Anime Profile: Queen Millennia

Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years hardly does justice to this work, a rather unique title set 1,000 years before the tales of Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999.

There is a planet that drifts through space, a planet known as Lar Metal, home to an advanced civilization. Every 1,000 years, Lar Metal passes close to Earth, bringing chaos and disaster to Earth. During this time, one of Lar Metal comes to Earth see her homeworld through this passing and to await the time when it will come again. She is the Millennial Queen.

The time for Lar Metal's next passing draws near, and the signs are not good. Lar Metal is to pass closest to Earth on September 9, 1999, at 9:09:09 (a reference to GE999) and bring about near-apocalyptic destruction. Time is running out as Professor Amamori struggles to see what can be done to save humanity. Meanwhile, his assistant, Yayoi, begins a course of her own, one which only she knows. Together with Professor Aramari's nephew, Hajime, she also hopes to save Earth...for though she is the Millennial Queen, she is no longer able to stand idly by and watch her homeworld bring unnecessary destruction.

The queen is also the mother of Maetel and Emeraldes. She gets her her body mechnized by the crazed cyborg scientist Hardgear, which turns her into the robot you see in Galaxy Express 999. Her full name is Queen La Andromeda Prometheum.

Queen Millennia can be noted for three things. First, Yayoi has an appearance of both fragility and strength that makes her a memorable character. Second, the background soundtrack is very haunting, an interesting feast for the ears. Third, many of the characters in Queen Millennia bear resemblance to characters in Galaxy Express 999 (and the connections shown in Adieu Galaxy Express 999 make it even more prominent), so do not be surprised to think that those characters are also in Queen Millennia. It merely appears that way.