Line #26 Manga/QueenEmeraldas


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emeraldas.png]]
2	%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
3	->''I am Emeraldas. The vast Sea of Stars is my home. Some call me "the woman who does not cry" -- let them call me what they will, for theirs are merely the foolish words of those who have little understanding of the reason for my journey. Yes, I am Emeraldas. The woman who entrusts her very existence to the endless Sea of Stars through which she journeys.''
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5	''Queen Emeraldas'' (1998-99) is somewhat of an oddball of the Anime/{{Leijiverse}} -- an {{OVA}} that, for the first time, placed the [[LadyOfWar beautiful and deadly]] SpacePirate Emeraldas under the spotlight, after she had previously appeared as a side character in both ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999'' and the assorted ''Manga/CaptainHarlock'' media. It is a partial adaptation of Creator/LeijiMatsumoto's manga of the same title from 1978-79, but ties in with the 1998 ''Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy'' movie -- in fact, these two were the first new entries in TheVerse to be animated since the original Matsumoto boom folded in Japan around 1982. The OVA was also the first installment of TheVerse to establish Emeraldas as the twin sister of ''[=GE999=]'''s Maetel.
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7	Only the first two episodes out of four have ever been [[NoExportForYou licensed outside of Japan]]. Their plot concerns Emeraldas' struggle against the Alfressians -- a race of would-be [[TheEmpire galactic conquerors]] -- and the misadventures of Hiroshi Umino, a young runaway from Earth who looks up to her for all the wrong reasons. The last two episodes, produced by a different studio, see Emeraldas and Hiroshi team up again to destroy a cyborg mass murderer and an old foe of Emeraldas come BackFromTheDead, respectively. Emeraldas suspects a [[GreaterScopeVillain single guiding hand]] behind all of these incidents, but this [[AbortedArc never gets to be explored]] in the series proper.
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9	----
10	!!''Queen Emeraldas'' provides examples of:
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12	* AdaptationDyeJob: Emeraldas has lush red hair in most ''Harlock'' media, but is blonde here, presumably to make her being Maetel's twin more plausible.
13	* BadassCape: Emeraldas sports one, which billows dramatically whenever the situation demands.
14	* BadassCreed: Any one of Emeraldas' introductions of herself (the ones that start with "I am Emeraldas").
15	* BlemishedBeauty: Emeraldas sports both the iconic [[AuthorAppeal willowy]] "[[Creator/LeijiMatsumoto Matsumoto]] Woman" looks and a rugged DuelingScar across her face. The rest of her body is also covered in old battle scars.
16	* BloodierAndGorier: Episode 3 really ups the ante on gore from the previous ones (which may be why it had never been licensed).
17	* TheCameo:
18	** Manga/CaptainHarlock appears twice throughout the series, both times in Emeraldas' flashbacks (of her first meeting with Tochiro and of her duel with Siren, where [[spoiler:''Arcadia'' evacuates an injured Tochiro]]).
19	** The Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato appears in the flashback of Tochiro's drydock, alongside Harlock's original ''Deathshadow'' and ''Queen Emeraldas'' undergoing repairs.
20	** Images of Maetel and Tetsuro appear very briefly when Emeraldas gives Tochiro's gun to Hoshiro, recounting that her sister and her companion carry the same guns.
21	* TheCaptain: The nameless captain of the barge Hiroshi stowed away on fits down to a T. Emeraldas herself would fit, except she manages her entire vast ship alone, so she is both the captain and the crew.
22	* CentralTheme: You cannot do everything alone. Hiroshi (initially) rejects this notion, but Emeraldas, despite only ever traveling alone, knows very well when to rely on others.
23	* CombatPragmatist: During their first duel, Siren ordered Emeraldas to lay down her sword, then proceeded to attack her, anyway. Emeraldas promptly shot her with her sidearm (but not before suffering a couple of nasty wounds). In their rematch, [[spoiler:she wears headphones to counter Siren's main weapon -- her song]].
24	* CounterpartCombatCoordination: Emeraldas gets to defeat Queen Baralooda in a duel, but Hoshiro kills Baralooda's chief (male) minion before Emeraldas can do so. This is repeated in episode 3, where Emeraldas only [[LiteralDisarming disarms]] (male) Vaidas, letting Hoshiro deliver the killing blow, but semi-subverted in episode 4, where [[spoiler:she guides Hoshiro's hand aiming at (female) Siren but pulls the trigger together with him]].
25	* DeflectorShields: ''Queen Emeraldas'' is outfitted with shields powerful enough to withstand bombardment by an entire fleet. They can also apparently be used for StealthInSpace.
26	* DistaffCounterpart: Emeraldas started off as essentially a female counterpart to Manga/CaptainHarlock, seeing how their respective defining mangas (''Queen Emeraldas'' and ''Space Pirate Captain Harlock'', respectively) began publication just one year apart. In this series, however, she appears to have appropriated many traits from another Leijiverse mainstay, Maetel, whom she claims as her sister.
27	* DramaticWind: Emeraldas seems to be able to summon it at will, e.g. to dramatically reveal her own identity.
