Albator graffiti mural

Here is a mural made with friends, with our pirate crew in Montreal 

When we collaborate with friends, rather than making our own characters, we like to give ourselves a common theme, often using our childhood heroes as examples (these heroes were not human but manga characters).

The television and the broadcasting of the programs were at that time our window to the  world when we were children. Hence the importance of the selection of the producers who privilege the qualitative contents. Thanks to Jacqueline Joubert for producing these Récré A2 programs. 

The TV show Récré A2, then the Club Dorothée made us discover many mangas, and gave us the creative passion, we made our first weapons by redrawing our manga heroes. 
The success of manga in France are numerous (Dragon Ball, Juliette, je t'aime, The Knights of the Zodiac, Ranma ½, Georgie, Nicky Larson or Sailor Moon...

In this Mural we make a nod to Albator
Albator (わが青春のアルカディア 無限軌道SSX, Waga seishun no Arukadia - Mugen kidō SSX?) is a Japanese anime series created by the great Leiji Matsumoto, in the manga Dai-kaizoku Harlock

In French-speaking countries, he is best known as the hero of the series Albator, le corsaire de l'espace (Albator 78) and Albator 84, broadcast in the 1980s, hence the title Albator 84. 
In Quebec, broadcast in spring 1983 under the generic title Albator. 

Intrinsically, it is clear that we have been influenced by this Japanese 2D treatment using flat colors and significant outlines in the Japanese style, there is no doubt about it. 

Albator, my first love 

As a little anecdote, as a little girl, I was in love with this space pirate without knowing why, later as an adult, I realize that I was in fact espousing his values.

The logo of our clothing brand Bandit1SM is a pirate, it is certainly a subconscious wink. 

We graffiti artists are the last pirates of art. ( Read the synopsis and you will find the commonalities in our struggle. ) 

Synopsis: 

In the year 2977, while Earth is once again living in peace, a new menace looms. However, the Earthlings are living in opulence. They have sent robots to exploit the resources of other planets. Through the globo-visual stultifiers, the overlords block the thoughts of an enslaved people. Deprived of reflexive power, they think they are happy. 
( This manga is a work of pure fiction of course. Therefore any resemblance with real situations of mass dumbing down by social media could only be fortuitous. )
When a mysterious black sphere, covered with unknown glyphs, crashes on Earth, the earthlings do not take the situation seriously. While the world government proves incapable of reacting, an extraterrestrial threat soon materializes via the Sylvidres, lanky warrior women with a greenish complexion. Their actions are then attributed to Albator and his pirates; however, only he takes the threat seriously and commits himself to fight them.

The character: Albator is a determined, ruthless and seemingly merciless man, but his life is dictated by a code of honor, and he often shows compassion.
He is in fact an intelligent, idealistic, cultured and courageous being. His logic, bravery and practicality make him a captain respected by his crewmen and crewwomen and feared by his enemies. A modern knight fighting to uphold his convictions and save lost causes. This determination leads him to oppose the government.

The philosophy:
From the very first episodes, his philosophy is exposed: Albator fights against the rapid rise of capitalism and corruption. He can't stand the pollution on planet Earth anymore but also the inefficiency of the government men who only think of having a good time playing golf. The only solution that Albator found to fight against the debility of the human being is to escape in space and to fight and engage against the earth system.

Inside his ship, discipline is natural, not imposed by constraint and command.
All the crew members have voluntarily embarked to join the privateer or have been taken in by him. The real goal of Albator and all the crew of the Arcadia is to give back the real freedom to the earthlings and to restore a humanity of high moral and ecological value. Besides, to be part of his crew, you have to swear in the name of Freedom.

So yes, there is no doubt that identification with this hero and his values is and will always remain deep inside us.

Anticipation? 
All the subjects that are close to our hearts are present in this work of anticipation. With hindsight, I understand better why we were amazed by this manga:
- for its aesthetics 
- for the fights and values that the hero Albator conveyed. 
- the inclusiveness of the cast of characters. The androgynous style, the natural representation of women as strong and emblematic characters.

Here is the complete production of the mural.  

                                                                  Wuna 

Hest 

Esprit 

Scien ( 123KLAN)

Mrs Klor ( 123KLAN)

Aiik ( 123KLAN)

------

Version française: 

Voici une murale réalisée entre amis, avec notre équipage à Montreal.


Lorsque que nous collaborons entre amis, plutôt que de peindre nos personnages, nous aimons nous donner un thème commun, il fait souvent appel par exemple  à nos héros de l'enfance, ( Ces derniers n'étaient pas des héros humains mais des personnages de mangas. )

La télévision et la diffusion des  programmes étaient notre fenêtre vers l'extérieur lorsque nous étions enfants.

D'où l'importance de la sélection des producteurs qui privilégiaient le contenu qualitatif. Merci à Jacqueline Joubert d'avoir produit les émissions de Récré A2. 

Lorsqu'une mystérieuse sphère noire, recouverte de glyphes inconnus, s'écrase sur Terre, les terriens ne prennent pas la situation au sérieux. Alors que le gouvernement mondial se montre incapable de réagir, une menace extraterrestre se concrétise bientôt via les Sylvidres, femmes guerrières longilignes au teint verdâtre. Leurs exactions sont alors attribuées à Albator et à ses pirates ; pourtant, lui seul prend la menace au sérieux et s'engage à les combattre.

Le personnage: