Raak mij aan! Touch me!

Country

Japan

Year

1981

Language

Japanese spoken, English subtitles

Director

Rintarô

Duration

135 min

The Galaxy Express rides again! Although the machines’ home planet has been destroyed, the Machine Empire is as great of a threat as ever. Earth has become a battlefield, reduced to smoldering ruins.

Young Tetsuro, older and more battle-worn, is summoned back into the interstellar fray, reinvigorated by the hope of seeing his beloved Maetel once more. The resistance against Queen Promethium is crumbling, and it’s up to Tetsuro to end the conflict once and for all. As boy becomes man, comrades fall, old friends reunite, and new allies are made. The time of rebellion has come … 

Time has largely forgotten Rintaro’s sequel to Galaxy Express 999, overshadowed by the original’s cult success. Yet this is a leaner, grittier anime that opens on the battlefront and plunges headfirst into war and death. It’s an underrated conclusion to Tetsuro’s life-changing journey that the internet has re-evaluated as the what The Empire Strikes Back is to Star Wars: A New Hope – you can even hear shades of John Williams in the score. Whatever your relationship with the original, the sequel undeniably is a high-speed bullet train of emotions and brutal battles. It’s a fitting and epic requiem for Tetsuro’s dreams spun from stardust and steam. An adieu at full throttle. 

With introduction by Esther Smeenge

Esther Smeenge is a historian and illustrator. Animation, and anime in particular, has been a great interest and source of inspiration for her since childhood.

Agenda

There are no new dates planned (yet) for Framed x Kaboom Anime: Adieu Galaxy Express 999.

Framed

Framed

May 7, 8, 9 and 10, 2026

A festival bursting with animation films, master classes and talks by local and (inter)national creators. Whether you're a diehard animation fan or just curious, Framed is the place to be! 

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