Galaxy Express 999

It's classic sense of raw and quirky humor with ridiculous plot devices. An inventive plot line with imaginative takes on a possible method of interstellar travel. Anyone that knows what animation is supposed to do, knows that Galaxy Express 999 is one of the ULTIMATE animations that have ever been made of all time. This inspired me and continues to be my favorite. You won't believe how awesome it is!

Don't be shallow and you will see. This show is amazing. Can you believe they made more than 30 years ago???

Galaxy Express 999 (three 9) Review

KO

In a distopian future, most of mankind has obtained indestructible mechanical bodies, however they are crazy expensive, so a large chunk of humans are living in poverty, with a lack of food being made for flesh and blood humans. Tetsuro Hoshino lives as an orphan in the boondocks of earth, years after his mother was shot for sport by ‘Count Mech’ the hero of the mechanized people. Tetsuro wishes to aboard the Galaxy Express 999 (three 9) were it will stop at planet Andromeda where mechanical bodies are given away for free, so he can get a body where he will never grow hungry, age, and will be strong enough to kill the Count.. After failing to steal a pass for the space train, he meets a mysterious woman, Maetel, who offers him a free eternal pass aboard the train, on the condition that they travel together. Whether Maetel has airier motives or not becomes irrelevant as the two become friends and meet people on other planets, whose lives have been affected for better or worse because of mechanical bodies.

Leiji Matsumoto puts a lot of personal experience in his works, basing characters on himself and people close to him, he draws a lot of influence on his childhood for this work, growing up in poverty gives a very realistic take on the films subject matter. Showcasing unsettling images of skinny mothers breastfeeding their children while wearing rags, this is something Matsumoto saw a lot as a kid, it comes off feeling very real even though its animation. The original story was inspired by a classic Japanese fairy tale, Night on the Galactic railroad, (later became an anime film in 1984) a story of two friends traveling through space on an old fashion train. The romantic image of riding a old fashion train, while staring at the sea of stars out the window, is incredibly prominent in 999. Leiji Matsumoto gives a lot of his Samurai-Western-space opera elements in this work that you see in Yamato and Harlock, (he created the genre before Star Wars surprisingly) The shoot outs are exciting and beautify animated, the genre blending builds a great backdrop for the story and themes. Galaxy Express 999 is just as timeless as the fairy tale it was inspired by, the animation for being made in japan strait out of 79-80 looks amazing, some of these scenes are a part of Kanada’s best work. The designs are never dated by having weird kwazai future corded phones, or 70s fashion, it all fits in its own world. It’s also a showcase of just how talented old animators were, japan used to be well known for their mechanical animation, nowadays a lot of these scenes would all be CGI.

The film still has Rin Taro as the director, Leiji matsumoto as one of the writers, and Yoshiyuki Kanada as the key animator, but this time they are given much more time to work on the project, and a lot more freedom due to what you can show in a film vs. what you can show on TV. Rin Taro fans are pretty split about his body of work, but when he does a Matsumoto work or a Tezuka work, he adapts their style for film or TV perfectly, none more true than for 999, the direction and animation style, capture Matsumoto to a Tee. The orchestra by Nozomi Aoki is very appropriate for the scenes, the big emotions in the film are met with sweeping iconic scores, Yukihide Takekawa composed the theme songs, which play off the film’s adventuress side, creating a song that wasn’t heard in anime at the time, keeping the film from being dated.

The story is beautifully condensed and adds a lot of changes that actually improve the source material. For example, in the first episode of the tv series Tetsuro’s mother is killed by count mech, Tetsuro meets Maetel, and then Tetsuro kills Count Mech, and The two go on the Galaxy Express, all in the same episode. Its good but a little rushed, the film has Tetsuro’s mother killed in a flash back, and apart of him wanting a mechanical body is to get revenge and kill count mech. This adds a great character motivation. Along with Tetsuro being a few years older and having a more realistic character design, as opposed to his TV counterpart. The film also focuses more on early one-shot characters and has them stay as a supporting cast. It doesn’t lose anything great the TV series and manga has, a perfect example of condensing source material into a film. Throughout the film Tetsuro meets many people whose lives have been changed because of mechanical bodies, many of them for the worse, Tetsuro slowly begins to question his choice to get a mechanical body. The theme of what it means to be alive is further analyzed through Tetsuro’s experiences, and the people he meets. Even though the film is around two hours as opposed to say, 100 episodes, it still gets the powerful themes and message across.

