Galaxy Express 999 1

04)
C: This is the Galaxy Express 776, now entering orbit at Megalopolis Tokyo Station.
C: Deceleration at 18%! Gravity Brake Activation in T-10 seconds!

06)
Chapter One - A Departure's Ballad

07)
B: Mom, what's that...
M: The last express train to Megalopolis, on the other side of the mountains.
B: Where did it come from?
M: Who knows...the way it looks makes it seem like it might be from Andromeda, though...
M: Are you cold, Tetsurou?
T: Yeah.
M: It might snow tonight.

08)
M: If we had machine bodies, we would be fine in any kind of cold....
T: We'd be able to live much longer, too.
M: That's right. As long as we took proper care and upkeep of our parts, we'd be able to live thousands of years...
M: But since we can't afford machine bodies, we'll be lucky to live 100 years...
T: Only rich people can afford machine bodies, right?
M: If only your father hadn't died...we could have at least bought a machine body for you...
T: Dad thought humans shouldn't be allowed to buy machine bodies and was killed, wasn't he?
M: Ahhh, it really is snowing...
T: C'mon, let's go inside already...

09)
T: What's wrong? Mom...
M: Don't go inside the house!
M: Hurry and come this way.
M: Ahh...!
T: Mom!!

10)
M: Run, Tetsurou!! It's over for me...
M: Listen to my last words very carefully...
M: If you get on Galaxy Express 999, you will supposedly arrive at the station of a planet where it's possible to get a machine body for free.
M: It seemed so unbelievable that I didn't tell you about it until now...but your father said that it really does exist.
M: Tetsurou!! You're still young...
M: Find a way to ride on that train and go to that planet...
M: And live a long life, enough for both your father and I...
M: Ahhh, Tetsurou!! Farewell...
M: Tetsurou!!

11)
T: Mooooooooom!!
T: Please, don't die!! Please don't die!!
T: I'm going to be all alone without you!!
1: You found one?!
2: Over here! It's dead!
1: You sure finished it off quickly.
2: Of course! It's rare to find live humans in their original bodies these days!!

12)
1: Amazing! What a beautiful human.
1: I shall hang her in my parlor.
2: Everyone will surely speak well of you, Count Mecha!
1: Mom!!

13)
T: Riding the Galaxy Express 999? That's only a dream, if anything...
T: I don't have any money, or even a ticket...how am I supposed to get to Megalopolis Station from the middle of this snowstorm?!
T: I'll try my best, but...
T: all this snow...
T: I can't even move my hands or legs anymore...
T: If I was a machine, I would be able to...but not as a human...
T: Hopefully this time when I'm reborn, I'll be born in a machine body.
T: I...I...

14)
T: Where...
G: Are you awake now?
G: Here, drink some soup...you were half-frozen when I found you.

15)
G: My name is Maetel.
T: I'm...
M: Hoshino Tetsurou-san, right? It was written on a tag on your shirt.
M: By the way, you were heading in the wrong direction. Megalopolis Station is that way.
T: How did you know I was going to the station?!
M: Ooh, scary!
M: While fiddling around with this sound amplifier, I overheard you and your mother talking.
M: I'm so sorry for you.
T: Do you have a machine body too?
M: Yes. Want to see?

16)
M: Does this look like a machine body to you, Tetsurou?
T: Uwa...uwa...uwa...uwa...what are you doing?!
M: You're going to the planet where you can get a machine body for free, right?
T: Y...yeah...
M: If you go with me, I'll give you a pass.
M: A pass just like the one I have.
T: Pass?
M: Yes...a pass. An unlimited pass for the Galaxy Express.
Pass: Earth <-> Andromeda
via (Orion Pleiades)
Unlimited
Name ________________
Distrubuted by the Galaxy Express Corporation Earth HQ

17)
M: It's the real thing!
T: Why would you give me such a valuable thing as this?!
M: As thanks for going with me...
M: You can write your own name on it.
T: Where are you going?
M: Don't ask me that! I just gave you a pass...
T: With this...I'll be able to get a machine body!
T: Is Count Mecha's house around here?
M: Right over there.
M: He goes hunting at night, so it's dangerous for humans to walk around!

18)
M: People with machine bodies are allowed to shoot humans if they're walking around alone at night, you know.
T: I'll just take a gun too then.
T: Before we go to the station, I want to stop at Count Mecha's place!
T: That's the deal! Then I'll go with you!
M: Okay.
T: Damn you, Count Mecha!!

20)
C: Feast your eyes upon today's catch!
C: She looks even more amazing hung up like that, doesn't she?
R: Congratulations, Count! You truly got your hands on something rare!!
C: I was simply lucky, that's all!!
C: All the skin was peeled off carefully without leaving a single blemish!
C: This is truly something that money cannot buy!!
T: Mom...

21)
C: Who the hell are you?!
T: Mom!!
T: Die, Count Mecha!!

22)
T: You bastard!
C: Wa...wait, whatever you do, don't shoot my brain!! I don't care what happens to my body, just don't shoot my brain!
C: If you die, I won't be able to be repaired, and truly will die!!

23)
T: You monster!! Just wait! When I get a machine body and come back...when I get a stronger body and come back...
T: I'm going to kill every last machine human on Earth!!
T: Look, mom! It's a pass!! I'm going to ride the Galaxy Express!
T: I'm going to ride the Galaxy Express 999 and go to the planet where I can get a machine body for free!
T: Farewell...mom!!

24)
M: Do you feel better now?
M: Let's go, then...

25)
T: Here, you can have it back.
M: No, don't worry, I want you to have it.
M: We have a long journey ahead...there will be a lot in store for us, I'm sure...
M: Without that you won't be able to protect yourself.
M: Take good care of your body until you get a machine one.
R: Course Guide! Course Guide! All passengers planning to born the Glaaxy Express 999 at 12:00 noon this afternoon, please hurry to the station...
R: We plan to leave right on schedule...
M: Look closely at what you see around you.
M: The next time you come here, the eyes from which you stare out at this landscape...
M: will be a machine's.
M: to Megalopolis Space Station!!

26)
T: This is strange...Maetel looks so much like my mom...what's going on here...?
B: In this age, railrays spread all across space. And so, humans each embracing their own separate hopes and dreams would board the trains and set off into the galaxy. Tetsurou's long, ardurous journey begins now...!!

27)
T: The deserted place we lived in was always filled with snow...
T: But Megalopolis doesn't have any trace of it! It's like spring here!

28)
M: You can't see it with your eyes, but Megalopolis is actually surrounded by a a temperature-modifying dome.
M: This place is comfortable and easy to live in all year long.
M: Yes?
M: That's strange...it shouldn't be boarding time yet.
M: Who could be knocking...?
M: Ahh!

30)
T: Uuuunnn...
M: Was anything stolen?!
M: Tetsurou!! Your pass?
M: What happened to your pass?
T: It's gone!
T: Gone!
T: Gone!!
T: The pass was stolen!!
M: Ehhhh?!

31)
M: But it's too late to be surprised, I suppose...
M: This is a waiting room for people who are going to board the Galaxy Express 999. Everyone knows that...so it's our fault for letting our guard down!
M: Was your name written on the pass?
T: No! I figured I'd just write it later...
M: Yeah...mine has my name on it, so it wasn't stolen.
M: The crime of using a pass with someone else's name written on it is punishable by death.
M: We'll have to get it back!!
T: But how, in such a big place as this?

32)
M: No matter what kind of town you go to, there is always a certain place where thieves gather.
T: What is this place?!
M: It's completely different from Megalopolis's brilliant exterior...
M: A place where people who want to flee this town gather...
M: A place stinking of corroded oil and...oxidated metal.

33)
T: Wah!
M: Ah!
T: What are you doing?
M: We don't have time to waste on such a thing.
T: But...
M: Megalopolis is warm like a spring day, so it's fine.
?: Your route?
M: ZZZ-77.
M: OK!

34)
?: Hmph...I've never seen you before.
?: You want a Black Ticket?
M: Return the pass you just stole!
?: What?
M: Return the pass!
?: You bitch!
M: If you're thinking of killing us, you'd better think again.
?: Who do you think you are?
M: If we don't return from here, the tape I'm recording is set to be transmitted to the police!
?: How do you know about us?!
M: Secrets always slip out one way or another.

35)
?: Fine, fine!! But you'd better take better care of your stuff from here on out!!
?: Underestimate we Agents and you'll regret it.
?: You can leave in peace right now,
?: but we'll definitely kill you later!!
M: Yes!! If I let you, that is.
M: Here, Tetsurou! Write your name!!
T: Right here?
M: There is a myriad of people who want to flee this place...
M: which means that they all want to right the Galaxy Express!
M: If you truly want a machine body, never let that pass leave your person again.

36)
T: That's right...that's the whole purpose I'm riding this train for.
T: To get rid of this body that will only live 90 or 100 years...!!
T: What?!
M: The Agents' building blew up!!

