The Saintly Woman Who Devours Souls

The Saintly Woman Who Devours Souls

Manga Chapter 12-3

TV Episodes 77 - 78

Manga Chapter Summary:

As the chapter begins the narrator explains how Tetsuro hates rain and snow. Those who like them are those who live under a safe roof. The 999 makes its way onto a new planet, which is experiencing a down pour. Tetsuro doesn’t like it and wonders if they can just pass through. The Conductor announces the stop as the “Cistern of Rain” with a stop time of 64 hours. Tetsuro finds the station to be full of moss once they arrive and the Conductor says it is because it rains 99% of the time here.

Tetsuro and Maetel make their way out of the station, with Tetsuro frustrated over the weather. They make their way to the hotel, which is barely visible due to the storm and find inside that rain is dripping everywhere. Despite all the dripping, Maetel is told this is the room with the least amount of rain coming in! As they lay down to go to bed, Tetsuro looks at the ceiling and realizes the rain is getting even worse. The rain starts bursting through the roof and Tetsuro claims it would be better to stay in the train. They look outside and realize the water level has raised up to their room.

Tetsuro sees a young woman wearing a black rain coat paddle by in a boat. Tetsuro asks to board so they can go to the station and she asks how they will pay. The woman demands all of their luggage and clothing as payment. Tetsuro says she’s taking advantage of people’s weaknesses and she claims she has no usage for those who won’t pay, paddling away. The water continues to burst in, destroying the hotel. Tetsuro is separated from Maetel during the chaos and tries to make his way to higher ground. Tetsuro spots a tower off in the distance and desires to head there as it looks like a sturdy, dry building. A sensor watches him as he climbs towards it.

Tetsuro soon reaches the tower and wonders if it is a home. A large flame is lit at the top of the tower and hasn’t gone out, despite the storm. Tetsuro heads inside and says sorry for being a disturbance. He looks around but sees no sign of people. Suddenly a voice shouts out to take off his hat and directs him towards an escalator which brings him up to an elevator. Tetsuro heads in the elevator and it stops at the 13^th floor. When the door opens Tetsuro finds the young woman with the black raincoat standing there. The woman, named Ark, brings Tetsuro down a hallway, saying Tetsuro will meet the master of the home.

Ark brings Tetsuro to a large room and tells her master, Cueflame that she has brought a living human being. Tetsuro is led in front of a giant circle of flames. A beautiful woman sits in the middle of them, holding a cup that is burning itself. She tells him to come closer so she can see his face and hear his voice. Tetsuro is scared of touching the flames, but finds that they’re not hot. Cueflame starts drinking from the cup, surprising Tetsuro as she is literally drinking the flames from it. Cueflame claims it is the most delicious drink in the world, the flame of life. The drink contains the flame of the soul. Tetsuro seems confused.

Ark shows up, saying dinner has arrived and carries a large chalice with a large flame within it. Cueflame claims it is rare to find a soul flame so beautiful and soft to the touch. Ark asks Tetsuro if he wants to see the kind of body that this flame had lived in. Tetsuro is afraid, wondering if it’s the body of a dead person. Ark claims it is from the body she brought back. Ark brings him towards an operating room, claiming they can remove the soul from the body without harming it. Tetsuro is shocked to find it is Maetel lying on the operating table!

Realizing Cueflame is going to drink Maetel’s soul, Tetsuro rushes back towards her room but Ark shoots him in the back, claiming only this home’s inhabitants can move around freely. Ark tells him not to worry; she won’t kill him as his flame of life would no longer taste delicious. Tetsuro realizes that she wants to consume his life as well. Tetsuro struggles and Ark shoots him again, dragging off his knocked out body.

The massive storm continues outside and we see Tetsuro laying next to Maetel on the operating table. Ark starts using a device that emits some beams into Tetsuro. We see a flame grow within a circular container. Ark is happy with its warmth and how it burns and carries it off, saying it would be a waste not to eat it in combination with a fine nebula wine. We cut to a wine room where Ark searches amongst a variety of wine selections on the wall. She pours herself some and drinks it as she looks at the flame in front of her. Another one of Cueflame’s servants comes in, telling Ark that the flame has to be replaced. Cueflame has found Maetel’s flame too bright to eat and desires to replace it, with that of a young man, Tetsuro’s.

Ark wonders what will be done with Maetel’s flame and the servant says she wishes Ark could eat instead. Ark pauses, then tells the servant she will change the plate as what she had served was rude towards Cueflame. Ark walks out, carrying Tetsuro’s flame with her. We cut to later. The servant returns to Cueflame’s room, carrying a glass with a flame in it. Cueflame is inpatient, wondering what Ark was doing. She claims it’s a beautiful flame. Cueflame drinks the flame and then starts choking, claiming it isn’t Tetsuro’s life. It is in fact the life of one with a mechanical body. We cut to the operating room where we see Ark’s body on the operating table instead of Tetsuro/Maetel.

Tetsuro wakes up on the 999 with Maetel in front of him. Maetel tells Tetsuro that Cueflame is dead, having consumed the life of a mechanical human, Ark. Tetsuro asks why Ark didn’t feed his flame to Cueflame. Maetel claims that when she saw the fire of Tetsuro’s life, she must have remembered her time with her own body. His was a powerful burning hot flame of someone young.