28	* TheDreaded: A mere sight of Emeraldas is enough to send regular mooks running for the hills, and a few threats from her is all it takes to send their commanders packing, as well.
29	* DuelingScar: Emeraldas' iconic face scar is retconned in this series to have been inflicted by Goddess Siren during their first duel (in ''Arcadia of My Youth'', Emeraldas was instead shot in the face).
30	* EmpathicWeapon: The Cosmo Dragoon guns are said to reflect their wielders' emotional states, e.g. only firing when the wielder ''really'' wants their target dead.
31	* EyepatchOfPower: Harlock wears one over his right eye in his brief cameos.
32	* FreezeFrameBonus: During Emeraldas' gratuitous bath scene, you can briefly see an old scar on her back, half-covered by her long hair. Later on, it is revealed to be another reminder of her fight with Siren, just like the scar on her face.
33	* GreaterScopeVillain: The Metanoids (a race of machine people from the ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999: Eternal Fantasy'' movie) never appear as an immediate enemy in this series, but are said to have been behind Baralooda's conquests, Vaidas' rampages, and Siren's resurrection.
34	* GunsAkimbo: Vaidas wields two blaster pistols at once, presumably justified by his mechanical enhancements.
35	* HellishHorse: The nameless superweapon in episode 3 appears as a giant six-legged, two-horned, red-eyed horse made out of black metal, although this is eventually revealed to be just an exterior for its (even more disturbing) true form.
36	* ImpressedByTheCivilian: El Domain and his First Officer are menacing a bar, asking for the identity of the ship that attacked his fleet. Hiroshi Umino, working at the bar, throws off his apron and tells them not to threaten his customers. They nearly shoot him, until a cloaked woman at the counter says that if an opponent is unarmed, they should fight unarmed. The First Officer obliges, beating Hiroshi, but [[{{Determinator}} Hiroshi refuses to stay down]] and starts getting in some good hits of his own. At this point, the First Officer draws his gun again, only to find the cloaked woman shooting his blaster out of his hand with a gravity saber, revealing herself to be Emeraldas, and saying that Hiroshi, though a boy, was more a man than El Domain and his minions.
37	* InformedLoner: To anyone unfamiliar with Emeraldas and how she does things, she can easily appear to be the [[IWorkAlone ultimate loner]], having even modified her ship to fly without a crew. However, the truth is that while she doesn't seek social contact, she has a network of trusted allies and friends upon whom she relies in a pinch. She is also an ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter and is able to find trustworthy and capable allies in any situation.
38	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Emeraldas is often very cold and aloof, but is also shown to have a kind heart deep down.
39	* JollyRoger: When Arfressian captain El Domain starts sporting the same skull and crossbones motif on his flagship, Emeraldas takes exception and tells him to remove the symbol, which only she and Harlock have the right to bear, or else! El Domain doesn't heed her warning. Emeraldas makes good on her threat, wiping out the Arfressian fleet after they try to kill her for El Domain's wounded pride.
40	* KeepingTheHandicap[=/=]ScarsAreForever: With the fancy tech readily available to her, Emeraldas could have removed her scar at any time. She doesn't, because it is a memento of her unfinished duel with Siren.
41	* LadyOfWar: Emeraldas is eye-meltingly beautiful and elegant, but also incredibly dangerous in a fight. Between kicking copious amounts of ass, she relaxes on her throne with a glass of red wine in hand.
42	* LadyVessel: The title starship is named after her own captain. It is also completely crewless, except for said captain, and is run entirely by a [[SpaceshipGirl sophisticated AI]]... whose voice and personality are ''also'' copied from Emeraldas', making her and her ship functionally the same being in two very differently sized bodies.
43	* LiteralDisarming: Episode 3 ends with the title heroine lopping off the cyborg mass murderer Vaidas' hands, before Hiroshi finishes him off with a headshot.
44	* MacrossMissileMassacre: ''Queen Emeraldas'' has enough guns to destroy most of an entire fleet in a single volley (if they're stupid enough to surround her).
45	* MeaningfulName: Hiroshi Umino's name is an almost-anagram of "the Sea of Stars" in Japanese ("''hoshi no umi''").
46	* TheMourningAfter: Emeraldas is shown still mourning for her lost love Tochiro, keeping a shrine with his broken glasses and his laser pistol on her ship.
47	* MysteriousProtector: Emeraldas has taken a liking to Hiroshi (probably because of his similarities to the late Tochiro), always rushing to his rescue when he gets in trouble and, if need be, teaching him hard life lessons. Being Emeraldas, however, her motives remain forever incomprehensible to him.
48	* NoKillLikeOverkill: Attacked by hundreds of ships, Emeraldas doesn't react at first, due to the enemy holding hostages. The very moment the hostages escape, she opens fire... and annihilates 70% of the enemy ships WITH THE FIRST SALVO! Yes, the ''Queen Emeraldas'' has that many guns. Incidentally, that's when the villain gets an OhCrap face. Oh, and one of the ''many'' guns of her ships is a WaveMotionGun, and she was about to use it on the main villain's ship before his boss beat her to the punch...
