Waga Seishun no Arcadia: Mugen Kidou SSX

Captain Harlock Arcadia of My Youth: SSX Endless Orbit
This review covers my thoughts of my rewatch of a dramatic legendary sci-fi space opera. Interwoven stories of loss, hope, and rebellion set the stage for the Captain Harlock crew. There are battles waged in the name of masculine honor, love, and above all freedom from opression in their search for Arcadia, a planet without war, and also the namesake for their space battleship.

I think this is a good ease into the Harlock franchise due to its much lighter tone and less grounded science-fiction themes. Alternatively, the very same elements hit fast and heavy in the darker ... OG Space Pirate Captain Harlock which is what you would watch after this series if you're following event timeline watch order.

SSX ENDLESS ORBIT revels in character backstories and the fight for a better tomorrow with their rag tag crew shaped by fate to battle against the evil Illumidas and Mr. Zone. The villains in SSX imo are a stepdown; as the main antagonist, Mr. Zone doesn't command the same ominous presence of Queen Rafflesia from the 1978 show but that doesn't make the show any less entertaining.

If you enjoy Gurren Lagann's super manly honor themes, humor, and its crew fight against its oppressors to reach for the sky; the Captain Harlock franchise will be in your wheelhouse. GL pretty much emulates all of the elements of Harlock but with newer animation and less people dying lol


Other reccomendations if you liked SSX ENDLESS ORBIT:
• Captain Harlock 1978
• Queen Emeraldas
• Martain Successor Nadesico
• Gurren Lagann
• Cowboy Bebop
• Macross: Do You Remember Love?
• Prime Rose

Harlock is a bit confusing franchise in a way that almost nothing is a direct prequel or sequel – it’s either reimagination or a spin-off, as Leiji continues to reinvent the characters, never truly satisfied. SSX is no exception, being an alternative story to the original series, so I wouldn’t recommend to start your Harlock journey here. At minimum watch the original series and the prequel Arcadia movie first.

Overall, SSX is pretty much a typical space opera anime. This isn’t meant in a negative way though, as an average space opera anime tend to be quite enjoyable. You get the usual mostly episodic adventure with ... some overarching plot and story driven by character dramas and manly ideals such as friendship, freedom, honor and fight against oppression. The drama can be touching even when concerning only characters introduced in given episodes and never seen again further. Admittedly the ideas are nothing never seen before, but the execution of 80’s aesthetics still make it work.

There is some action here too, both closer combat and space battles. Unfortunately it’s more about being cool rather than in-depth portrayal of warfare, but well, this series is more about the adventurous side of things rather than the logistics, so it’s not really a fault.

I’m sure fans of the currently somewhat niche genre of space operas will enjoy this series, and everyone else will likely find this to be at least an okay series.