TV Episode Summary:

The TV adaption, taking place across episodes 77 and 78, maintains the overall storyline but adds a lot of content including new characters and more explanations/motivations. Within the first episode, we find that the name of the planet is changed to Rainy Pond. Upon finding out that Tetsuro doesn’t like the rain, the Conductor sings about it, claiming it is romantic. Tetsuro says he is sad because of his time on the Capital of Rain, the planet where he had met Mud Maetel and we see a brief flashback to that episode. One of the other passengers, a wealthy middle aged man, pushes off another passenger, an older man, from the train. The old man claims he is going on a pilgrimage of 88 sacred grounds. The pilgrim had asked the Conductor to reduce its time on this planet but had been denied.

While in the hotel room, Tetsuro asks Maetel what she thinks the pilgrim is afraid of. We see him praying in his room. The wealthy man comes in and tells him to keep it down; he wants to sleep. Tetsuro arrives and starts arguing with him, then yet another man, a younger one named Columbus stops by and says he also is trying to sleep. Tetsuro asks the pilgrim what he is praying about and is afraid of. The pilgrim claims he heard a story about a witch who devours human souls on a planet of rain. He says he’d have no regrets as he’s lived a long life, but he worries for those who are younger. This is why he wanted the 999 to depart early.

A young woman, Poem, comes in and tells Columbus she’s scared. Columbus says it isn’t real, but Maetel comes in and claims she’s also heard that story. The wealthy man says he’s not worried, saying he has some money and can buy himself out of it. Columbus punches him upon hearing the man say he got rich selling agricultural chemicals. Columbus claims those chemicals killed all the crops on their planet and they had to emigrate elsewhere. Columbus grabs at the man when the hotel starts shaking. They soon realize the hotel is starting to flood.  The wealthy man is especially afraid since he can’t swim. We get a shot of the station and the 999 being flooded and the 999 takes off into the air to escape the water.

When Ark shows up at the hotel, she claims she charges 100 gold coins for a ride rather than all of their clothes and luggage. Ark shoots at Columbus when he complains and when the wealthy man tries to get on, Columbus instead grabs the money and throws him in the water, causing him to float away. He then uses the man’s money to buy himself and Poem passage on the boat. Poem is hesitant but Columbus pushes her to get on with him. Tetsuro and Maetel refuse passage and the pilgrim doesn’t have any money to pay for it. Tetsuro angrily shouts at them as Ark paddles away.

The hotel is destroyed just after as in the manga. Tetsuro spots the pilgrim in the water as they float away and the pilgrim warns him of the witch and says to get to the 999. He is soon pushed away by the current. Rather than see Tetsuro climb to higher ground, we simply see him wake up on the shore. The elevator brings Tetsuro to the 150^th floor rather than 13^th. Cueflame calls herself the queen of this planet. It is Cueflame that shows Tetsuro the operating room rather than Ark, and all three of Maetel, Columbus and Poem are shown. The first episode ends here.

As the second episode begins, Cueflame tells Tetsuro she is going to consume Maetel’s soul, causing him to realize what the Pilgrim said was true. Cueflame planned on consuming the souls of the two others first, but says that she will consume Maetel first so she can become even more beautiful. Her goal is to be the most beautiful woman in the universe and for her beauty to last for eternity. To accomplish this she consumes the souls of young and beautiful people. Tetsuro realizes the flames in her chamber are souls of those on this planet and she says the souls on this planet aren’t good enough anymore, so she’s now taking the lives of the 999 passengers.

Tetsuro gets angry and pulls out his gun but Ark shoots it out of his hand. Cueflame tells Ark that Tetsuro is still too young for her to consume his life so she can let him live for now, and to prepare Maetel’s soul for her. After Cueflame leaves the old innkeeper Boron comes in, revealing she also is also a servant for Cueflame. She starts the soul extracting procedure and we see Maetel’s soul extracted. Ark explains that Maetel’s body is in suspended animation but she will die once Cueflame drinks her soul. Tetsuro fakes an injury enabling him to kick Boron in the face and knock her out.

Tetsuro finds Ark in the hallway and demands she return Maetel’s soul. Tetsuro and her fight each other and Tetsuro gets back Maetel’s flame, and also cuts Ark’s coat, causing him to realize she’s a mechanical human. We later see Columbus wake up in the operating room and he wakes up Poem. Poem wants them to check on Maetel, but Columbus is in a rush to go. As they open the door, Cueflame is standing there. Ark and Tetsuro talk about his desire to get a mechanical body. She claims she wanted her youth and beauty to last for eternity which is why she became mechanical, but she misses her flesh and blood body. It would take a lot of money to return to her human body, so she traveled to other planets and eventually became servant here.

Tetsuro asks Ark why Cueflame didn’t consume her soul and Ark claims that her body would reject a mechanical person’s flame. Cueflame told Ark she’d destroy her body if she didn’t work for her. Tetsuro flashes back to when he first met Ark. Tetsuro realizes this is why she was demanding money to board her boat. Tetsuro says she doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Ark raises her knife and tells Tetsuro to shoot her; she considers herself a waste of a human being. Tetsuro refuses and says he pities her. Boron shows up behind Tetsuro and shoots at him, causing him to flee.

Tetsuro makes his way to the elevator and heads down.  We have a scene where the 999 returns to the ground and the Conductor worries for Tetsuro and Maetel. Cueflame gets upset when her underlings report to her and is especially disappointed at losing the chance to consume Maetel’s soul. Columbus volunteers to find Tetsuro and get back Maetel’s flame in exchange for Cueflame letting him and Poem live and consume souls as well. Poem is hesitant but Columbus pushes her to do so. Poem refuses, saying human life shouldn’t be eternal. Cueflame laughs and agrees that she’ll let Columbus consume the flame of life.

