Artemis of the Transparent Sea

Artemis of the Transparent Sea

Manga Chapter 9-6 and 10-1

TV Episodes 51 - 52

Manga Chapter Summary:

A sleeping Tetsuro wakes up to find that the 999 has come to a stop. Maetel says there is some sort of obstacle up ahead. A giant missile passes by, which Maetel claims was sent by the Track Maintenance Ward which is responsible for destroying obstacles. Tetsuro notices that some small, amoeba-like creatures are starting to float past the 999. Maetel says the missile has reached the obstacle and there is a large explosion off in the distance. We see a large splatter erupt and spread out towards the 999.

Now there are hundreds of the amoeba-like creatures floating past the 999. Some start getting stuck to the window and talk! They say to not come. The Conductor also hears them saying the same thing. Suddenly one of the amoebas comes into the 999! It says to please change the course. Tetsuro wonders if it is cold, and it says no. It claims their mother is ahead and they should change course to avoid her. The Conductor decides to ask the Locomotive, which refuses to change course; the Galaxy Express’s orbit is absolute. That said, the 999, senses a reaction in front. The Conductor doesn’t see anything and says it must be invisible to the naked eye.

Eventually the 999 approaches what looks to be a far larger, amoeba-like planet. The 999 says it won’t be able to break in time and they will collide with it. The 999 crashes right into the planet, although Tetsuro says the shock wasn’t that big. Tetsuro and Maetel get out of the 999, which is sinking into what they claim looks like a sea. They are able to walk on the sea, with its surface not sinking below their weight, but can notice many objects such as different ships and trains sunk underneath. The 999 continues to sink into it and the Conductor says going in reverse will do no good. The Galaxy Express Administration says no obstacle in the 999’s orbit can be confirmed, but they do sense a strong life reaction at the distress point. They consider it to be a new type of lifeform that can’t be classified based on those on record. A more powerful weapon may be needed to rescue the 999.

Tetsuro hears what sound like babies’ cries, and some of the small amoeba-like creatures detach from the planet and ascend into space. It’s as if babies are jumping off from the ground. Tetsuro says these creatures must have a mother. Tetsuro realizes the creature that got on the 999 was the child of this planet, which is a mother. The Conductor tells Tetsuro and Maetel that they should get on the 999 as soon as possible. A tremor wave is going to be sent to destroy the planet. This gets Tetsuro upset and says they can’t destroy it; the planet is alive and is a mother! They sense a spaceship approaching and the planet changes its form, as if to catch it. Maetel and Tetsuro notice that the space ship is an old fashioned design. Suddenly the hatch opens and a transparent-looking woman crawls out of the ship, saying she is Artemis and has returned to her mother.

Tetsuro and Maetel tell the Conductor to get the first aid kit. The Galaxy Express Administration, sensing the crash, stops the launch of its tremor wave, sensing the life reaction from the planet getting stronger. They bring Artemis on board the 999 and Maetel senses her heart’s beat is becoming quieter and weaker. The Conductor notices that she no longer appears as transparent, but is now more like a normal human. Artemis asks if she’s here and Maetel tells her she’s on a planet that is transparent like her. Artemis says it’s her mother. Tetsuro tells her to be firm and not die and tells her who she is.

Artemis says it was a painful, long and miserable journey, but her mother softened the landing for her. She claims this planet is her mother and gave birth to her. When it was time for her to die, her desire was to be put down on this planet’s surface and she has come back here to sleep, forever. Artemis passes away. They bring her outside and rest her on the surface, and she sinks into the planet. The Galaxy Express Administration notices the planet has stopped moving and launches its tremor wave attack.

Tetsuro cries, saying he thinks Artemis still had things she wanted to do. The Conductor calls for the two of them to return. Tetsuro cries out to not destroy the planet as it’s a living being, but the Conductor says they can’t move the 999 without doing this. He also says there is no way to stop the incoming attack, which is arriving in 3 minutes. Maetel tells Tetsuro it’s alright, this planet won’t be destroyed so easily. The planet feels danger and has a protective screen around it as if it’s a dimensional barrier. She doesn’t think the tremor wave will destroy it. The Conductor says they won’t be able to escape then, and fears the 999 being completely swallowed up by the planet, along with them.

Suddenly a voice rings out; it is the voice of the planet. It thanks Tetsuro for shedding tears for her daughter. She is an organism that can’t move her body by her own will. Someday the children she gave birth to will grow to be like her. She wants Tetsuro to think of a way to ensure the Galaxy Express’ rails aren’t in the path of her children. She says goodbye. Maetel says the protective barrier has disappeared. The blast approaches and hits the planet, destroying it. Later, as the 999 continues through space, Tetsuro tells Maetel that was a really kind planet. Maetel says it was a mother to a lot of children and knew the hearts of children well. Maybe it thought of Tetsuro like one of her own children. Tetsuro talks about how his mother protected him and was killed by Count Mecha. It is a sad thing to say goodbye.

TV Episode Summary:

The first episode is really faithful to the original manga chapter, one of the most faithful I’ve seen in a very long time. The dialogue may be a little longer, but I don’t see any major plot changes or cuts until very late in the episode, when after the spaceship crashes into the planet Tetsuro flashes back to his mother’s death. The Conductor reports to the 999 Locomotive about the spaceship crash and is granted time to investigate before the tremor wave blast is sent. The first episode ends shortly after Artemis exits the spaceship.

