Yayabol's Small World

Yayabol’s Small World

Manga Chapter 13-3

TV Episodes 94 - 95

Manga Chapter Summary:

The narrator explains how Andromeda is a large nebula with an approximate 100,000 light year diameter. The 999 heads through an area with a variety of oddly shaped asteroids. Maetel describes it as Andromeda’s version of the Grand Canyon. The 999’s locomotive makes a report to the Galaxy Express Administration; some outside force is modifying the space orbit in the area and the rails have been twisted. The Administration bureau thinks some sort of sabotage has been involved. Maetel, Tetsuro and the Conductor head to the locomotive to ask where they’re heading. The Conductor was expecting “Marzaboya”, but the Locomotive says they are instead heading to “Yayabol’s Small World”. Maetel says she knows Yayabol, he is a very famous person who built his own station. The Conductor seems nervous.

The 999 makes its way to the planet, which looks like a smaller version of Earth. Its resemblance gets Tetsuro upset as his feelings go back to his time on the real Earth. He swears he’ll get eternal life and fight against those who were killed by those with mechanical bodies. The 999 heads into the atmosphere and the planet continues to look like a miniature version of Earth. In fact the planet is so small that the surface itself is round as they step out of the station. The narrator explains that Yayabol’s small world resembles the old Earth. Everyone lives in the southern hemisphere, with the exception of Yayabol, who lives in a house in the northern hemisphere. Tetsuro and Maetel head to Yayabol’s designated hotel. When they step inside the hotel there are 2 women waiting for them, carrying a message from Yayabol to Maetel. The message is actually an invitation to Tetsuro to meet Yayabol.

Maetel instructs Tetsuro to take a bath first. Tetsuro doesn’t want to go if he has to take a bath. Maetel says he’ll have to walk there as she can’t arrange a car. It’s about a 10 kilometer walk. Tetsuro heads out, following the path towards Yayabol’s house. Suddenly a shot rings out and hits Tetsuro in the head. A large flying craft passes over his passed out body. Meanwhile, the Conductor and the 999’s Locomotive talk about there being a fake signal leading them to this location. The Locomotive wants to leave immediately, but the Conductor tells it Maetel and Tetsuro are still at the hotel. The Locomotive reveals there are no designated hotels here, it must belong to Yayabol. The Locomotive blames the Conductor for Maetel and Tetsuro being here and is going to leave to catch up with its designated travel schedule.

Meanwhile back at the hotel, a woman shows up at the door telling Maetel she’s here to pick her up and bring her to Yayabol. Maetel is brought before Yayabol, a small dark haired man with glasses in a business suit. The 999 departs the planet right above them, surprising Maetel, but Yayabol seems unfazed by it. Tetsuro wakes up in an old fashioned room with some food laid out before him. The 999 meanwhile continues its journey into space. The Locomotive is looking for the Conductor, who isn’t present. At that moment, the Conductor is laying down in one of the train cars; feeling de-motivated and doesn’t mind getting reported. He feels passenger safety is the first principle of the Galaxy Express. The Locomotive makes loud noise, shaking him up. He goes to the Locomotive and still wants to do something about Tetsuro and Maetel.

Meanwhile, Maetel and Tetsuro sit down for a meal with Yayabol, who makes up an excuse about how he brought Tetsuro here. Yayabol says he is impressed by how strong Tetsuro is despite having a bad face and small body. He reminds him of himself when he was young. They spot the 999, which is returning to the planet! The Locomotive and Conductor talk about it on the 999, and how they are avoiding the rules. Yayabol says Tetsuro’s future is rosy and questions if he will be a scientist, philosopher, novelist or politician. He invites them to eat more, as mechanical robot arms bring them more food. Tetsuro is impressed by the food. Yayabol says he just remembered something and leaves the room. Tetsuro likes sweets, but finds what Yayabol has given them is too much. Suddenly a trap door underneath Tetsuro opens and he falls into a pit below. Maetel says he won’t die, but asks if he has his gun. Maetel tells Tetsuro she’ll be going back to the 999 and says he’ll be able to come back safely.

Maetel heads back to the hall where Yayabol is waiting and tells him Tetsuro is in his basement, and possesses one of only 4 warrior guns in space. Maetel departs and heads back to the station. Yayabol heads to right above the pit where Tetsuro is and taunts him, saying he’s jealous of Tetsuro’s ability to have experiences he hasn’t been able to, and is especially angry at the prospect of Tetsuro obtaining a newer machine body and living longer than him. Yayabol tells Tetsuro he’s got no future and is going to die now.

Suddenly there is a large explosion at Yayabol’s house. We see Tetsuro fleeing from it on a vehicle, shooting back at a vehicle pursuing him. Tetsuro says he was able to blow it up via the fuel tank, which was underground. Those at Yayabol’s home were weak, so he didn’t have much trouble. Maetel says this is a world of one who is jealous of young people growing up, a merciless and unsalvageable man. Yayabol refused to recognize the future and life of others. We see the 999 take off while Yayabol screams at it out of the wreckage of his home. On the 999, the Locomotive proclaims that because Yayabol’s Small World doesn’t exist as a station, it will act as if the stop never existed and they just got delayed.

TV Episode Summary:

This storyline is adapted across two episodes. The first episode begins with Yayabol going in a room to talk to his mother, who tells him about a boy coming on the 999, Tetsuro. She considers Yayabol to be the best boy in the universe, but Tetsuro has a characteristic superior to his and he should kill him. Yayabol initially hesitates but his mother starts glowing and he says he’ll do it.