Columbus heads down the outside of the tower on a rope. Cueflame stares at Poem and whispers an order to Boron. Tetsuro thinks of how he must get this flame back to Maetel. Columbus quickly finds him and knocks him out, bringing him and the flame back to Cueflame. Cueflame tells him Poem is in another room and tells Boron to immediately bring Columbus a flame to consume. Tetsuro tries to convince Columbus not to do it, but Columbus ignores him and consumes the flame. Cueflame immediately starts laughing, asking Columbus how the taste was. Columbus says it had no taste, and Cueflame claims it should have tasted and smelled like his lover! Columbus realizes and Cueflame reveals that he just drank Poem’s soul! Columbus runs off, screaming in horror. He throws himself out a window to his death.

Cueflame knocks out the angry Tetsuro and orders Ark to extract Tetsuro’s soul. Boron hands Cueflame Maetel’s soul, but she finds it too bright to drink as she had in the manga. Ark thinks of what Tetsuro told her as she lays him down in the operating room. We later cut to Boron finding the flame and bringing it to Cueflame. Cueflame immediately realizes its Ark’s flame when she drinks it and she blames Boron and starts strangling her. Maetel wakes up Tetsuro, as the entire tower starts shaking. Tetsuro sees Ark’s body next to them in the operating room. As they flee, Tetsuro and Maetel encounter Cueflame in the hall, who has aged considerably. She demands Maetel’s flame but the ceiling falls on her and they escape. The entire tower collapses soon after. Tetsuro and Maetel make it back to the 999, which takes off. The entire planet blows up after the 999 escapes from it.

The scene in the manga where Ark is in the wine room is cut. From a design standpoint, Cueflame has a blue flame as part of her body (as if she was on fire), a feature I didn’t notice in the manga chapter.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Old Person – Jouji Yanami (Episode 77 only)

Middle Aged Man – Seiji Sato (Episode 77 only)

Boron – Nobuyo Tsuda

Columbus – Shigeru Chiba

Ark – Seiko Nakano

Poem – Kazuko Matsuzawa

Cueflame – Miyuki Ichijou

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Jouji Yanami has had many previous appearances including the Dark Knight (episode 15), Father (episode 31), Inn Owner (episode 49), Bobambo (episodes 56 – 57) and Ramen Shopkeep (episodes 60 – 61). Seiji Sato has appeared as many minor characters. Nobuyo previously appeared as the hallucination demon in episode 3. Shigeru Chiba previously appeared as Adachi (episodes 60 – 61), Headquarters Member (episodes 51 – 52) and Ghost Hopper C (episodes 72 – 73). Seiko Nakano previously appeared as a baby in episode 55 and child in episode 6. Kazuko Matsuzawa previously appeared as minor characters in episodes 51 and 66.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

One of my favorite storylines in the show, this is also one of its darkest. The 999 comes across a planet that is constantly having a downpour of rain. My thoughts immediately went to the Mud Maetel chapter/episode, and the TV adapters clearly had the same thought as they flash back to it during the episode. Tetsuro is quite miserable, especially when he sees the bad state the hotel is in, but even a dripping roof is luxury compared to what eventually happens as the entire hotel is destroyed. The TV episode adds a couple of characters to this segment, an old pilgrim and a wealthy middle-aged man who comes off as quite the jerk. Presumably neither make it out of this alive (we don’t know for sure with the wealthy man, but he claims he couldn’t swim and is carried away by the water, so I doubt he made it out okay).

Tetsuro is able to make it out of the storm okay, and soon finds himself before a giant tower. Heading in, he is quickly found by Ark, the young woman who offered a boat ride earlier for money. Ark brings him to a giant room where we meet the story’s primary antagonist, Cueflame. The sheer concept of her drinking a flame is quite out there, and we soon find that she is literally drinking people’s souls. The manga chapter never explains why, making one wonder if it is simply because she likes the taste, or she is just that evil. The episode helps make better sense of this by explaining that consuming the souls of young, beautiful people will make her even more beautiful than she already is and give her eternal beauty.

The TV episode adds some more characters which leads to arguably the most morbid storyline in all of Galaxy Express 999; or at least the one that is most memorable to me with Columbus and Poem. You initially think that the two of them may be sympathetic guest characters, and Poem at least is. But Columbus comes off as a bit of a selfish jerk. We first see this when he pushes the wealthy man into the water and steals his money, which surely results in the man’s death. Later when they are captured, Columbus seeks to flee with Poem and won’t even bother checking to see if Maetel is okay. Discovering the benefits of drinking human souls, Columbus desires to do the same as Cueflame and makes a deal with her to be provided with them for recovering Maetel’s soul. He quickly is able to do so, but Cueflame tricks him into drinking Poem’s soul! Columbus is so horrified that he promptly jumps out of a window and kills himself.

