Forum - View topicBuried Treasure - Night on the Galactic Railroad
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petran79
 Posts: 122 |
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I also desperately tried to find the DVD but to no avail. So I had to resort to other means.....Same for Spring and Chaos. I also got the hardcover edition of S.Strong's translation and the notes she provides (like from which European poets/authors Kenji might have been influenced) are helping a lot.
Surely one of the best pieces of literature I read, even better than "The Little Prince" (this by no means reduces the quality of the latter). As for the anime it ranks among the best anime movies I've seen though I have yet to see Gauche the Cellist. Though the best animated movie I've seen is the French "Le Roi et l'oiseau". |
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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Just an interesting note--this anime is actually listed on Netflix's website, but they don't currently have it (looks like they used to have it, but lost their copy). I've added it to my "save" part of the queue just in case it encourages them to get it again, but...I doubt they will, since it's out of print.
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mrgazpacho
Posts: 316 Location: Australia |
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Heh - I watched them in the other order, and (thus?) I feel the opposite. I think I appreciated Spring and Chaos much more than I would have if I hadn't seen the other film first. It might have been the psychedelic depiction of some of Miyazawa's epiphanies that I would have been more uncomfortable with. The slowly unfolding elegiac revelations of Night On The Galactic Railroad on the other hand came to me much more gently, allowing me time to absorb their implications. And I think the choice of feline character design for Spring and Chaos is funnier having seen Night On The Galactic Railroad first 
I also got the original R2 of Goshu the Cellist, and while I enjoyed the movie itself, I really wish I could understand all the extras... 
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Yujinbito
Posts: 8 |
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I have to agree with mrgazpacho. I saw the dubbed Kenji's Spring at Katsucon a long time ago and wouldn't have stayed if I hadn't seen Night on the Galactic Railroad; and Kenji's Spring would have made no impact on me if NotGR hadn't inspired me to learn about the author. I've tried showing Kenji's Spring to other people and they're usually unmoved: I find myself awkwardly explaining that 'maybe it's better when you're familiar with Kenji Miyazawa'.
The most consistently moving scene in all of anime for me is that scene in Kenji's Spring where the trains burst forth from the field (and that beautiful version of Ave Maria at the beginning & end.. nice music in that movie). But it would just be a weird scene to me if I wasn't familiar with Galactic Railroad; if you're not thinking about Galactic Railroad every time they show stars in Kenji's Spring then you're missing something huge. I also feel that you have to be familiar with the author's way of seeing the world to be moved by dinosaurs in the clouds or the night sky when the torch burns out. As for the book - I have Strong's version also and it's really wonderful (though I haven't read any of the others). It is absurdly expensive though.. I made my parents get it for me for Christmas one year. :p Anyway, good choice Justin. I am very happy that this column exists. |
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Quirk
 Posts: 14 |
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Whoa, it came out on DVD? Jeeze where have I been... I remember borrowing the subtitled VHS from my library years ago. I'll admit it was a little weird, but I found it very soothing.
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crispinfreeman
 Posts: 2 |
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In contrast to Justin's review that the dub script was not heavily adapted, I actually spent a lot of time researching and writing the dub script for Night on the Galactic Railroad. I did not rewrite, but I had to add a lot of dialogue to match lip flap. While I loved the original sub-titled script, it was far too concise for a dub script and wouldn't have worked. I tried my best to include what I could from the sub script, but then had to write and create a lot more dialogue to fill the gaps. In order to do this, I went back to the source and read the original book, Night on the Milky Way Railroad, as it's translated into English. As a student of mythology and science myself, I did my best to match Miyazawa's intentions and his synchronization of Buddhism, Christianity and Physics. Miyazawa's notion of a "coal sack" in the sky predates the modern idea of a black hole in physics by many years.
This anime is one of my personal favorites and I took it upon myself to give it the best treatment I could. The anime also means a lot to someone I love and I wanted her to be pleased with the dub as well. It was a struggle to allow Alren to have me adapt the script, but eventually he agreed. I'm still very proud of my work on it and I think the dub works very well. Night on the Galactic Railroad is a beautiful piece of art and I'm honored to have been able to work on it. -- Crispin Freeman Voice Actor / Director [email protected] http://www.crispinfreeman.com |
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einhorn303
 Posts: 1180 |
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Ah, seeing this has inspired me to give the movie another chance. I got it at a convention once, and I loved it's experimental style...but I was put off by how very, very Christian it was. Well, I stopped it half way through, in that scene with the giant glowing crosses and blaring hymn; that felt a bit over-the-top to me. I'm surprised not many people mention this when reviewing it.
