by RadiumEyes, HSM team writer
Ever tried describing something as complex and multifaceted as Night on the Galactic Railroad to someone unfamiliar with it?
Among anime fans, Kenji Miyazawa’s popular children’s tale is most remembered for being an inspiration behind three major works – the 1985 film of the same name; Galaxy Express 999; and Mawaru Penguindrum, the lattermost of which contains a dense narrative incorporating the many religious symbols and motifs of the literary source. The novel remains popular not only for its status as a source for many important animated works, but also for its use of religious and scientific themes to engender a discussion about true happiness – it’s a somber, reflective work, the result of Miyazawa’s ruminations on the death of his sister and his railway trip to Sakhalin. Apples representing the entirety of the universe (while simultaneously symbolizing the need for community), a scorpion sacrificing himself to become the star Antares (and thus speaking to the value of life that we all have) – there’s so much going on in the novel, that anime fans spent many hours analyzing Mawaru Penguindrum and the 1985 adaptation of the novel through the lens of the work, in order to provide the major philosophical underpinnings of each respective production.
In a few words, Night on the Galactic Railroad really makes you think about it. No simple, facile analysis can do it justice, and that may very well apply to the nature of PlayStation Home – “true happiness,” whatever form it may take, can be found anywhere, with Home being no exception, but what is it, exactly?
What makes Home so unique as an experience, and where does one derive happiness from it?
Let’s take Giovanni’s story (as related in Galactic Railroad) as a starting point – his reflections upon the Milky Way stemmed from a genuine curiosity about what, exactly, the galaxy is. The “cold, barren” galaxy described by his teacher doesn’t seem to adequately convey the whole picture; the Milky Way looks vibrant, full of light and life, the various constellations inhabiting a metaphorical field of groves. Each star, each constellation represents a singular entity, some vibrant being that feels just as alive as any flesh-and-blood inhabitant of Earth; does this sound familiar to any Home users? The Home community imbues life in a digital world – we understand that Home exists, on its most basic level, as a dense string of code, but our involvement with it brings vitality and a personal experience to the entire thing. Just as the Milky Way became a collection of rivers, trees and other natural formations for Giovanni and Campanella in Galactic Railroad, Home became this beautiful place filled with natural wonder and community for those who regularly visit it.
That sense of community has many symbols; Miyazawa’s posthumous novel about Giovanni’s ride on a galaxy-traversing train, and the anime that it inspired, all include apples as simple yet provocative symbols of inclusivity, for example. We share our fates through a community setting, with the offering of an apple (a potent symbol of humanity’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden and acceptance of our own limitations as individuals, as explained by AnimeIntrospection below) as a personal motion of accepting others for who they are, and establishing a community with them. Mawaru Penguindrum expands upon this by showing the deep interpersonal relationships among the protagonists, with Momoka (spoiler alert) becoming the two penguin hats after her death; the Penguin Drum of the title happens to be the apple shared by Kanba and Shoma.
Home thankfully doesn’t share the intense drama of Penguindrum (a show that explores some pretty tough subjects), and it has more in common with Galactic Railroad; the community environment that Home provides is one of both security and danger – even in its seeming denouement, it still has its positive and negative aspects. When we make friends, we subconsciously extend that apple Miyazawa presented as so symbolic of life and the connections people make; our Home experiences culminate into a journey without a set destination, where the ride becomes more important than where we end up.
Galaxy Express 999 and Night on the Galactic Railroad both have various stops, with numerous people getting off at each one, but we understand that the train will continue, with more adventures and places to see; think of Home as one’s own Galaxy Express, where any particular user can enter and disembark at one’s leisure. Like Giovanni, we encounter unusual behavior at any given point; Giovanni got to see a Milky Way filled with life, such as the Pleistocene Coast where a professor recently excavated a prehistoric beast of some sort, something comparable to the Home experience. We, as users of the PlayStation 3’s grand social MMO, get to stop at various spots in random order, and each place offers a different set of games and social opportunities; whomever we meet may be different each time, but we still have close friends with whom we share our journey.
More can definitely be said about Home as the personal journey, but that’s a story for another day. What matters is the happiness we find within it; after all, Miyazawa wanted to understand “true happiness,” and so do many of us. Home offers us that chance to discover it, and my own personal experiences indicate that true happiness lies with acceptance of one’s own limitations, and the joy one finds in meeting new friends on your travels.
Perhaps the core theme of simplicity in Night on the Galactic Railroad became the best frame of reference; no matter what personalities we may encounter on any given day, simply having some time to discuss topics, relax or engage in social activities gives us that happiness, as we have a community spirit shared with friends, family, and even random people we meet.
Sources
AnimeIntrospection on Night on the Galactic Railroad: http://animeintrospection.tumblr.com/post/95031165258/night-on-the-galactic-railroad-or-the-apple-the
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