Beyond this, the TV episode also considerably improves upon the manga in regards to Ark. In the manga, Ark’s saving of Tetsuro/Maetel and sacrifice of herself doesn’t feel earned. Maetel explains it is because of her time with Tetsuro reminding her for her time as a human. The episode gives us more interaction with Tetsuro and Ark and also provides us with Ark’s backstory. Like some other characters we’ve met (ex. Claire, Shadow), Ark regrets getting a mechanical body and wants to return to being human. Her guilt over being ordered to end Tetsuro’s life causes her to rescue the two of them and give up her own soul. That ends up giving us two characters committing suicide in a single episode! While in the manga we cut away as Cueflame starts choking, the episode shows us that merely drinking the soul of one mechanical person has undone the benefit of all the souls she’s consumed and ages her considerably. A rather convenient collapsing ceiling takes her out, but I doubt she’d have been much of a threat any longer anyway.

The chapter/episode contains a lot of imagery I like including the designs of Ark and Cueflame, as well as the tower and the giant room of flames. For those familiar with old school video games, Cueflame’s room of flames reminds me of Magus’ room in his lair in Chrono Trigger where you have a boss fight with him. The episode also adds a nifty looking triangular beam hallway. A few bloopers or oddities I noticed in the TV adaption was Maetel telling Tetsuro he only has to handle a damp hotel room for one night (yet they are there the equivalent of 3 Earth days) and Columbus climbing down the tower with a rope instead of using the elevator.

Spoiler Analysis:

The concept of the “flames of life” will be revisited in the Adieu Galaxy Express 999 movie. In that movie, those with mechanical bodies are shown to consume small capsules which are their equivalent of food. It is later revealed that the capsules are in fact created by extracting the life out of living humans via a giant factory on the planet Great Andromeda. This appears to be a concept solely used for this movie, as it never comes up in the manga or TV show as something used for these purposes, nor the first Galaxy Express 999 movie.

Cheyenne, The Nation of Water

Cheyenne, The Nation of Water

Manga Chapter 12-2

TV Episodes 75-76

Manga Chapter Summary:

Tetsuro and Maetel notice the 999 making strange noises as it approaches its next station and the Conductor notices that the speed has dropped. Suddenly the 999 goes off its rails and a stop request is received by the Locomotive. The Locomotive claims it is a landing request being demanded by a nearby planet. The 999 heads there, to a planet covered by a giant ocean. The 999 heads under the water and the train’s shield breaks, with water leaking through. Sensing that things are out of order, the 999 ascends out of the ocean and lands on a nearby island where it comes to a stop. Tetsuro and the others notice that the island, while containing some destroyed machinery, has clean air and fresh fruit; it is like a paradise, although they are completely surrounded by water.

Looking into the water, Tetsuro and Maetel find there is a giant civilization there, with numerous tall buildings. A craft starts ascending from the water, causing warning messages from the Locomotive to go off. We see the craft head all the way out into space, then descend towards them. Maetel compares it to a satellite sent to space that fell to Earth. Suddenly several people wearing scuba gear come out of the water. They claim to have been sent by the Prime Minister and President, Waterpress, who told them to invite whoever had landed. Tetsuro and Maetel are worried about being able to survive underwater, but they have brought special underwater suits for them. While they feel a bit heavy, the suits are able to be worn by them and they get on the craft and head underwater.

Tetsuro and Maetel realize that water for this civilization is like air to them. As they make it into a building, they spot an attack outside by natives. The men claim that this is those from the Cheyenne Fish that are rebelling. They tell Tetsuro and Maetel to come with them as they have a party prepared. Along the way Tetsuro and Maetel are introduced to Waterpress, who is revealed to be a small, old man. He asks them how their underwater suits are and brings them to a large room where they are served a large banquet! While they can’t remove their underwater suits, Tetsuro and Maetel are able to consume drinks by inserting them into slots in their helmet.

Tetsuro drinks too much and passes out. He and Maetel wake up in a translucent sphere in Waterpress’ laboratory where they are able to breathe air. Waterpress pulls a switch causing the room to be filled with air, and he puts on a water suit so he can keep breathing. Maetel asks why they have invented such a thing and he says they need to escape from this area, into space. Suddenly there is a big explosion; it is an attack from the Cheyenne Fish. Waterpress leads Tetsuro and Maetel to a long vehicle where he claims important things are stored. The craft departs the building, then the water itself. The underwater city collapses as they depart.

Along the way Waterpress tells Tetsuro and Maetel that they sent a rocket into space several times but it failed, causing him to force the train here. His people are going to escape on the 999, which he claims is now their property. They make it to the island and many people get out of the craft, into the 999. One of the men in a watersuit decides to attack and threaten Waterpress, blaming him for making the ocean such that life can’t live it in any longer. The man, a Cheyenne Fish, claims that Waterpress’ people invaded this planet, coming from another marine based planet. The Cheyenne Fish helped them and taught them, but were taken advantage of. He is angry about Waterpress and his people leaving now, saying they should stay and help them make the water clean.

Waterpress signals to his people on the train, who shoot the Cheyenne Fish man in the head. Waterpress then threatens Maetel, forcing the Conductor to have the 999 take off.  Several of the Cheyenne Fish watch from the water, hoping that Waterpress’ people end up going to hell. The 999 makes it into space. Waterpress asks Tetsuro to head to the other train car, as he and his people want to talk about where they’ll be going, and says they’ll have the 999 go there. Suddenly there is a large explosion of water coming out of the train car! Tetsuro looks inside and discovers everyone dead, their water-tight suits burst open. Maetel says it must have been the change in the atmosphere and air pressure that did it. Tetsuro, the Conductor and Maetel talk about if a water based planet like this was destined for those who polluted their world. Tetsuro wonders if the Earth will be clean if only mechanized people live on it.

