Life-Form Number Three

Life-Form Number Three

TV Episode 83

TV Episode Summary:

We are told how two planets, No. 1 Maya, and No 4, Zaba, fought passionately, and see various spacecrafts battling each other in space. Observers see that another one of the planets in the vicinity, No. 5, is red and appears as if it may soon explode as cracks appear throughout it. At that moment the 999 approaches. It comes to a sudden stop, and the Conductor nervously proclaims they are changing their next stop. The Locomotive tells the Conductor, Tetsuro and Maetel that they will head to planet No. 3 instead. They can’t simply pass by due to the ongoing battle. The battle continues to rage on in space. One of the pilots, Seth, lands his plane on the planet Zaya and is greeted by a woman, Rei at the airport. Seth is dedicated to fighting to the end. He goes to see his commander, who tells him that their world is coming to an end as planet No. 5 is about to explode. He tells Seth to take Rei and head to another planet. Seth’s commander thinks nothing will come of this war and their planet will be completely destroyed when planet No. 5 explodes. The escape rocket has only two seats and he chose the two of them due to his high expectation of them.

The 999 makes its way onto planet No. 3 and lands in a grassy clearing. A man and woman, watching it arrive, think they are saved. The Conductor tells Tetsuro and Maetel they will have to wait until either planet No. 5 explodes or the Mayans and Zabans cease their battle. The Conductor tells Tetsuro he can go outside, just to not walk too far from the train. Tetsuro heads outside and sees an odd furry frog, chasing it into the woods. Maetel calls out for Tetsuro and rushes into the jungle after hearing him scream. Maetel finds Tetsuro passed out. An ape-like man approaches and bashes Maetel with a club. Maetel wakes up later, finding that both her and Tetsuro’s passes have been stolen. Maetel thinks it was the ape-man who stole them. Maetel fears that if they stay on this planet too long, they will devolve, as that happens to this planet’s inhabitants. Tetsuro briefly thinks of devolved versions of him and Maetel swinging on a vine and says they can’t remain here. Tetsuro tells Maetel the Conductor wouldn’t let ape people trying to use their names on, but she says they could be mistaken to be devolved versions of them. They spot a rocket in the woods, which Maetel recognizes as belonging to the Zabans. Maetel says they should go inside and they head up the stairs into the rocket.

Maetel and Tetsuro find Seth and Rei inside the rocket. Seth is surprised to see them, saying he didn’t think any humans lived here. He admits they just came from Zaba and that planet No. 5 has just recently exploded. He and Rei claim they have come to this planet for an important purpose. We flash back to Seth’s commander telling Seth and Rei they have to continue their race on planet No. 3. They need to be careful as planet No. 3 is very dangerous and that there is the danger of devolving there. He says they have been working on a human reinforcement laboratory which they will have to complete and test on planet No. 3. We see the rocket take off and head to planet No. 3. Exploded remains from planet No. 5 soon strike Zaba and Maya, destroying both of them. Tetsuro tells them of his goal to go to Andromeda to get a free mechanical body, but that their 999 passes were stolen. After they leave, an ape man and woman, Rossa and Luna approach, saying they were from Maya and have become ape-like in only 3 months. They want to trade the 999 passes they stole for the space ship. Rossa thinks they won’t be won’t be able to board the 999, but Seth and Rei can. Seth refuses, wanting to instead try and work together here on this planet. He and Rossa fight and due to Rei pulling out a gun, Seth comes out on top and takes the 999 passes.