We have a little more footage with the Galaxy Express administration offices having trouble investigating where they are. Once they hear they are going to Yayabol’s world, Maetel and the Conductor are a bit more worried about it than they are in the manga. When they reach Yayabol’s world Tetsuro flashes back to times with his mother and her death. As they walk out of the station Tetsuro says he likes feeling big and important. Maetel realizes a camera is recording them and tells Tetsuro to be quiet about what he says. We then see cameras all over the place. Once at the hotel, the dialogue about Tetsuro taking a bath is cut. Maetel gets nervous when Tetsuro leaves and quickly heads after him, but the elevator traps her in. The elevator door reflects the laser she blasts from a ring on her finger. She then is able to blast a hole through the floor though and escape.

Tetsuro sees 2 farmers passing by as he heads to Yayabol’s house. They are in fact robots who start shooting at him, so he takes them both down. Tetsuro then spots and fires at a camera in a tree. This gets Yayabol upset and he fires at Tetsuro via several automated guns in the area which Tetsuro attacks. Tetsuro eventually is taken down as he is in the manga. Yayabol hesitates to kill Tetsuro, angering his mother. He wants Tetsuro to see how great he is. She relents, but still demands he eventually be killed. Maetel finds Tetsuro’s hat just as he’s taken away be a vehicle to Yayabol’s house. Maetel makes her way there where he is pleased to see her. While Tetsuro lies in bed, Yayabol’s mother comes by and stares at him through the doorway.  Tetsuro heads out in the hall and finds her gone, but he does see Yayabol and Tetsuro walking through.

Maetel is very pleased to see Tetsuro is okay. Tetsuro grabs Yayabol but Maetel tells him to stop. Yayabol says dinner is ready for them. The women from the hotel are in the room with them as they eat. Maetel asks about the woman who was checking on him and Yayabol says that was his mother. Yayabol says his mother is the greatest person in the universe. Maetel says she thought his mother died in an accident last summer. He says that is absurd and his mother can’t die; she was just badly injured and nursed back to health here. Maetel asks why he doesn’t invite her to join them, but he claims she has become very shy. Yayabol reveals to them that the 999 has already departed. Tetsuro gets angry as this will cost him the chance to get a mechanical body Tetsuro runs outside and sees it flying away. He runs after it, asking for it to wait and not leave without him and Maetel. Yayabol watches from outside and thinks to himself of Tetsuro’s quest and still plots to kill him. The first episode ends here.

In the second episode, Maetel tells Tetsuro to cheer up about the 999’s departure and asks him if he thinks the Conductor and 999 will really abandon them. She tells Tetsuro to investigate the mansion as she distracts Yayabol. Maetel doesn’t believe his mother really lives here. She goes to Yayabol, telling him Tetsuro wanted to be left alone. She proposes they dance when he tries to go, exciting him. Meanwhile Tetsuro tries to sneak in from outside, realizing the best way to do so is via the chimney. Tetsuro slips off the roof, but is able to hold the edge and make it back up, then go down the chimney. Tetsuro spots Yayabol and Maetel dancing as he passes by the room they’re in. Tetsuro continues down the hall, but is spotted by Yayabol’s servants. Maetel tells Yayabol a year ago his mother would have stopped him from dancing with a girl. Yayabol says she’s an exception and his ideal woman. Yayabol moves closer to her but then his head starts hurting. He says his mother attacks his brain with supersonic waves when he does something she doesn’t like.

Tetsuro spots a room with a glow coming out of it. He heads inside, finding Yayabol’s mother sitting in a chair with her back to him. She demands he sit down and he sits in a chair. Her chair turns and a pit opens up underneath Tetsuro. Maetel tries to help Yayabol and he struggles with her. He says she should go and he’ll send out Tetsuro too. Maetel is forced to go at gunpoint and warns Yayabol of Tetsuro’s gun as she does in the manga. Yaybol is told of what has happened to Tetsuro and laughs. The Conductor argues with the Locomotive about their duties to the passengers as we see in the manga and it starts heading back. We also see Yayabol speaking to Tetsuro while he’s in the pit as we see in the manga. Beyond just getting to experience things he can’t, Yayabol says Tetsuro has a different heart than him. Yayabol gets upset when Tetsuro talks about his mother and starts flooding the basement. Maetel fakes putting makeup on while in the car and is able to blast the 2 servants of Yayabol holding her, then turn around back to Yayabol’s home. She encounters and kills the last of Yayabol’s servants.

Maetel overhears Yayabol talking to his mother and heads in the room with the two of them. She is quickly taken captive by two robot arms. As Tetsuro nearly drowns, he thinks back to his mother which spurns him to go on. Yayabol’s mother tells him to kill Maetel and that she’s no good for him. Tetsuro gets blocked by a set of bars and the water passes above his head so he starts firing his gun all around, which creates a hole for the water to flow through. Yayabol hesitates to shoot Maetel and says he can’t do it; he loves her! Yayabol’s mother starts glowing and he grabs his head in pain then says he’ll do what she says. Suddenly blasts ring out from the floor and Tetsuro makes his way back in. Tetsuro shoots the gun out of Yayabol’s hands then blasts the mechanical arms holding Maetel.

Tetsuro angrily pushes his way past Yayabol and heads to his mother, saying this is her fault. Her face falls off, revealing her to be a robot. Maetel says she is a defective robot copy that just sits there. His real mother had died for real in the accident she was thinking of. Tetsuro says she spoke just like a real human and Maetel starts whipping at the wall. She tells Tetsuro she’ll show him her true form. They continue on to a big computer. When Tetsuro saw his mother walking, it was an image caused by this computer. The computer admits that Maetel is correct. Yayabol brought his mother’s body here and tried to make a copy of her but it didn’t work. He then transferred her consciousness to this giant computer, and it worked. She says this is because he can’t do anything without her and she raised him this way.

