Ginga Tetsudou Monogatari

In the distant future, trains are no longer bound by their physical tracks. Instead, they take to the skies and travel across the universe on the Galaxy Railways, transporting mankind from planet to planet. However, the Galaxy Railways are no safer than traditional trains: criminals, terrorists, and vile aliens always find a way to stir up trouble.

Manabu Yuuki, a rash and hot-headed man, is the latest addition to the Galaxy Railways' elite Space Defence Force (SDF). These brave men and women are responsible for protecting the railways and responding to any unprecedented danger, risking their lives to protect the innocent from evil. But as this drama unfolds and the SDF's greatest crisis draws nearer, Manabu must truly learn what it means to be a member of the SDF before it is too late.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yuuki, Manabu Main

Yanagi, Naoki Japanese

J. Speed, Bruce Main

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Yuki Main

Suzuki, Naoko Japanese

Bulge, Schawanheld Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Fort Drake, Louis Main

Sanada, Asami Japanese

Young, David Main

Midorikawa, Hikaru Japanese

Kusanagi, Makoto Supporting

Shioya, Yoku Japanese

Sheryl, Catalina Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Yuuki, Wataru Supporting

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

General Forecis Supporting

Saitou, Kimiko Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Watson, Barry Producer

Hasegawa, Yasuo Producer

Nishimoto, Yukio Director

Reviews

Jul 18, 2008

HiGHFLYiN9

Recommended

It always surprises me when I find a series that approaches perfection. I just finished watching Galaxy Railways, and have to say, if you even remotely enjoy anime, it is easily worth your time to watch it. Obviously Matsumoto Leiji is legendary for Harlock and Galaxy Express, and if you've seen his work in the past, this isn't a huge departure from it. Contained is a relatively typical, but incredibly deep cast of characters, including the obligatory hair-covering-one-eye protagonist Manubu, his Harlock-resembling father, and the beady-eyes-popping-out-of-their-forheads old people that bother me to no end.

The story takes place in a futuristic-space setting where the usual spaceship ... fare has been traded in for space-travelling trains, some of which look like they could be from the future, and some have the old-school flair of a coal-powered locomotive. These trains are used to traverse people across the galaxy, and there is a military operation called the SDF that protects these people from all the unusual things that happen to the trains they are riding. Manubu happens to join this faction and the series follows the SDF and their escapades across space.

This is first-and-foremost a drama, you might feel yourself wanting to tear-up a couple of times. Aside from episode 19 (what's with episode 19?? 0_o) there is very little in the way of comedic relief. Despite that, you won't be crying yourself to sleep or anything. The main impression the series is constantly trying to get across to you is that grabbing a hold of your own destiny is possible with the right attitude.

Animation is excellent 99% of the time. There are a couple of spots that appear slightly rushed, although they are brief and barely worth mentioning. There is some CG, however it is mostly used on the trains and is well hidden using cell-shading techniques. It would have been nice to see the trains moving a bit more fluidly in some cases, however this isn't detrimental by any means.

My only other minor beef is episode 19, although I enjoyed it by its self, it doesn't fit in with the series at all. For those wondering, it's the overdone hot spring episode where half the girls introduced in the series show up and everyone suddenly digs Manabu, also interspersed with 1500% more comic relief. I'd love to know the story being this episode.

Anyway, if you have some time to burn, pick up this series, it should not disappoint, even if you're a somewhat jaded anime watcher like myself.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 23, 2017

camay1997

Mixed Feelings

Leiji, Leiji, Leiji… How many times can you rehash the same stories and tropes over and over and when will I actually condemn you for it? I’e stated before that I’ll watch anything with that man’s name attached to it and really wanted to watch it when I first heard about it last millennium. And as Leijiverse stuff goes it’s a base line. While the animation is fluid and smooth, the character designs are of Leiji’s era (meaning old) The stories are by the book, which is okay, but Manabu Yuki’s young man pursuing the only dream he ever had thing has been done in ... every Leijiverse production to date. The stand alone character driven stories are good but cliché. But there’s this goddess of time thing going on that I scarcely remember because it wasn’t interesting. Also, none of the established Leijiverse character appear. I love space opera. I love watching things blow up in space; it’s one of the reasons I never stopped watching anime. But if you’ve seen any other Leijiverse, then this will offer you nothing new and different. Having said all that, the action is cool, the drama real and occasionally discussed philosophically, and space is just as strange as ever. So it delivers exactly what it offers. I probably would’ve loved it more had I seen it years ago. It’s far superior to OZMA though and more accessible than The Endless Odyssey. Watch it if you love Leiji, sci fi or are out of anime to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 22, 2023

Zanryu1337

Not Recommended

Spoiler

Story: 3
Animation: 9
Sound: 7
Characters: 2
Enjoyment: 1

Total: 4

Ginga Tetsudou Monogatari does so many things wrong. But this is due to two very important factors. The theme and the story structure. And both are running the rest into the ground.

