Queen Emeraldas OVA 1

—by Maria M. Rider

Based on the comics by Matsumoto Leiji comes a new Original Video Series of the same name. The story takes place in the CAPTAIN HARLOCK universe and chronicles the personal adventures of Emeraldas, Captain Harlock's ally and Tochiro's lover. With 1998 being the 20th anniversary of CAPTAIN HARLOCK and 1999 being the 25th anniversary of SPACE CRUISER YAMATO, the Queen Emeraldas OVA series has come at a good time.
The first volume, DEPARTURE, starts out focusing on a young boy, Umino Hiroshi, who stows away on a space freighter bound to another planet. The trip is temporarily halted by a few pirate ships from the Space Planetoid Alfres, but fortunately their actions are thwarted by a mysterious, cloaked spaceship which comes to its aide. Captain El Domain, leader of the Alfres Pirate Squadron and his flunky are reprimanded by the Queen to find whomever overthrew their attack upon the space freighter. Hiroshi arrives in one piece on the Planet Daibaran and starts his new life working in the local bar as a waiter.
El Domain and his cohort follow the freighter back to Daibaran and encounter not only Hiroshi, but Emeraldas as well. There is a confrontation and a small flashback to Emeraldas's past with her lover Tochiro and Captain Harlock, the strong, yet quiet, captain of the Arcadia. This volume, however, does not contain a lot of action or story and serves mainly to introduce the characters.
Umino Hiroshi, voiced by Hayashibara Megumi, is a spunky, rebellious young boy whose life has been one of put-downs and battles to become a man. Hiroshi finds he must travel away and experience all life has to offer outside of his home. Hayashibara Megumi gives a great performance as Hiroshi, and her vocal range is showcased in this episode.
Tani Ikuko, the original Emeraldas, returns to the role, which is sure to be a plus for fans of CAPTAIN HARLOCK. She does a wonderful job of reprising her role as the female counterpart to Captain Harlock. Ms. Tani helps bring Emeraldas's personality to life: she is a fair, serious, and strong woman who knows how to take care of herself and help others in need.
The music is wonderfully done in the classic style as in the CAPTAIN HARLOCK and GALAXY EXPRESS 999 films which are sure to elicit nostalgic responses in viewers, making fans remember with fondness old 1970's anime shows. The opening song, EMERALDAS, is similar to the song from the James Bond film GOLDFINGER. The beautifully animation definitely uses Matsumoto's designs, but updated for the 90's. The ending song, SILENT SONG, is a dramatic ballad with full symphonic accompaniment.
The new animation mixed beautifully with the 3D computer graphics work well for this modern treatment of an old favorite. This reviewer found it hard to tell which parts of this OVA episode were not created on the computer. The animation and art is very clean and clear, and the background art adds depth to the atmosphere of the show.
I am not normally a Matsumoto Leiji fan, but after watching this one volume, I want to see more. The QUEEN EMERALDAS OVA series has the potential to just get better and better. The next volume entitled ETERNAL EMBLEM will be released with an LD Box to place the rest of the OVA series in. ETERNAL EMBLEM will be out on 10/7/98 and should be well worth the ¥:5,800.
Matsumoto fans will enjoy watching this series, but it will also definitely appeal to new fans as well. As a parting thought, Emeraldas's entrance is just to die for, but I won't do it the injustice of describing it here. You should see it for yourself.