Space Pirate Captain Harlock

Not only was the animation cool (Blade Runner meets Hello Kitty), but it dealt with some pretty heavy issues -- falling in love with your enemy, killing your friends, betraying your morals, taking advantage of the weak, dealing with guilt, helping the needy, abandoning your daughter, having big hair, having a crew of men shaped like melons.

This show aired in Canada under the title 'Albator, le corsair de l'espace' and followed the adventures of a pirate space ship and it's young, angst-ridden captain, Albator (Captain Harlock).

This show was the reason I wanted to learn French. That and to stop looking like an idiot at school (east end Ottawa). The first word I picked up was 'au secours'('help') which is what Albator's hapless, spherical crewmen would constantly scream anytime their ship got into a battle. Also handy if you're being chased by a bunch of French bullies.

Albator's enemy was a race of gorgeous women with greenish skin. Albator had an affair with one of them, but then he had to kill her for some reason (I don't know why -- my French wasn't very good then). Usually, each episode included a lot of nudity and sex. Also, no one ever got shot and just cleanly fell down. People were blown to bits, blood splattered everywhere, heads left shoulders, crewmen suffocated in space, etc. You can imagine how popular this show was with eight-year-old boys.