In the second episode, Artemis isn’t laid on a train car seat but rather in the medical room of the 999. As Artemis talks to Tetsuro and Maetel the Conductor senses the 999 shake and heads outside briefly, realizing the 999 is continuing to sink. Artemis tells Tetsuro and Maetel of her time being away, saying she’s lived a hard life the last few years. We flashback to her departing the planet in her amoeba-form, against her mother’s will as she desired a mechanical body. We see Artemis land on a civilized planet and go get a machine body. Artemis leaves with great joy, but explains she had to work to pay for the surgery and is shown working in a factory.

At first things were good. Artemis happily looks at her body’s reflection in a pond. Artemis continues to work every day, all day, fearing to stop. Eventually she felt like she couldn’t go on. Artemis passes out while working on the assembly line and is thrown into an area she describes as the scrap room. While being there she desired to see her mother again and plotted her escape every day after that. We see Artemis sneak her way to the spaceship. She eventually is spotted, but by that point it is too late and the spaceship blasts off. A cannon aims at the spaceship and hits a part of it.

Things return to the present and Artemis passes away as she does in the manga. When they bring Artemis outside to lay her to rest, part of the surface glows, as it to show them where to leave her. Beyond just going to the Conductor, Tetsuro rushes to the 999’s Locomotive to beg they not destroy the planet. He runs outside and falls to the ground sobbing, upset over his inability to save it. The planet starts talking to him here, rather than while he is in the 999 as in the manga.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Artemis – Yoshiko Matsuo

Lifeform A – Tomiko Suzuki (Episode 51 only)

Lifeform B – Kazuko Matsuzawa (Episode 51 only)

Headquarters Member (A) – Shigeru Chiba

Mechanical Car Voice – Kouji Totani (Episode 51 only)

Headquarters Member B – Seiji Satou (Episode 52 only)

Headquarters Member C – Kouji Totani (Episode 52 only)

Artemis’ Mother – Akiko Tsuboi (Episode 52 only)

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Of special note is that Artemis’ Mother/the planet shares the same voice actress as Tetsuro’s mother, which I felt was quite fitting. Kouji Totani and Seiji Satou have voiced a variety of minor characters in past episodes.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

A fairly good pair of manga chapters/episodes this time as the 999 approaches a planet that is a living lifeform! This concept itself isn’t unique; certainly we saw something similar like this earlier in the manga with “A Star Named Curiosity” (chapters 2-12/3-1), although the planet was mechanical rather than organic as it is here. I liked the idea here though, and rather than solely use it to comedic effect as was done in that prior chapter, we have a longer and more powerful storyline. The 999 encounters the planet through sheer accident as it is unexpectedly in their way as the 999 continues its journey. We see a whole bunch of the planet’s children come by, either because they were knocked loose during the first attack on the planet, or because she purposely sent them out to try and keep the 999 from crashing into it. Unfortunately the 999 stubbornly stays on course and ends up getting stuck. The planet of this episode is like a giant amoeba or gelatinous lifeform, kind of similar to the types of lifeforms we saw back in “Nuruba, Planet Without Form” (chapter 2-9). 

This pair of episodes was eventually turned into the third and final Galaxy Express 999 TV special, “Can You Love Like a Mother”, which aired between the 89^th and 90^th episodes. Motherhood is the core part of the storyline here. While the planet certainly is an unconventional type of mother, at least for us humans, it nonetheless is one and has sent probably thousands, perhaps millions of its children out into the galaxy. It takes extra care to soften the blow from the crash landing for both the 999 and Artemis’ spaceship. Artemis’ return to the planet is specifically to see her mother one last time before she dies, something I’m sure many would desire if they passed away before their parent did. For Tetsuro this has quite an effect. Obviously he is already someone who is very sympathetic to the plights of others, but here the fact that the planet, a mother, is going to be destroyed him troubles his greatly. And why wouldn’t it? The death of Tetsuro’s mother was the most upsetting event in his life and his desire to honor her memory is what spurns him on this journey. To see another mother killed would naturally be something he’d strongly object to.

Artemis’ role is expanded greatly within the TV episode. As usual, helping to pad out the length of the storyline I’m sure was a big factor, but I think it absolutely helps the storyline more. In the manga we never get an explanation why Artemis, despite being the daughter of this planet, has the form of a human. In the episode we see that she desired a mechanical body and eventually obtained one, which is why she looks this way. In the manga she is described as having a kind of translucent look to her (which is hard to come across); the episode handles this pretty effectively by having a blue tone to her skin. As with many side characters in the show her flashback is somewhat melancholy; she has a happy beginning and is very happy to attain her mechanical body, but has to go in a lot of debt to obtain it. I think back to someone like Spiral in the “Ulatores’ Mountain of Screws” episode (33). Unfortunately for Artemis her life seems a lot worse than Spiral’s was as she is forced to do never ending work in a factory and even with a mechanical body she starts breaking down because of it.

Overall it’s a fine storyline, one I always look forward to revisiting.