Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 9

Good day people, and welcome again to Flawed Each Time. At the moment I’m thrilled to announce we’re returning to the ever-enchanting Galaxy Specific 999, becoming a member of Tetsuro and Maetel on their ambiguous journey in the direction of the outer reaches of the galaxy. Having turn into trapped within the “graveyard at the bottom of gravity” by the ambiguous Ryuz, Tetsuro was invited to affix her on her lonely planet, and realized her story of being briefly coveted after which swiftly discarded for her unchanging steel physique. Trapped with solely her regrets, she pleaded with Tetsuro to affix her, and even provided him the mechanical physique he covets – however Tetsuro declined, saying his future was nonetheless extensive open, that he had a lot left to do in his personal time, and that he wouldn’t settle for a mechanical physique at the price of his personal freedom.

After all, as we’ve seen repeatedly, the liberty from mortality provided by a steel physique heralds its personal type of isolation. These whose mortal our bodies have been discarded appear equally trapped, frozen in a single second, unable to vary bodily or emotionally. Metallic our bodies appear little greater than tombstones on this world, markers signifying a significant human life that when was, however now not. And what’s freedom with out the facility and company to actually change your future, anyway? Tetsuro travels the galaxy on a borrowed ticket, however is consistently reminded of those that lack such monetary freedom, who scrape and discount for a glimpse of the self-determination he so carelessly enjoys. The galaxy is filled with dazzling wonders, however their types solid heavy shadows, revealing a Kaiba-like imaginative and prescient of technological improvement the place the injustices of society have been written straight onto our pores and skin. Does Tetsuro perceive the burden of his process, and when the time comes, will he really be capable of select between Maetel and freedom?

Allow us to return to the celebrities.

Episode 9

“Trader Junction.” Alright, we would truly run right into a residing group this time! Two episodes spent within the graveyard on the backside of gravity has in all probability earned us somewhat firm

This large martial anthem OP has been more and more reminding me of the unique Cell Go well with Gundam’s chipper opening, providing a stirring name to motion that’s totally undercut by the horrors that motion entails

There’s actually no method fashionable anime might replicate the overarching tonal ambiguity of ‘70s and ‘80s anime, because that ambiguity stems directly from being created by children of the war and post-war generation. Modern directors, writers, and animators haven’t spent their childhoods being inundated in messages concerning the anomaly of human ambition and horrors of each struggle and reckless science, and are resultantly much more credulous relating to masking these matters. And this lack of perspective is additional exacerbated by the “blind leading the blind” insularity of recent anime-adjacent writing; somewhat than drawing from impartial passions and life experiences, they’re simply drawing from prior anime-adjacent writing, with predictably diminishing returns

Apparently the planet they’re approaching is simply named “Trader.” No must overcomplicate issues

As different trains soar off the planet, we be taught that is truly a junction level for the galactic railways. Such an imposing, fantastical picture – the concept of trains taking off into area appears like a standard thread in our childhood unconscious, an concept that feels concurrently magical and appropriate sufficient to resonate as one thing half-remembered from actuality, or at the least a actuality adjoining to our personal

They go one practice that’s been waterproofed for marsh areas, and one other bustling with day by day commuters. House is each whimsical and mundane, stuffed with secrets and techniques but already yoked to capitalism

They’ve apparently obtained a while on this planet, stopping for 2 days and two hours

One of many switch traces is named the “Capella Line,” which I assume is a reference to Campanella from Night time on the Galactic Railroad, this story’s most direct inspiration

I like how the conductor makes all these bulletins to a largely empty cabin, the place the one two passengers haven’t any likelihood of really making a switch. Sorta emphasizes how they’ve constructed this large future infrastructure that largely exists for nobody, a self-justifying act of scientific audacity. As I see the trendy tech business try and repeatedly promote us issues like crypto or AI that nobody wants and which actively make the world worse, I can respect the timelessness of this view of science and capitalism in live performance

“Trader is a place where travelers meet and share stories, and new friendships blossom.” The true enchantment of this planet is solely drawing shut with different human beings, escaping for a second the inherent loneliness of area journey

After all, this episode can be reveling in a way more basic lesson: Trains Are Cool

Our last descent reveals the planet to harbor a real metropolis, conveyed by means of what appears like painted-over aerial images

Proper, I’d forgotten Tetsuro’s lovable cowpoke outfit, with straw hat and poncho

They head to a restaurant, the place they discount for actual ramen versus synthetic. This gleaming metropolis is a pretend, and authenticity prices further

Then a person makes an attempt to promote Tetsuro a rifle. Everybody right here is grifting