But let's start with the setting first, because it is weird. In the future, humanity has advanced space travel to such a degree that most of the inhabitable planets are connected via space trains, which are literally trains in space, varying in technological images. The main cast controls a steam train in all its retro glory. Steam from the stovepipe and connected wheels are predominantly featured in multiple ... shots. And the trains start from an ramp on the planet and rise up like dragons into space. The premise alone is weird enough, but when steam is constantly shown in space, not to mention the later fires and explosions, physics wasn't considered at all. This makes the visuals far more funny and mind numbing than probably intended.

Next it the theme. It run heavy through the whole show and every aspect of it. Fate and the connections people make during these predetermined times are the core of the theme of this anime. Every episode explains an aspect of fate and how the symbolism of the show works. Like how the train tracks represent fate and the train stations the points where we meet other people. After the second time I was already grained of how hand-fed this presentation is. It is like that they really want me to know how important the symbolism is.

<Minor story plot spoilers from here on.>

Which is heavily undercut by the last few episodes. Until then fate was deemed as this unmovable force and the tracks can't be changed once placed, which is not how any train track work, but I let that one slide. When an enemy force from another dimension threatens the whole space track system, the whole symbolism falls apart. In the show this one seer is heavily featured as she seems to have clairvoyant powers, not limited to the present. But when the invaders arrive, her sight got immediately destroyed. Which only suggests to me that everything the show wanted to tell me with its symbolism is plainly wrong. Fate can be altered, destroyed and changed if an outside force is applied. This makes it really frustrating to judge this show by its theme.

On the contrary the story is easily to judge. It is bad. It flip-flops between an arc based story structure and episodic episodes and cannot hold its feet still. It starts somewhat promising with 3 introductory episodes about the main character, the legacy he has to uphold and the concept of a returning antagonist. This quickly gets thrown out of the window as up until the last 6 episodes everything becomes detached and episodic. And while there where some callbacks to past episodes, most of them are stupid and confusing. Most prominently the worst episodes are the memory episode early on and the planet evacuation episode. Both deal with some heavy themes like depression and letting go of trauma, but they both handled by the occurrence of magic.
And the more one thinks about the circumstances of how the main cast blunders themselves into these situations, it only becomes more infuriating. "We need to evacuate the planet within 24 hours!" and the main cast is like: "Let's drive by car to gather the last people around here." Wh..... Why? Who thought that this would be a smart idea? You have planet-scanning capabilities. And the evacuation order was put out a year ago. It makes zero sense to even be there.

And this is the transition for the characters, because it too makes zero sense. Let's start with the overall group. We follow a cast of 6 people as they each fulfill a role in a long lasting squad in the Space Defense Force. Yuuki and Louis are new members as they graduated the academy at the same time. What role they specifically do is never really explained. But it seems that they have to do everything. Controlling weapons, flying a space ship, repairing and maintaining the space train and analyzing complex structures seem just a part of all the things they have to do. All while transporting military weaponry. It primarily feels like they are part of a police force, but it got militarized to such a heavy degree that it spun totally out of control. Especially since in the early episodes the actual military force is introduced as another branch. However, they still have to fight terrorists, pirates and rebels as if they were the special forces. And by the way: the whole shtick with the terrorists, pirates and rebels is also never explained. Of why they act the way they do, just don't think about it; we labeled them as such and thus they are the enemies.

I feel like I already have written too much and too little. I could go on and on about detailed structures and hierarchies within the animes universe, but it only would matter so much.

The art is very fine (even tho I only watched a highly pixelated version) and the sound can be catchy and serves the shows weird space western theme.

The Galaxy Railways just can't deliver with art and sound alone. Characters, and especially the main one, feel very grindy to listen to, not by the voice actors fault, but the stupidity of his sentences. The writing is, for the most part, atrocious and boring at the same time and the space setting isn't used at all. It quickly falls into the sci-fi trap of having one planet for one thing. Like the homebase planet and the gothic architectural Europe planet. The throat shoved symbolism is more hindrance than anything and vastly hampered the writers. Most of the episodes are about the expanding character cast and more often than not, they visited new locales in tandem. Which can be fine, but the episodic nature reduces the importance and mystique of these locales to nothing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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