Forum - View topicBuried Treasure - Night on the Galactic Railroad
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elsie
Posts: 61 Location: Virginia |
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I'm one of the lucky ones with a copy of this dvd. It's so incredibly haunting. I will say, however, that it's a film that requires the viewer to be in just the right mood -- contemplative and melancholy, though not depressed.
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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So just to confirm what was said in the article, it is true that CPM no longer holds any license on this movie, right? |
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Mike Toole
 SubscriberANN Columnist  Posts: 105 Location: THE GOOD OLE U-S-A |
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Another great column about another great film, Justin. Oddly, the only thing I remember about the DVD production is the font used in the menus-- I'm pretty sure it was Porkys. Heh heh.
Bester's translation, IMO, is the best. I read it in one sitting, when I was in college. Poetic and evocative stuff, I particularly like his title-- "Night Train to the Stars" is a relatively loose translation, but for me it works better than "Night on the Milky Way Railroad". Thanks for the tip about the 80s English dub. I'm on the case and would love to find such a rarity. 8-) |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Ooh!!! Let me know what you find out! And yes, I'm pretty sure that was Porky's. (sigh) |
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johnmora
Posts: 74 |
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[Try saying why you have an opinion instead of just saying "it sucked, i was bored" like a simpleton. --Nagi]
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Anime World Order
 Posts: 389 Location: Florida |
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About ten years ago back when I was in 9th or 10th grade or so, I was already sick and tired of the irritating anime fans I'd encounter on the Internet. Sure, they were posting in rec.arts.anime.misc with threads tagged with "GRIT," but some things remain ever-constant. So it came to pass that anytime someone I knew expressed interest in anime, I would sit them down and make them watch two films back to back: The Wings of Honneamise and Night on the Galactic Railroad. The idea being that they would either be capable of devoting their total attention to films such as these (which demand them of the viewer) or they would not, and if they could not, then I didn't want to deal with them anyway because they'd probably just become another annoying fan for the kill filter.
In the end, I think one or two people aside from myself could do it, so I abandoned the practice if not the concept. The establishment of a snob elitism groundwork aside, I have no regrets. For those wondering, I now show people--usually relatives since people my age and younger tend to know what anime is thanks to cable television and the Internet--Grave of the Fireflies. |
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tarrin4ever
Posts: 34 |
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Heh, I remember this movie. This played on Canadian TV, the "Space" Channel as part of a monthly theme of sci-fi movies, Ani-May. And yes, they even called it japanimation. XP
I think it was the subtitled version. |
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Greboruri
Posts: 378 Location: QBN, NSW, Australia |
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Didn't get into this one until I saw Kenji's Spring (released in the US as Spring and Chaos) which told the life story of Kenji Miyazawa, also using cats, and was directed by Shoji Kawamori. Great little TV special. The Tokyopop DVD isn't too bad (well the remastered version), as long as you watch it subtitled. Sadly this disc is also out of print.
Also Studio Ghibli's Isao Takahata made an anime version of Miyazawa's Gauche the Cellist in the early 1980's. Got released by Pioneer (I think) in Japan years ago on DVD with English subs. Since gone out of print, but Buena Vista/Ghibli re-released recently, also with English subs. Been a bit too lazy/poor to buy it from amazon.co.jp though. Is it me or were there more experimental/sureal/arthouse anime during the 1980's compared with now? Night on the Galactic Railroad is wonderfully sureal. I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it though. |
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exedore
Posts: 20 |
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Wow, Justin, your timing couldn't be better on this - I *just* got my copy of the novel in today, and have been thinking about this and Kenji's Spring (another movie that I believe means quite a lot to you) quite a bit recently (and how I really should drop the $50 on the Kenji's Spring R2).
FWIW, there *is* an affordable version of Sarah Strong's Night on the Galactic Railroad translation available through the International Foundation for the promotion of Languages and Culture. The story is in an anthology of Miyazawa works that also features Gauche the Cellist and The Restaurant of Many Orders amongst others. The cover price is 1400 yen, though I only paid $10+ shipping for my copy (thank you otaku.com). While the text is (to my knowledge) unabridged, this paperback does lack the lush artwork of the more expensive hardcover. For those looking to find this book, the ISBN is 4-7631-2322-X and you can get it from Amazon Japan or anywhere that will order Japanese books for you. |
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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Looks like something i'd like to see. It sounda intresting- maybe I can find it in time for Christmas.
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Timing on this is great for me, too, since I just purchased Kenji's Spring and am basking in its presence. I feel a little sheepish, though, since I've been meaning to see Night on the Galactic Railroad for years now but still haven't gotten around to it. A friend of mine said it was his favorite animated film before he saw Yuri Norstein's Tale of Tales, and that's a VERY good sign; such impeccable taste must mean Galactic Railroad is very special. It's next on my Kenji Miyazawa list. I'd love to see the animated version of A Well-Ordered Restaurant but have been going through hell trying to find it. Oh well. One day, perhaps.
[Edit: fixed spelling] Last edited by Cloe on Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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"A Well Ordered Restaurant" is very strange, and honestly, in retrospect, I don't like it much. It tries way too hard to be surreal and ends up derailing the Kenji story entirely in its quest to be artsy. If you want more Kenji luv, I recommend Goshu the Cellist (dir. Takahata Isao!). There's also The Biography of Gusko Budori, but I haven't seen that yet. Kenji's Spring is fantastic, and although I don't think it's nearly as good as Galactic RR, it's much more accessible and makes for a great "gateway drug". Perhaps I'll write about it someday. |
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wao
Posts: 224 |
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I've watched this before too! I actually didn't like it at first, but it had that amazing effect where it just kept returning to my mind every day for the next few days and it's like I slowly realised that it was a very amazing film.
I'm most curious about The BIography of Gusko Budori though. It's directed by Ryutaro Nakamura so I'd love to see it... |
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Rakushun
 Posts: 116 Location: Hawaii |
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I was lucky to rent this one on a whim a couple of years ago, and it was well worth it. Not only is it really good, but it feels and looks very different from any other anime I've seen. It really feels more like something out of Europe than Japan (though I couldn't define "European animation" if you asked me).
Can anyone suggest other anime or even other cartoons like Night On The Galactic Railroad? |
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Whearn9999
Posts: 211 Location: Texas City TX |
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Oh wow!! I'm a HUGE fan of GE 999 & The Galaxy Railways. Now to read about the movie that inspired them; it's just fantastic! Thanks for the great article, Justin.
The hunt is on! 
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