Tetsuro says he came this way on his own and the computer says his mother didn’t love him. Tetsuro gets extremely upset and Maetel calls the computer the worst mother in the universe! Yayabol acts this way because of her twisted love. She says Tetsuro ws forcibly separated from his mother but grew to be a far better human than Yayabol. The computer gets angrier and angrier and shoots blasts at them, which they avoid. Yyabol tries to stop Tetsuro from shooting it, but isn’t able to and Tetsuro blasts it several times. Tetsuro and Maetel flee and the entire house explodes! Yayabol has survived, but Maetel says to let him be, so he can live without his mother. We then see the 999 returning. On the 999, Maetel asks Tetsuro if he could bring his mother back via a computer would he. Tetsuro says his mother lives inside his heart and that’s enough. Maetel hugs him.

Design-wise, Yayabol has black hair in the manga, but blonde in the anime.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Yayabol – Kazue Takahashi

Mother – Mariko Mukai

Mechanical Car Voice – Kouji Totani

Handmaiden – Yumi Nakatani

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Yumi Nakatani previously appeared as a dentist in episode 67 and Merusa in episode 84. Kouji Totani, beyond playing the 999 Locomotive has also previously appeared as various minor characters.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

This chapter features the 999 being taken off course to a planet controlled by a single man, Yayabol. Yayabol has somehow become in charge of an entire planet, and has constructed it to be like a miniature Earth. By the end of the chapter it is pretty obvious to figure out why, it makes him think he is bigger than he actually is. As Tetsuro and Maetel meet Yayabol, we realize he’s got quite a bit of animosity towards Tetsuro. He doesn’t like the fact that Tetsuro has been able to have these experiences that he hasn’t had, and the prospect of Tetsuro outliving him angers him greatly! Although Tetsuro may end up fulfilling these, the fact remains that Yayabol simply could have never called the 999 to his planet in the first place. There surely are other people out there in the universe that are able to accomplish things better than Yayabol, is he summoning them all here? Ultimately Yayabol is a bit of a paper tiger. Tetsuro is captured by him, but is able to blow up his home and escape so easily that Matsumoto barely shows us any of it. The 999 leaves the planet with Yayabol angrily yelling at it in the wreckage of his home.

The other big part of the chapter is the 999 leaving Tetsuro and Maetel stranded behind on the planet. At first the Locomotive is perfectly fine with abandoning them; keeping up to the schedule is better than the well being of is passengers. But luckily, kind of through the Conductor shaming it, the Locomotive changes course and returns. It was good seeing the Conductor fight for Tetsuro and Maetel and we see him basically dismiss his duties when he thinks the 999 isn’t going to go back for them.

This is another chapter that is significantly changed in the TV adaption, with a massive amount of new content. In particular, Yayabol’s mother is featured in a major role, and is more of a villain that Yayabol is. Yayabol, who was already kind of pathetic in the manga chapter is made more so here; he acts like a kid most of the time and is quite the mama’s boy. Motivations are changed a bit from the manga with his mother driving the decision to bring Tetsuro here and try to kill him. We also have an increased element of Yayabol being in love with Maetel. Surprisingly enough despite being so beautiful we don’t tend to see many suitors for Maetel, so that was interesting to see, albeit rather short (of course Maetel is way out of Yayabol’s league). The revelation that Yayabol’s mother was actually controlled by a giant computer wasn’t much of a surprise and is kind of the cliché sci-fi story ending you would expect from a story from this era. Overall it’s not that interesting a chapter to me and Yayabol bugged the hell out of me in the TV episode, so this is one of the lesser storylines in my mind.

 

Keiko of the Insect Planet

Keiko of the Insect Planet

TV Episode 93

TV Episode Summary:

The Conductor announces the 999’s next stop as “Insect Planet”, where they’ll be stopping for approximately 4 hours. The Conductor warns them to be careful as there have been some mysterious incidents there lately. He is unable to tell Tetsuro any more details than that and Tetsuro complains that he should try to find out more. Maetel claims the planet used to be famous for being filled with insects. Since humans have moved in, the insect’s numbers have decreased significantly. As they stop, the Conductor tells Maetel to bring a gun with them; people have been murdered at night lately by being pierced by sharp objects. Despite the danger, Maetel heads out and Tetsuro follows.

We see a drunk man walking down the street at night, carrying a small cage with some bugs in it. The man plans on eating the bugs. A woman, speaking in the darkness asks him to let the bugs go, but he refuses, saying they cost a lot of money. He tells her he is going to eat them, thinking they will extend his life by 1 year each. The woman approaches him, scaring him and we hear his screams. Maetel and Tetsuro hear his scream and rush to where he is. They find the man, pierced by a sharp object and the bug cage empty. Maetel tells Tetsuro to chase the figure they saw fleeing the scene. Tetsuro runs to a residential area, but can’t find the woman. A young man opens his window nearby and Tetsuro tells him what happened. He doesn’t have an explanation, and considers it a nuisance, getting frustrated as if Tetsuro is blaming him.

A woman watches from the room upstairs. The young man opens the door and shows them his family, then goes upstairs to get his older sister. Tetsuro and Maetel are about to leave. The young man, Futoshi, falls down the stairs, saying his sister Keiko slapped him when he tried to enter her room. The parents blame it on the recent murders, saying she’s being careful. Tetsuro tells them that they are travelers on the 999 and about his quest to get a free mechanical body. Keiko’s mother comes up to her room with some tea and tells her that she’ll be fine if she gets a mechanical body, mentioning what Tetsuro was just talking about. Tetsuro and Maetel show up at the hotel and go to their room. The phone rings and Tetsuro picks up. It is Keiko, who tells him she wants to see him the next morning and to show up at Bug Forest. Tetsuro doesn’t know who she is, but isn’t worried about meeting up with her.

