Audience reviews
14 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
AshParth
Well, 2026 has certainly been an interesting year as we've explored various anime and TV shows from old to new. Especially with retro anime that we dove into. This anime, is kinda special as it was passed along throughout social media, which I had, that one of the main actresses sadly passed away this year. From one of the goats, Hideo Kojima, he'd dedicated to watching this in honor of the main actress herself, Masako Ikeda. So, I decided to go do that, too, since I never mind expanding my horizons, and learned that Masako has actually done a lot not only in anime, but also dubbing American media over in Japan such as Disney's Hercules, Charlotte's Web, Singin' in the Rain, Glee, Amelie, and 1975's Airport. It's a wonder why Masako Ikeda has been a legend until she'd passed away due to an…
Read at the sourceGunfarne
Lets start by saying that I watched this show for its status as one of the most classic shows in the anime industry. It is not for everyone, but when you really commit to it, it become a very special experience. To see the journey of Tetsurou and Maetal through countless planets and explore so many wild concepts that it becomes a cooking pot where you don't even know what you are tasting anymore. To have the message of having humanity only when you are made of real flesh and blood but if you become a machine you lose that humanity, becoming a monster. It tells you to value your heart, be kind and understanding but still have street smarts when it comes to navigating life. Its corny and sometimes a little embarrassing, but it also has such a genuine soul to it. I won't say its a perfect sho…
Read at the sourceBidoof_PMD-EOS
I would like to offer a "not recommended" review which isn't mostly about how Testsurou has an annoying voice.
I'm going to follow the format that MAL had me use last time I wrote a review, and make a note and give a score for Story, Art/Animation, Character, Music/Sound, and Enjoyment, with a final overall "why".
Art/Animation: Art is based on Leiji's manga, which has the One Piece problem of drawing women the same, except he does so for not only every women, but teenagers and old folks as well. Character design is a 2/10, then, I guess. It has basic anatomy, and pretty much nothing else. One could complain about this due to liking, say, Maetel's character design, but do note that it's repeated at least 25 other times in this series, just with different clothes and hair color. I have noth…
Read at the sourceSCLFI
It might have taken me over two years to finish, but despite the major time commitment that Galaxy Express 999 demands, it is one well worth pursuing and finishing, as its episodic and varied nature means that even when accounting for its (arguably excessive) length, it never ends up feeling particularly repetitive or overdone.
The format of each episode of Galaxy Express is fairly basic. After Tetsuro’s mother is killed by cyborgs, he sets out to travel on the 999, an old-timey steam train that flies across space, to go to the planet Andromeda, where he can get a mechanical body for free, and by extension, immortality. Long before works like Robocop and Cowboy Bebop decided to merge the motifs and conventions of the Western and sci-fi genre, there was Galaxy Express. For that matter, Tet…
Read at the sourcetoegod14
This show is unenjoyable in pretty much every aspect. I suggest you watch this show if you are either a masochist, love to see the exact same character design 100+ times, love seeing no character development, or like terrible art styles that progressively get worse over 113 episodes.
They really could not come up with more than 3 or 4 character designs, so everyone who is not a robot in the show looks exactly like either Maetel or Harlock, with the exception of old people and Tetsurou, who has probably the worst main character design of all time. Why the hell does his head become longer and longer as the show goes on, I really never understood that.
Pretty much every character is incredibly shallow and has no true morals that make them interesting characters, and they all just want mone…
Read at the sourceInuyoujo
It tells a great story about many lives and deaths, but keep in mind this anime is very dated! Japanese culture has a lot of issues, and isn't great at handling mental health issues. There are alot of "old fashioned" values, that are very annoying, and I'm glad we've moved away from a lot of the beliefs this anime has packed into it from the late 70s - early 80s.
And, if you're like me, you hate hate it when situations could have been better for everyone if someone had just reacted faster! A lot of what I hated was how a lot of the female characters were held up by male characters, which is a huge situation with that "old fashion" mind set. Not that anyone is getting their relationship advice from anime, esply old anime, but this has some very toxic and creepy stuff in it. The end was als…
Read at the sourcebrandotendie
this is one of the saddest anime ever made.
not in one particular arc, nor any particular episode/episodes, but in a general sense, in a sort of bulk evaluation.
galaxy express 999 sets out to paint universal truths of, well, the universe. and by the show’s definition, the universe is a drab, terrible, sad place.
most episodes end in melancholy. whether it’s due to the death of a newly introduced character, the extinction of a race, the destruction of a planet, the dousing of a fervent dream, there is rarely an episode that ends positively.
