(This review contains spoilers)
Trying to find the right words to describe a masterpiece is quite difficult and somewhat challenging.
What to say about Ginga Tetsudou 999?
Galaxy Express 999 is a manga series written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto. The manga that later served as the basis for several films and anime, won, in 1978, the Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen. Matsumoto was inspired to create the Galaxy Express 999 by the idea of a steam train traveling through the stars in Kenji Miyazawa's novel Night on the Galactic Railroad.
•Characters
The story tells about the young Tetsuro who is an orphan whose life goal is to get on board the Galaxy Express 999, an ultramodern space transport whose destination is the Andromeda Constellation. The reason for this is that the center of the Mechanical Empire is located there. At the time that this story takes place, technology has developed to the point that human beings can transfer their consciousness to mechanically practically indestructible bodies and then live forever. It so happens that these began to subjugate human beings and, therefore, consider them to be inferior. Many rich people even like to hunt humans for mere fun.
Tetsurou and his Mother were trying to flee the earth in order to get a mechanical body and reach eternal life, but while the two were fleeing their mother is killed by Count Mecha. As a street kid, Tetsuro has no way to buy a pass. However, he heard that at the end of the Andromeda Galaxy, there is a planet where these robot bodies are donated free of charge. All Tetsuro needs to do is get a pass on the Galaxy Express 999, the cosmic railroad.
And one day, Tetsuro meets the mysterious Maetel, who promises to give him the Pass for unlimited use of the Express on the condition that she be his traveling companion. Tetsuro happily agrees and embarks with Maetel on an adventure through the stars. When Tetsuro starts, he is a crying, immature and selfish child. However, the adventures he follows with Maetel, the people he meets and the visions he witnesses make Tetsuro slowly, but truly, become a strong young man. Tetsuro also approaches Maetel more and more, and although the nature of their relationship cannot be called romantic, they form a very strong bond of love.
The enigmatic woman who gives the boy Tetsurou his ticket on the Galaxy Express 999. As beautiful as she is wise, Maetel provides constant support and guidance to Tetsuro during his travels.
In Leiji Matsumoto's own words:"[Maetel] is the woman who travels with the dreams of a teenager. She has traveled with millions, tens of millions of boys, until now. In fact, there are as many Maetels as there are boys. That's how it can appear in any story. All the boys met Maetel in different ways of meeting. This also applies to Antares, Emeraldas or Harlock. They are all crossed and can be separate stories on their own. So, if you change your perspective, you can tell as many stories as you like. The characters of Shadow and Emeraldas, who were girls in their teens, met someone named Maetel, in their hearts, since childhood, or at the time when they were full of dreams. It is a train ride in your mind, or the train that travels with it. And each person has a different journey."GE999 is undoubtedly the best work I've consumed during all these years, the journey is very long and at the same time reflective and melancholy. The universe is something quite beautiful, but at the same time it is sad, of the various planets that are presented during the journey, all of them tell stories that make us very thoughtful and at the same time leave us with a broken heart. I think during all 113eps most were sad and bizarre episodes. Humans are treated like rubbish and there is a huge difference between those who are able to live and those who live in misery.
The main highlight of the series are the characters, not only the main characters that have a wonderful development and if you were to compare the Tetsuro at the beginning of the series and with a totally more mature Tetsuro at the end of the journey, but also the secondary characters that all are very good and with an interesting depth. The drama in the series is something that manages to convey many incredible emotions, it is impossible for you not to be moved by the various stories that are presented during the journey.
What acts would you commit in the pursuit of making your dreams come true?
There are several episodes where desperate people try to steal Tetsuro and Maetel's passes. For some of these people, the Expresso 999 means the door to paradise or the only way to try to pursue your dreams and this is seen in most of the series.
For me this is the best episode of the entire series and one that left me the most emotional. People can be simple, there are the bad guys and those who prefer to work as hard as possible to achieve their goals.
Despite being an anime from 1978, GE999 manages to be a very beautiful anime visually and not to mention that the art of Leiji Matsumoto is an extra spectacle. The main soundtrack is incredible and I like how it is used in most parts where something sad happens and not to mention Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata composition which was a magnificent implementation. As an admirer of classical music, I was even more amazed by the series for having listened to one of the most famous compositions of classical music.
Plots: The plots that surround the series are very good, the plots are not shared overnight, the anime is releasing some things during the episodes. Tetsuro obtain the mechanical body and eternal life? The answer is no, after the countless times when he saw people who obtained mechanical bodies and saw that they were unhappy, what is the point of being immortal and not being able to be happy?
Did Tetsuro succeed in avenging his mother's death?
Yes, that was one of the most pleasurable moments in the series. Revenge was one of the big goals that Tetsuro wanted to complete.
This end is so sad!• Enjoyment: A wonderful journey, it is very difficult and rare for a work to make me shed tears, but with GE999 it was something very different from what I had seen in other works .. The end is to shatter your heart even more. I feel depressed in this time!