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MorwenLaicoriel
Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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It's very...."Christian"? Just in use of symbolism? Or does it actually have a orthodox heaven-and-hell worldview or...what? Since only 2% of Japanese citizens consider themselves Christians, I'd be a little surprised to see a truly "Christian" anime. (I'm not sure if Super Book and The Flying House really count since they were partially made by Americans.)
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Gauche the Cellist is definitely on my want-to-see list, but I'm drawn to the short film format enough to remain really curious about A Well Ordered Restaurant. No matter, since the former is infinitely easier to get ahold of (thanks to YesAsia). |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Didn't mean to imply that you didn't work hard on it, but rather breathe a sigh of relief that no changes were made that affect the narrative in any way. I'm glad that you knew the importance of what you were working on (and frankly, I'd be let down if you didn't), and I hope your passion for the project affected those around you. Given how the dub turned out, I can only assume it did. I forgot... I did make one more mark on this version that I forgot about: when the dub came back, they had read the poem during the end credits in a woman's voice (I forget who voiced it), as they didn't know it was supposed to be a poem by Miyazawa. I bitched like hell until they re-recorded it.
Anyway, I'm glad my article is the one that forced you to finally post! |
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GATSU
Posts: 15550 |
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Anime World Order:
I'd imagine I could sit through Galactic Radio, but Honneamise is just pointless. Greboruri:
I need to rent that one of these days... Rakushun:
Judging by the summary, Galaxy Express 999 and Kino's Journey, I guess. |
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exedore
Posts: 20 |
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Actually, the Tokyopop DVD is awful - beyond awful - as in awful enough that I'd dig up my old fansub VHS and watch that instead if I was showing Kenji to someone for the first time. Kenji's Spring (Spring and Chaos) was Tokyopop's first DVD release, and it was loaded with problems, namely that the A/V were abominable to the point that Tokyopop had to recall the disc and have it remade. I have the redone edition, and it's still pretty bad looking - the bitrate is about half what it should (and could) be for a film of its length, and there's noticeable issues with the compression and encoding in the brighter scenes. Likewise, the colours are desaturated and lack richness compared to the Japanese release. The other major issue with the R1 release is the dub. I may watch everything subtitled, but a lot of people don't and Tokyopop's dub for this is infamously bad. Kenji sounds like a flaming gay rapper, and the rest of the cast aren't much better. There are some good things about the DVD, though. There are some nice extras, and I liked the special edition packaging (unfortunately it came with the bad disc inside it but with the replacement shrink wrapped to the side). The subtitles were pretty good, and came in a half-dozen languages or so. |
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Subaru19
 Posts: 118 |
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Just a slight comment, I read a review with Leji Matsumoto translated in one of the Viz volumes of Galaxy Express 999 and while he says he was familiar with the story of Night on the Galactic railroad, he doesn't actually cite it as his inspiration for writing the comic. He was more interested in the journey of a boy traveling from childhood to adulthood. Still it's clear the work influenced him...
To quote the interview (excerpted from an interview published in Animerica published in Galaxy Express 999)
Anyhow I've also seen this movie and loved it very much. And we recently had Night on the Galactic Railroad lunch at the Japanese school where I teach. They cut out all the stuff about death, but it was still pretty cute. I love the symbolism. Kenji's Spring was another anime that I liked a lot. There wasn't enough dialogue in it for the dub track to bother me one way or the other. I usualy prefer dubs, and didn't find it too awful at all. |
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Brand
 Posts: 1028 |
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Is there an isbn number for the Sarah M. Strong version of the book? I still have the VHS tape this was one of my first anime movies, I love it.
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dahpaper
Posts: 7 |
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wow, i really really wanna see this anime. i wish somehow they'd be able to televis it or show it on the internet. i saw an amazon marketplace dvd copy going for 40 bucks. i'd really like to see it before i decide to own it.
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