Anime by Colin Odell

Author:Colin Odell [Colin Odell & Michelle Le Blanc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781842435878
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2013-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Night on the Galactic Railroad (Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru [1985])

Directed by: Sugii Gisaburō

Feature film, 113 mins

Giovanni is a teenager with many problems. He’s being bullied at school (although he receives support from his best friend Campanella), he has to work hard at his job, his father is away on an expedition, and he’s worried sick about his sick mother. To make matters worse, her daily delivery of milk has not arrived. Giovanni tries to acquire the milk, but without success, and he is due to meet Campanella at the town’s Star Festival. When he takes a brief rest on top of a hill, a mysterious train pulls up and he climbs aboard as a passenger. Campanella joins him and the pair embark upon a journey across the stars that will involve many destinations, many passengers, many staff and many situations; all of which will increase his understanding of the universe.

Night on the Galactic Railroad is based upon the posthumously published novel by Miyazawa Kenji, a multi-talented humanitarian, environmentalist and social activist who wrote a number of children’s books and poems. Like much of his work, this has been adapted many times in various forms, including anime. The adaptation to cartoon form is a sterling example of how anime can appeal to a variety of audiences and yet remain internally consistent as an artistic work. As with many of Miyazawa’s stories, the plot can be viewed on a number of levels and there are subtexts and deeper issues to explore beneath the principal tale, which is ostensibly based around a fantastical journey. The primary theme is that of self-sacrifice but it is introduced to us in a very subtle way. When Campanella mysteriously climbs aboard the train to join Giovanni, he appears to be soaking wet but cannot explain why this is. It is only at the film’s denouement that we understand the reason for this.

Giovanni’s journey is an episodic one that takes him to a number of very different locations where he and Campanella encounter many strange and interesting characters. The most notable are a man and two children who board the train, and we come to learn that they have drowned when their ship hit an iceberg and seem to be on their way to another life. This element seems a little incongruous at first, because of the sudden human involvement, for Night on the Galactic Railroad’s central characters are actually bipedal cats. However, this does not alter the emotional or artistic value of the film, but rather adds to its wonderful sense of otherness. This is enhanced by the remarkable score, which combines notable classical themes, integrating them with avant-garde compositions, accentuating the balance between past and future.

Beautiful, haunting and bittersweet, Night on the Galactic Railroad is a film that is both delightful and tragic. The little touches, such as the signs written in Esperanto, referring to Miyazawa’s enthusiasm for languages, are what make it such a rewarding viewing experience. Sugii Gisaburō (a veteran of early Astro Boy

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