49	* NonchalantDodge: Vaidas dodges a tank shell by casually tilting his head.
50	* OurSirensAreDifferent: The aptly-named Goddess Siren is one of the primordial evils of the universe, luring men to the depths of despair just because she can. Emeraldas had defeated her once before, but she turns out to be NotQuiteDead in episode 4 and promptly enthralls Hiroshi.
51	* PassingTheTorch: An indirect example at the end of episode 2, when Emeraldas passes Tochiro's custom Cosmo Dragoon to Hoshiro, along with her wishes for him to live a worthy life. Only five such laser pistols have ever been built (by Tochiro himself), and other bearers include Emeraldas herself, Harlock, Emeraldas' sister Maetel, and Maetel's companion Tetsuro (in fact, both Vaidas and Siren recognize the gun instantly).
52	* PirateGirl: Emeraldas is one of the quintessential anime examples. That said, she is also one of ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything, never seen engaging in maritime/space crimes and, in fact, ready to fight ''actual'' pirates if they offend her sensibilities. To her (as to Harlock), being a pirate is more about being unbeholden to any authority but herself and fighting for what she believes in.
53	* PretenderDiss: Emeraldas doesn't mind other {{pirate}}s... but the only other ship allowed to fly the skull-and-bones banner, as far as she is concerned, is Harlock's ''Arcadia''. Queen Baralooda, meanwhile, takes offense at someone else proclaiming herself a "queen" in the same galaxy. Both are ready to employ [[SeriousBusiness lethal force against pretenders]], however.
54	* RoboticReveal: [[spoiler:Looda]] is revealed to be a Metanoid after she shields Hoshiro from a gunshot with her body.
55	* RoleCalled: Subverted in that Emeraldas is not actually queen of anything (although she ''is'' a royal princess assuming [[spoiler:that, like Maetel, she is a daughter of Queen Promethium]], which is the case in the later ''Maetel Legend'' OVA), and the title actually refers to her CoolStarship, which she happened to have named after herself.
56	* RoyalRapier: Emeraldas' gravity saber fits her regal image, while also invoking the {{swashbuckl\|er}}ing piracy adventure. The only other person cool enough to wield one of these is Harlock himself.
57	* ShowdownAtHighNoon: Emeraldas gets into one in the first episode. Against a freaking SpaceFighter. And ''wins''.
58	* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Vaidas claims this happened to him off-screen: yearning for recognition, he worked in dangerous environments, and the wear and tear eventually forced him to replace most of his body with machine parts... and at some point, he devoted his entire life to the pursuit of more sophisticated parts for himself, slaughtering everyone in his way, with the ultimate goal of revenge against those who denied him.
59	* SpaceshipGirl: Episode 3 reveals that ''Queen Emeraldas'' is actually a SapientShip, whose personality and voice appear to have been copied from Emeraldas herself, resulting in a rather messed-up identity bond between the ship and her captain.
60	* SpaceWestern: The frontier planets of Daibaran and Nazca invoke this, e.g. featuring blaster shootouts in Wild West-style saloons.
61	* SwordFight: After Emeraldas defeats the fleet Queen Baralooda sent after her, the two ladies decide to settle it in a CombatByChampion instead.
62	* TimeSkip: Implied. At the end of episode 2, Hiroshi just begins gathering materials for his ship, but at the beginning of episode 3, he is already taking her out for a test flight.
63	* UglyGuyHotWife: While they're [[StarcrossedLovers not actually married]], Tochiro Oyama -- the love of Emeraldas' life -- is as {{gonk}}y as they come, while she is drop-dead gorgeous.
64	* UnableToCry: Emeraldas admits to being known as "the woman who does not cry", feeling rather indifferent about it.
65	* WaveMotionGun: ''Queen Emeraldas'' is outfitted with a massive gun that shoots skull-shaped energy beams.
66	* WeaponsBreakingWeapons: When Gamor is headbutted by Hiroshi, he draws a laser pistol on the boy. Emeraldas, who had been quietly watching from the sidelines, draws her Gravity Saber and casually vaporizes Gamor's pistol, calling out, "Enough." Then, to add insult to injury, she nods to Hiroshi and says that he's more of a man than Gamor is.
67	* WineIsClassy: As per Leijiverse custom, Emeraldas enjoys her red wine.
68	* WorthyOpponent: Emeraldas seems to view the Alfressian Queen Baralooda as such, [[spoiler:sparing her life, despite the fact that she will probably come after her again. Compare that to her treatment of Siren, whom she terminates with extreme prejudice]].
69	* YouKilledMyFather: Rameil's father was murdered by Vaidas for refusing to cooperate. Vaidas then forced Rameil to work for him instead by threatening his sister. [[spoiler:Turns out, Rameil has been sabotaging the parts he built into Vaidas, so when Hoshiro teams up with him to destroy the cyborg, Vaidas' electronics are disabled at the crucial moment.]]

Context Manga / QueenEmeraldas