Ghost Station No. 13

Ghost Station No. 13

Manga Chapters 14-5 and 15-1

TV Episode 106

Manga Chapter Summary:

The 999 continues its journey through space. Tetsuro tells Maetel that he’s deathly bored by the same star view outside for so many hours. Maetel tells him it’s at least another 100 hours until their next station and Tetsuro feels like he’s going to die of boredom. She tells him this is a part of space where there’s no planets, asteroids or built stations. Maetel tells Tetsuro he passed the test of boredom long ago, but he feels it wasn’t that long a time then. She suggests talking to the Conductor, but Tetsuro says he’s busy in his room. Suddenly the Conductor floats into the train car, telling them because of the boredom he’s turned off the gravity device and they can swim around the 999 as if they were in a pool.

The two have fun doing this for a while, but suddenly the gravity turns back on and they both slam to the ground. Maetel claims it wasn’t her and they wonder who could have pulled the switch. They hear the sound of footsteps from the next train car approaching, but then they stop and go in the other direction. They head to the next train car but don’t find anything there. They wonder if it was due to their imagination, but then who turned on the gravity? The Conductor asks the Locomotive, but it claims the only life forms found on the train are that of the passengers. The Locomotive says they are stopping at a station in 2 minutes which surprises the Conductor as there is no scheduled stop in this part of space! In fact the Locomotive tells them it is already in the premises of a station. The Conductor heads back to Tetsuro and Maetel, saying the Locomotive must be wrong; there is no station here. However upon looking in front, they seen a large spherical station, labeled “Station No. 13” on the outside.

The Locomotive stops in Station No. 13, and the Conductor complains that the Locomotive is being irresponsible, stopping at a station it doesn’t know. The 999 shakes and the Locomotive says this station has a different type of control system, and it can’t stop safely. It tells the Conductor to manually send them back in reverse. The Conductor struggles with this, but ultimately the train is able to stop. Tetsuro looks outside and finds the station to be completely empty, although it feels really warm. A voice rings out, telling the passengers to get off. Maetel gets off, but the voice then tells Tetsuro she’s the only one allowed off and he must stay on board the 999. The Conductor holds Tetsuro from getting off and says he has an unpleasant feeling. The Locomotive says to be careful, as there is a life reaction here. It is as if they have been swallowed up by the station.

Maetel is instructed to go down an escalator into the center of the station. Maetel asks the voice if it is the prankster who turned the gravity back on. The voice claims that the one who did that was its sister. Maetel asks where its sister is now and it says on the train; she wants someone to play with. The Locomotive identifies that this station is effectively a mechanized person. We hear the voice of the station and its little sister, which plan on each having their own person to deal with. Tetsuro and the Conductor start hearing giggles from the other train car. The footsteps resume and the door opens, revealing a tiny, ghost-like little machine girl. She says her name is Crosalis and that Tetsuro has a funny face. Tetsuro starts making funny faces for her, causing her to laugh really hard.

The Locomotive meanwhile claims the life reaction can only be felt by Tetsuro and the Conductor; whatever is on the 999 isn’t really a living thing. It is a soul that is lost, without a body. The Conductor becomes frightened of there being a ghost on board. Meanwhile Tetsuro continues to make Crosalis laugh, by pulling off his clothes and proclaiming himself an underwear monkey. The Conductor worries as Maetel is still inside the station. The Locomotive tells the Conductor that a destruction order has been issued. The Central Administration of the Galaxy Express has decided to blow up the station.

Beams of light start heading through space towards the station. The Locomotive says they must leave here. Crosalis says she has to leave; her brother is calling her. Maetel appears again and the 999 takes off from the station. The beam blasts are coming, and the 999 doesn’t have the time to get out of the way. The station moves itself in front of the 999 and is struck, blowing up. Afterwards, Tetsuro asks Maetel if that was a machine person or a ghost. Maetel claims they were a brother and sister; their lives had come to an end but they longed for the 999 to come so she’d have a friend. Tetsuro wonders if the station protected them because he played with Crosalis, and Maetel thinks that was the case.

TV Episode Summary:

The TV episode is mostly faithful to the manga chapter, just adding in a few more details. The episode begins with the brother and sister talking to each other about how no one comes to where they are and how she wants a friend to play with. They spot a space train in the distance and wished it would stop here. The big brother, called Aron in the episode, tells Crosalis that he’ll stop the next train that comes by. After seeing Tetsuro and Maetel we again see Aron and Crosalis talk to each other. Aron has now become Station No. 13. Crosalis transfers herself into the station, it then travels through space.

Aron is represented by a glowing light within the station once the 999 makes it there and teleports Maetel away rather than having her go down an escalator. Maetel is kept captive at the center of the station by Aron. Aron requests Maetel help his sister. Aron needs the psycho-magnetic waves within Maetel’s body in order to enable Crosalis to have a physical form.

From here things proceed similarly to the manga chapter. While Tetsuro is goofing around, the Conductor worries that he’s been possessed by a ghost! We have more time with Tetsuro and Crosalis together; in particular we see Tetsuro and Crosalis eating with each other in the dining car; Crosalis also asks him to read her a book. When it decides to blow up the station, we see the Galaxy Express Administration fire its shot. The Conductor tells Tetsuro about the incoming destruction of the station, and Crosalis starts crying. Maetel is told by Aron that she’ll be released and is transported back to the 999. Crosalis’ physical form also disappears at this time.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Crosalis – Fuyumi Shiraishi

Brother – Toru Furuya

Mechanical Car Voice – Kouji Totani

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Fuyumi Shiraishi previously appeared as Suru in episode 11. Toru Furuya previously appeared as Zeda in episodes 47 – 48 and Tetsuo in episode 86. Beyond the 999 Locomotive, Kouji Totani has played a variety of minor characters in the show.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

This chapter begins with an extended period on the 999 with nothing to do. Tetsuro finds himself incredibly bored and Maetel makes a reference back to the boredom test she had Tetsuro undergo back in the “C6248’s Rebellion” chapter. This leads to a rather funny scene where the Conductor turns off the gravity and he and Tetsuro compete by swimming throughout the 999. From here we go to the heart of the chapter, which involves the spirits of a deceased brother and sister. The brother, Aron, has become a space station somehow (or maybe he was always that in the manga; the TV episode explains that he became the station but wasn’t always in that form) and is able to force the 999 to land inside it. By drawing upon Maetel’s energy (at least in the TV episode, her purpose of going in the station is unexplained in the manga), the sister, Crosalis is able to appear in a physical form.

Crosalis is very cute, coming off as a 4 or 5 year old girl and its fun to see her spending some time playing with Tetsuro. This is especially the case in the episode where they spend some more time together and get to do more things like eating in the dining car and reading a book. The episode also gives us some really bizarre and funny faces from Tetsuro. It is rare for Tetsuro to have another kid to play with, so it was nice to spend some time with this in this storyline. I wish it had lasted longer!

Alas, all good things must come to an end. The Galaxy Express administration decides to destroy the station, although does so rather impatiently while the 999 is still inside it. This could have resulted in the end of the 999, and even with it escaping, there isn’t enough time to get off the path of the oncoming blasts. Aron decides to sacrifice himself in order to save the 999, being thankful towards Tetsuro for spending time playing with his sister. Overall this was a pretty fun and light hearted storyline that I enjoyed a lot.