The
Pirates of the Time Castle
Manga
Chapters 12-4 and 13-1
TV
Episodes 79 - 81
Manga
Chapter Summary:
Tetsuro notices
that it’s getting brighter outside and Maetel tells him to look towards the
front of the train. Before them is the Andromeda galaxy, a large nebula about 2
million light years from Earth. Tetsuro, Maetel and the Conductor talk about
the distance as seen in a book and the Galaxy Express’s records. Tetsuro
realizes this is the galaxy where he can get a mechanical body for free and
Maetel says before that, they have to head to the planet Heavy Melder. The
Conductor claims it is a major turning point in the universe where many orbits
gather at one point. The stop time is just over a week. Maetel explains that
once they pass there, the government control of the Galaxy Express passes over
from that of Earth to that of Andromeda. At the management station of Andromeda
is the place where Tetsuro can get his free mechanical body.
Maetel says Heavy
Melder is a place of energy and he should eat something. Suddenly a bag strikes
Tetsuro right in the face! It is from a pair of passenger fighting each other.
A third passenger, who is completely covered up by a cloak tells them to stop
and hands them a container that they drink from. The cloaked man asks Tetsuro
if it is too soon for him to drink and he says no and starts gulping from it.
Tetsuro quickly starts feeling a fire in his body from the alcohol. The cloaked
man tells him it is a rum from the planet Siren, which is the strongest liquor
in the universe. It is like water to him. The cloaked man offers Maetel some
and she drinks as well. She feels okay and tells Tetsuro he doesn’t have to
panic. One of the other men trips Tetsuro and he pulls out his gun. The cloaked
man tells them they won’t live long if they get angry. Tetsuro wonders who the
cloaked man is and Maetel tells him he’ll understand soon.
Tetsuro and Maetel
head to the dining car where Tetsuro happily eats some steak. Maetel says to be
prepared here. Even if she doesn’t return, she is confident he’ll be able to
continue on his journey alone. Maetel claims she has something she must do
while on Heavy Melder and must do it by herself. The cloaked man walks by and
tells Tetsuro to keep an eye on his back or he won’t be able to survive on Heavy
Melder. He says he hopes he makes it out alive. Tetsuro spots that the man is
armed with a cosmo gun, just like his. Tetsuro thinks to himself of how there
are only 4 of these guns in space. Captain Harlock and Emeraldas each have one,
with him having another, so this may be the fourth. Suddenly the 999 shakes.
Maetel says it is a rough welcome from Heavy Melder as there are several
explosions in the sky. The narrator explains that this area is known as
Trader’s Fork, a major turning point in the universe where all spatial orbits
meet at one point. It’s a large frontier of freedom and lawlessness that many
travelers pass by.
Maetel’s emotions
seem to be affected as they approach Heavy Melder. With her black clothes, it
is as if she’s going to a funeral. As the 999 descends down to the planet, the
narrator explains that many men who come here with dreams will become soil for
the planet, while others leave with their dream to the end of the universe. Tetsuro
and Maetel depart the station. Tetsuro says it is dusty around here and an old
man says here on the Great Frontier it’s dusty everywhere. The old man
recognizes Maetel but says her companion was someone else last time. He hands
her over some corn. Tetsuro asks her if she’s been here with someone before and
she says yes. This isn’t the first time she’s rode the 999. An alien creature
nearby tells Tetsuro to not ask a lady about the old days and he says he’s
sorry. Tetsuro thinks of how Maetel has lived this way before he met her.
Maetel points out the hotel nearby but says it is still early and it’s a good
idea to take a look around. She says she has something to do and she’ll meet
him in the lobby at 12:00. She tells Tetsuro to be careful, not quarrel and to
shoot his opponent if he gets in a fight here.
Tetsuro thinks back
to what Maetel told him back on the 999 about how she may not come back from
this planet. He thinks of how she must be doing something important here;
something life threatening. Tetsuro shouts out Maetel and tries to run after
her. He runs through an alley after her and runs into her, but then realizes he
was mistaken and it’s another woman. The woman, who is carrying a guitar heads
into a saloon. A couple of patrons there grab Tetsuro and tell him to listen to
her song. The woman plays a song before a large group of people in the saloon
all of whom look sad; tears coming from many of their faces. Tetsuro asks why
they are crying and the bartender says they were fine when they passed here
before when they were young and were told not to cry. This used to be a good
place but it is no longer with the Time Castle sitting just over Mt. Gun
Frontier. A couple of the men in the bar tell Tetsuro it is a mechanical
person’s castle and since it arrived here on Heavy Melder, pirates have
dominated. There is no longer freedom here.
The singer goes to
the bar and sits down next to Tetsuro, telling him her name is Leryuzu. She
asks Tetsuro where he is going and he says the planet where he can get
mechanical bodies for free. Her name sounds familiar to Tetsuro and he thinks
to Ryuzu whom he met in the graveyard at the bottom of gravity. Leryuzu tells
Tetsuro she is her sister and he says the world is both wide and small. Leryuzu
tells Tetsuro that Maetel went to the time castle. There it will be a life
threatening battle. Tetsuro runs out into the desert, calling for Maetel. At
that time we see Maetel walking through the desert at night, the Time Castle
nearby. Tetsuro having said he’ll go to the Time Castle while in the bar is
told by those there that he is an idiot and he is asked if he even knows how to
shoot a gun.
One of the men
grabs Tetsuro telling him he should go home and sleep on his mother’s lap. The
cloaked man from before tells him to let Tetsuro go. The man who was grabbing
Tetsuro grabs at his gun. The cloaked man says sometimes you have to go even if
you know you will lose or die. He tells the man to let Tetsuro go. The man
backs off. One of the other bar patrons tells Tetsuro he can borrow his
automatic bike which is held in the back. He warns Tetsuro to watch out as the
pirates of the Time Castle are horrifying. He mentions they are headed by a
mechanized person who calls himself Captain Harlock. Tetsuro is shocked to hear
it is the Captain Harlock. He steps
outside and Leryuzu tells Tetsuro that his companion went to fight him. She
asks Tetsuro if he is scared. Tetsuro says he is, Harlock is scary enough for
him to die. But if he doesn’t look for Maetel he’ll regret it the rest of his
life. He’ll fight, even if it is against Harlock.
Tetsuro makes his
way across the desert landscape on the bike, following footsteps which he
believes to be Maetel’s. Tetsuro thinks how it’s odd that Maetel will be
dueling Harlock, who is not supposed to be a bad guy. Eventually Maetel’s footsteps
vanish and Tetsuro crashes the bike. Tetsuro notices a number of men around
him, and Leryuzu with them! Leryuzu tells him to throw away his gun and claims
she’s bringing him to the Time Castle, which is where she lives. She says it
will be the graveyard of both him and Maetel. Tetsuro sees Maetel’s trunk
sticking out of the ground as they near the Time Castle. At that moment, Maetel
is walking through the Time Castle and a voice welcomes her. She says Tetsuro
will come. She make her way to a dark room where we see Harlock standing in the
shadows, only his eye and skull and cross bones insignia visible. Maetel cames
she came here to fight him.
Leryuzu steps up
behind Maetel and asks if she may bring in Tetsuro. Tetsuro is led through the
Time Castle by android subordinates, complaining about the Time Castle. They
tell him this is a castle that enables one to walk through various parts of
time, the past and future, and he shouldn’t complain. They make their way to
the room where Maetel and the others are. Maetel who is holding a sword
threatens to kill Harlock and he pulls out his own sword. The two start
battling. Maetel makes a tear in Harlock’s clothing, revealing a mechanical
body underneath. Suddenly a trap door opens below Tetsuro, pulling him in. Tetsuro
hangs from a wire under the bottom of the Time Castle and Harlock warns Maetel
to stop going further or Tetsuro will not live. Tetsuro holds on by his cloak
but it starts tearing and he falls.
Harlock says the
castle is flying through time now and Tetsuro has fallen into the flow of time;
he doesn’t know what era. It is impossible to find him. Harlock asks Maetel
what she is thinking. Maetel says she may be known throughout history as a
witch as a result, but she will kill him for the sake of Tetsuro and many other
young dead people. Tetsuro continues to fall further into a whirlwind type
area, losing his pants along the way temporarily. Tetsuro starts feeling really
cold and wonders if he’s at the end of time. He realizes he is buried under
some snow and digs his way up to the surface, finding a snowstorm coming down. Tetsuro
doesn’t recognize where he is, but it somehow seems familiar to him.
