Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 3

[Alderis]

Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 3

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to hop back aboard the Galaxy Express, which most recently made its departure from the lonely dunes of Mars. Initially propped up as a tourist destination after one hundred years of atmospheric adjustments, Mars was ultimately abandoned for more exotic pastures, its soil barren and inhabitants left to waste away among the ashes of their dreams. The planet is now little more than a dust-strewn graveyard, a waystation embodying the scope and callousness of mankind’s hubris.

That’s how it seems to go within Tetsuro’s mournful odyssey. Though Galaxy Express is full of imaginative scifi wonders, each new vista comes with it a promise of societal interrogation and personal sorrow, each planet in some way reflecting how our grand ambitions often conceal a fundamental apathy to the fate of our fellows. It’s a vivid mixture, like a space-faring collection of somber fairytales, and I’m sure there are many more wonders ahead of us. Let’s see what station is up next!

Episode 3

This really is a special show. Last episode has been sticking with me ever since I watched it – the idea that in spite of theoretically having infinite time to spare, neither Geronimo nor Fleme could stomach the idea of waiting one more year for the next train is a bitter punchline

“Titan’s Sleeping Warrior”

Love that Tetsuro’s just casually hanging his head out the window as the Galaxy Express surges through the cosmos. I am all in favor of Matsumoto’s approach to science fiction: let this world be a fantasy of the stars, don’t tie your visions down in hard scifi homework. In general, I tend to think the only “rules” that matter in fiction are those relevant to the story’s dramatic impact or thematic intent; considered scifi embellishments can offer fine window dressing that lends a certain solidity to your world, but you can also just have your protagonist stick his head into space for some fresh air if you feel like it

It’s apparently a long way to their next stop, Titan. Maetel suggests they visit the engine room

And yep, they just casually walk in space between the carriages as they head for the front. There’s a lesson in this approach to space: when combining contrasting realities in a work like this, favor the rules and aesthetics of the reality that is closest to the work’s heart. For Galaxy Express, that means favoring the rules of train journeys over the rules of space travel

I’ve never really been much a fan of writing about shows for the purpose of review, because in my view there is so much good work out there, and it’s so easy to find voices of distinction in guiding you to it, that the question of “should I watch this at all” is rarely relevant to me. I explore media to enrich my own perspective on storytelling for both future viewings and my own work, so I’m mostly on the hunt for intriguing ideas and dramatic lessons wherever I can find them, unless I’m of course simply luxuriating in the beauty or emotional impact of something

The engine room is an appropriately majestic corridor lined with glowing circular readouts in all sorts of colors. The train is a self-driving computer

Apparently the train was built not with human knowledge, but with the knowledge of ancient aliens harvested from distant galaxies

“That is why there are mechanisms in this train that are still beyond human comprehension.” A terrific dramatic embellishment, setting the stage for future dramatic twists involving the train’s own ambiguous perspective. Sorta reminds me of the Ideon; no surprise for the post-war generation to conceive of a variety of fantastical scifi vehicles that we can’t necessarily understand or control

It’s a remarkable thing, seeing the philosophies of anime’s writers shift through generations. ‘60s and ‘70s productions often reflect an ambivalence towards technology born of growing up in the wake of World War II, whereas modern shows are more often preoccupied with a sense of alienation towards our atomized society and stagnant economic system

To Tetsuro, the idea he can order and eat whatever he wants is just as wondrous as the Galaxy Express itself

The waitress is a being made of crystal glass. Her name is Claire

“My vain mother has turned my body like this. I want to revert to a normal body in which warm red blood flows.” Another indication that eternal life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, again emphasizing the essentiality of humanity’s “red blood”

“That’s why I’m working here to save up money.” A cyclical tragedy in all of this – even those who’ve transcended humanity are still stuck on the same wheel of dissatisfaction, now saving up to return to what they’ve lost. The only certainty is perpetually laboring in pursuit of something different, something that will allegedly restore meaning and agency to your life

Between Claire’s ethereal form and the “eyes glowing in shadows” ambiguity of the train attendant’s form, it seems like Matsumoto is deliberately keeping the staff of the train itself inhuman, ensuring each new station’s characters dominate the stage. The train itself offers no perspective, it is simply an observer

