Amazon.com
Leiji Matsumoto helped to create the modern boom in anime with his series
Space Battleship Yamato, released in the U.S. as
Star Blazers. A long, episodic fable about an interstellar journey on an updated version of an old railway train,
Galaxy Express boasts an enthusiastic cult following. Tetsuro is a boy living in the slums of a future Earth; his mother was killed by the evil cyborg, Count Mecha, who hunts humans for sport. To achieve his revenge, he must get to a distant planet where he can trade his mortal body for a deathless mechanical one. A mysterious woman named Maetel rescues him from the robo-police and travels with him among the planets via the Galaxy Express railway. Tetsuro's search for vengeance builds into a war between humans and cyborgs.
As the battle reaches its climax, Matsumoto's popular creations, the space pirates Captain Harlock and Queen Emeraldas, arrive with unexpected assistance. Tetsuro ultimately learns that true beauty is always ephemeral, a concept that runs through Japanese art and culture. For years, Galaxy Express 999 was available in English only in an edited version that fans demoted as a mutilation; the Signature Edition from Viz is complete and uncut. (Ages 13 and older for violence and brief nudity) --Charles Solomon
