In the future, mankind has discovered a way to travel faster than light and has built colonies on thousands of planets. But even the resources of the universe are starting to dwindle, so five hundred billion humans begin the long journey back home. The desire to repopulate Earth starts the so-called Coming Home War, until the universal government of the Gaia Coalition declares Earth a sacred, and thus inaccessible, place. In this dying universe, the space pirate Captain Harlock travels with his immensely powerful flagship, the Arcadia, to fulfill a mysterious purpose. The young Yama, brother of the Fleet Commander Ezra, is chosen to infiltrate the Arcadia's crew and discover the objective of the pirate captain.