TV Episode Summary:

This chapter is spread across two episodes in the TV adaption. In the first episode, the island that the 999 lands on doesn’t appear to have any plant-life to it. Tetsuro and Maetel see what appears to be a track to launch a rocket. The Conductor comes out and says the train detects life on this planet. When the craft is launched from the water, it just lands on the island; nothing goes out into space. The men who come out from the craft admit it was they who forced the 999 here. There is less friendliness between the parties in the episode, Tetsuro in particular seems quite angry. Along their way to the underwater city, Tetsuro and Maetel notice a total lack of any other life such as seaweed or fish. The Cheyenne Fish launch an attack while they are still in the craft and one of the men accompanying them is killed by them.

We have a new scene with the Cheyenne Fish where they live. Geronimo, the one who led the attack is criticized by his brother Navarro, who claims they need the technology of the others. Geronimo is not willing to forgive them, although he is told to give up his weapon. Geronimo refuses and the two fight. Geronimo goes says he will go and tells his brother to take care of Suzie, one of the women there. While in his lab, Waterpress tells Maetel and Tetsuro that their ocean has run out of fish and other life which is why they want to leave. They created a rocket and sent it into space, but it blew up, hence them forcing the 999 to come here (this is explained a bit earlier than it is in the manga). Tetsuro refuses to cooperate so Waterpress has water start pouring into the sphere. Maetel says they’ll do what they want and the water is drained.

While Waterpress brings Tetsuro and Maetel to a long craft that enables them to leave, the Cheyenne Fish-led attack that causes them to flee there is cut. While the underwater city is destroyed in the manga too, here we see Waterpress pushing a button to cause it to blow up and he claims it is because he doesn’t want the Cheyenne Fish having it. The Cheyenne Fish watch and are angry as they helped build the city.  Navarro has decided that now is the time to fight against Waterpress’ people. Suzie wants him to make up with Geronimo, but he refuses. Geronimo takes the role of the man who wore a watersuit and attacks Waterpress on the surface. He speaks of how his parents helped build their city, then Waterpress had them killed. Waterpress’ people ate everything edible in the ocean until they went extinct. Waterpress begs for him to spare him and says he’ll return things to the way they were. He shakes hands with Geronimo, but his hand has electricity running through it, causing Geronimo to be killed. The first episode ends as the 999 takes off from the planet. We see Navarro holding the body of Geronimo, with Suzie behind him.

The second episode throws out the original ending of the manga and is entirely new footage. Tetsuro, Maetel and the Conductor are held at gunpoint in the 999. Waterpress comes into talk to them, saying they’ve found another water-based planet they can head to. Tetsuro angrily yells and is threatened with death. The 999 Locomotive sends out a distress signal and the Galaxy Express administration sends out an armored train car. We return to the Cheyenne Fish who are mourning the death of Geronimo. Navarro speaks to his people, telling them he was naïve about them being able to use Waterpress’ technology. He swears to chase them down and avenge his brother. The crowd around him all agree and promise to join in. They are concerned by their lack of any ability to fly into space though. Navarro isn’t concerned. He and his people get in water-tight suits and prepare a shuttle for launch into space, a spaceship left behind by Waterpress. His people are worried as they always failed trying to launch into space in the past. Navarro considers this their only option and says they don’t have to join him. Suzie says she’ll head with him and although he wants her to stay behind she eventually convinces him. Others join behind them.

The rocket blasts off into space and the equipment starts going out of control once they make it there. Navarro isn’t worried and says he’ll pilot the rocket manually. Things soon calm down and he says they’ll head right after the 999. Meanwhile the armored car makes its way close to the 999 and fires a shot off at it. The 999 starts shaking and is temporarily knocked off its track before resetting itself and continuing on. The armored car’s crew looks at camera footage of the 999, realizing its passengers are held hostage. Waterpress tells the Conductor to warp the 999 or he’ll kill the passengers. The Locomotive refuses the request at first but continues on. The armored car crew decides to stop the 999 by destroying its Locomotive, but the 999 is able to activate the warp. This ends up only altering the direction of the 999 though.

The Conductor is able to surprise Chaward, one of Waterpress’ men and grab his gun. He heads back to the train car and points his gun at Waterpress, forcing the others to give up their gun. Maetel spots the rocket piloting by the Cheyenne Fish approaching. The armored car crew orders them to stop, and to not board the 999, but they do so anyway. Navarro and several other men board the 999, surprising Waterpress that they were able to use his rocket. Navarro says he regrets not going with the actions of his brother. Chaward wakes up and heads back towards the train car. Navarro is about to kill Waterpress, but Tetsuro tells him he’ll be punished if he kills someone on the 999. Instead, Maetel suggest they hand them over to the armored car. Navarro says their planet is destroyed and he doesn’t care what happens to him now. Tetsuro tries to stop him.

Meanwhile, Chaward comes up behind the Conductor and knocks him out, taking back his gun. Shots are exchanged between the Waterpress and Cheyenne Fish people. Waterpress grabs Suzie and runs out of the train car with his men. The armored car again issues warnings to the 999. Waterpress and his men demand the Conductor cut off the train car that the Cheyenne Fish are in. Back in their train car, Maetel bandages Tetsuro. Navarro’s mean realize the plan of the Waterpress people. The Conductor works on cutting off the train car. Navarro wonders what they should do with Suzie held hostage. Tetsuro wants to attack from outside the train car. Despite how dangerous it is, he feels this is his only way to continue his journey to get his mechanical body. He tells Navarro he wants to return to Earth and help make it a better planet for everyone.

