Some time in the future, probably some hundred years. We figured out interstellar travel. We built a vast network in the galaxy on which trains travel – these trains are capable of interstellar travel but can also travel as normal, like on tracks on a planet. Which is precisely what they do when they ‘stop’ at planets on their route – the stations in the network, when on a planet, look mostly like normal stations. However, when the father of Yuki Manabu sacrifices his life for him and his younger son, things are about to change for Yuki and the Galaxy Railways.
Yuki Manabu’s father dies during a mission in which an unknown alien vessel emerges, clearly with hostile intentions. At the time he was the commander of Big One – the lead train of the SDF, Space Defense Force. Big One is assigned to the Sirius Platoon – the number one tactical unit to carry out the most dangerous missions. As such, Big One is the bleeding edge of technology. The incident lead Yuki Manabu’s older brother to join the SDF – hoping he could follow in his father’s footsteps. He too is soon killed in action, during a military stronghold and defense situation on a planet.
Leaving behind a widowed mother with only one son left, Yuki too decides to join the SDF. His mother won’t let him at first as she fears death will soon find him as well. Due to the family tragedy Yuki is granted an assignment on Big One and the Sirius Platoon – hoping to make up for everything that is lost. For him, his family, and to honor his father.
The show carefully establishes the personalities of the characters one by one, and gives you details about their reality bit by bit. It seems to start off as a Mission-Of-The-Week show, while it is painting the picture of the crew for you. The missions are quite different – from dangerous rescue operations to intriguing explorations and even time paradoxes, they got it all on the menu for you.
Each episode is sort of narrated in the beginning at the end. It is sort of reminiscing of The Outer Limits, where there mostly was something inspirational being said, or simply giving you some food for thought. I found that to be pretty cool, since oftentimes the episodes are metaphors to situations everyone might have experienced in life at one point. The show touches on the subject of time, life, fate… and asks the everlasting question: is everything pre-determined? Or do we have free will?
What seemed to be a random attack in the pilot episode, might not be so random. As you progress through the show, you’ll find out why. In one episode, the show makes fun of itself and many other animes, which I personally found a nice touch and left me laughing out loud =) . It’s got everything – action, emotions, music, food for thought, and above all, uniqueness. Trains with warp drive in the galaxy is certainly something I haven’t seen before, and it scored in my book. I think you should go to Destiny Station and get a ticket for a ride on Big One, and enjoy the show! You won’t regret to get this one.
The Galaxy Railways
Directed by: Yukio Nishimoto
Licensed by: FUNimation
Original Run: October 4, 2003 – April 4, 2004
English networks: FUNimation Channel, Select On Demand, CoLours TV
Episodes: 26
Related posts:
