I'm writing this on August 2, 1998. Last viewing: 3 and 4 days ago, respectively

The second and third showings from Sci-Fi channel's Anime week '98.

The animation was obviously done by the same people who did Star Blazers. The background music was also quite similar. I saw that, and was hopeful: I loved Star Blazers.

This one, though, I can't find much to recommend it. I didn't like any of the characters, with the lead being the most annoying of them all. The plot really didn't make much sense. It had potential: I like the idea of tech so advanced they can make a ship look like anything. I like the idea of the mysterious pirates, acting somewhat heroic. But the whole deal between the 2 main characters was downright disturbing. Boy's mother is killed, then cloned, and takes the soul of this eternal traveller? That's really messed up.

Suggestions were made to interesting things that never ended up having relevance (Her name was the same as the machine planet, but nobody mentioned that until the end; she had machine eyes in the first 5 minutes, but never again; the Galaxy Express was sentient, but useless, and was "Afraid, Very Afraid," but in the next scene everything was fine; conversation between big bad thing and pirate: "You are the Devil." "Yes, I am the Devil." "Goodbye, friend." "You can still call me friend after everything?" ... Allusion to stuff never seen before or since). It even had the whole "I am your father" thing, never foreshadowed, and never dealt with. And when the gravitational pull of the "space siren" started pulling everything apart, I was reminded of an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures: "We're being sucked through a gaping hole in the plot!" It felt as if it was supposed to be an entire series, squashed into an hour and a half. Still, I can't tell if the improvements in the plot that would result from being a full series could ever compensate for the annoyance of the characters. Oh well.

The second movie seemed to do a somewhat better job of it than the first, but there were some major problems: many elements of several of the main characters seemed inconsistant with the first movie. In the first one, the lead female's mother was the queen of this planet in Andromeda, retired, and was killed. But she's back, in the second, being part of some other planet. A planet, never hinted at in the first movie, but if it were there, it should have been an eventual (although perhaps unreachable for a long while) goal. And this pill power source for the machines, so essential to the second, was never seen in the first, never even hinted at.

A galaxy express, going from Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy, making 4 stops total... neat place for adventure, but nothing done with it.

Another bad choice for Anime Week '98. I guess that's in keeping with having Apollo Smile as the host.

Note: since first writing this, I've read that longer versions of each of these exist, nearly two hours each (instead of the hour minus commercials from the sci-fi channel), that are apparently much better. I hope that's true, but I've never seen them. Anyway, the full version is what the "F" is referring to on the comparisons page for another reviewer.