Galaxy Express 999 is a wonderful series and Sayonara Galaxy Express is a must watch movie in my books. The beauty of the animations is in the theme which as Leiji Matsumoto says is, a celebration of mortality. This theme is expressed in how characters live thier lives, how they die and their dreams, which leads to the ultimate decision on if pursuing immortality is the right choice for Tetsurou. Eternal Fantasy (as the name implies) seems to upend that notion. But that's neither here nor there, lets instead talk about what this is.
Eternal Fantasy is an adaptation to the newer Galaxy Express comic, eternal edition, which means it ignores some parts of Sayonara Galaxy Express which served as a conclusion of sorts. Which isn't a big deal because continuity is something that's always loose in this series, the question is does this do a good job as a prologue in its 54 minute run time... wait a minute, 54 minutes?! That's right and with that said, let me say that the answer to if this is a good prologue is, no and the runtime is a part of it. I don't think this version of Galaxy of Express is destined for greatness but the lack of desire to look into Eternal Edition after watching Eternal Fantasy lies solely on this film.
The problem with this, is that the prologue isn't interested in the setup, the start is just to get the ball rolling and the adventure on the train happening again which makes this movie which consists of the prologue and only the prologue, frankly, bad. This movie is like eating the discarded, unwanted parts of food. The thing that no one wanted or cared about, all rolled up in a nice package and handed off to you, solely for the purpose of getting you excited of actually eating the meal and you want me to rate the trash parts? Well they're not good. The story is rushed and all the important parts are told through flashes of exposition outside of the action.
Without spoiling things, Eternal Fantasy story goes like this: "The plot starts out fast and hard with flashy action and we learn through a quick exposition that the enemy is comfort and high quality of life apparently. Lets escape! Oh hey btw the most tragic thing that could happened just randomly happened offscreen with no warning, setup or reason given. Ok, the end. Nope, no, do not recommend. This came out in theaters in Japan by the way and no they weren't happy about it either as it underperformed.
I enjoy Leiji Matsumoto works but I can't recommend this. The only saving grace is that the animation is enduring and that the little time you spend with it, the movie never insults your intelligence, or subjects you to stupid or offensive themes preventing it from ever falling into the apalling or terrible category.
