by Estim20, HSM Editor

Anime is a strange, yet beautiful thing.

A byproduct of Japanese culture, it is a means of broadcasting, intentional or otherwise, said culture to the outside world. At times it feels familiar, thanks to inspirations taken from Disney, while at other times it feels strange and alien. Naturally this can be said about our own output, of course, so all’s fair in love and animation.

It is by no means a new phenomenon, dating back to the early 20^th century – true for many countries’ outputs under current perceptions of animation. The earliest known anime is from 1917 and ‘talkies’ existed since the 1930s, marking the earliest experiments in directing an animated work. These helped pioneer the animation business in japan, but these early works didn’t constitute an anime series, even as animated films had existed since the 1940s.

Anime series debuted in the 1960s, with the likes of Toei Animation and Mushi Productions offering Disney-like fare through the decade. The decade also brought us the talent of Osama Tezuka, known best for Astro Boy, released in 1963. It’s here where we see anime gaining speed and renown, as well as the start of the most famous names in the business, ranging from the previously mentioned Astro Boy to works in the 1970s, such as Space Battleship Yamato.

This is, of course, with the caveat that the earlier you look, the less likely the market will remember these names – unless we look strictly at the anime fandom. Anime as a whole, at least from my experience, has mostly been perceived by the States by its more recent output. The 1960s and 1970s aren’t mentioned quite as often by the Americans at large today as, say, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Macross, or Dragon Ball. This has its reasons, namely that anime didn’t catch on quite as large back then as it does today.

In fact, the late 1970s was when American interest in anime kick-started tremendously, with the release of re-dubbed shows, ranging from Battle of the Planets to such as example as Voltron and Robotech. The ‘80s itself presented a larger market for anime state-side, including the first (state-side) releases by Studio GHIBLI and Rumiko Takahashi, plus a slew of space operas and cyberpunk material. Mecha shows earned some popularity in the states through these releases, as well, which fit in well with the sci-fi bonanza the ‘80s enjoyed.

By the 1990s, America seems ready to embrace the quirkiness and more anime entailed, which lead ultimately to our current state of affairs. With the successes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Sailor Moon paving the way for a modern wave, you can now find multiple stores offering an anime section and online streaming services dedicated specifically to such material. While the market isn’t quite as large as others, anime maintains a comfortable place in the American market, which – for the moment – seems to be thriving.

Home hasn’t ignored this market, especially in Japan – which is little surprise. Japan certainly has seen the lion’s share of licensed material as far as anime goes. America has its own share of the pie, once through Irem and now through Granzella, but they are largely generic, covering their bases like a wiki-crawl through TV Tropes rather than anything officially licensed. It has often been up to the fans to create their own fan-made attempts at anime licenses, which has frankly been limited, thanks to the wide variety of designs that go beyond the generic material provided.

As such, if you weren’t happy with just video game characters, almost-but-not-quite fan versions or look-alikes, you either had to head to Japan and spend a few yen, or hope developers hear our pleas for American releases.

That is, until now.

Say hello to Galaxy Express 999. It’s strange that one of the officially-licensed anime to reach our Home is celebrating its 35^th birthday this year. That certainly has something to do with it, but if you’re like me, you expected a more recent release to break ground. This isn’t to say Galaxy Express 999 isn’t welcome – it oh so is – but given the options, one may have expected something completely different.

So, for those of us that are curious to buy this and may even wonder what this piece of anime nostalgia is, the question is clear: are these costumes worth it?

Background: 35 Years of Express

Galaxy Express 999 is the brainchild of Leiji Matsumoto, released as a manga series in 1977 and as an anime television series in 1978. It explores its universe through the eyes of its male lead (and 12-year-old street urchin) Tetsuro Hoshino, who craves nothing more than a robotic body. He hears they give these bodies, otherwise inexplicably expensive, for free at the end of the line traveled by Galaxy Express 999, a space train that arrives on Earth only once a year.

His companion, following the death of his mother at the hands of Count Mecha and a gang of ‘human killers,’ is the enigmatic Maetel, who looks exactly like Tetsuro’s mother. Through her, Tetsuro gains an unlimited pass on the Express, which whisks him away on numerous adventures before arriving at his ultimate destination. Multiple planets meet the duo on their journey and Tetsuro explores what it means to be human while finding out whether it’s worth getting a metal body.

Obviously there will be no spoilers as to who Maetel really is, let alone what she has at stake for traveling with Tetsuro. Ultimately, what you need to know is: space happens, and it looks magnificent from the confines of a steam train. If your first question is about the feasibility of such a train making a journey into space – stop it; it’s awesome.

The Costumes

There are five female costumes on Home, of which I purchased four. Poor Metalmena remains off this review and if she is of the same quality as the other costumes, I cannot wait to buy her – but more on that later.

Here are the costumes, nonetheless, if you are inclined to pick from the female side of the equation. All costumes are a full-body costume, combined with a head item and, in some cases, gloves. None of the costumes sport a hairstyle that actually goes into the hair category of character customization and if they are paired with a hat (e.g. Maetel), the hat cannot be removed. However, the head item and the gloves count as separate items. The rest of the costumes, however, count as “full body,” so their constituent parts cannot be used separately.