999 seems to say that there is as much heartbreak as there are nebulae. as strong the pull of black holes, so is the pull of despondency. as wide and expansive as the arms of galaxies stretch, so do the arms of death, war, poverty. that there ar…
Read at the sourceephemerry
A whimsical space adventure full of wonder, excitement, and existential horror! What could be better? Galaxy Express 999 is an expert at opening up your inner child’s feeling of wonder into the unknown realms of Leiji Matsumoto’s colorful universe.
• The series begins with young Tetsurou learning about the foibles of humanity and swearing vengeance in the heat of passionate rage―causing the beautiful and mysterious Meatel to invite him on a space train to find what he’s looking for; Tetsurou agrees while idealizing the possibility of gaining an immortal mechanical body, so that he doesn’t have to suffer through the ailments of poverty any longer, like starvation and weather’s wears. The narrative explores human nature and the intrinsic value of life, as well as the consequences of relinq…
Read at the sourceQuiddity131
Galaxy Express 999 was one of the very first anime franchises I got into and remains one of my favorites today. People looking to get into the franchise have several options, including the original manga (which unfortunately has not been released in English), the movies and the TV series. All three are worth looking into.
The basic premise of the show is that it is far in the future and one of the most popular ways to travel throughout space is through the Galaxy Railways corporation’s space trains. Most famous of these is the 999, which is designed as a train from the 20th century. The 999 travels throughout the universe, landing on many planets for as long as a local day lasts. Unfortunately tickets are both incredibly expensive as well as very desirable. The other big part of the show’…
Read at the sourceBowlingJD
This has been a long time coming and the series is finally completed. Truly, Galaxy Express is an epic at heart and the first watched on this quest.
Another original creation of Leiji Matsumoto, if the art style didn’t give it away already, this is a series coming in at 113 episodes. How did it live up to the legacy?
It is long and episodic at its core. Now, this may sound like a total turn off right away, but the series sets a universe of mystery and true imagination that captivates the viewer. Each world our two main characters travel to has its’ own unique reason to exist, evolution into why, and the life-form’s interaction with the planet.
Our young protagonist, Tetsuro Hoshino wants nothing more than to have a mechanical body to live an immortal life, but how can he get it when: a)…
Read at the sourcemypalkevin2
Admittedly, when I was watching Galaxy Express 999, I was watching it cause it was related to Harlock (I wanted to fully prep myself for when the Harlock CGI movie became available to watch in English). But after watching it, it's an amazing series.
The story may seem old nowadays, but the way the characters interact, and how they develop (more so for Tetsuro as he begins to realize getting a mechanical body would prove to make him more laid back and that everything his mother taught him about hard work would have seemed pointless in the end).
The characters themselves are all unique and very enjoyable. Tetsuro, despite how he became a bit of a brat in later episodes, is an enjoyable character, and he certainly becomes quite the badass for being a 10(?) year old. The Conductor was hila…
Read at the sourceshell92
Galaxy Express 999 is not for people who don't like long anime or older anime. Spanning 113 episodes from '7?-'8? everything about this anime from the episode themes to the music makes you feel like you really are watching this in the late 70's.
If you are only wanting the story you only need to watch the first 5 or so episodes and the last 4. Again another common fact of older anime most stories don't take long to tell and are very, very stretched out.
Almost every episode they stop on a different planet where an event happens to them that effects Tetsuro's opinion on cyborgs and gaining eternal life.
Also if you are a Captian Harlock fan and are watching this because you want to see how it ties in or want to see Captian Harlock; you should know he's only in one episode, and the only…
Read at the sourceAgonyOfTheGarnet
One of Leiji Matsumoto's Masterpieces, this is one of those unique exprerience anime that come once in ten years, a classic of Space Operas, Galaxy Express 999 is a life Journey.
Our Journey takes place in a rather futuristic setting where humans are able to transfer their minds to a mechanical body in order to achieve enternal life. While this seems to be a somewhat perfect world, it is in reallity a dystopian Universe full of opression, suffering and tragedy for the poor and the weak ones. Our Protagonist, Hoshino Tetsuro,a proud and rightous young boy boards the Galaxy Express 999 with help of mysterious Maetel in order to reach the planet where you can get a mechanical body for free. If you are familiar with Leiji's works you will know what kind of Journey you will expect, for those…
Read at the sourcePelsia
At first glance, any series of 100+ episodes requires a real commitment on the viewers behalf, in many ways its a big gamble (with their time). If the series sucks then you feel like you just wasted an enormous amount of time on nothing, when its a success you walk away with a great sense of enjoyment and that it was time well spent. Galaxy Express 999 (pronounced the 3-9 in the series) delivers in every category.
Galaxy Express 999 is one of the chief anime that created the foundation for the space opera genre in anime, the vast majority of new series since have their foundation stem from this (among the others such as Harlock, Yamamoto, etc.) series. What most newer viewers might think about new and recent anime as being riveting and ground breaking, is usually a remake of an older seri…
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