like she did to the naval flotilla orbiting Pluto. Herlock’s personality so transcends normal humanity though, that the possessed crewmembers refuse to do Noo’s bidding.

The most receptive to Noos influence is Deibei, the newest member, who cannot understand the life aboard Arcadia and its complete lack of rules or order. He doesn’t understand that Herlock’s crew serves because they WANT to and not because they are contractually obligated. Herlock’s order are often “do what you want” because he knows intrinsically that his crew will stand by him when the time comes even if they goof off the rest of the time.

Once we learn the origins of Noo (pre Big Bang) and find out the connection between Earth and the lock keeping Noo’s spirit at bay, the story starts to fall together with a little more clarity than the first four episodes offered.

Madhouse’s animation is, as expected, fluid and beautiful, enhanced even by the character design. This title is almost a work of art. Raising the bar too is the fantastic (and distinctive) score by Tkayuki Hattori.

The Geneon DVD contains the second three episodes of the series. They are:

Battlefield- the Tombstone Planet
A Gentle Smile of the Skull of Memory
The Moon Waits in the Promised Land

And at nearly 30 minutes a piece, it’s almost an hour and a half of the best space opera in years.

The Geneon DVD offers Captain Herlock in full screen with both Japanese and English language tracks in 5.1 surround, English subs for the whole track or just translations of signs (which is great for the dubbed offering), and the original Japanese opening for episode 1.

.