Tetsuro realizes
he’ll have to put some dead grass on his feet to keep them from getting
frostbite. He sees some footsteps leading away which he follows, soon finding a
past version of himself with his mother! They are working in the snow, outside
of a small cabin. Past Tetsuro is finding sprouts in the ground which she says
will enable them to eat for a couple of days. Seeing his mother, present
Tetsuro starts crying. He recalls that this is the night before his mother was
killed by Count Mecha. He pinches himself to see if it’s a dream, and realizes
it isn’t. Suddenly Leryuzu appears behind Tetsuro and stops him from getting up
to go to the cabin, as Tetsuro wants to warn his mother. She tells him he can’t
tell them about it or do anything. Humans can’t touch the past, even if they
are able to see it. They won’t be able to hear his voice or see him. Tetsuro asks
if that is the case why he is able to feel the snow. She claims that doesn’t
matter, it is the past lives happening here he won’t be able to effect.
Tetsuro bangs on
the cabin door anyway, but his mother doesn’t respond. Past Tetsuro complains
about the wind and his mother says if his father was alive he could tighten the
door bolts so there wouldn’t be noise. She says goodnight to Tetsuro. Tetsuro
says to himself how he remembers only being able to hear the wind. He looks in
the window, upset over this being the last night his mother was alive. We
return to the Time Castle. Harlock tells Leryuzu to go to the control room and
advance time by 500 years so Maetel will age and become a skeleton while they,
with their machine bodies, will remain unchanged. Leryuzu stands there and
doesn’t do anything. Maetel tells Harlock he doesn’t understand the meaning of
her black clothes or the feelings of the many young people she’s been with.
Leryuzu tells
Harlock it is wrong to call him by his name. “Harlock” claims Captain Harlock
is just a mythological pirate and he’s using the name of a dream. Leryuzu says
a youth’s dreams aren’t the kind of dreams he can give. His dream is a filthy
delusion, and cowardice. The Time Castle starts glowing and “Harlock” panics,
wondering why she moved the lever she did. Leryuzu says when she met Tetsuro
she understood the foolishness of becoming a machine. There are things they
can’t do even if they have eternal life. The heart of the warm blooded person
that Tetsuro is, a boy who clenches his teeth and fights, touched her heart and
she can’t do it. “Harlock” cries out as his body rusts away, as does Leryuzu
and the entire Time Castle.
Maetel sheds a
tear, standing in the wreckage, Tetsuro’s calls for her ringing out. Tetsuro
appears, holding the mechanical brain of “Harlock”, all that remains of him,
which is calling out Maetel’s name over and over. The two hug and Tetsuro tells
her of how Leryuzu came to see him. Maetel claims the brain is what is left of
a poor man who sold his soul to a machine. He was someone she knew well, and
who knew her well. In the olden days he was full of dreams and hopes as a young
man. She knew many young people, some of whom traveled with her, who were
killed by him after he became a machine. Tetsuro wonders if Maetel is crying
for this man, or because she thought he was dead. Suddenly a noise rings out
and Captain Harlock’s spaceship, the Arcadia, takes off in the distance.
Tetsuro realizes the cloaked man in the bar was the real Captain Harlock.
Maetel tells Tetsuro that Harlock is a person who never betrays his friends and
they’ll meet again someday.
TV
Episode Summary:
For the first and
only time in the TV show, we have a three party storyline, which as with most
multiple part episodes retains the core storyline but adds additional content.
In the first episode, Tetsuro senses that something is odd with Maetel from the
start, before they notice the Andromeda galaxy in front of them. Tetsuro
complains about the length of their stay on the planet and calls the Conductor
a pea brain. Tetsuro wants to rush off to the Locomotive, but Maetel claims
there is a reason they are staying there so long, due to it being a critical
junction. After they eat, Maetel steps out after mentioning to Tetsuro that he
may have to travel alone if something happens to her. Tetsuro getting tripped
happens in the dining car and the cloaked man shoots away the man’s gun.
Once on Heavy
Melder, the old man doesn’t give Maetel corn as he does in the manga. It is a
bird rather than an alien that tells Tetsuro to not ask Maetel about her past.
Tetsuro spots Leryuzu walking in an alleyway, thinking its Maetel, as he does
in the manga, but he doesn’t run into her outside first. He heads into the
saloon and goes up to her at the bar, thinking she’s Maetel (which is rather
odd as she’s clearly got blue hair). Tetsuro promptly gets beaten up by some
men there for mistaking “Madonna Leryuzu” for someone else. They stop once
Leryuzu starts singing. The bartender pours some water on Tetsuro’s head to
wake him up. The bartender provides more
explanation to Tetsuro, claiming the pirate in the Time Castle rules the planet
and kills anyone in his way. Tetsuro suggest they kill him and the bartender
says they wouldn’t stand a chance even if they all gathered up. Tetsuro notices
two men in black who aren’t crying.
