Galaxy Express 999 Episode 61 Discussion

Quiddity131 said:
Didn't care for this 2 parter, possibly the weakest in the series.

EdgyEcchiSenpai said:

You mean the best 2 episodes so far, right?

EdgyEcchiSenpai said:

If you get the reference ;)
I respect your opinion and I love Leiji Matsumoto, but some of the previous episodes were random (don't really want to use the word "stupid") as if the creators didn't even know how to invent a new planet or how to push the story further in a creative way. Sakezan planet? Give me a break (although that episode turned out to be a small study of the Stockholm syndrome).
This is why I loved these 2 episodes. So many good vibes, despite this little thief Taro who wanted to escape the planet (he wasn't quite rational but this show won't surprise me in inventing different ways to pause Maetel's travel). Taro had friends, he lived a good life, and he had some doubts about leaving the Pint-Size Room Planet. He was also really considerate in the end. He isn't that bad, compated to previous "villains". Other habitants were good simple people, a very nostalgic mirror of the earth and I thought about "Queen Millennia" all of a sudden. Plus, Adachi, Leiji himself! These episodes were complete & coherent, and the danger seemed real for the first time. And would it have been really that bad if they had stayed on the planet? They have a difficult choice to make now, and Maetel wouldn't have to worry about Tetsuro's delusional dream anymore. (Pls no further spoilers hehe). He would have stayed in a beautiful utopian planet and he could have been really happy. Taro's theft would have been a blessing.

Dread quickly built up in me early in this chapter when Tetsuro and Maetel’s passes were stolen. This is now the third time we have had this plot occur in merely 10 chapters. Yet as I read more of the chapter I didn’t mind it as much. It allowed for the ability to explore the life that Tetsuro and Maetel may have lived had they stayed on this planet. We didn’t see them really spend any time looking for their passes, and with the fact that the 999 is kept a secret on this planet, that made some sense. After all how can they ask about passes for a train that doesn’t exist? Although there are at least some rumors of the 999 and Adachi sees the train depart. I have got to figure that more people can see the 999 as it leaves. I wonder if there are mysteries surrounding it like there are for UFOs in our society? The stolen passes plot is resolved fairly easily in the end as Tetsuro comes across the boy who stole them as they arrive at the station and he decides to give up on them. Considering the passes were stolen in order to board the 999, it does make sense to simply wait for the thief at the station rather than spend a countless amount of time searching for them. The boy claims he doesn’t want to leave his girlfriend and friends behind, although he had two passes so he could have brought his girlfriend with him. Although I again go back to the explanation of the passes in the first chapter, that once someone’s name is signed on them, anyone else using said passes will be put to death. It kind of makes any pass-stealing plot moot. But with this being the third time it has come up, I suppose Matsumoto just expects us to act as if it never happened.

In terms of other stuff from this chapter, I did enjoy quite a lot Tetsuro’s love for Ramen. Tetsuro’s love of Ramen noodles is one of the things that I fondly recall about Galaxy Express 999 and this is the first time it has come up as a plot point. I’ve always been a big fan of Ramen myself. Tetsuro claims they don’t have it on Earth anymore which surprises me, as it is kind of a cliché that Ramen is the perfect type of food for broke people as its cheap and all you need for it is hot water. Fellow tenant Adachi is a likeable character and as Tetsuro mentions, I think he and Tetsuro could have been good friends had they lived on the same planet together. I wonder if his spotting of the 999 will spur him on to try and board it someday.

The TV adaption provides a lot more development for Taro, the pass thief. While I think this was included to provide more backstory for him, I think the net result is that Taro comes off as extremely unlikable. He often has this angry look on his face and is too dismissive of his girlfriend and friends. Stealing from Tetsuro not once, but twice is quite cruel. He makes a comment about how Tetsuro and Maetel must be rich and can easily buy more passes, which is incredibly dismissive and just him trying to shift any guilt for his bad actions off of himself.

Although the Planet of Tomorrow wants to keep the 999 a secret, changes in the TV episode means it probably won’t be for much longer, as Taro’s friends plan on making a magazine about it and it also is inspiring Adachi’s manga (perhaps in universe he will be a proxy for Leiji Matsumoto?)

Despite this being a relatively early pair of chapters, in the TV adaption it was held for a considerable amount of time before being covered. I think this harms the TV episodes considerably, and in reading over comments I made from viewing the episode years ago I found that I was extremely critical of it. This was primarily due to the stolen pass storyline which by that point had been done many times. With it coming up a lot earlier in the manga it’s not as bad for me this time. The manga is helped by the far smaller role of Taro too. He is probably my most disliked character in all of Galaxy Express 999 thus far so the less of him the better.

Quiddity131 said:
If this is your first time through, have fun!

Quiddity131 said:
Tetsuro’s love for Ramen

Quiddity131 said:
While I think this was included to provide more backstory for him, I think the net result is that Taro comes off as extremely unlikable

Thank you for the blog! I will certainly read its content. I came to love Leiji Matsumoto recently, though I'm aware of his primary preteen or teenage target, so not everything will be, let's say, Asimov sci-fi tier. My first connotation for 999 brings to mind rather an ancient Greek philosophical-didactic parable of voyage (to Enlightenment). He's more like Star Trek, but I remember Tetsuro reading some magazine in a library and there was Star Wars movie mention. Nice.