Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978/79) Original animation cel and drawing, with painted background Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Japanese: 宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック, Hepburn: Uchū Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku, also romanized as Space Pirate Captain Herlock) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's Play Comic from January 1977 to June 1979, with the chapters collected into five tankōbon volumes. The series follows the titular Captain, an outcast who has turned into a space pirate to rebel against Earth's government and humanity's general apathy. Space Pirate Captain Harlock was adapted into an anime television series in 1978 directed by Rintaro and produced by Toei Animation. An animated film adaptation of the same name was released in 2013. Original hand drawn by the animators for the production of one episode of this famous serie. See images, very good.