Navarro thinks back to a conversation with his brother about how they’ll make their planet a better place. Navarro tells Tetsuro he wants to help him, and help uphold a promise to his brother. Maetel hands Tetsuro an earring to use. Tetsuro and Navarro head outside and crawl up over the train car. Tetsuro makes faces, distracting Waterpress’ people long enough for Navarro to come in and kill Waterpress’ men. Waterpress starts begging like he had towards Geronimo but Navarro says he’s not buying it. Waterpress lunges for a gun and Navarro shoots him. Another of Waterpress’ soldiers comes in and through the help of Maetel’s earring they are able to take him down. Navarro thanks Tetsuro for being able to avenge his brother. He says they’ll return to the Nation of Water after the armored car’s investigation. They will work hard to return the ocean to how it was. Tetsuro waves goodbye to the rocket as it takes off. Maetel tells Tetsuro how his courage was able to save other’s lives. Tetsuro says he just did what came natural to him. Maetel says things like that don’t come natural to everyone. Life in space is extremely difficult.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Geronimo – Hiroya Ishimaru

Navarro – Akio Nojima

Suzie – Sumi Shimamoto

Waterpress – Isamu Tanonaka

Chaward – Hiroshi Masuoka

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Akio Nojima played Young Man in episode 26. Isamu Tanonaka has had several previous appearances, typically as old men. This includes Hanako’s Father (episode 10), Subari (episode 17), Delmukade (episode 38) and a Cook (episode 53). Hiroshi Masuoka previously played a policeman in episode 40, Gudara in episode 59 and Gandel in episode 69.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

This chapter features a rare instance where the 999 doesn’t go to a scheduled stop, but rather is forced to land on a planet, called the Nation of Water (as named in the episode). Here we find two different civilizations, a technologically advanced race led by a man named Waterpress, and the local “natives” called the Cheyenne Fish. The parallel to real life is incredibly obvious. Waterpress’ people are an analogy to imperialistic colonizers such as the British, Spanish or French while the Cheyenne Fish are the native people. Much like in real life, Waterpress’ people have completely taken advantage of the Cheyenne Fish. Although at least unlike in real life they haven’t completely wiped them out as often was the case, albeit at times unintentionally (such as through the spread of disease). Waterpress and his people are incredibly selfish. They come off as parasites, having completely used up all the resources on this planet and now that they’re done with it, they plot to simply go to another planet to do the same. Matsumoto helps show his disdain for the character by making Waterpress very short and ugly; he also has a high pitched cartoonish voice in the episodes.

Ultimately, the fate of Waterpress and his people ends fairly quickly though. Intent on going to another planet, the change in air pressure by heading out into space causes all of their water-filled suits to rupture, causing them all to immediately suffocate and die. This is an ending that is really similar to one we saw in “A Tale of Endless Summer” not all that long ago, which is quite unfortunate. It seems like Matsumoto knew the plot he wanted to build up, but not how to end it, so he resorts to an ending so similar to one we had only around 10 chapters back or so.

The TV episode makes radical changes. I was surprised to see just how fast the first episode made its way through the material, basically covering all but the last 10 pages or so of the manga. The second episode thankfully throws out the original ending and instead has the 999 pursued by multiple parties, both the Cheyenne Fish and the Galaxy Express Administration. The net result is a somewhat tense stand-off, similar in nature to what we got in the TV version of the “Rebellion of C62” chapter. Alas, that was just 7 episodes prior, so again we kind of get a repeat of a previous storyline here. The fact that the Cheyenne Fish were able to use the rocket that Waterpress and his people were unable to comes off as a bit ridiculous, although we do at least have some support earlier on that the Cheyenne Fish helped Waterpress’ people build up their civilization here before being betrayed.

The episode provides us a nice moment when the Conductor is able to at least temporarily play the hero, outsmarting Waterpress’ subordinate Chaward and seizing his gun, although the tables are eventually turned. We do get the oddity of Tetsuro going outside the 999 without a space suit in the final attempt to defeat Waterpress, although I assume the unsaid explanation is that it was within the 999’s barrier; basically what also enables Tetsuro to open the window of the 999 without being suffocated.

I think the net result is that this was a story, both in the manga and the TV episode that had some promise to deliver an environmental message but relies too heavily on previously used plot concepts to be all that effective.

Africa the Great Dark Nebula

Africa the Great Dark Nebula

Manga Chapters 11-5 and 12-1

TV Episodes 72 - 73

Manga Chapter Summary:

The 999 approaches a dark nebula in space that is shaped like the continent of Africa. Maetel says it is called the African Dark Nebula. The Conductor comes in, announcing their next stop as “Kilimanjaro”, with a layover time of 28 hours. Maetel tells Tetsuro it has the same name as Mt. Kilimanjaro, a mountain in Tanzania. The 999 enters the nebula, and everything around the 999 is dark. They eventually pass an asteroid which Maetel claims is nameless. She says there are many planets in this nebula, as well as stars. The objects in the nebula float around like larvae in a beehive. Tetsuro starts getting bored due to their inability to see anything. The Conductor notices the door behind him open. A gloved hand comes out, and waves up and down. Tetsuro hears a noise from the other train car and runs in, finding the Conductor missing, with his clothes on the floor. Tetsuro wonders if he is wandering around naked. Maetel says they should go to the Locomotive.