Captain Harlock is also a supporting character in the film, I’m not going to go into all the bizarre continuity problems, because I’ll be here all day, so let’s just say Harlock and his series and characters are “adapted” to fit in the universe of Galaxy Express. If you never seen a Leiji Matsumoto work before, you will not be confused in anyway, this film really works as a good introduction to Leiji Matsumoto’s mythology, Captain Harlock is just naturally a cool character, he works as a cool side character, but I guarantee you will be interested to see some of his stories once you see him in this film. However for all the cameos nothing overshadows the main conflict, or characters, Tetsuro and Maetel are the once you’re going to be most interested in throughout the film. Tetsuro has become the arc type of young male heroes seen later in anime and Matsumoto’s work, he’s easy to identify with, but also a very interesting character to observe as well, seeing him go through changes and affecting people he meets all work for the better of the story. As for Maetel, The less we know about a character the more fascinating we often find them, Maetel is no exception, she is a very mysterious, and that is expressed in her personality and character design, just paying attention to her body movement and expressions to certain events give you small hints to her secrets. When you finally do learn about her it doesn’t disappoint, and you also start to notice a lot of hints the movie gives when you re-watch the film. The side characters are also fun to watch, the conductor, the waitress Clair, Harlock and Emeraldas, and even all the crowds on each planet add for flavor.

Special mention should be made for the old 90s dub by Viz media, it is very charming and the voices match the characters very well considering it was the 90s. For my money it has the best voice for Captain Harlock in English, Scott McNeil, which is saying a lot considering that over 11 actors have played the man. While I prefer the Japanese language, since that’s what I’m used to with these characters, the dub works really well to show new comers who aren’t used to subtitles, and young kids. Now that this dub is revived for the new DVD release, it can work for a new generation of fans.

The film is a self-contained story and works really well on its own; however there is a sequel “Adieu Galaxy Express 999” it does a wonderful job at advancing the characters, and raising the stakes in the story, you learn a lot more about the characters, and the universe they inhabit. Other than the fact that you have to have seen the first film to understand it, I think the sequel is even better than the first film. The second film further analyses the theme of not being shackled down by your parents’ ideals, it also does a better job at finishing the relationship ark between Tetsuro and Maetel, so the second film is required viewing even though the first film is self-contained. There’s also a third film made in 1996 that works as a sequel to the TV series or the films, but it ends on a cliff hanger and its really hard to find, but hey if they ever make a 4th movie track that one down.

The idea of turning a popular franchise into a film is nothing different, but there is something undeniably special about this film. Galaxy Express 999 is a classic of Japanese animation, every time I see it I notice something new. It’s one of the best works by Rin Taro and one of the few Matsumoto works that comes off as uncompromised, and now that Discotech is re-releasing them for the first time on DVD in America, you owe it to yourself to buy these films. The journey is ruff but wonderful, the sound of the train’s whistle will never leave your heart.

How can someone describe the experience of watching Galaxy Express 999?

First of all, I can say for certain that if this show managed to keep me interested for 113 episodes, it must have something to it.

A young boy's journey through space aboard the Intergalactic train, the Galaxy Express 999...

It seems that Leiji Matsumoto has a way of keeping us viewers entertained all the way through, revealing just enough by episode and keeping us curious all series long. This long journey through space aboard the 999 is no different from his other works ; it is captivating and strong.

This show's plot is built upon rails which the train is restricted to follow all the way to the final station. This keeps the pace steady, introducing a new planet (almost) every episode. Each planet has its own twist and lessons to teach to our protagonist and the relationship between the two travelers evolves at a satisfying pace.