At the 999, the Conductor refuses to let Tetsuro and Maetel on without their passes. Seth runs up to them, handing back their passes. He tells them about the Mayan survivors stealing them. Suddenly Rei’s scream rings out. Seth heads back into the woods and Tetsuro and Maetel head in along with Seth. Rei tells Seth that Rossa and Luna escaped and have gone into the rocket. Inside, Rossa is unable to operate the rocket. He comes outside, demanding Seth come with him. Seth says the rocket won’t fly anymore and they should work together here. Maetel tells Rossa the war is over and they should figure out a way to survive together on this planet. Now they can realize the wish of the people on their planet, by joining forces here. Seth insists that they should try, although the Rossa is too afraid to do so and runs into the woods. Luna chases after them. Seth is insistent that he and Rei will be successful in their mission. Inside the rocket, Rei tries an experiment on Seth, causing him to be hit by a mysterious beam, which he screams over. On the 999, Maetel speaks to Tetsuro of the will of Seth and Rei to succeed. Seth thinks of his commander requesting he create a new civilization as he undergoes the painful ordeal. Maetel tells Tetsuro that Seth and Rei will become the new Adam and Eve on this planet. The narrator explains that from that day on, planet No. 3 became known as Life-form Number 3.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Commander – Makoto Terada (Mugihito)

Mechanical Car Voice – Kouji Totani

Seth – Yoichi Mitsuhashi (Koichi Hashimoto)

Rei – Chiyoko Kawashima

Rossa – Hiroya Ishimaru

Luna – Satomi Majima

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Koichi Hashimoto previously appeared in episode 39 as Kagero. Chiyoko Kawashima previously appeared as Claire (episode 3), Chromeria (episode 25), Santana (episodes 47 – 48) and Maria (episode 67). Hiroya Ishimaru previously appeared in episodes 75 – 76 as Geronimo. Satomi Majima previously appeared as a handmaiden (episode 24), Rosanne (episodes 44 – 45), Doa (episode 70) and a boy (episode 74).

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

Similar to the previous episode, this episode is not based on a Galaxy Express 999 manga chapter, but rather a chapter from Matsumoto’s “Four Dimensional World” manga, a chapter that shares the name of this episode. This episode tries to cram in a bunch of different storylines and ideas. We begin with a war between two planets, which the 999 almost finds itself between. Adding to the complication is another nearby planet about to explode. Seth and Rei, the central guest characters of the episode are sent off in a rocket to essentially become the new Adam and Eve on a nearby planet unaffected by the war. The whole concept of a new age Adam and Eve is an extremely cliché concept in science fiction, done numerous times in many mediums, although I suppose with 113 episodes this type of plotline was bound to come up eventually! Although the importance of Seth and Rei may be a bit overstated. Seth’s commander goes on about how important it is for them to continue humanity, but clearly humanity has settled on a great many planets, so if Seth and Rei are not successful (and as the episode ends we have no answer if they will be) humanity will still live on, it will just be the societies of Maya and Zaba that are gone. And some may say that is a good thing if both planets were as warlike as we saw in the episode.

I can’t stress enough how frustrating it was for me when yet again Tetsuro and Maetel have their 999 passes stolen. Especially so in this of all episodes, because this is a TV episode based on something other than the Galaxy Express 999 manga. There never would have been a pass stealing incident in the manga chapter to draw upon, yet they went to that well yet again. It’s rather insulting to the viewer for the writers of the show to foist this storyline on us once more. The passes are stolen by Rossa and Luna, a couple of ape people, which introduces to us the other big sci-fi concept of this episode, devolution. Rossa and Luna are revealed to be people from Maya, who like Seth and Rei fled to this planet, but in a mere 3 months have devolved. This concept I do find kind of interesting, and parts of the episode made me think as if we were watching Planet of the Apes, a movie franchise from the late 60s and early 70s that I enjoyed quite a lot, despite not being alive when they were originally made (to be fair I wasn’t alive when Galaxy Express 999 came out either). In the episode Seth pretty much represents the optimistic point of view, with Rossa the pessimistic one (Rei and Luna unfortunately have hardly any characterization at all and are largely stand in characters). I’d lean more towards the Seth side of things. You have to try, even if you’re not confident that you will succeed.

While it’s a rather crowded episode, I did enjoy it for the most part, although wish the pass stealing storyline had been left out.