37)
T: This is crazy, Maetel!
M: Don't worry. It was only a building controlled by a CPU, there weren't any humans inside.

38)
M: Right before we left, I set a proton bomb in there.
T: You...?
M: Preventing disasters before they happen is the only way to survive on the Galaxy Express.
M: If you just wait for things to happen, you won't make it.
M: Understand, Tetsurou? You have to be prepared if you want a machine body.
M: We'll have to rest a bit!!
M: There are only 3 hours left until noon.
T: Ah!
T: Hey, gimme that back!
?: It's mine!

39)
T: Why would a man be wearing a woman's coat?!
?: Wait, please wait!
?: I'm too poor to buy a machine body!!
?: My wife's the same way!
?: I just want to be wrapped in something soft at least while I'm sleeping!
M: I'll give it to you.
M: Let's go, Tetsurou!!
T: Back there, your face looked exactly like my mother's...
M: Your mother's?
M: Yes...I suppose that makes sense.
M: Anyway, let's do a little conditioning before we get on the train.

40)
M: Hold onto the pass tightly this time, got it?
M: I'm going to take a shower.
T: A pass, huh...?
T: With this I can ride on any train as many times as I want!!
T: Including, of course, 999...
T: the one that will take me to the planet where I can get a machine body for free!!
T: It's like a dream...
T: Mother, I'll definitely...

41)
?: Maetel, the moment you disobey my orders, you will die! Do not forget that!!
M: Yes....of course! I won't.
T: Who's Maetel talking with?
?: You must be like that boy's shadow. Never leave his side!!
M: Yes! I shall not.
T: That boy...?! Are they talking about me?
?: Unless you wish to have your particles disassembled, do not go against my orders!
M: Ahhh...!!
T: Maetel!!

42)
M: What's wrong? Tetsurou! Weren't you asleep?
T: No...you were making a weird sound, so I just...!

43)
M: Oh, come on...I'm the only one in here...!!
T: Sorry!!
T: I don't get it...I could have sworn I heard them talking.
T: Well, whatever. I don't care if Maetel is a demon or a witch, or anything.
T: As long as I can ride the Galaxy Express...
T: I'm completely satisfied...

44)
T: I'll worry about everything else...
T: once I'm on the train.
T: On the Galaxy Express...

45)
C: This is the Galaxy Express Guide speaking...all passengers boarding the Galaxy Express 999 from Earth to Andromeda, please hurry to Megalopolis Station, Platform #99.
M: Tetsurou, hurry!! We'll be late.
M: There's only a single train that leaves each year to Andromeda!!
T: This feels weird...I'm leaving on such a huge trip, but I'm wearing all my baggage.
M: That's the mark of a pro traveler.
T: Are you a pro?
M: Possibly.
M: Five minutes left!!

46)
M: That's Metropolis Station!!
M: The Galaxy Express 999 is already at the platform!!
M: Once we're on it, there's no turning back until we reach Andromeda! Are you ready?
T: Yeah! I'm sick of this planet, anyway. In order to get a machine body, I'll go anywhere, even Hell!!

47)
B: A great number people have gone to the reaches of the galaxy from this station...!! But not many stories exist of those who have returned alive! It is said that trains that pull back into Metropolis Station are empty, passenger-less boxes, but no one truly knows why...and even despite such, people continue to fight for seats...

48)
B: Passengers leaving on the 11:05 suburban train to Mars, please head to Platform #2! Passengers leaving on the 11:25 train to Great magellan, please head to Platform #16!
B: The Galaxy Express 999, leaving at noon to Andromeda, is at Platform #99.
T: Where's Platform #99, Maetel?
M: Our train is right over there!!

50)
T: Ehh? This is the 999 everyone's been talking about?
M: Yes. Surprised?

51)
T: But it looks so old...!!
M: Don't worry, Tetsurou.
M: It's actually a train that was built recently, protected by a powerful, unlimited magnetic barrier.
M: It was built in the style of a classic steam engine in order to relax the hearts of those who ride...
M: The inside is very modern, but the outside looks no different than that of an old Japanese SL train...
M: For passengers who will never return, it's got to be this way.
T: Passengers who will never return...?
T: But I'm going to get a machine body and return for sure!!
M: Oh, that's right...