This show has a few cons, however. The most serious problems about it are plot holes and/or continuity. It would seem several episodes have their own little continuity mistake. This is not a MAJOR inconvenience, but it IS something to note while reviewing this series. It seems that established facts in earlier episodes vanish completely from the series later on. Did the writers forget their own story during their long journey through space? Another somewhat obnoxious aspect of this series is the fact that plots are sometimes recycled throughout the show. The ''stolen pass'' scenario is something Galaxy Express viewers are VERY familiar with.

However, these small issues do not remove any of the emotional intensity of this series. Plot holes are often overshadowed by strong character dilemmas, interesting drama on each planet and so forth. The emotional and human aspect of the series are its strongest point. While some themes are used frequently within the series, they none the less remain interesting and a major part of what defines Galaxy Express 999 for what it is.

Considering the age of this series, I will not dwell on technical aspects such as animation and sound. Some obvious issues can be seen when it comes to character proportions and facial appearance, however these flaws are MINOR. The music is also recycled a lot throughout the show, but this is something to be expected from a 113 episode series. None the less, this show remains an interesting classic to check out.

Overall, I would give this show a rating of 4 stars out of 5. It is the grasping bitter-sweet journey of a young man on a journey to learn about human nature and himself.

Farewell, Galaxy Express 999!

Galaxy Express 999 starts off with a woman and her child making a seemingly impossible journey, through lifeless frozen tundra, to their "haven" Megalopolis. There they hope to work in order to buy a pass on the famed Galaxy Express 999. Their end goal is to rise in the social ranks as humans to a long-living cyborgs. You find their hope is daunted by the sight of millions, with the same dream, barely surviving penniless in a brief Megalopolis intro. However, you do connect with their plight once you see the sharp contrast to the lifestyle of the cyborg. Suddenly, their dream is seemingly cut short by the murder of the mother by hunters, leaving the child Tetsuro alone. Escaping with his life, Tetsuro is saved, from the frozen tundra, by his soon to be travel partner and guardian replacement, Maetel. At her home, Tetsuro swears to her his revenge for the death of his mother. Leaving in a hurry, he completes his revenge by "killing" the count responsible for her death thus setting the pace of the story.

Overall, there are no mean spirited things one could say about this anime nor would I write home saying its the best. Its the anime of almost there but, not quite. The story line trumps many anime I have seen but, it lacks the visual appeal and detailed character buildup of so many other hand drawn anime. Granted from the other reviews I have read, this is definitely a singularly shared viewpoint. Kind of like Peter Chung style animation (Æon Flux & Reign :The Conqueror).

The characterization is a bit hookie at first and reminds me of Sooby Doo or Case Closed due to the fact the buildup of secondary characters happens per episode and the ending is pretty well obvious. (For example: Scooby Doo and Case Closed - The main characters, to whom you are to relate, face a short problem that draws the introduction of secondary characters. These secondaries, for whom are always at fault, end up teaching a moral lesson to the primary characters thus ending the episode. Pretty much the same here but, the scenery is different and the moral is continued adding substance to the storyline.) I call these the "1-2 punch Animes". Character buildup is based on 2 parts: interaction between the main characters and the interaction between the main and temporary stand-in characters. It then leads to the "punch" drama between the main. From the beginning, I had the lead characters pretty well pegged on their "place" in the anime. This however, didn't deteriorate the rest of the storyline. It actually added expectations/predictions that were happily wrong on occasion. The nice thing is you don't feel lost at the beginning and the characters don't seem foreign. It flows well.

People tell me the score of a movie or an anime title is essential. I do have to agree but, I don't find it necessary and sometimes distracting for a score to be really loud and showy. This is neither. It's just there when it needs to be and not when it shouldn't. The title and ending songs however play to the ever present "almost there" mantra. I really could have seen it better sung by a medium toned woman. He makes it sound like an old Asian Martial Arts film.

Good luck and I hope I helped you make an educated decision on your next anime adventure!

I wish I could write a whole essay on what this show means to me, but I'll try to make it short. This show is the Crem' dela Crem, lol. Animation now a days is too overdone, this animation will impress you because its more simple. The storyline could not be any better. There is so much adventure, humor, and mysteries that pull you in from the first 10 minutes of the show. I watch this show late at night, and I just know that years from now, when I look back, I will have a nostalgic feelings. I would strongly recommend this show.