The next morning, Tetsuro has already headed out by the time Maetel wakes up. Tetsuro shows up at the Bug Forest and calls out, and Keiko steps out in front of him. Keiko asks Tetsuro why he wants a mechanical body and he says in order to have eternal life; it is something he promised his mother. He tells her of how the poor live on Earth and how obtaining a mechanical body is a way out of that type of life. Maetel departs the hotel. Keiko asks Tetsuro for his help, saying this planet used to be a paradise for insects, but more and more of them have been dying out. We see a flashback of a forest being destroyed and insects fleeing. Keiko claims the life of the insects here is much like the life of those of the poor on Earth. She tells Tetsuro she wants him to become an insect like her. Suddenly a number of miniature insect people appear and also ask for Tetsuro’s help.

Keiko and the insect people continue to beg Tetsuro to help. Keiko grabs a hold of Tetsuro and starts bringing him with her until they run into Maetel. The insect people tell Keiko to run and they’ll take care of it. They tell Maetel they’ll kill Tetsuro if she comes forward. Maetel fires at the insect people with a laser shot out of her ring, killing them. Maetel tells Tetsuro she knows where Keiko went and they head to her home. They head inside and find Keiko’s mother, asking to see Keiko. Tetsuro tells Keiko’s parents about her trying to turn him into an insect. They say Keiko has been interested in insects since she was young, and that Tetsuro and Maetel should leave and not bother them. Maetel claims Keiko may be the one behind the recent incidents. Futoshi overhears this and heads into Keiko’s room. He sees her laying in her bed with her wrist attached to a wire that goes to the closet. There Futoshi finds a mechanical device and an insect person that attacks him.

A broom falls over on the insect person and Keiko, now in insect form, reveals herself. Tetsuro comes up to the room and sees Keiko in this form. Keiko claims she couldn’t overlook those who were cruel to insects and its revenge for the threat on their lives. Tetsuro says the way she is going about this will only draw more hate from humans. Keiko says she’s an insect now and can only behave as an insect does. Keiko’s parents and Maetel come upstairs and see what Keiko has become. Keiko pushes a button on the machine and tells them all to flee as it will soon blow up. Keiko’s family reluctantly leaves the room. Maetel tells Tetsuro to leave and he does soon as well. Keiko closes the door and sits on her bed. Her room explodes shortly afterwards. We cut to the 999 departing the planet. Tetsuro says he feels bad for Keiko and understands how she felt as that’s how the poor were treated by the mechanical people on Earth. He thinks her position is right but the way she was going about it was wrong.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Keiko – Minako Kotobuki

Futoshi – Hirotaka Suzuoki

Keiko’s Father – Reizou Nomoto

Keiko’s Mother – Kyouko Nagashima

Insect People – Isamu Tanonaka

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Reizou Nomoto previously played the father in episode 86. Isamu Tanonaka has had numerous previous appearances including Hanako’s Father (episode 10), Subari (epiode 17), Delmukade (episode 38), Cook (episode 53) and Waterpress (episodes 75 – 76).

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

This is another episode that is based on a non-Galaxy Express 999 manga by Leiji Matsumoto, “Four Dimensional World”, which was previously used for the adaptions in episodes 82, 83, 85 and 88. This particular episode is based on the chapter “Green Insector”.

The Insect Planet is a planet that used to be dominated by insects, but as humans have settled on it, they have largely taken over, putting the insects in a bad position. When Maetel tells Tetsuro the planet used to be filled with insects, I thought to myself, how does that make it any different than Earth? I think even with 7+ billion humans, insects still outnumber us. For whatever reason that isn’t the case here.

The main character focused on in this episode is Keiko, a teenage girl who shares sympathy with the insects. This leads to a sequence where she confronts Tetsuro, along with numerous tiny insect people who try to force Tetsuro into becoming an insect himself! I suppose this is a new twist on the trend of stories where people tried to force Tetsuro into a mechanical body. Tetsuro feels some level of kinship with the insects, feeling that his time as a poor person on Earth makes their plight similar to his. But Keiko and the insects go about it in the totally wrong way, not really giving him a choice. As Tetsuro says, their goal is a good one, but their methods aren’t. This attempt results in Maetel killing all the insect people with them.

We get another twist as the episode approaches its end; Keiko has turned herself into an insect! When this took place isn’t clear. Given the murder of the man that occurs early in the episode, and his fright upon seeing his murderer, my theory is that Keiko had already changed her form to her insect hybrid type appearance, but was able to cover it up and look like a normal human the rest of the time. The other possibility is she transfers her body into that form just as her brother appears in the room, although that doesn’t make the fright of the murder victim make as much sense. In any case, Keiko, while human size, totally looks like an insect now, a rather frightening sight. Keiko’s final decision is an odd one. She warns her family, Tetsuro and Maetel to leave, pushes a button in her room and blows herself up. I suppose this happened because she was caught and figured she’d be turned in, but it was just her family, Tetsuro and Maetel who knew, and well, Tetsuro and Maetel have let people off the hook before. I think back to Horohoro back in chapter 5-4, who was a mass murderer, framed Tetsuro for murder, and Tetsuro still didn’t have a problem with it.  It is a rather sad ending for the Keiko character.

