Galaxy Railways, The

Director
Yukio Nishimoto
Production
Galaxy Railways HQ, Planet
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2003

Ginga Tetsudo Monogatari/The Galaxy Railways

By Stephen Lerch
2nd Apr 06

Ginga Tetsudo Monogatari, or The Galaxy Railways as it goes by for its English language release, is a fairly recent TV series based on the works of Matsumoto Leiji (Ginga Tetsudo 999/Galaxy Express 999, Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Herlock/Space Pirate Captain Herlock). Unlike many of the past Matsumoto series, there was no Manga to this series prior to it being animated.

The series aired in Japan from October 4, 2003 until April 4, 2004.

This review covers the R2 complete box set, though the content comments should match what is being released via FUNimation on R1 DVD in the US. As of this writing the R1 DVDs have not all yet been released. I will create an updated review for the series in that format once it is completed.

Synopsis may contain small story spoilers.

Short Synopsis:

Ginga Tetsudo Monogatari (translated as Galaxy Railways Story or Tales of the Galaxy Railways) or The Galaxy Railways is based in the same universe as the phenomenal Matsumoto Leiji series and movies, Ginga Tetsudo 999/Galaxy Express 999.

Trains run between planets and across the Cosmos, transporting everything from passengers to cargo wherever they have a stop.

This tale revolves around a young man by the name of Manabu Yuuki. His father was a captain in the much lauded SDF (Space Defense Force) who meets a tragic fate in on one of his many journeys across the stars. Manabu’s brother, once he comes of age, also leaves to join the SDF, and once again one of Manabu’s family is lost to the SDF and the universe. Manabu then makes the decision to follow in his father and brother’s footsteps and joins up with the SDF to keep the universe safe from whatever threatens it, while remaining true to his own sense of justice. In a quirk of fate he happens to land a position on the train formerly captained by his father Wataru, the Big One.

Video:

The video on this release is top notch. Just as expected from a Japanese R2 DVD release. The colors are clear and free from compression issues.

The animation quality can be considered spotty at worst and fluid at best. There are some episodes where the animation takes a decided drop from the previous and proceeding episode. It doesn’t really detract from the over all story, but upon close inspection is rather evident.

Character designs are straight out of Matsumoto’s universe, complete with highly attractive females right down to the “potato head” type figures of Herlock’s own Tochiro and Ginga Tetsudo 999’s Tetsuro. Brilliantly handled.

Colors are rich and the space backgrounds, when populate by more than simply stars, is to die for. The coloring and detail in the various space phenomenon (galaxies and so on), is well done and looks almost photo realistic.

Audio:

The only audio option on this release is Japanese with no English option for either subtitles or audio. On an interesting note, there are actually Japanese subtitles on the disc, something I have not come across in any of my other R2 DVD purchases. Not that it helps those looking for an English option.

The audio is presented in its original stereo format, encoded in Dolby Digital Prologic. There is some directionality, but it is generally on a limited scale. There are no drop outs and everything is crisp and clean. The only disappointment being that I felt I needed to turn up the volume on my receiver to compensate for what felt like quieter volume on the disc itself compared to other titles in my collection. This is easily rectified with a turning of the knob, but a little irritating as well.

Extras:

The final disc in the set, disc 6, is a collection of all the video extras from the original Japanese R2 DVD releases. These include:

Recording sessions for eps 10,12 and 22
Interview with Matsumoto Leiji
Recording/Press Conference with the staff
TV Spots for the 13 DVDs from the original release
Seiyuu (Japanese voice actor) discussion after episode 26
Individual interviews with Japanese cast

Surprisingly lacking is the fact that there is NO clean opening or closing animation, while the R1 US release included them.

Packaging:

The artwork on the box is really well done and nicely detailed. It's slightly disappointing that the artwork on the back is simply the 3 trains (Big 1, 37 and 40 I believe they are, from the Sirius, Spica and Vega platoons of the SDF) way off in the distance, along with the 999 and another train I'm not sure the number of with their home planet in the corner.

When folded out you get the trains from the various platoons, the 999 and the other train I'm not sure what it is on the back. 000 gets all of the area behind the discs.

The disc artwork is very nice as well. Manabu and Louis on disc 1, Bruce and David get disc 2, Bulge and Yuki get disc 3, Mamoru and Wataru get disc 4, Layla Destiny deservingly gets all of disc 5 while Big One gets the special disc.

Final Analysis:

From start to finish this was an amazing ride (pun intended). All of the story elements flow together wonderfully and easily, presenting a show that stays true to the universe as designed by Matsumoto Leiji, while also tackling the project from a fresh angle without the benefit of a complete, or nearly completed Manga, to base it on.

The animation, while not always where I’d like it to be, is generally really well done. The character animation seems to suffer most in areas, but given the tremendous story and wonderfully designed characters, it is easy to look past these flaws.

There is currently a 4 episode TV series in the works as a continuation of sorts of the GTM/GR story, and a complete second season being worked on as well by the same people who brought us GTM/GR, Planet.

I highly recommend anyone interested in space drama and great characters with masterful story telling to check this series out. With the R1 release it is easily, and fiscally obtainable by most Anime buyers.

This is easily one of the best series to be released in recent years.

-- Stephen Lerch 2nd Apr 06

Galaxy Railways, The Images