Arcadia Of My Youth

"My name is Phantom F. Harlock. At that time I was flying amidst rolling thunder from Port Moresby, traversing New Guinea, heading for Rabaul, on New Britain Island. As an aerial explorer, conquering the sky throughout the world was the dream upon which I staked my life. It was the Owen Stanley Mountains that stood in my way. Its highest peak, 5030 meters, the mountain that has come to be feared by men as the Stanley Witch...

My name is Phantom F. Harlock, and this plane is flesh of my blood, sharing my blood...the friend that shares my fate, Arcadia of my youth. When this plane, with whom I shared my youth, with whom I rode the skies, has ceased to fly, my life will also end.

The fuselage was heavy that day, with a full load of fuel. Unable to gain altitude, Arcadia's engine gasped terribly. The sound of the cylinders, seemingly out of breath, resembled the irregular beat of my aged heart. Arcadia and I flew the best we could, seeking a ravine we could slip through. But the Owen Stanley Mountains looked down on Arcadia and I, coldly, without stirring in the slightest.

Arcadia and I were beaten in battle in the sky but once in our lives. I had turned back, swallowing my regret, when I chanced to look back. The mountain...the mountain was laughing. Believing that with Arcadia I was in a world where there was no such word as defeat, I kept flying. I kept ten minutes' worth of gasoline, and jettisoned the rest in to the air. The fuselage thus lightened, I staked everything on those ten minutes.

My name is Phantom F. Harlock. My plane, with whom I shared joys and sorrows, is Arcadia of my youth. I kept flying, believing in myself. I have no regrets about my life. Dreams do not vanish, so long as people do not abandon them."

Phantom F. Harlock, Arcadia Of My Youth (1982)