One oddity in the episode, which maybe was an error is the Conductor saying their layover is 4 hours, yet Tetsuro and Maetel clearly spend the night there and are on the planet closer to around a day.

The Final Days of the Underwater City

The Final Days of the Underwater City

TV Episode 92

TV Episode Summary:

On the 999, the Conductor announces their next stop as the “Planet of the Rainbow Sash”, with a layover time of approximately 19 hours. Tetsuro thinks the planet must be beautiful and Maetel agrees, from a distance. As they get closer to the planet we see parts of the planet floating around it. Maetel says a nuclear war occurred here 10 years ago. As a result, people couldn’t live on the surface anymore. Survivors were forced to flee to an underwater city. The 999 descends into the atmosphere, passing past the barren land and heads right into the sea. Eventually the 999 approaches a giant dome which contains the city within.  Once in the hotel, Tetsuro comments on how with the artificial sun here, you wouldn’t even know you were underwater. Maetel thinks it was a way to keep people from being homesick.

Maetel suddenly stops and says she senses an Earthquake. We see a member of the hotel staff refusing a room to an old man, saying only those with reservations can stay here. A janitor, Tadashi, asks why they don’t let him stay as they have vacancies and the manager fires him! Tetsuro tells the manager he is in the wrong here and Tetsuro argues with him, getting kicked out of the hotel too. Tetsuro tells Maetel not to worry; he’ll find someplace to sleep. He wanders around outside and Tadashi comes up to him, inviting him to stay in his apartment. They head to his rather shabby home, but Tetsuro says he is more comfortable here than at that high class hotel. Tadashi offers Tetsuro some instant ramen and says he’ll take it easy until he finds a new job. Tadashi tells Tetsuro his parents both died in the war. All the citizens, including them had opposed it. We flash back to a nervous man, the governor, who was so worried about other countries that he pushed the button to launch the nukes that started the war.

Tadashi says it’s as if his parents were killed by the governor. He only worked at the governor’s hotel in order to survive. Practically all establishments here are under his thumb. Tetsuro says he understands how Tadashi feels as he’s lost his parents as well. He tells him he’s on this journey on the 999 and Tadashi likes that but knows he’ll never be able to do it. Tetsuro notices photos of the woman from the hotel front desk and wonders if she’s his girlfriend. He says no, they just grew up together at the orphanage together. The ramen is his girlfriend! But we soon see the woman, Kumi, come in, She asks Tadashi why he behaved that way to the manager. Suddenly the place shakes due to an earthquake. Tadashi tells Tetsuro it’s happened a lot lately and he hopes its nothing serious.

Meanwhile the whistle of the 999 goes off. The Locomotive tells the Conductor it is detecting a seismic tremor and should call back the passengers. Tadashi says good night to Kumi and tells her he won’t be apologizing. Suddenly a car drives by and nearly hits them, crashing nearby. Tetsuro spots a woman inside who passes out. He says they should call an ambulance but Tadashi says there isn’t one in this society and he’ll take her in. Meanwhile Maetel makes it back to the station. The Conductor tells her that the underwater city is in danger of sinking into the sea due to effects on the area due to the nuclear war. The 999 has been ordered to leave as soon as possible. Maetel tells him Tetsuro went to rest someplace else and to wait as long as possible.

At Tadashi’s home, the woman from the car crash wakes up and says her name is Miyoko. She’s surprised they were kind to her and reveals she’s the governor’s secretary. Upon hearing of the time she sits up and gets quite worried, saying she only has 2 hours. They put her back to rest due to her condition. She reveals that there is going to be an earthquake in 2 hours that will destroy the city! Kumi says they have to escape, but Tadashi they’d need a pass for emigration capsules, things people like them can’t afford. Miyoko says to use a pass in her purse intended for a husband and wife pair that she was going to bring to the governor because he forgot it. She reveals her father and brother died in the war and it’s the governor’s fault. She’d rather save people who were kind to her. She passes out.

Tetsuro says he’ll notify all the town people and the two of them should flee. Tadashi worries as they’re intended for a married couple. Kumi tells Tadashi she’s always liked him and that they should become husband and wife. He’s surprised to hear it. Kumi tells him she’s going to go get her things. Tetsuro runs around outside banging a pan telling people about the upcoming Earthquake. People call him a dog of the governor and to shut up, even throwing a pot and eventually an egg at him! Several men show up in the street and Tetsuro flees. Tetsuro starts crying over people not believing him. Tetsuro overhears Kumi talking to another man about the evacuation. The Conductor tells Matel they can’t wait any longer for Tetsuro. The 999 can’t be sacrificed for one person and he believes Tetsuro will make it through. Maetel asks him to at least have the 999 wait at the surface of the water.

Tetsuro spots the 999 taking off and realizes he’s now going to have to get into an evacuation capsule as well. Kumi and Tadashi meet up with each other and head in the evacuation center with a large piece of luggage. They get in the capsule and it is launched. Meanwhile the governor yells at someone over the phone about his capsule ticket not being delivered. The earthquake rages around the city, causing cracks to appear around it and for the ground to collapse. Water starts making its way into the dome and it starts sinking into the depths of the ocean. Tadashi and Kumi look outside, happy that they were able to make it out.