Maetel gestures in the direction of the entrance window, the place hungry figures stand peering in at their meal. The potential glamour of this metropolis solely emphasizes the gap between the haves and have-nots, whereas additionally underlining that even those that have acquired a ticket on the galaxy specific are sometimes in any other case impoverished, merely filling their bellies with water with a purpose to stave off the starvation pangs. A exactly chosen element that once more emphasizes Matsumoto’s familiarity with the precise face of deprivation

“If I didn’t have my free pass and my allowance, I’d be one of them.” Tetsuro seizes the lesson instantly, realizing there may be nothing significant separating him from these determined folks. We are able to solely hope exhausting instances lead us to grab on liberative politics and solidarity, somewhat than the insular, reactionary sociopathy that’s the lure of the trendy proper

“I feel the smell of life, as if people really live here.” It isn’t the glimmering facade, however the hum of significant, strange life that makes this metropolis really feel snug and alive

Tetsuro is compelled by Maetel into taking a shower. Good to see some real laughter from her; she usually appears hunched beneath the burden of her mysterious process, however Tetsuro can often remind her of the lighter issues in life

Maetel warns him in regards to the hungry people from earlier than as she sends him off to search out his personal lunch. He has an excellent coronary heart, however doesn’t absolutely perceive what desperation can do to folks, or what a weak place he’s in as properly. The noble naivety of not recognizing injustice on a structural degree, and thus feeling he can resolve it on a private one

“I’d love to give them some food, but there are too many.” A sensible demonstration of the issue at hand swiftly adjusts his perspective. Particular person acts of charity are laudable, however he can not repair this metropolis, and trying to with the sources at hand would doubtless put him in higher hazard

For a lot of, their first go to to a serious metropolis is their first expertise with the dimensions of injustice our society facilitates, and our blasé acceptance of that injustice as an on a regular basis truth of life. It’s simple to see how a locally-oriented philosophy of “communities work together to resolve challenges” could be fostered in a group that’s nothing however native, however seeing how society truly features at scale typically disabuses one of many concept that everybody “pitching in a little more” may resolve poverty and inequality

That, or it simply makes one resolve that cities are distinctive hotbeds of criminality crammed with naturally criminally inclined folks. I suppose for some, it’s simpler to rationalize the struggling of others as justice than to just accept you reside in an unjust world

As a substitute of consuming, Tetsuro heads out to the tracks, watching the trains arrive and depart from this gilded beacon of inequality

He finally finds a neighborhood ramen place, the place the ramen is synthetic however the firm is good. Even right here, a former worker of the store stops by the again entrance, asking after any leftover meals

Tetsuro can’t save this metropolis, however he can deal with this girl to a pleasant meal. We reside in an unjust world, however we will nonetheless make a distinction right here and there – “while I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to the earth,” as Frightened Rabbit put it

Despite her restricted expressions, it’s nonetheless simple to see this girl’s transformation from the huddled concern of being scammed or crushed to this earnest gratefulness at discovering a sort soul

“You can’t just be nice to only one person.” One other would-be buyer instantly tries to leech off Tetsuro’s charity, after which summons a complete hoard of compatriots when Tetsuro agrees. Poverty or desperation don’t inherently convey advantage; everybody’s simply attempting to outlive, and the extra determined you turn into, the extra you’re keen to threat, and the extra callous you need to turn into simply to maintain standing. Thus Tetsuro’s particular person act of charity solely stirs additional problems

After all, this isn’t a “moral failing” of these struggling deprivation – it’s simply the pure conduct of people that don’t have the privilege of being accommodating. It’s the identical dynamic Parasite speaks to in its dialogue of the “softness” of wealthy folks – those that might by no means presumably lose every thing don’t must develop pores and skin thick sufficient to defend something

He’s rescued from his pursuers by the lady he deliberately fed. Fragmentary as it’s, his charity has nonetheless introduced him success

She feels extra at peace than she has in years, and Tetsuro is so snug he truly falls asleep, presumably seeing an echo of his mom on this sort, determined girl

And Completed

Thus our courageous boy takes a short relaxation, having confronted off with each the glittering face of galactic splendor, in addition to the deep shadows solid by that shining edifice. In a metropolis like this, the collective discount we apparently struck to consolidate wealth into the fingers of the few is inescapable; each avenue nook reveals each the opulence of concentrated wealth and the tragedy of its absence. And on this place, our insufficiency as particular person ethical actors is made equally clear: we will no extra proper this injustice than we will tear down the towers that embody it, our powerlessness changing into its personal type of fatigued complicity. However nonetheless, we can not hand over on empathy or justice, and we should proceed to consider in our personal particular person acts of kindness, our occasional choices of ports within the storm. We can not slay the beast alone, however we will at the least share our ramen once we get the prospect.

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