Tetsuro has some
alcohol to drink and passes out, imagining Maetel being killed. He wakes up in
a bed with Leryuzu nearby, brushing her hair. Tetsuro tells her he is traveling
on the 999 and she tells him her name. Tetsuro briefly flashes back to Ryuzu
when he mentions coming across her before. Leryuzu tears up upon hearing of her
and reveals they are sisters as in the manga. Leryuzu says she knew her sister
would be betrayed by a man someday and she should have been more assertive and
stopped her. Leryuzu asks Tetsuro if he’d like to stay here with her and he
declines saying he has to find Maetel, who she claims he talked of in his
sleep. Leryuzu tells Tetsuro he should forget about her and Tetsuro says he
values Maetel more than his life and threatens to hit her if she says it again.
We see the two men
in black hiding behind a corner as Tetsuro leaves. Tetsuro runs into the old
man who recognized Tetsuro before. The old man is about to say something but
sees the men in black and declines, then runs off. The two men soon walk by and purposely bump
into Tetsuro. Thinking of Maetel’s warning, he apologizes and they throw food
at him and taunt him. Tetsuro thinks of Maetel’s warning to not hold back. He
is able to shoot one of the men and we see the cloaked man from the 999 shoot
the other. Tetsuro realizes they were cyborgs and wonders if they serve the
pirate in the Time Castle, and why they were after him. Tetsuro looks over the
edge of the bridge and tears up over the prospect of having to continue his
journey without Maetel. Leryuzu walks up and asks Tetsuro if Maetel means that
much to him. She reveals that Maetel went to the Time Castle. Tetsuro calls out
to Maetel and the episode ends with her walking there.
Tetsuro returns to
the saloon at the start of the second episode asking for the Time Castle’s
whereabouts causing a man to confront him as happens in the manga. The cloaked
man shoots away the man’s gun. He also calls out the men in the saloon in a
sense, saying none of them have had the courage to go to the Time Castle. A man
who made fun of Tetsuro earlier lets him use his bike instead of the pirate we
see in the manga. Several missiles get shot at Tetsuro as he bikes through the
desert, which eventually causes him to crash. The fake Captain Harlock in the
Time Castle wears a cloak rather than being completely covered by shadows. He
demands Leyuzu close the door once it is opened as its letting light in. Leryuzu
immediately comes in with Tetsuro rather than coming in on her own first.
Some of fake
Harlock’s subordinates join in on the fight between him and Maetel, shooting at
her after she slashes him. Tetsuro helps fight them off and fake Harlock
activates the trap door as he does in the manga. As Maetel starts getting angry
at the fake Harlock, he demands Leryuzu kill her, which she refrains from, then
his subordinates start attacking her. Fake Harlock and Leryuzu jump onto a
transporter which takes them away. When Tetsuro first sees his past self and
mother, some dialogue from her about getting sprouts from the ground is cut. We
see more dialogue between past Tetsuro and his mother, with them talking about
going to Megalopolis the next day and Tetsuro helping them buy tickets to the
999. Tetsuro bangs on the door before Leryuzu appears. Some more time passes
and Tetsuro’s mother and his past self leaves the cabin. Leryuzu gives Tetsuro
his gun back and he follows her. We see Count Mecha and his men on horseback.
Tetsuro rushes towards them and fires at them but his shots just go through
them. Counte Mecha fires and kills Tetsuro’s mother. Leryuzu tells Tetsuro it
is impossible to change the past. The second episode ends here.
In the third
episode, Tetsuro watches his past self pass out in the snow and past Maetel
come to get him. Tetsuro despairs over not being able to make it out of the
flow of time, and Leryuzu says to leave it to her. She will return him to his
time. A glowing light appears, transporting them away. Maetel continues
fighting the fake Harlock’s henchmen in the Time Castle and makes her way into
a new room where she is shot at by lasers on the wall that she promptly destroys.
Fake Harlock is sitting in there. He asks her to have mercy on him and spare
him. She asks why he wouldn’t fight her to the end and says he is a coward who
doesn’t even exist in this world. She claims they fought as comrades to restore
justice in this universe, but he shot his comrades in an attempt to become
ruler of the universe. When she tried to recruit new comrades he killed them
too. For Tetsuro’s sake she will send him to hell.