Suddenly a man bursts his way out of the luggage, it is the hotel manager! He says a woman (Kumi) will do anything for the man she loves, which is him! The manager pulls out a gun and tells Tadashi to get out of the capsule. Tetsuro reveals himself; he also snuck in the capsule and shoots away the gun. Tetsuro demands the manager himself leave, but Tadashi tells him its okay. Tetsuro asks him why he’s being nice to them after they lied. Tadashi says he felt happy simply from Kumi telling her she loved him, even if she lied. The manager shoots at Tadashi but accidentally hits Kumi. Tetsuro shoots the manager and he falls back into the luggage. Kumi tells Tadashi she was an idiot for being deceived by him and was sick of living in poverty so she fell for his kind words and high status. She says her eyes are now open. Tadashi says they’ll have to work hard for those who died, but they’ll create a peaceful world without war. The capsule surfaces and the 999 stops by to pick up Tetsuro. The various capsules that have made it to the surface blast their way into space. Tetsuro waves goodbye to them. Tetsuro tells Maetel he hopes their dream will come true. The two of them believe it will happen.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Tennoji – Makio Inoue

Mechanical Car Voice – Kouji Totani

Mieko – Minori Matsushima

Kumiko – Keiko Han

Tadashi – Yoku Shioya

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

I’m assuming Tennoji is the hotel manager character, who isn’t named in the episode. His voice actor, Makio Inoue previously played Pascal in episode 38 and the Cloaked Man (Captain Harlock) in episodes 79 – 81. Miyoko is also credited as Mieko (although this may have been a translation error by those subbing the episode for Crunchyroll/Tubi). Her voice actress previously portrayed Laura in episode 14, Alice in episode 44, and Miiru in episode 68. Kumi is credited as Kumiko, which I assume is her full name. Keiko Han previously appeared as Yuki in episode 27, Miru in episode 63, Toto in episode 66 and Kureha in episode 82. Yoku Shioya previously appeared as Leaf in episode 82, Nasuka in episode 87 and as a boy in episodes 60 – 61.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

We return here to an episode based on the Leiji Matsumoto manga “Tale of a Time Gone By”, in particular the chapter “The Big Deep Sea Mansion”. This is one of several recent episodes/storylines we’ve seen featuring underwater cities, such as “Elza from the Sea” in episode 87. We also had “Cheyenne, the Nation of Water” back in episodes 75/76 and chapter 12-2. It’s a popular setting for Matsumoto, but is running the risk of getting overused so hopefully this is it for a while.

A couple of the themes we visit here are similar to ones we’ve seen before, but still ring true. The city has a powerful governor who through his fear and incompetence caused a giant war that made the entire surface uninhabitable. Despite that he is still in charge of the current society as well, owning much of the establishments. Those who work for him and/or are loyal to him have pretty good positions while others live poor and destitute.

A society conveniently being in big trouble just as the 999 arrives is another constant theme that we revisit here (granted there has to be some action for the stories to happen!). An earthquake and the destruction of the entire city is imminent. Tetsuro befriends Tadashi and has much in common with him; they have poor backgrounds, they’ve lost both their parents, and they love ramen! Through sheer luck they are able to discover the incoming destruction of the city. It’s unfortunate that the locals hate the governor so much that Tetsuro’s attempts to get them to evacuate are completely ignored. All of these people surely died when the city was destroyed.

Kumi, who was raised at the same orphanage as Tadashi makes an appearance, conveniently shortly before they find out from the Governor’s secretary what is going to happen. Upon hearing that their pass to safety has to be for a married couple, she out of nowhere tells Tadashi that she likes him and wants to be his wife. I was suspicious of this from the moment it happened, and as we soon see, it was a trick. She is in fact in a relationship with the hotel manager that fired Tadashi and they double cross him. Luckily Tetsuro was around to save the day. Kumi seems to change course at the end of the episode and like Tadashi after all, although I do still think it’s a bit convenient. She doesn’t have much of a choice now other than to be with him. And it isn’t clear if the hotel manager character dies or not, could he just come back? Although he doesn’t have the status anymore that attracted to her to him. I should also mention that Kumi at least cared enough for Tadashi to visit him after his firing, before knowing about the city’s oncoming destruction.

And so, the underwater city is completely destroyed, with at least some survivors making it out okay. It was fitting to see the governor not be one of the ones who made it out alive, considering his responsibility for them being in this mess. I was worried that they’d forget about the earlier brought up plot point about the radioactive surface, but the escape capsules are revealed at episode’s end to be able to bring them to space, so those on this planet still have hope to settle elsewhere.

The Snow Woman of Andromeda

The Snow Woman of Andromeda

Manga Chapter 13-2

TV Episodes 90 - 91

Manga Chapter Summary:

The 999 has finally reached the Andromeda galaxy. Maetel tells Tetsuro that the next planet they head to acts like a gate for the galaxy. It is planet “Snowinca”, and is a planet with a snow woman. Maetel hands Tetsuro a pair of sunglasses and tells him that those who see the snow woman die. As the 999 heads down to the snowy planet, we see a long haired woman, the snow woman, watching.

The next several pages of the manga chapter are quite unique in that we have an external song sequence for the first and only time in the manga. The song appears inspired by a track that plays early on in the Galaxy Express 999 movie, when the 999 takes off from Earth. We then cut to Tetsuro and Maetel eating ramen at a restaurant on the planet. Maetel tells him no place in the Andromeda galaxy has better ramen than here. Tetsuro is also quite pleased that the ramen and the egg served with it are real rather than being synthetic. Maetel claims a great master of ramen had come to this planet and died in the snow. There are a lot of people outside, but all mechanized. Tetsuro finds it hard to forgive the fact that mechanized people don’t like ramen.

