by The animated movie “Goodbye Galaxy Express 999-Andromeda Terminal Station-” will be broadcast on BS12 Twelve “Sunday Anime Theater” from 19:00 on April 9 (Sun).
This work was released in 1981, two years later, as a sequel to the previous work “Galaxy Express 999 the Movie”, which was released in 1979 and caused a big boom.
Taking a step further from the previous work, which was a refreshing youth drama depicting the departure of a boy, it is a slightly bittersweet and powerful movie showing the “end of boyhood” of the main character, Tetsuro.
Two years after returning to Earth after finishing my trip with Maetel.
Tetsuro threw himself into a partisan against the mechanized people and continued to fight with the few surviving humans.
I’m Maetel … Tetsuro, get on 999.
Tetsuro is boarding the 999 again.
The first stop, Rametal Star, was the birthplace of Maetel.
Tetsuro hears incredible rumours that Metel has taken over the queen of the mechanized empire, Promethium.
At the time of the reunion with Maetel, and the many “mysteries” that will be revealed …
What is the truth that Tetsuro knows at the final destination, the planetary cloud Andromeda?
What to wait for at the end of the trip?
In his previous work, “Galaxy Express 999 the Movie,” Tetsuro met people who lived powerfully through his beliefs.
Seeing the lives of Antares, Harlock, Emeraldas, and Tochiro, Tetsuro also began to walk his way.
And in this work, “Goodbye Galaxy Express 999”, Tetsuro meets “tragedy” and “reality”.
It’s the “world” he has to face.
The world is full of unreasonableness.
At times, his will is trampled.
Can he know a world that isn’t just gentle and still can continue his path? In other words, the second trip on Galaxy Express 999 is a rite of passage for Tetsuro to grow up.
In “Goodbye Galaxy Express 999”, Tetsuro experiences two important encounters.
One is encountering a young man named Myauder on the Rametal star.
Myauder, who works as resistance at Rametal, will have a deep friendship with Tetsuro.
For Tetsuro, Myauder is the first companion of the same age and a valuable friend who can share the same perspective.
He is an irreplaceable “comrade” who can cross his shoulders on an equal footing.
However, a tragedy awaits the encounter.
The sadness that Tetsuro learns there is a deep sense of loss and despair and uncontrollable anger, which is different from his childhood separation from his mother.
Another encounter is the confrontation with the Black Knight Faust.
Faust, a black knight who stands in front of Tetsuro as an aide to Prometheum.
The confrontation with him is an inevitable “fate” for Tetsuro.
The past carried by the black knight Faust, why he fights Tetsuro, and the ending that awaits the confrontation. There are complicated thoughts of people who live according to their beliefs.
Why is the battle between the Black Knight and Tetsuro “fate”?
The “truth” also hides the meaning that this trip is a “rite of passage” for Tetsuro, so please look at the main story to check it.
The last scene contrasts the previous work, in which a positive impression was felt in the loneliness, and the sadness pierces the chest straight.
That sadness is probably the moment when Tetsuro’s boyhood is about to close.
The ending theme “SAYONARA” that concludes the movie tends to lose its impression due to the presence of the theme song of the previous work (Godiego “Galaxy Express 999”). Still, it is a hidden masterpiece that remains in the history of anime theme songs.
The lyrics, spelled out in simple words, probably express Maetel’s feelings as he looks at Tetsuro as he grows up.
The lyrics are in English, but the Japanese translation is subtitled, so please chew them firmly.
And I want you to think about the meaning of the word “goodbye”.
