Review of Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985) by Cool C — 14 Jan 2016

Summary: Night on the Galactic Railroad is a very dull ride, but it is still extraordinarily dark and has a lot of heart. 60/100 [C+].

On the night of a cat village Festival of the Stars, a kitten and his friend go on an celestial journey on a magical space locomotive. On that trip, they have various stops where they meet strange sights, even more unusual fellow passengers and learn some lessons of life on their trip to the terminus of the Galactic Railroad. First of all I want to say that it was not as depressing as I thought it would be. It was a good movie, but it did not live up to my high expectations. I am not a fan of anime, but I liked this film, it was dark and deeply uncomfortable. The film is slow, very slow. Also, the character development was pretty confusing because I did not felt a connection between Giovanni and Campanella they were supposed to be friends. But I did felt sorry for Giovanni, the whole story about his father and his sick mother was touching.

The second act was less dull to me, but still slow. There was a scene where Giovanni is quite surprised as he sees the train for the very first time and it was loudly effective. The second act continues having some boring issues and confusing moments. The third act was profound, unexpected and extraordinarily dark. Some people say that the film itself is disturbing and children should not watch it, but for me it was not disturbing at all, it was poignant. Moving on, the voice actors did a great job. The animation was stunning and looked fascinating. My only issue with this film was its boredom and inactivity. Anyway, I am glad that I watched it. While at times it lacked direction, and it was slow-paced, this little animated feature delivers a payoff and a reflective message. [C+].