They depart the restaurant and head to a snow covered hotel. Tetsuro lies down on his bed, thinking of the snow woman, while Maetel heads to take a bath. Tetsuro falls asleep and when he wakes up finds a note from Maetel saying she’s off on business and will be back in the morning. Tetsuro tries to order ramen via room service but is told they don’t permit that here. Tetsuro heads outside into the snow; it is now night time. As he walks he starts thinking of the snow woman again, but his weakness, his appetite, spurns him to go on. He finds that the ramen restaurant is still open and heads inside to order even more. The owner tells him he was told by the great ramen maker to keep his restaurant open at night time. The owner brings Tetsuro several more bowls of ramen. Outside, we see the snow woman walking through the snow, with several skulls around the ground.

Maetel returns to the hotel room and finds Tetsuro gone, having left a note for her. Maetel tells herself that Tetsuro doesn’t know what the snow woman is like and he can’t help it. She equips a gun and departs the hotel. Maetel ignores the advice of the hotel staff in the lobby and heads outside. At the restaurant, the owner comments on how lonely it is that a real human eating these days can make himself feel sick, as Tetsuro is quite stuffed. Tetsuro says despite having 3 bowls of ramen he’s feeling quite cold. Suddenly the door opens and snow starts coming in. The owner turns his head and tells Tetsuro to not look. A soft voice echoes out, asking for ramen. It is the snow woman. Meanwhile, Maetel walks through the snow. The snow woman asks for some ramen.

Tetsuro realizes he’s looked at the snow woman and how Maetel told him how those that look at her won’t live. The snow woman claims it’s too late. The owner brings over some ramen, being sure to cover up his eyes. When Tetsuro and the snow women try to eat the ramen, it completely freezes over! They tell the owner and he makes two more bowls, but the same thing happens again! The snow woman tells Tetsuro she has wanted to eat warm ramen, at least once. The scene cuts to later, with Maetel coming by the ramen restaurant. Tetsuro and the snow women are gone and the owner claims Tetsuro went with her to her home. He says it’s weird, as he should have died when seeing her, but he is okay.

We cut to Tetsuro and the snow woman walking through the snow. The snow woman brings Tetsuro towards a summit where she claims her home is. Tetsuro notices various skeletons in the snowy ground and she claims these are the human bodies left behind of those who became mechanized. She tells Tetsuro he can get a free mechanical body here. Maetel continues on as well and eventually finds Tetsuro’s hat in the snow. With it frozen, she realizes it must have been here a long time. A man appears behind her in the snow named Snowlock. He tells her that one can get a free machine body at the snow woman’s home and calls himself a broker of machine bodies. He senses that Maetel is a bit strange and activates a device in his hands that causes her to fall into a chasm.

Maetel wakes up in a room filled with various machine bodies. Snowlock tells her he specializes in machine bodies, although unlike the snow woman, he doesn’t provide them for free. He claims he even forcibly requires people to attain mechanical bodies. We cut to the snow woman’s house. Tetsuro cries out as inside she has strapped him to an operating table and is trying to give him a mechanical body. Meanwhile, Maetel opens up her coat, revealing herself to Snowlock. We next see him leaving the exit of his home, completely shocked by it. Maetel tells him to sell in moderation and departs. Maetel makes her way up the cliff to the snow woman’s house and finds her home to be that of a more modern technology, one used when immigrants came to this planet. She exits into a room where she finds Tetsuro chowing down on ramen! Tetsuro doesn’t want to become mechanized at this time, so he can continue to eat ramen. Maetel realizes he made it himself, as there are a lot of ingredients around them.

In another room nearby we see the snow woman tearing up, as she peers over a bowl of warm ramen. She claims she feels like she is near her father. She starts crying and the room starts steaming up. One it disperses we see that she has melted; all we see left of the snow woman is a small mechanical body part on the ground that keeps saying “father”. Back on the 999, Maetel tells Tetsuro that the snow woman was the daughter of a great man who brought ramen to this planet. When her body became frozen it started to freeze up any warm food she tried to eat. Tetsuro wonders why her body became frozen and if it’s because of rebelling against her father. He wonders why the ramen he made for her didn’t freeze and Maetel speculates it is because of his heart.

TV Episode Summary:

This chapter is adapted across two episodes. In the first episode our first difference is a new scene where the Conductor announces their stop as Snowinca. Once they’re at the hotel we see a dream of Tetsuro acting as a ramen cart salesman. The snow woman asks him for some ramen then threatens to take off his sunglasses so he can see her. As she starts eating the ramen though, Tetsuro gets a peek at her. She eats the ramen, thanks him for being able to eat something warm and vanishes. Tetsuro is happy that looking at her didn’t kill him. In another new scene, we see where Maetel has gone while she’s “away on business”. She is in a giant computer room, asking the mysterious voice we have frequently heard from to relieve her from this mission, but he refuses.

The ramen owner, Tsuru, tells Tetsuro his sad backstory. We flashback to a massive line outside of his shop and see him inside as a younger man, with the then owner of the ramen restaurant. Tsuru is told his ramen is not good enough by the owner. A woman comes in, Yuki, the daughter of the owner and says the planet’s populace is mostly being mechanized. She doesn’t want to run a ramen shop anymore and wants to become mechanized. She proposes they leave the store to her father and become mechanized. We return to the present and realize that Yuki left, but Tsuru stayed behind. Tsuru claims he thought Tetsuro and Maetel were a couple and could have taken over the restaurant someday! Tetsuro reveals he’s looking to get a mechanical body himself, and the two of them get a bit depressed as it means no more ramen.  The snow woman then arrives as in the manga.

When Tetsuro has some ramen with the snow woman, his bowl doesn’t freeze like hers does, although he does complain about it having a bad portion of salt. Tetsuro tells the snow woman of his goal to have a machine body while still at the restaurant. As they walk towards her home there is more dialogue between Tetsuro and her about ramen and the restaurant owner.