Leryuzu and Tetsuro
suddenly come in and Tetsuro and Maetel are reunited. Leryuzu asks in exchange
for saving Tetsuro that Maetel spares “Harlock”. Maetel says she can’t, there
are some things that can’t be forgiven. Leryuzu shoots her with a beam blast
from her guitar. Fake Harlock slaps her, mad at her bringing Tetsuro back with
her. Tetsuro pulls out his gun and Leryuzu tells him to not shoot “Harlock”.
Tetsuro says to kill him instead and “Harlock” starts hitting him with his
sword. He tells Leryuzu to keep an eye on Tetsuro and Maetel, and he’ll decide
what to do with them later. We cut back to the saloon where some of the patrons
are wondering how things are going for Tetsuro. The cloaked man claims Tetsuro
won’t die; he’s a real man.
In the Time Castle,
Leryuzu provides water to Tetsuro, who is tied up along with Maetel. Tetsuro
asks why Leryuzu is in love with “Harlock” given the way she is. Maetel says
he’s too young to understand relationships. Leryuzu claims she was all alone
once her sister left this planet. She played her guitar and sang to kill the
sadness. We flashback to a cloaked “Harlock” coming into the bar where she
played, scaring many off, but she kept playing her guitar and singing. From that day she lived with “Harlock” in
this castle. Maetel tells Leryuzu she’s being deceived; he’s not Harlock, but a
fraud. Tetsuro says he knew it, as this Harlock doesn’t carry a cosmo gun. Leryuzu
finds it hard to believe, but Maetel asks her if she thinks what he is doing is
manly and the act of a hero. We see Leryuzu flashback to killing many people.
Maetel says Harlock wouldn’t go after the elderly or children, nor settle down
in a castle. He freely sails the galaxy, following his dreams. This man is a
cowardly cyborg pretending to be Harlock.
Tetsuro asks
LeRyuzu to let them go so they can defeat “Harlock” together. LeRyuzu leaves
the room, but Tetsuro notices she left his cosmo gun behind. Tetsuro moves his
chair over to it such that he can grab it. Tetsuro blasts the ropes off of
Maetel. LeRyuzu watches from the doorway as “Harlock” drinks some wine. She
comes in and he asks why she is looking at him in this way. He pushes a button
realizing Maetel and Tetsuro have escaped their binding. He flees with Leryuzu
down some stairs, which Tetsuro and Maetel follow. They are able to cut them
off and “Harlock” puts Leryuzu in front of him to act as a shield for him. He
then seals him and her up behind a glass barrier. He says they will go into
time on a time capsule and never be able to catch him. “Harlock” asks her to do
it but she just stands there and as in the manga pulls a different switch which
causes the Time Castle to self-destruct and for their bodies to start rusting.
Leryuzu tells
Tetsuro and Maetel to hurry and flee. She wants to make up for her sins and has
the will to die like a human being. Tetsuro realizes she has a mechanical body.
Her motivation is the same as in the manga, beyond also claiming that her
mechanical body gave her the ability to affect time. We see Leryuzu rusting. We
hear her singing as Tetsuro and Maetel flee from the Time Castle. After the
Time Castle is destroyed, Tetsuro finds Leryuzu’s guitar in the wreckage rather
than the brain of the fake Harlock. Tetsuro returns to the saloon where the bar
patrons are pleased to see him there. He gives Leryuzu’s guitar to the
bartender, saying she won’t be playing here anymore. The bartender says the
cloaked man just left. Tetsuro runs out into the street to try and find him.
Tetsuro sees the Arcadia taking off as in the manga. Tetsuro asks Maetel why
she fought the fake Harlock and she says it doesn’t concern him.
TV
Episode Cast:
Tetsuro Hoshino –
Masako Nozawa
Maetel – Masako
Ikeda
Conductor – Kaneta
Kimotsuki
LeRyuzu – Kumiko
Kaori
Old Man – Yonehiko
Kitagawa (Episode 79 only)
Tavern Owner –
Motomu Kiyokawa
Cloaked Man – Makio
Inoue
Tetsuro’s Mother –
Akiko Tsuboi (Episode 80 only)
Shadowed Man –
Yoshito Yasuhara (Episodes 80 – 81 only)
Narrator – Hitoshi
Takagi
Yonehiko Kitagawa
previously played minor characters in episodes 32, 39, 47, 48 and 60. Makio
Inoue previously appeared as Pascal in episode 38. Akiko Tsuboi, beyond several
previous appearances as Tetsuro’s mother also played Artemis’ Mother in episode
52 and a Policewoman in episode 62. Yoshito Yasuhara played a young man in
episode 16.
