Farewell Maetal.
Farewell Tetsuro.
Farewell Galaxy Express 999.

The war between machines and humans is nearly over, those of limited life are soon to be no more. Nobody knows who controls the railroads anymore, a ghost train rides throughout the universe unrivaled, and a new queen bears the crown of Andromeda. Who truly is the Black Knight? With these final mysteries it is time to finally bid farewell.

The story begins with once again another reminder of the ongoing battle between humanity and machines, this time on a grander scale than the original series. For the first time in 2 years Maetal calls on Tetsuro to ride the Galaxy Express 999 for a final time, and with absolutely no knowledge of where or why it's traveling he answers the call. The aura of mystery over this finale is truly immaculate, and the mood is certainly lending itself to the title of endings. The excitement of the original show is replaced here by an incredible ominous tension that grips hold of you tight until the final minutes where everything comes to a climax. I would absolutely recommend to watch the original Galaxy Express 999 show first, and then this as your concluding movie to wrap everything together. It is one of the most beautiful endings I could have imagined, all throughout the day after watching it I have felt like crying over the emotional impact it carried.

In regards to the production, I would say it's certainly quite stellar if you're coming from the original show. There's a wide-screen view, it's been preserved better so less film bugs and lines are present, and of course there's a general glow up due to it being a movie production. Tetsuro of course marks the biggest change, it's been two years since his original journey so our favorite young one has grown up some. And lastly there's the music, ranging from mighty orchestral beats to heart-wrenching tunes that still have me in tears. At some point there's even one song that brings to mind the daft punk film Leiji worked on.

Galaxy Express 999 was one of the most enjoyable series that I've watched, and certainly the first to make me want to watch something as long as it. I'm delighted to see it was done such great service in this film. Overall I think if you liked the show you'll probably be immensely impressed with this especially, and if you have some friends to rope into watching it they'll probably enjoy it too with a bit of a lore update beforehand. There are a few elements that are seemingly from the recap/remake movie before this, but nothing that should ruin the experience of this.

But remember, this is it, one last journey with the Galaxy Express 999. As the title implies this is the going away party of the century, and afterwards no character will be the same. The era of youth is finally at an end.

Adieu Leiji Matsumoto!