In the second episode, we see via a flashback that Snowlock is the one responsible for the snow woman’s bad reputation. We see him driving around in a vehicle talking on a loud speaker about it. Tetsuro realizes her providing free mechanical bodies ruins his business. We see the snow woman forcibly bringing Tetsuro into the room where she plans on giving him a mechanical body. Snowlock tries to shoot Maetel after she leaves his home but she fires back and his home blows up, taking him with it. Meanwhile the snow woman tells Tetsuro she wants to make him mechanized so she can take his body and be able to eat ramen. She reveals the bodies outside are actually those who Snowlock changed into mechanized people. Tetsuro offers to make ramen for the snow woman

Maetel finds Tetsuro while he’s still making ramen. We see the snow woman inside waiting for the ramen from him. In a flashback we see Yuki getting on a space train saying goodbye to Tsuru, being angry that he is dedicated to the ramen so much and won’t change. Back in the present she cries over Tsuru. Maetel asks her why she is so obsessed with ramen. Tetsuro comes in with a bowl of ramen but when she tries to eat it, it freezes. Maetel says she has an idea and tells Tetsuro to buy time until she returns. We cut to Maetel taking Tsuru out of his restaurant, with him hesitant to go and make food for the snow woman. They make it there and Maetel insists that only his ramen will be enough for the snow woman, and that he should know the reason why. Tetsuro helps him make some ramen. When the snow woman is able to eat the ramen, Tsuru realizes it is Yuki. She collapses just after and starts melting as she had in the manga. She tells him that abandoning him, becoming a snow woman suited her. She’s happy she was able to eat his ramen, then completely melts. On the 999 the Conductor still speaks of the now proven false rumor of the snow woman. We see a final shot of Tsuru looking into the sky after the 999 takes off, holding what’s left of Yuki’s body in his hands.

TV Episode Cast:

Tetsuro Hoshino – Masako Nozawa

Maetel – Masako Ikeda

Conductor – Kaneta Kimotsuki

Tsuru – Ichirou Nagai

Snow Woman – Eiko Masayama

Mysterious Voice – Banjou Ginga (episode 90 only)

Front Man on Duty – Shingo Hiromori (episode 90 only)

Snowlock – Keiichi Noda (episode 91 only)

Narrator – Hitoshi Takagi

Ichirou Nagai previously appeared as Tetsugoro in episodes 40 – 41 and the governor in episode 64. Eiko Masayama previously appeared as Sylvia in episode 64. Keiichi Noda previously appeared as Yosaku in episode 71. Beyond his role as the Mysterious Voice, Banjou Ginga has appeared as various minor characters as well.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

Tetsuro’s love of ramen has been a big part of his character from very early on and here’s a storyline where it really takes center stage. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a big fan of ramen myself, so it’s always something I’ve liked a lot about Tetsuro and Galaxy Express 999. This storyline surrounds a snow woman who desperately wants to be able to eat ramen, but sadly is unable to because it always freezes when she tries! As with many episodes, the TV adaption provides some additional material than what is in the original manga and I think it helps a bit here. We get more back story explaining that not only is the snow woman the daughter of the “ramen master” on this planet (which was also the case in the manga) but also she was in a relationship with Tsuru, the current ramen restaurant owner. Tsuru ultimately chose ramen over her, causing them to split up as she obtained a mechanical body and eventually became the legendary snow woman. Tsuru meanwhile continued to make ramen, although with dwindling results as more and more of the populace became mechanized on this planet and no longer ate it.

Another aspect of the chapter is the legend of the snow woman, that anyone who looks at her will die! It is essentially like this is Galaxy Express 999’s version of Medusa. And yet as we quickly find out, Tetsuro is able to look at her and nothing happens. We get a rather interesting inversion as the snow woman actually is not that bad a person. She and Tetsuro’s love for ramen cause them to become quick friends. That said, she does have somewhat of an ulterior motive in that she desires to provide Tetsuro a mechanized body. We don’t really get an explanation in the manga, but in the TV episode it is so she can be a human again and eat ramen. The storyline of someone mechanized trying to take Tetsuro’s body has happened many times by this point, but I’m glad in this situation we get a good reason for it. The TV adaption also helps explain why the snow woman has this reputation; it has actually come from a competitor, Snowlock, a man who sells mechanized bodies and is mad that the snow woman makes them available for free! The sight of various skulls outside in the snow is rather frightening, but we eventually realize that Snowlock is responsible for them, not the snow woman. Seeing those bodies also kind of reminded me of the bodies we saw under the ice back on Pluto. Although in that case it was the person’s full, intact body. Here it is just partial remains. Another thing I was reminded of by the episode, from a design standpoint, was the snow woman looking like Meemay from Captain Harlock.

This chapter/episode returns to a sequence with Maetel we’ve seen before, her revealing herself to a character by taking off her coat, and them being completely shocked by it. In particular this had happened back in “The Mirage Planet’s Scribe” chapter/episode. We still don’t know what it is about her that is so shocking to them, but it sure is effective. In a scene added for the TV episode we also have Maetel speaking to the mysterious voice yet again, really trying to get out of her journey with Maetel but being refused it.

For the TV episodes, this storyline is a return to normal of sorts, the first TV episodes to be adapted from a Galaxy Express 999 manga chapter since the three part “Pirate’s Time Castle” story (episodes 79 – 81). We will still have some more episodes sprinkled in that are either adaptations of other Matsumoto works or are original stories, but from here on out we return to a trend of most episodes being adaptations of the Galaxy Express 999 manga.