The first is the aforementioned Maetel, Tetsuro’s companion/mother look-alike. She looks vaguely Russian in this costume, which is the one she is best known for. Her long-flowing blond hair is rendered remarkably well, as is her costume. Unfortunately the hat, as mentioned earlier, is not usable separately.

Second is Ryuzu, the love interest of Count Mecha (who is available under the male category). You receive her green dress and long, blue hair as part of the bundle. In the anime, she possesses a guitar, which is not included in the avatar bundle. You may wish to simulate that with voice chat, though if you could pull off her skill, you will bring people to tears, so proceed with caution.

Third is Emeraldas, a character from Captain Harlock who makes a cameo in Galaxy Express. She pilots the ship Queen Emeraldas, which you may take as you will, and she is a space pirate, much like Captain Harlock’s eponymous character. She even possesses a scar to prove it.

The fourth character is another from Captain Harlock, named Kei Yuki. She met Harlock after he invaded the ship taking her to Earth as a prisoner. She became the ship’s chief navigator and science officer and there is more than a hint she is in love with Harlock. There is as such a faint parallel to Star Trek, though unintended – think about it.

Finally, rounding out the cast is Metalmena, more than enough proof that robotic entities exist in the universe of Galaxy Express 999. She is seen with the Conductor of the Express, who oddly is never given a name. Feel free to explore your robotic side when visiting the Express.

The Best of the Express

So, how do these costumes stack up? First things first: The costumes are faithful recreations of the show and are thus unmistakable as Galaxy Express 999/Space Pirate Captain Harlock. While the art style isn’t duplicated in every exact way, that’s partially due to the avatars and the decision to use them as the basis. They could’ve gone for a full-body costume that mimics the style even further, but as it is, they are fantastically rendered and look exactly as they should.

Secondly, the decision to not make the costumes entirely full-body (i.e. not more like the Iron Fusion bots) means people can pair some of the items, especially the hair, with other costumes. The option for variety is always welcome and means you aren’t stuck asking what the constituent parts would look with other clothes. Of course there’s more to this later.

Thirdly: GALAXY EXPRESS 999!

Fourthly, I hope this means the doors are open for more licensed material. Galaxy Express 999 is certainly a welcome commodity and one of the best choices to make. In the 35 years since its release as an anime, there have been plenty more material to choose from that should entice users to spend a bit more cash and retain fans of Japan’s culture so that they don’t need to saunter off elsewhere. I mean, hey, Toei alone has plenty more shows to choose from.

The Worst of Express

Here is a nitpick or two: the clipping of the costume parts, especially with the hair on Emeraldas, does ruin the immersion slightly. While it is expected given the collision detection on items isn’t great, it does mean that they do go through clothing occasionally. As they are, however, this isn’t horrible enough to really hurt it much but it does stand out when, for example, moving. It will also affect other clothes, but that’s expected.

Also, Emeralda’s hair curving back the way it does makes her look like she’s hunchbacked when viewed from behind. Maybe it’s just me but it does make her look like she could take tips from Quasimodo if you didn’t look twice to check. From every other angle, however, she looks perfectly fine. On a side note though: she shares that curve on the hair with Ryuzu, which is weird. It is likely a byproduct of the art style, but it’s noticeable when moving about and I kind of expected their hair to be straighter than that.

Speaking of Ryuzu, I noticed with some dresses, walking around in them is weird when the bottom moves oddly. In Ryuzu’s case, given the dress reaches rather close to the ground, the bottom of the dress moves as if she partially washed it in starch. It’s a weakness of avatar design more than of the costume line specifically, but it does mean running about in the dress makes you paranoid it’s alive and trying to consume her feet.

As for the costumes, the decision to make a majority of each costume full-body means you cannot mix and match every part with other costumes. For the torso items, this is acceptable. With some items like Emeralda’s cape, this is probably the best route. For boots, though, it would help tremendously offer them separate – for both her and Kei Yuki.

Conclusion

For anime fans, the choice is clear. Buy these costumes, if you love anime and the shows in particular – and especially if you wish to show support for further releases from licensed shows. For others, the costumes are actually quite delightful. If you plan on machinima, the use of them I’m not sure about, but their design easily make them worth their purchase. Overall, you are definitely going to enjoy these costumes, especially if the reason you avoided them is you felt you couldn’t use your avatar’s face.

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2 Responses to “The Women of Galaxy Express 999”

1. Burbie52 says:

   February 26, 2013 at 10:53 am

   Nice review Estim. I am not an anime fan at all, I guess it just wasn’t something my generation has gotten into, being older the animated stuff I remember is all from Disney and Warner Brothers. I did love cartoons growing up though like many kids.
   These costumes are very cool looking, I have liked seeing them around Home as they add a little more flavor to the stewing pot of Home fashion.
   Good to see you back on the pages of HSM, hope to see more soon, and thanks for the history lesson on anime, as I didn’t have a clue about where Galaxy 999 fit into it.

   Reply
2. ted2112 says:

   March 1, 2013 at 1:20 am

   I love the picture of the Leiji Matsumoto characters! I grew up watching Star Blazers and loved it. It was an after school ritual for me, and as I got older I discovered the rest of his work.

   The Outfits for GE999 were great and I hope to see a Wildstar and Nova outfit down the road. Great Read!

   Reply