Nakama Britannica

Not the normal kind of question posed by an anime, but Galaxy Express 999 is no ordinary series. On my recent trip to Tokyo, I was lucky enough to visit the animation studio Toei, the people also responsible for One Peice and Dragon Ball Z. Whilst wondering around their gallery I stumbled across the above poster and on my return to London, I decided to investigate the movie.

Telling the story of Tetsuro, an orphaned child, the story begins when he tries to steal a ticked for the legendary train, the Galaxy Express 999, which travels through space. Tetsuro lives in an age where the wealthy can buy a mechanised body which could mean they could live forever. But immortality comes at a price. Those who decide to change loose their humanity becoming cold and often cruel, losing what made them human in the first place. But Tetsuro wishes to become a machine out of revenge; he wants to kill Count Mecha, the mechanised ‘human’ who killed his mother. Tetsuro believes trading in his human self will make him strong enough to avenge his mother and allow him to escape his poverty stricken life on Earth.

While running from the police, he meets the mysterious lady Maetel who promises to gave him a ticket for the Galaxy Express on one condition, that he becomes her travelling companion for the journey. Tetsuro aggress as the final destination of the train is the planet Andromeda, known for giving away free mechanised bodies. And so begins his adventures visiting numerous planets along the way, meeting both humans and machines where he learns what it means to be human.

They visit Pluto, to an ice lake where the bodies of the humans who have forsaken their humanity are stored. Maetel cannot decide whether this is a kind act to preserve their human form in case they ever want it back, or a cruel joke, mocking these machines, showing them what they have lost.

Whilst Galaxy Express 999 appears to be a sci-fi adventure, it is deeply philosophical, questioning the limits of humanity and in part exploring what it means to live. On a run down planet Tetsuro meets a barman and hears a song which makes people cry. The young Tetsuro cannot understand why they are crying and the barman explains that it is only when you are nearing the end of your old age do you really understand the importance of youth. Tetsuro watches an old man die, painfully observing his desperate pleas that he still has so much left to do. In short, that he still has a reason to live. Realising the frailty of being human, Tetsuro says: “Being human means you have to die, whether you’ve lived out your dreams or not.”

And it’s at moments like these that I realised why Galaxy Express 999 has inspired so many people. Not many things can question not only why you live in the world, but also how you live, and still leave a deep impression on you afterwards. Watching the movie, I finally understood why the original series inspired Keiichi Sigsawa to write the novels that would later become Kino’s Journey. In the same way Kino travels the flawed world, Tetsuro also meets people on his journey and learns about human cruelty, regrets and ultimately hope.

I would definitely recommend any Kino fans to check out this movie. There is also a special treat for any Last Exile fans, as you get to meet Captain Harlock, Space Pirate extraordinaire, the character who was the inspiration for Last Exile’s Alex Rowe.

So going back to my original question, would you want to live forever? After watching Tetsuro on his journey, and seeing the loss and regrets of the people he meets, I don’t think I would want to. Although, I must admit, it’s a tempting offer. Watching Galaxy Express 999, I think I can feel the sentiments that Keiichi must have felt when he created Kino. After all, there aren’t many series that question your own mortality.

Much like the mechanised humans who only realise what they’ve lost after it’s already too late, Tetsuro decides to remain a human, even if that means he is weak and has a limited time to live. Tetsuro realises the cruel promise of immortality and the flaws of living forever: “Eternal life isn’t happiness, it’s because life is limited that people try hard to live.”  Instead he chooses to really live.