Customer Reviews

Queen Emeraldas [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Queen Emereldas" is fun. The OVA is peppered with flaws, preventing it from being more than fun, but it is still a good DVD and a nice addition to the Matsumoto stable.

As with most Matsumoto, "Queen Emereldas" is heavy on melodrama. "I am.....Emereldas (accompanied by a fierce wind that blows cape in a dramatic fashion.)" His work is pretty firmly Science Fantasy rather than Science Fiction. Spaceships are re-conditioned pirate ships with flags blowing in a non-existant wind as they sail the silent seas. Weapons are based on archaic swords and heavy dragoons. "Queen Emereldas" has all of these Matsumoto touches in spades. Honor and strength matter more than plot, and every scrappy kid has the right to be a man. The orchestral music is sweeping drama.

On the flaw side, as with "Harlock Saga," "Queen Emereldas" has a hard time with computer animation and cel animation. The two styles mix together jaringly. For some bizarre reason, the DVD switches to French about 2/3 of the way through. With a remote control it is easy enough to switch it back, but it is strange that this error got through on a professional DVD.

Storywise, "Queen Emereldas" assumes you are up on your Matsumoto. There are no introductions made for characters like Tochiro or the mechanoids. Backstory is never filled in. Someone not familiar with Matsumoto's previous work would be very confused and disappointed by "Queen Emereldas."

Still, with so little of Matsumoto's work available on DVD, each crumb dropped from the table feels like a feast. It's a fun series and I enjoy it in spite of it's flaws.

Queen Emeraldas is an excellent OVA for those who already are familiar with Matsumoto's works. However, if you aren't familiar with the 'Lejiverse' then you probably won't like it very much.

There are 2 things that are keeping me from rating this thing 5 stars. The first is the fact that the DVD encoding is horribly messed up! In episode 2, if you have the Japanese audio track on, it switches to French! The only way to correct this is to switch the audio over to French where it becomes Japanese. Then, halfway through episode 2, the French channel becomes French and you then have to switch the audio back over to Japanese. As you can see, it's sort of confusing, and annoying. I just pray that you all have DVD remote controls with Audio buttons on them, so you won't have to go to the menu every time.

The second is the actual OVA itself. I believe in giving an unbiased review, and to me, unbiased in this case means a review of someone who is not a Matsumoto fan. If I had no knowledge of the Matsumoto universe, I would wish I hadn't bought the DVD. I guess the OVA is sort of like a gift to the long-time Matsumoto fans. Also...with the exception of the very first CG shot, I can't stand the computer graphics.

DVD & anime is a match made in heaven and QE OVA is a perfect example why. Scene access, dub or sub, all at your fingertips. I've loved Emeraldus for years and this video shows her off as she was meant to be (woe to the unwary [and unworthy] who fly the crimson skull and crossbones). If you don't know the Leijiverse, I don't know if you'll be as enthusiastic as I am, but if you know the characters at all, you'll fall in love all over again (how can you not love a woman who wields one of the 4 existing Cosmo Dragoons?). I can't wait for the next four eps.

I'm somewhat new to anime, but I can tell you this, Queen Emeraldas is fantastic. My only complaint is that I was left wanting more, a LOT more, as in several more episodes of this story. Anyone who enjoys the works of Leiji Matsumoto will like this one. This is a must see for any fan of Galaxy Express 999 or Captain Harlock. The DVD version is great because you can play it either English dubbed or Japanese with English subs. This movie tells you a bit about Emeraldas' past in a way similar to what "Vengeance of the Space Pirate" does Captain Harlock's past. You will see appearances of several characters from other Leiji Matsumoto anime movies as well.

I bought the VHS English dubbed version and had no problems. Understood every bit of it and learned lots more about Emeraldas and Her Love Harisho. Great movie for Harlock fans and a must see. Do not just take my advice get and see it for yourself and you be the judge. A definate must see!

Don't get me wrong, I love the work of Matsumoto-sama, I have ever since I caught the original Captain Harlock television series while living in France in 1980 and 1981. I also own every bit of his work on video and DVD where available, from the Galaxy Express 999 films to all five of the Battleship Yamato films. I love this OVA, but I admit that it is one that only a Matsumoto-sama fanatic could. If you are not smitten by the Harlock Universe stay away from this DVD, because it will make no sense to you and you will not be able to overlook the technical glitches and poor computer animation.

This DVD would've gotten 5 stars if not for the following flaws, the english voice acting is AWFUL (a trademark of ADV). Secondly the audio language gets screwed up in the 2nd episode (it goes from Japanese to French). If you're a fan of the Harlock series, BUY IT! But please to really get the most out of it, play it in Japanese with english subtitles. I couldn't watch for 5 minutes in english audio without feeling sick...

This is a two part OAV (Original Animated Video) production which spotlights Emeraldas, a lone female pirate captain who once rode with the legendary Captain Harlock and has shared adventures with other characters from the universe of Japanese manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, most notably Tetsuro and Maetel from "Galaxy Express 999".

Matsumoto Leije is a man with a lot of baggage. His works tend to follow very familiar themes, use similar characters, and follow common plot lines. Queen Emeraldas, despite its up-to-date animation, is no exception. This is merely yet another recycled plot, which even has the audacity to steal scenes from other well-known films.

matsumoto's universe is vast in one sense that there are many players, but it's also very small -- the major players are clones of each other. Emeraldas is the tall, stark, lone privateer, forever voyaging the Sea of Stars, haunted by the memory of her lost love, Tochiro. Umino Hiroshi (even the character names are getting all to familiar), played by Hayashibara Megumi is the young boy, destined to become great man and builder; a mirror of Emeraldas' lost lover. And you have the leader of the Afressian forces, a person of opposing political views, but of the same spirit as our lead heroine.

This series does bring one new item to the table -- the anime character designs faithfully capture the gnarled look of the minor players, most notably of Le Law, the grizzled old stowaway, and the crew members of the ill-fated freighter.

Even more impressive is the score -- a fully orchestrated piece, which exudes a grandness of scale perhaps better suited for a full-length motion picture. The opening theme's haunting vocals is a more modern version of what we've heard before in the Harlock series, and like its predecessors, it will stick in your memory.

But perhaps even more disturbing than the recycling of old ideas is the outright borrowing of scenes from other films, most notably the showdown between Emeraldas and Eldomain, a scene unabashedly lifted from Batman: The Movie, where Batman, on board his Batwing, faces off against the Joker. This is one series that needs more than a cosmetic upgrade to make it of any worth.

What is there to say about an anime consisting of two episodes running 30 minutes each? When you have a horrible plot, boring action scenes, and unbelievably terrible voice acting there isn't much. Queen Emeraldas herself will make little to no sense to those who know nothing (as I don't) about the Harlock Saga, however that itself doesn't excuse this movie from its horrible storyline. On one hand we have a random villain who happens to be scouring the cosmos looking for a fight and on the other hand we have a sullen heroine that just happens to come by and save the day more than once. I have absolutely no idea how people could think of this as a heart-warming movie or even an interesting one at that due to its dry plot. The music is hardly memorable, there are no captivating scenes, and the computer animation does little to deepen the movie. In fact, before I had read about the computer generated effects, I had no idea that Queen Emeraldas's ship wasn't drawn by hand. You know you have a real gem on your hands when you're falling asleep in the middle of the day to a movie. If you want a movie with space pirate adventures check out Sol Bianca. This movie hardly fits the requirement of what decent anime should be.