Angel of Steel

 Angel of Steel

Manga Chapter 6-3

TV Episode 25

Manga Chapter Summary:

The chapter begins with the 999 being traced on a circular screen. The 999 heads through an area with a lot of spiral shapes around it. Suddenly shots start firing at the 999, which Maetel claims are anti-aircraft gunshots. The 999’s windows crack from the shots, meaning the shots have gotten through the 999’s barrier. Maetel claims the shots are coming from the planet they are approaching next. The Conductor stops by, apologizing for the hassle and saying he’s going to inform the station so they can take necessary actions against the assailant.

The 999 descends onto the planet, the air of which is filled with pollution clouds from the smoke of factories, machines and vehicles. Maetel claims the entire planet is a factory making a variety of products. The Conductor announces the planet’s name as Maspron, with a layover of just over 2 days. The planet is dedicated to mass production. Tetsuro comments on the fog being weird as no machine they have come across yet produces smoke, but he likes being at a manufacturing site as they’re always full of life. As they head down the station stairs, a man bumps into Tetsuro, staining his cloak with oil.

As they exit the station, Tetsuro finds a man tied to a pole who has been executed. Another man passes by, claiming he was put to death for assaulting the Galaxy Express. Tetsuro finds the dead man to be roughly the same age as him. The man passing by claims even children on this planet can become mechanically adept very quickly as they grow up with machinery from early childhood. Tetsuro says the punishment was too harsh, but Maetel says there’s good reason for it.

Tetsuro and Maetel make it to the hotel, which, similar to the station, looks like a factory. Shortly after entering their hotel room, the hotel is rocked by an explosion at its base and the entire building collapses. A woman approaches, claiming they are scum who can only use, and know nothing of the agony of those who create things here. Tetsuro and Maetel pass out. Tetsuro wakes up on the 999 and is told by some men that the perpetrators were captured and will be killed by firing squad in front of the station. Tetsuro asks if it is another child this time and is told no, it was a girl.

The bomber stands tied to a pole and tells the men in front to kill her. She’d rather leave this world that bears useless items for ungrateful masses who treat those creating their things like dirty objects than continue living. Tetsuro asks if they can stop the execution, and is granted his request as he was the victim of her crime. Tetsuro is told she will be thrown for jail for 4 years instead. Maetel tells Tetsuro that some components of the 999 are build here.

Tetsuro and Maetel get back on the 999, which takes off. Tetsuro wonders how many millions are making things under this pollution covered sky and which parts of the 999 actually came from this planet. Tetsuro says he prefers those who labor with all their might, even if they smell of oil afterwards. Maetel claims to not like the smell of oil and Tetsuro asks if this means she doesn’t like mechanical bodies. Suddenly, an alarm goes off. Tetsuro rushes to the next train car where we find that the bomber, along with a number of her colleagues have hijacked the train. She tells Tetsuro she’ll never forget that he saved her life and she doesn’t intend to harm any passengers. She wants to take residence on a new world where they can create products without causing pollution or causing the landscape to be covered with steel. 

The bomber tells Tetsuro that her name is Chromeria and ponders if Tetsuro may someday use a product she manufactured. The Conductor rushes to the next car and tells Tetsuro he’s going to contact headquarters so they can take the necessary measures. Tetsuro wants him to leave them be, saying they won’t cause any trouble. Maetel tells Tetsuro to bring a suitcase to Chromeria for her. Chromeria opens the suitcase and finds it full of 999 passes! With these she and her colleagues can ride the 999 and go wherever they want. Tetsuro has gotten oil on his hands from shaking Chromeria’s hands, but Maetel says he doesn’t have to wash it; she doesn’t mind the smell since it came from her. Tetsuro wonders if he’ll get a machine body someday manufactured by Chromeria.

TV Episode Summary:

The early episode is fairly faithful to the manga chapter with the first change being on Masspron as we get a brief shot of Chromeria spotting Tetsuro and Maetel as they head into the hotel. Chromeria throws a rock through the window of the hotel room and yells at Tetsuro, revealing she had overheard him praising the planet earlier. Chromeria is able to briefly talk to Tetsuro and Maetel after blowing up the hotel, whereas in the manga both Tetsuro and Maetel had passed out. We get a flashback from Chromeria and more of her motivation initially. We see her captured shortly afterwards. A pair of men approach Tetsuro and Maetel after this, giving them some fruit and thanking them for coming to their planet.

Maetel is very insistent to Tetsuro that they save Chromeria and takes part in the pleading for her life when she is about to be executed. Chromeria first reveals her name to Tetsuro as she’s being led away to jail rather than on the train car. The episode shows Chromeria’s allies shooting down the car she’s in and rescuing her. In this shot we see some actual plant life on Masspron, which we saw none of in the manga chapter.

We get a brief new scene on the 999 where the locomotive tells the Conductor they can’t permit these new passengers on the 999 and have to consider decoupling the entire train car. At the end of the episode we see Chromeria making a scarf, presumably for Tetsuro as we see an imaginary shot of him with it with the ending narration.

Design-wise, Chromeria’s hair is considerably longer in the TV episode than in the manga chapter, although the animation is also wildly inconsistent with this throughout the episode.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Chromeria – Chiyoko Kawashima

Captain – Kouji Yada

Man A – Keaton Yamada

Man B – Seiji Satou

Man C – Osamu Katou

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

This chapter takes us a to a pollution filled world that is made up of seemingly nothing but factories. There isn’t any greenery to be seen (at least in the manga chapter) and the sky is filled with dark clouds of pollution. We discover that it’s because this planet is responsible for manufacturing a variety of things throughout the universe, including the 999. Even the hotel doesn’t really have a hotel-room like feel and seems like just another factory room. The mentality on this planet is that the consumers of their products come above all else. A young boy who fired upon the 999 is executed because of it, and Chromeria nearly faces the same fate for blowing up the hotel Tetsuro and Maetel are in.

The focus of the chapter appears to be a combination of the plight of workers as well as how ugly the world can be when it is under such an industrial focus. People like Chromeria rebel against this, being willing to risk their lives to do so. The chapter is a helpful reminder that a lot of the things we take for granted are produced by people of very small means, who likely don’t earn much money or are treated with the best working conditions. The question that arises is whether the ends justify the means. Chromeria wants her and her fellow workers to be more valued and to be able to create things on a world without causing pollution or making it over industrialized. And it is a good ideal to have. At the same time, let’s not forget the fact that she is for all intents and purposes a terrorist. She blew up an entire hotel and gets off because Tetsuro is overwhelmingly forgiving of other people. We never determine if there were other guests in the hotel, or employees, who very well may have died based on her actions. As such I simply can’t feel as forgiving towards Chromeria as Tetsuro.

The manga chapter and episode conclude with a sequence that is quite ridiculous and would have been best to exclude, when Maetel suddenly comes up with a suitcase full of 999 passes to give to Chromeria and her colleagues. Beyond simply rewarding someone who is behaving like a terrorist, it is a totally deus ex machine scenario. Yes, Maetel has been established to be one of means, but if she can simply have 999 passes out of nowhere you question why this hasn’t been used in the past for situations where she or Tetsuro may have needed them. Such as the countless times that Tetsuro’s pass is stolen. That is so often a major plot point and fear, that Tetsuro will be refused entry. But the entire time Maetel has had a briefcase full of extra passes? It’s absurd and something that I don’t recall ever happening again.