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Although surprised to find this series on MAL I'm really glad it's here as getting more people into this criminally under appreciated show is always a good thing.

This series is an adaptation of an Argentinian graphic novel, that a Canadian company picked up the rights to, and contracted a Japanese studio to animate. The original graphic novel is much more adult orientated and while this adaptation isn't exactly for kids it's certainly been toned down a bit. Fortunately enough this doesn't hamper the story.

This is one of those shows that's best to go into with little to no idea what it's about, so I'm not ... going to talk extensively about the characters or story but give a few reasons why you should check it out. First of all, it has one of the most realistic female leads I've ever encountered. While this isn't so much of an issue in anime as it is in western animation, authentic female protagonists are still rather rare outside of the romance genre. In an action or superhero series authentic female characters are almost unheard of and yet that's exactly what Cybersix delivers. A female protagonist that's distinctly female, simultaneously realistic and flawed, Cybersix deals with a variety of issues through a chiefly female perspective.

Beyond the expertly crafted lead, Cybersix hosts a number of other strikingly realistic characters and a well executed story about love and loss set to the backdrop of a sleepy south american city. Stylistically and thematically Cybersix is an incredibly unique mix, there really hasn't been anything like it since, especially as far as international collaborations go.

With all that said, if you're looking for a well done and unique series with engaging and realistic characters then I can't recommend Cybersix enough.

I’m going to start off this review with a disclaimer: If you’re thinking about using this OVA as a starting point for getting into Captain Harlock, turn away right now. With that said, for anyone who’s already a fan you’ll probably enjoy this OVA just because it’s loosely Harlock related and that you’ve probably come to expect very little from anything beyond the original series anyway.

First off, the few good things the series has:

1. The story. Despite the shortcomings of basically everything else, the story itself is actually quite good. The series has great pacing, fun characters, and an interesting overarching plot.

2. The action ... sequences. Although a little uninspired the fighting throughout is some of the best in Harlock. There are cosmo guns, gravity sabres, cloaking fields, energy shields, lasers, missiles, space battles, and a giant robot horse.

Now, onto the bad:

1. It’s not actually about Emeraldas. Despite what the title may have lead you to believe the series is actually about a young boy named Hiroshi who dreams of building his own spaceship. Emeraldas acts as his watchful guardian and that’s about it. If you were thinking you’d get to finally see a series with some focus on Harlock’s most alluring and mysterious ally you were wrong.

2. Being an OVA you might assume its self-contained, well it’s not. The series doesn’t end on a cliff hanger or anything but it’s pretty obvious the plot was intended to continue on.

3. The animation sucks (kind of). The first two episodes are pretty solid but the studio was switched halfway through and the latter 2 episodes are visibly worse. Especially the characteristic Leiji Matsumoto eyes which the second studio never seemed to get right. The series also has a penchant for 90’s 3D animation which I assume was all the rage at the time but now looks hilariously bad.

4. The dialogue is terrible. By the end of this 4 episode OVA I estimate you will have heard Emeraldas say “I am Emeraldas” about 14 times. I don’t know what happened but the show really fell flat in this regard.

Ultimately this is a series that you should only watch when you’ve exhausted all other Harlock options. In that regard it’s enjoyable enough, I certainly didn’t hate it but it leaves a lot to be desired. The real tragedy however is simply pondering what could have been. Emeraldas was a fairly underdeveloped character before this OVA and she continues to be afterward but it’s obvious they were setting up for something big. I’ll let you see how it plays out but there’s a lot of foreshadowing and then it seems to end before it even really gets started.