For my film review essay, I chose one of my favorite animated movies of all-time, Galaxy Express 999 (Ginga Tetsudou Surii-Nain), which has come to be known as one of the most beloved anime classics ever conceived. It was released into movie theaters in 1979 from Toei Animation, who have released many of Japan’s most famous animated works, working alongside such artists as Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro), Go Nagai (Mazinger Z), and Shotaro Ishinomori (Kamen Rider). Galaxy Express 999 is originally based on a popular manga from Leiji Matsumoto, who had already achieved fame with several of his previous works, such as Space Battleship Yamato and Space Pirate Captain Harlock. In the director’s seat was a man named Rintaro, who had previously worked with Matsumoto on adapting Galaxy Express and Captain Harlock as animated TV serials.
I feel that it’s important to note that all of Leiji Matsumoto’s works take place in a single, shared universe (similar to those of Marvel and DC), so characters from other stories of his either make quick appearances or have very significant roles in the Galaxy Express movie. In order to keep consistent with his other animated features, including the TV version of Galaxy Express, Matsumoto utilized the same animation studio (Toei), as well as the same voice actors that were so important to their completion.
Like the vast majority of Matsumoto’s tales, Galaxy Express 999 is often described as being a “space opera”, which dictionary.com defines as, “any melodramatic literature, motion picture, or television program set in outer space”. To me, this is a very appropriate definition, as there is much melodrama to be found in Galaxy Express. Many of Matsumoto’s stories, whether set in outer space or not, focus on rather deep subjects such as brooding heroes who strive to protect people that don’t want them, and lost souls trying desperately to find meaning in their existence. Galaxy Express 999 is no exception to this, as it asks its audience many thought-provoking questions as the story progresses.
The movie opens with a short narration, describing how the young look to the stars to find their dreams, and the paths they will take to reach them. The story centers on one such youth, a boy named Tetsuro Hoshino, and his quest to travel to the far reaches of space in order to obtain a machine body so that he may live a healthy, efficient life for all eternity. He is doing so in order to live out the last request of his mother, who was hunted down and murdered by one such machine man, a despot named Count Mecha, whom Tetsuro has sworn absolute revenge against. Tetsuro knows that the only way to get from Earth to the mysterious, initially unnamed planet where machine bodies are handed out for free, is to board a star-faring freight train called the Galaxy Express 999. It’s because the ticket prices are wildly expensive, though, that he and a group of orphans scheme to steal a ticket from the train station, which they succeed in doing, but not without being chased throughout the city by the police.
After barely escaping from the authorities and losing his boarding pass in the process, Tetsuro is rescued and given shelter by a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair, who he initially mistakes for his late mother. As he rests in her apartment, the woman uses a device to look in on the dream he’s having, which is a flashback of when his mother was murdered by Count Mecha. When Tetsuro wakes up, he sees her and mistakes her for his mother again, only so she can correct him by introducing herself as Maetel. After telling her about his goals, Maetel asks him what he would like to do with such a long life, to which he responds by saying that he’d like to spend his days sailing the sea of stars and live a life of adventure like his heroes, the space pirates Queen Emeraldas and Captain Harlock. Maetel says that she’s willing to give him a round-trip pass on the 999 only under the condition that she’s allowed to accompany him, to which he gladly accepts.
With this, Tetsuro and Maetel board the 999 together and embark on their long journey through the stars, travelling to and stopping on other planets and celestial bodies along the way. Before reaching the Galaxy Express’ final destination, the two of them encounter and do battle with Count Mecha’s dirty henchmen on several different planets and in space, before finally meeting up with him.
During his journey, Tetsuro meets many people who gave up their human bodies long ago in order to live eternally as machines, only to have ended up living depressingly lonely and cold lives, which they have come to regret. This allows Tetsuro to see the value in being able to live a natural life, in which the people he meets, the emotions he feels, and the limited time he has to live need to be cherished. Eventually, him and Maetel join forces with a large band of space pirates (among them are Emeraldas and Harlock, whom Tetsuro lights up upon meeting each time) who have been fighting armies of machine men on their way to the mechanized world. Although the pirates don’t reveal it until later, they are going there with the sole intention of taking down the giant factory that produces machine bodies.
As Tetsuro starts to form his own opinions on the values of human life, director Rintaro and creator Leiji Matsumoto hope that the audience will do so as well. During the dialogues with those people who gave up their natural bodies a long time ago, it’s very easy to hear the sorrow in their cold, emotionless voices, and see it in their robotic movements and behaviors. Then, there are also those who have suffered at the hands of Count Mecha’s and the mechanization planet’s machine men armies, which are composed of men and women who are no longer able to feel emotions like pity and guilt, so they kill and harm others without any sense of remorse. According to one character, Tochiro Oyama, many of those people, including Count Mecha, used to be very nice and compassionate until they got their mechanized bodies. Trading their flesh for iron dulled their emotions and gave them eternal life, which reduced them to such boredom that they would start hunting humans for sport. It’s easy to see that the writers really wanted to get the point across to the audience that one’s own humanity and emotions are not something to be cast aside, but rather to be embraced as a beautiful thing.
When Galaxy Express 999 was initially released, many people had a rough idea of what to expect, mostly due to the fact that much of the original manga had been released at the time, and the TV adaptation had finished roughly half of its run. Having said this, despite the audience knowing the plot and characters pretty well, they had no idea how the movie version was going to end. The movie concludes after putting a nice cap on several plot twists that nobody had seen coming, that are all explained during an explosive, climactic encounter on the machine world. I can easily imagine the audience walking out of the theater not only feeling blown away by the unexpectedly dynamic space opera-style ending, but also having a new view of their own lives, and how they should enjoy the precious time they have. After all, it’s just as easy to follow Tetsuro’s adventures as it is to put ourselves in his shoes, since there wasn’t a time in anybody’s life when they didn’t question which paths they were going to take in life, and how they were going to get there.
From the very first time I saw Galaxy Express 999, I’ve loved every bit of it, and I enjoy it even more every time I watch it. From its whimsical, fairy tale-style atmosphere to its philosophical views on life to all of its sci-fi action sequences, this movie really appeals to me on not just a level of sheer entertainment, but also on a very personal level. Since Tetsuro is so young and is still growing up, it really takes me back to when I was his age, when I was also learning how I wanted to live my life, which lessons to take to heart, and even what falling in love feels like. If anything, I feel that this is the true appeal of the movie, because these thoughts and feelings are universal, and can be applied to anyone. This is the adventure that the Galaxy Express 999 will take you on; a journey through the stars…
