This ponderous but exciting space opera doesn't always meet its intended goals. The central metaphor--Tetsuro's train journey as a multifaceted coming-of-age pilgrimage--continually shines through the massive welter of plot twists. (Just to make absolutely sure, there are many overwrought monologues about the beauty of youth, the pain of growing, etc.)

But the moral messages are muddled. Tetsuro's initial dilemma is a beautifully crafted paradox--if he takes on a machine body to avenge his mother, he may become as inhuman as her killer--but the plotline saves him from having to make the decision himself. His growing maturity and the choices he makes are critical to the plot, but once he learns to choose, he repeatedly denies others the same right.

The story line is as convoluted as its lessons. The first of these films stands firmly on its own, with a solid, gripping, action-packed quest tale that wanders considerably in its movement toward the symbolic Holy Grail. Adieu just makes things more confusing, with a massively unnecessary reiteration of battles fought quite satisfactorily in the first movie. Both become even more complex with the addition of a handful of subplots and characters dragged in from the classic Captain Harlock anime series. (It's not critical to bone up on Captain Harlock's history--but it certainly does help.)

The train-trip as spiritual journey motif isn't new to anime--Night on the Galactic Railroad, a quiet fantasy film based on a 1927 literary classic, covered this same ground in a far more refined and restrained style. But Night can't match Galaxy Express for color, energy or textual complexity. Very little anime could.