Suddenly there is a bright light shining; it is a trio of suns glowing outside the train. Tetsuro stares straight at them, temporarily blinding himself. The Locomotive says the space shield has been breached and many unidentified lifeforms are invading its orbit. When we next see the 999, it has come to a stop in a snowy landscape. Maetel and Tetsuro are now wearing sunglasses to help shield their eyes from the triple sun. Maetel spots a number of dark humanoid forms in the distance with antenna, but they quickly vanish, before Tetsuro sees anything. Suddenly Maetel disappears! Tetsuro searches for her throughout the train car in a frenzy. He goes outside and rubs snow in his eyes but fears opening them again due to the triple suns. Tetsuro heads to the Locomotive, asking what to do. It says it doesn’t know, and that the train is surrounded. Tetsuro looks outside and sees several of them.

Suddenly one of the humanoid figures with antennas appears on the train! It disappears as quickly as it appeared, then appears again! The figure tells Tetsuro they are Ghost Hoppers. Tetsuro wonders what a Ghost Hopper is and looks up grasshopper in a book. The Ghost Hopper keeps appearing and disappearing, but Tetsuro realizes it is because their bodies are extremely thin, like a piece of paper, making them vanish when they turn to the side. Tetsuro struggles with the Ghost Hopper, trying to grab it and demanding to know what happened to Maetel and the Conductor. Tetsuro is knocked out by behind. The Ghost Hoppers note that Tetsuro is a different shape than the others but wonder if he’s related. They decided to take him with them, dragging him out of the train.

Tetsuro later wakes up in a dark room which the Ghost Hoppers say is their laboratory. It is pitch dark; they claim they don’t need light and it’s their enemy. Tetsuro hears the Conductor nearby, and he claims they are going to cut up his body! Tetsuro is only able to see his eyes but not the rest of his body. Tetsuro sees Maetel nearby as well. Any attempt to cut up Maetel doesn’t work and she gets up. The Conductor starts laughing, saying their machines have no effect on their body. Tetsuro realizes the Conductor is standing there naked. Maetel asks the Ghost Hoppers what they are going to do with them. They say they are experimental animals to them, all part of a experiment to help develop the science of Kilimanjaro. At that moment we see a lot of the Ghost Hoppers around the 999, picking up several of the train cars with some devices. They hope to disassemble it, especially the computer in the locomotive.

Tetsuro and Maetel listen as they hear orders go out about disassembling parts of the 999. Galaxy Express headquarters identify that there was an accident within Africa and that the 999 has been destroyed. As such, they decide to abandon the 999 and construct a new one. The Ghost Hoppers take Tetsuro, Maetel and the Conductor outside. Maetel has given the Conducter her coat and hat to wear. The Ghost Hoppers tell them they are bringing them to the Holy Queen of their planet. The Ghost Hoppers show them a relic of the indigenous people on this planet, a club. Maetel also spots an old abandoned structure atop a nearby hill. Maetel and Tetsuro realize the Ghost Hoppers are not the indigenous people of this planet but rather came from somewhere else.

Suddenly a triangular shaped craft descends from the air. There is a large explosion; both the triangular craft and the Ghost Hoppers have vanished! Tetsuro and the others make their way to the remaining passenger cars of the 999. Maetel and the Conductor are able to put back on their normal clothes. Tetsuro smells food. The Conductor heads to the end of the car and realizes the dining car is still attached. A variety of different dishes are all laid out across the tables. They initially wonder if this is a dream, but they eat and the food is real. They suddenly start feeling sick and pass out; the food must have had poison in it. They hear the voice of a woman who says she is the Holy Queen of the Ghost Hoppers.

Some time passes by. Tetsuro and the others wake up and the 999 has been put back together! The 999 has departed Kilimanjaro and is already in space. They hear the Queen’s voice again; she says she caused a rebellion amongst the Ghost Hoppers, and was able to reconnect the train and start it. Tetsuro says usually it is the people who rebel against their rulers, but she claims she rebelled against her people. The Ghost Hoppers were only able to think of themselves and viewed other living creatures as experiment subjects. She is forced to wander the universe alone, and says Maetel should know her feelings, those feeling of wandering in space regretting forever. The Holy Queen says goodbye and we see a small rocket take off from the 999. Tetsuro notices the tears of the Holy Queen on the seats nearby.

TV Episode Summary:

These chapters are adapted across TV episodes 72 and 73. The first episode is fairly faithful to the original chapter, with only a few changes.  The first TV episode begins with the Conductor holding a map of the Earth but having it fall out the window. The narrator explains to us how many years prior, explorers visited the continent of Africa, comparing it to the exploration of space. We see Maetel provide Tetsuro the sunglasses he is wearing once they arrive on Kilimanjaro. We see the 999 descend towards Kilimanjaro, in the manga we just cut to the 999 already there.

The Ghost Hopper that first appears by Tetsuro tells him they are this planet’s version of a grass hopper; in the manga Tetsuro speculates this and looks it up in a book. Upon discovering that the Conductor is naked, but he can’t see him, Tetsuro starts fooling around, trying to touch him until Maetel tells him to stop. In the episode Maetel demands the Ghost Hoppers release them when they tell them they are experiment subjects.