52)
M: That's right...
M: It's fine. You'll understand soon enough...
T: Well, let's get on already!!
M: Wait, we should buy some lunch.
M: The dining car won't open until 8...
T: But...
M: There aren't many passengers, so there is no need to rush.
M: Just sit there. I'll be back soon.
T: This...is the Galaxy Express 999 I've dreamt about...
T: The Galaxy Express Mom told me about time and time again....

54)
T: Wah!
G: What are you acting so surprised for?
T: I thought you were a pile of trash...
G: Trash? Me?
T: I'm sorry.
G: It's fine, it's fine. I just worked myself nearly to death in order to buy a ticket for this train.
G: I guess it only makes sense that I look like trash now.
G: By the way...
G: Do you know if it's true that out of all the passengers who've ever boarded this train...
G: none who have come back alive...?

55)
T: Eh...
G: After the train reaches Andromeda and comes all the way back, there are never any passengers aboard...
T: Who knows...
G: That's supposedly the case...
T: Eh...
G: I wonder what happens to all the passengers, then?
G: It's bizarre, isn't it?
G: Kinda creepy, even...

56)
B: The noon Galaxy Express 999 to Andromeda is now leaving!
B: The doors will be shutting momentarily, so please hurry.
T: Maetel!!
B: All those who have come to see passengers off, please step back from the white line...
T: Maetel!!
T: Maetel!!
T: Mae-Maetel!!

58)
M: What's wrong? I'm right here.
T: Eh?!
T: When did you...I thought you had missed it for sure!
M: I don't make mistakes.
M: Here's your lunch.
M: Take your time and enjoy it.
M: Even if you return here and have time for lunch,
M: your mouth and tongue will be of a machine's, and you won't be able to taste anymore...
T: Maetel, I heard that all the people who board this train never come back. Is that really true?
M: It's a rumor.

59)
M: And nothing more.
T: Maetel, Maetel!!
T: Look! There's no track!!
M: Track...?!

63)
M: This is a space train.
M: There are only tracks for stations.
T: The train looks so old, I figured without a track it wouldn't be able to run...
T: But you're right! This is a space train!

64)
T: I can see lights from the surface.
M: Those are all towns where machine people live.
M: Do you see the places were there are no black lights, though?
M: Those are spots where people who can't buy machine bodies live...
M: The truth is, there are too many humans crowded on that planet.
T: Twilight...

65)
M: There is neither day nor night in space.
M: Maybe the side with bright stars like the sun is daytime, and the other side is nighttime...
T: I'm going to the bathroom.
M: Wait, Tetsurou! That person...
G: Don't get in my way!!
G: I refuse to ride this train to a place where I can't come back from! I've changed my mind!
G: I'm going to talk to the conductor and make him do a U-turn! I'll let you two go, don't worry.
M: You can't do that.

66)
M: People who get on this train can't get off at any sudden stops. The train can't turn back either.
M: It's Rule #17 of the Space Railroad Operation Regulations...!!
G: Shut up!!
G: Ah!
C: Ma'am!
C: We can't allow you to trouble other passengers like this.
G: What are you doing?!
G: Let me go! Let me go!!
G: Is this a demon train?

67)
G: Just why does this train exist...for who...
T: Ahhh!
C: Excuse me.
T: Who was that...?!
M: The Conductor.

68)
M: He had no choice.
M: That woman broke the rules...
M: This train cannot make any sudden stops, nor can it turn back...
M: All passengers must understand that.
M: It's 6 hours until our first stop on Mars.
M: After that, Titan, and then Pluto!
M: The rest time on each planet is one day...!!
T: One day?
M: Yes. And since the rotation of planets differ, there are some planets with 10 hours in a day, and others with 50...
M: In any case, one day will have passed when the sun rises and falls once.
M: We can explore each planet all we want until then.
T: So we can get off!
T: What if we get lost on the way and don't make it back in time?
M: Then we'll die.
T: Die...?


69)
M: Better look closely. This is the last time you'll be able to see it with these eyes...
T: No, I don't want to. That place is just full of sad memories, anyway...
M: There are times when sad memories can become nostalgic, though.
M: Times when you may feel glad you looked...
T: I'm young, though!! That's like something a grandma or a grandpa would say!
T: All I want right now is a machine body! That's all I can think about!!
M: Yes...
B: And so, the Galaxy Express 999 began its journey on the infite track, with Tetsurou onboard...what kind of planets will he visit? What kind of places will he go? What will he become? Will he be able to return? Tetsurou knew the answer to none of these questions...and before him, the infinite sea of shining stars that the Galaxy Express plunged into grew only larger...

A Departure's Ballad / End