There’s something inherently unnatural about space. It’s a seemingly endless void where all you see are the lights of fading stars and the emptiness of nothing. The paradox of space is that it is so vacant yet filled with so many secrets and wonders. We could be the only living things in all of existence, or there are plenty of alien species with their own histories and stories. We can never know, which makes ample room for fiction writers to construct any narrative they want. Space can be a place where magic can exist, a fantasy land so different from the mundane everyday life. Yet the best sci-fi stories are about the human condition, serving as metaphors of our everyday lives and feelings.
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Toei Animation released one of its arguably most influential sci-fi anime 47 years ago, Galaxy Express 999. The series uses the dichotomy of space by juxtaposing the sci-fi setting with old-school aesthetics. The titular train is modeled after an old steam engine, yet it can traverse across the cosmos without any jets or propulsion. While we catch brief glimpses of the train’s interior and what powers it, the locomotive essentially runs on magic. Galaxy Express 999 employs dream logic to construct its world, creating an environment that exudes atmosphere and dread. While its exploratory and episodic nature, along with heady themes, evoke a familiar Star Trek feel, Galaxy Express 999 is its own beast, a retro-futuristic anime from a brilliant manga creator whose adaptations would span decades.
Galaxy Express 999 Takes You Where You Need To Go
Galaxy Express 999 was released on September 14th, 1978, following the success of other sci-fi anime like Space Battleship Yamato. Toei Animation wanted to make another animated work with the same author as Yamato, Leiji Matsumoto. Much like Star Trek’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, Matsumoto’s sci-fi creations featuring strange new worlds garnered acclaim and spanned decades. The author’s other animated adaptations, including the Space Pirate Captain Harlock anime, were also successful, encouraging Toei to adapt Matsumoto’s other projects, like Galaxy Express 999. The interesting thing about Toei’s decision to create Galaxy Express 999 was that it also had an anime movie in the works, despite the manga still running with its end only to come in 1981.
Although the anime and manga were still ongoing, it was decided to spoil the ending of the series in the Galaxy Express 999 film. There were still discrepancies in how the various adaptations chose to portray the ending. Still, the important details, including Maetel’s betrayal and the final confrontation with the Machine Empire, are present in most versions of the story. The Galaxy Express 999 movie had a short production window, opening within a year after production began, with its debut on August 4th, 1979. The film was a smash hit in Japanese theaters, leading to a direct sequel, Adieu Galaxy Express 999. The series’ influence on Japanese sci-fi can still be felt to this day.
Galaxy Express 999’s 1979 Movie Is a Surrealistic Masterpiece
Galaxy Express 999 has a dreamlike atmosphere and follows a stream-of-consciousness plot. After the exciting inciting, where a young boy named Tetsuro Hoshino decides to accompany a mysterious woman called Maetel on the fabled train ride through the cosmos, the narrative becomes loose. Tetsuro had two goals at the start of the film: to kill robot Count Mecha for murdering his mother and to gain a robotic body for himself. Each planet he visited has its own story arc, building on top of his overall coming-of-age story arc. The softer colors give the film a more relaxed feeling, almost as if it’s a dream that audiences are watching as outsiders. Tetsuro somehow always ends up in the right spot, leading him closer to his goals, making no logical sense, yet it makes more sense in a dream.
The movie utilized several surreal images to sell the idea that it’s all a dream. Besides the titular train riding on nothing in the middle of space, the world of Galaxy Express 999 also contains a robot made entirely out of translucent glass and a pirate ship flying in space. Classic Matsumoto’s characters, including Captain Hancock and Queen Esmerelda, appear in supporting roles in the film. The standout moment of the motion picture is the frozen floor of Pluto, which contains the many human bodies of people who have transferred their consciousness into machines. It’s a striking and morbid imagery that helps convey the horror of losing your humanity for eternal life. Count Mecha’s horrific actions of killing humans for sport further established the terrifying reality of losing one’s emotions. These contributing situations led Tetsuro to want to destroy the machine empire rather than gain a robot body for himself.
The planet of the machine empire is constructed of impossibly long corridors, structures that make no sense, and detached colors like silver and black to make it appear as unwelcoming as possible. It’s the most alien planet that the main characters visit. The ruler of the empire, Queen Promethium, doesn’t seem to have a physical body. She only has a face surrounded by a black cloak. It makes her look malicious and alien, a being devoid of any humanity. Her final actions in her attempt to kill Tetsuro are one of the most understated yet terrifying scenes in the entire movie. The screen is fully darkened as the Queen pulls Tetsuro, making it seem as if it’s a nightmare. The blackness is ultimately subdued by the glass girl’s light, who sacrifices herself to save Tetsuro.
Tetsuro went on Galaxy Express 999 with the intention of never returning home. However, the movie ends with him back home, a changed man. There’s a somberness to the ending where Tetsuro and Maetel go their separate ways (after the worst scene in the movie, where Maetel kisses him). He chases after Maetel on the train, not wanting their time to be over. The train eventually leaves in the distance, with the final moments as the credits roll being Tetsuro solemnly walking along the train tracks. The finale emphasizes the beauty and the heartache of growing up. People need to travel and make discoveries for themselves, and learn to be independent. Not everything will be happy-go-lucky, but things will ultimately be alright. As the audiences leave Tetsuro to wander the train tracks, they are left with the knowledge that he will be fine. He is a little wiser and will take his adventures with him forevermore.
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Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme -
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Image Courtesy of Paramount