In the second episode, we see Tetsuro and the others in the Ghost Hopper’s lab and see Maetel giving the Conductor her coat, this is just cut to in the manga. While walking through the snow, Tetsuro finds a small hammer in place of the club. The Ghost Hoppers explain how they traveled to Kilimanjaro, searching for a planet to live. In a flashback we see a bunch of indigenous people that look to be like cavemen approach the Ghost Hopper’s craft. The Ghost Hoppers, who still appear as humans here, fire beams at the indigenous people, killing them. The Queen appears on the bridge, telling them to stop. The indigenous people were all wiped out.

The Ghost Hoppers decide to then create an artificial sun to adjust the climate of this planet. The Queen asks the military commander to stop this but he lets it go on as planned. Their device fires a beam into the sky, creating the triple sun, but this changes them all to their current form. The Queen says they can no longer abuse science like this, even though they want to turn themselves back to normal. The Queen then headed off to the mountains on her own. Tetsuro and the others are forced into a cell, which is actually a large area within a hollowed out mountain. Maetel says asking the Queen for help is their only hope. Tetsuro notices there are a bunch of bones around as well, scaring the Conductor. Maetel thinks these are the bones of the indigenous people.

We see a meeting held at the Galaxy Express Administration offices. In the manga we did hear some verbal reports, but didn’t see any people. The triangular craft appears as it does in the manga and we find the Queen is either on it or controlling it as we hear her talk out of it to the other Ghost Hoppers, wanting them to stop. We see the triangular craft shoot a beam at the laboratory of the Ghost Hoppers. It then fires beams at the 999 train cars and starts lifting them off of the ground, which Tetsuro and the others see happen. The other Ghost Hoppers prepare energy cannons which fire. The Queen fires back with the triangular craft. She then blows open the caged door holding in Tetsuro and the others. This enables them to head back to the 999 as they do in the manga.

The Conductor tries to report to the Galaxy Express Administration via the Locomotive, but it tells him they can’t communicate outside the nebula and the tracks have also been cut off. When Tetsuro and the others eat the food and pass out, they claims it is because of the stress the triple suns have caused. The Queen appears there, and when they wake up the 999 is in the process of taking off from the planet. At the end when the Queen departs, it is on the triangular craft rather than the rocket we see in the manga, presumably because it didn’t blow up. We have a brief scene where the Conductor reports back to the Galaxy Express that they are still alive.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Ghost Hopper A – Kan Tokumaru

Ghost Hopper B – Seiji Sato

Ghost Hopper C – Shigeru Chiba

Mechanical Car Voice – Kouji Totani

Queen – Toshiko Fujita (Episode 73 only)

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Kan Tokumaru previously appeared as Clock in episode 8. Seiji Sato has appeared as a variety of minor characters throughout the show. Shigeru Chiba appeared as Adachi in episodes 60 – 61, as well as Headquarters Member A in episodes 51 – 52. Toshiko Fujita appeared as Bee in episodes 54 – 55 and the Police Chief in episode 62.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

This chapter/pair of episodes features the 999 visiting a nebula that has the shape of the continent of Africa. It is a rather interesting location as it is a dark cloud in space that is large enough to contain many stars and planets within it. Eventually the 999 makes its way to the planet Kilimanjaro. For a place based on Africa you’d expect a hot, desert-like environment or some sort of wilderness, but instead it is a world covered with snow! The sky contains triple suns, bright enough to temporarily blind Tetsuro, although they don’t appear to heat up the world at all.

We soon meet the planet’s inhabitants, the Ghost Hoppers. The concept of the Ghost Hoppers is a really interesting one. From one angle, they appear humanoid, but they also have the width of a piece of paper, so if they turn it is as if they become completely invisible! It was fun to see Tetsuro struggling with them at times, as if he was fighting with a cardboard cutout of a human being. Within the the episode, the Ghost Hoppers say they are this planet’s version of grass hoppers and Tetsuro looks them up in the manga chapter, but that doesn’t really make any sense as they aren’t insects. In fact in the TV episode, we have footage showing they originally looked just like normal human beings, but the creation of the triple sun caused their form to change to what they are now. It was unfortunate to see the flashback with the planet’s native population completely wiped out. The overall aim of the Ghost Hoppers is to perform experiments. We don’t really get a clear reason in the manga, but in the TV episode it is to return to their original form. They are willing to perform experiments on other living, intelligent creatures; kinda makes us feel like what it would be like to be the animals that human beings currently experiment upon.

The Ghost Hoppers try to drill into our heroes, only for it to not work at all due to being too weak. This reminds me of something we saw not that long ago, in the “Tale of Endless Summer” chapter when an insector tried to boil Tetsuro alive but the water wasn’t hot at all compared to what he was used to. Incidentally enough the voice actress for that character reappears here as the Queen.

This was a rare chapter where the Conductor has to go without his normal clothing, although when he is completely naked it is in a dark room so we see his eyes as we normally would. I would assume he’d be completely invisible if he appeared in the light. It was kind of fun to see him wearing Maetel’s outfit. In the TV episode order, following right after this episode is the “Planet of 1,765,000,000 Beggars” storyline which also features another character wearing Maetel’s clothes.

Ultimately our heroes are able to make it out okay due to the efforts of the Queen of the Ghost Hoppers. In a rare inversion, we don’t have the subjects rebelling against the Queen, but rather she rebels against her own people and decides to help the 999 and leave the planet entirely. The TV episode provides further background, showing she was against many of the Ghost Hopper’s previous actions.