The train enters a space tunnel to navigate an asteroid field, as you do

Claire increases her glow to light their passage in the dark. Her and Tetsuro experience a moment of shared humanity, as he reflects on how her warmth reminds him of his mother, and she thanks him for sharing the warmth of his own blood in turn. There’s no obvious answer to the questions raised by this story – just our eternal attempts to find a happy humanity in a cruel world, best exemplified in our moments of earnest connection

But Tetsuro is then attacked by a wraith-like hallucination, and Claire sacrifices herself to protect him. Another apparent truth of this world – that the best we might hope for is to sacrifice our lives that another might carry on. Claire ultimately valued Tetsuro’s living flesh more than her dreams of a future for herself

Only one fragment of Claire remains, a fragment of glass shaped like a tear. Tetsuro clutches it in his hands while his own tears fall upon his clenched fist, a tragic reprise of the connection they previously shared. In this world, perhaps all we can share are our tears

Maetel’s response to this tragedy is pragmatic; she simply brandishes her gun, acknowledging they will need weapons on the journey from here out

They at last approach Titan, whose rotation will facilitate a stay of sixteen earth days

Maetel describes Titan as both beautiful and scary

“Right now, Titan has an ecosystem like no other. That’s why…” and the camera pans to her gun. The connection between wealth and danger – the more beautiful and rewarding a place is, the more fiercely its inhabitants defend its treasures. Mars was easy to explore because it had nothing worth defending; only the Galaxy Express tickets visitors brought to it possessed any worth

Ooh, nice introductory composition, offering us a fringe of roses adorning Titan’s impressive pillar-laden structures

“This place is an example of how wonderful human technology can be, if used correctly.”

Within moments of leaving the station, a stranger is murdered and Maetel is abducted

After getting hit with a tranquilizer dart, Tetsuro awakes in the Flower Hotel with an old woman who apparently rescued him

Funny seeing how even this elderly woman is a near-model of Matsumoto’s eternal maiden

Maetel was abducted by soldiers from the Grape Valley!

“Here on Titan you’re allowed to do everything. You’re genuinely free.” Ooh, I like this. Within two stops, we’re already interrogating the idea of “freedom” being the ultimate good, through a destination where total freedom naturally results in chaos, bloodshed, and rampant injustice. Within the grip of an exploitative system, it is easy to imagine freedom as the antidote, but Titan represents the result of seeing freedom as the only value worth pursuing

“However, if you violate others’ freedom, it’s a sin.” That seems hard to define or enforce! Absolute freedom generally means the freedom to inflict your will on others

The old woman offers him a hat and a space warrior’s pistol as he sets off, completing his cowboy attire

On his journey downstream, he is attacked by a massive flying beetle!

“Listen, if everyone is free to do what they want, then I’m free to not be captured by you!” The local does not appreciate Tetsuro’s effortless dismantling of this planet’s stupid rules, and immediately tries to shoot him

Love all the distinctive megafauna as Tetsuro navigates this river. We’re already seeing an engaging variety of planetary landscapes

When Tetsuro finds Maetel, she has already killed all of the soldiers who abducted her, again raising the question of who exactly is this mysterious, formidable woman

The old woman reveals her son was a fierce space warrior, but that he died the day he returned to Titan

“No matter how strong a man is, he will falter one day.” I can see why Matsumoto’s works were so inspirational to the next generation of anime creators. Such a vivid, romantic ambiguity to these stories, a sense of world-weary maturity quite unlike most children’s cartoons

“Titan, a planet that courageous, pure-hearted people settled. But now there are too many who don’t understand freedom.” Even such pure ideals can be corrupted by human selfishness

And Done

So our gallant heroes journey onwards, escaping the false freedom of Titan and returning to the stars! Our third episode offered another engaging mixture of fantastical scenery and somber, thoughtful messages, articulating how freedom itself can be a form of imprisonment, an allegedly pure ideal that can easily be corrupted through cruelty or power. “Absolute freedom” has no meaning when the ability to impose that “freedom” is unequally distributed; such a system will ultimately only reward the most callous among us. In contrast, despite her allegedly inhuman body, Claire demonstrated the most selfless kind of freedom in choosing to die so that Tetsuro might live. The true nature of a life well-lived remains unclear as Tetsuro continues his journey through the cosmos.

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Source: Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 3