This is a relatively short story when compared to long running Shonen works, the Seven Seas English adaptation is published in 3 large volumes, despite this, the characters are very well fleshed out with even the most minor characters showing their ideals and personality in their breve appearances. With the more permanent characters, you get small glimpses of their personality, backstory and what led them to the Arcadia as the story progresses. In the Arcadia every crew member is, quite literally, free to do whatever they want which makes their personality shine immediately, whether Stoic or care-free. Overall, the story is well paced
The manga exposes very clearly certain ideals that can throw off readers that have a modern or progressive mindset, things such as what a Man should or should not do, Warrior’s Pride and beauty standards are things that some readers can consider outdated ideals or patriarchal. Nevertheless there are moments where these masculine ideals are criticised, particularly when a female pilot lets herself purposely vulnerable for a male pilot to save her, with her and another female crew member commentating “A man’s pride is easily wounded”. There are some purposely loose ends in the story which you will only find out if you read or watch other of Leiji's works. If you are into the Leijiverse you are already used to this but for outsiders it could a big turnoff.
In the Character Design department you have the classic Leiji style which generally falls into three styles: Men with aerodynamic hair, slender women with long hair, and potato-looking people. A recurring problem with Leiji’s design is that characters look too much alike, this could cause some confusion as to who is who, when I watched Galaxy Express 999 it got to the point where I thought certain characters came back, thankfully the overall number of characters in this Manga is relatively small so you won’t have such an issue.
I would like to take some time to talk about the differences between the Manga and the animated version, I watched the animated version long before reading the manga and there are deviations on the characters but not so much on the plot itself. The biggest differences are in the ending and in two major characters which don’t exist in the Manga, these are the Earth’s Army General and the daughter of Tetsuo, Harlock’s best friend. These characters have such a focus on the Anime that I would swear they were in the Manga, but alas they are not. Tetsuo’s daughter in particular gives meaning to Harlock’s struggle to protect the Earth as that is where the girl resides but since in the Manga the character does not exist, it makes you wonder why Harlock protects the Earth in first place. Surprisingly, are also more loose ends on the Manga version.
Overall, the Manga is definitely interesting even if just for historical value, but your enjoyment might differ on wether you find the moral aspects of it outdated, if you are not into other Leiji stories or not willing to explore deeper into the Leijiverse.