Non-Spoiler
Analysis:
It is an extra
length storyline this time; this is both the longest storyline in the entire
manga at 96 pages as well as the only 3 part episode in the TV series. This
storyline is primarily based on one that occurs in the Galaxy Express 999
movie. It is a rather odd inversion; rather than the movie being based on an
original manga storyline this time it is actually the other way around since
the movie came first. The planet Heavy Melder, the saloon Tetsuro spends time
at, Leryuzu and the Time Castle are the primary things taken from the movie,
although there are also some notable changes. The most significant of which is
that in the movie, the Time Castle is the realm of Count Mecha rather than a mechanical
man claiming to be Captain Harlock. In the movie version Tetsuro’s quest for
revenge for his mother’s killer goes across much of the movie rather than being
resolved immediately as it was in the manga and TV series. With Count Mecha
already dead in the manga/TV show, the fake Harlock was used as the villain instead.
The real Harlock also appears, although he covers himself up in a cloak
throughout the chapter/episodes and we don’t realize it is him until the end
(unless you recognize his voice actor).
Also in the movie,
but dropped in the manga and TV show is Tetsuro running across Tochiro Oyama,
the original owner of the cosmo gun he possesses. Tochiro is greatly ill and
Tetsuro helps him in transferring his soul to the Arcadia, Captain Harlock’s
ship. Emeraldas also makes an appearance on Heavy Melder in the movie which is
not included here. Another cameo included in the manga chapter (and a hint of
the reveal at the end of the chapter) is Yattaran, Harlock’s first mate
appearing in the bar and lending Tetsuro his bike. For whatever reason his
appearance was removed from the episode.
Captain Harlock is
probably the most famous creation of Leiji Matsumoto. He originally appeared in
his own manga series in 1977, which similar to Galaxy Express 999 was adapted
into a television series the next year. Beyond appearing in the two Galaxy
Express 999 movies, Harlock has been the subject of multiple movies of his own,
and additional OVAs and TV series. He won favorite character in Animage’s Anime
Grand Prix Award in 1979 and has received various other accolades as well.
Although his appearance here in the Galaxy Express 999 manga/TV series is
heavily toned down compared to how he usually appears (and we never see him
without the cloak), it is quite the delight to see him.
The character of
Leryuzu who features heavily across the manga chapters and episodes was called
Ryuzu in the movie. The original Ryuzu character (seen back in chapters 3-8/3-9
and episodes 7/8) was used as inspiration for the movie character, as both were
blue haired women who traded in their humanity for a mechanical body in order
to please their lover and found as a side effect that they could control time.
In the movie version she was the lover of Count Mecha instead of the fake
Captain Harlock. Since Ryuzu as a name was already used, Leryuzu was used
instead and she was explained to be Ryuzu’s sister. The character is featured a
lot more here in the manga chapter and the TV episodes than the movie (where
she doesn’t even have dialogue until after Harlock’s death, although she also
gets a lengthy song sequence as she does here). Overall her fate ends up being
the same; Tetsuro reminds her of what it was like when she was human and she
turns on her lover and destroys the Time Castle, killing herself along with it.
The manga chapter
and episodes also flesh out Maetel’s history a bit more. Although one could
already get the sense this has happened before, here we get formal confirmation
that Maetel has traveled the 999 many times previously with other boys. The old
man out in the street recognizes Maetel so she’s been here on Heavy Melder
before. Maetel references past colleagues of hers as having been killed by the
fake Harlock and that is why she is here, to take revenge for them. We find
that even the fake Harlock himself was a former friend of Maetel’s, but he
traded in his humanity and became the evil man we see here instead.
Also of interest is
the sequence where Tetsuro is sent back in time, just before his mother’s
death. It is a sad sight to see as Tetsuro tries to change the past and prevent
his mother’s death but is unable to do so. As Leryuzu explains it, by traveling
through time like this they can see the past but can’t directly interact with
it. Tetsuro is doomed to watching his mother die once again. Although the manga
chapters and episodes are looking at similar territory to what we see in the
Galaxy Express 999 movie, this was quite enjoyable to both read and watch. These
chapters/episodes are up there among my favorites from all of Galaxy Express
999.
Spoiler
Analysis:
The sequence where
Tetsuro is sent back in time to just before his mother dies is used in the
Adieu Galaxy Express 999 movie, one of very few things that the movie takes
directly from the original manga rather than being an original creation. In
that version, it is the character Faust who sends Tetsuro back in time. Events
in the past largely play out as they do in the TV episode, except that Leryuzu,
who died in the first movie does not appear.
