After Action Report: Arcadia of My Youth (January 2, 2026)

[Bandit LOAF]

We had some anime superfans in the audience for Arcadia of My Youth but we also had a lot of people who had never seen any anime at all ever. The former knew what to expect and I think everyone else was surprised. From the opening Goethe quote it was was clear this was going to be a serious space opera and not frivolous sex and violence. Just what Wing Commander fans want!

Here's Captain Harlock's distinctive skull logo as seen very, very briefly on Wing Commander Academy!





And here's a great example of how Tim Eldred's Wing Commander Academy storyboards were often inspired by shots from classic anime:

Sully is a young cat so his life is still pretty much Arcadia 24/7.
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Original update published on January 2, 2026

 

[Bob McDob]

There are quite a few connections between Harlock and Wing Commander. Both the first game and Wing Commander III received full Japanese dubs. Two of the actors appeared in this movie!

The first is Takeshi Aono who voiced Shotglass in the Sega MegaCD port of Wing Commander. He plays the enemy commander's lieutenant Murrigson.

The second is Taro Ishida who plays the enemy commander himself. He had a long career dubbing foreign media including as the voice of John Rhys-Davies.

There is another indirect link involving Wing Commander III. In 2003 Koichi Yamadera, who voiced Blair, appeared as Harlock in a new series alongside Tolwyn actor Katsunosuke Hori and Angel actor Minami Takayama. This series is especially interesting because it was done by Madhouse, who animated Wing Commander Academy seven years before.