Kenji Miyazawa intended "Ginga tetsudo no yoru" as a book for children. But in it are truths that everyone big and small look to find. No one is comfortable with death. Everyone searches for answers. As I read the book before seeing the movie, I was amazed to see how accurately and wonderfully the director and animators were able to capture the feeling of this fantasy. It may be too arty for some, but I feel that more often than not, viewers will come away with a deeper sense of what death can do for life and what life can mean if given a chance.

As for the cat characters, this seems to be a consistent image that surrounds Miyazawa. Some of the stories he wrote were populated by cats that would take human roles. Interestingly enough, in Kenji Miyazawa's biographical anime (Shoji Kawamori's Spring and Chaos) Miyazawa is portrayed as a cat. Maybe the cats exist to shield children from the pain that these harsh truths might bring. But not shield too much

Sometimes it is easy to look at a work like Night on the Galactic Railroad and say, this is just a fantasy. Perhaps Miyazawa wanted us to think that, maybe at first anyhow. But the true beauty behind this animation is that by creating a fantasy world so wild and vibrant, it forces us to see who and what we really are.

I have to say, I never expected to enjoy such a slow paced anime film, I'll tell ya it made me crave to watch even more! I even love Giovanni and Campanella's bromance throughout their journey on a train. I thought the English dub actors Veronica Taylor (who voiced Ash in Pokemon) and Crispin Freeman (who voiced Alucard in Hellsing) were absouletly excellent in voicing the cat's!

There were some scenes that nearly made me cry which was the titanic scenes and Campanella abandoning Giovanni even if he promised that they'll stay together forever. With the titanic scenes, I have never expected this anime would show a bit of Irish tragedy because like most anime, it concentrates solely on Japan. Although this does concentrate on Japan but it managed to involve a European tragedy that's part of our history which is amazing but very sad! The children who boarded the train with Giovanni and Campanella were going to heaven. Honestly typing that last sentence there is making my eyes nearly water because so many children have lost their lives on that fateful day. When the 3 children left on the next stop to the heavens gate, my heart sank like i didn't want them to get off the train at all!

As for Campanella, I was so mad and upset that he left Giovanni on the train. I know he had to attend to his mother and like it seems he didn't want to leave his buddy behind as he did cry when Giovanni considered him a best friend. I swear, them two are just the best kitties ever like i definately would name my cats if i ever get two named Giovanni and Campanella haha.

I do have to say for this anime, I wouldn't recommend this to children younger then 12 because it is pretty slow moving and could get bored straight away. However it depends on every kids personality but in general, I would rather show this one to tweens in my personal opinon.

Brilliant anime, it was very well done especially since I'm a cat lover lol. 9/10 I give it!

An unfinished Japanese children's story from 1927 in the "Metaphysical & Visionary" section of a bookstore is hardly going to be noticed no matter what the current trend is. We've plowed through magic, supernatural romance, and now dystopian YA fiction in the past decade but something so offbeat is only going to be known to those who look REALLY hard for it. Kenji Miyazawa's (who died of pneumonia at the age of 37) Night on the Galactic Railroad was adapted into this equally obscure and mind-boggling Anime movie that feels like a cross between David Lynch and Studio Ghibli. Trying to figure out what exactly is going on is an exercise in pointlessness as the film is mainly to be enjoyed for its enormously cryptic sense of wonder and quiet epicnness.

On a planet populated by cats living in an almost-perfect early 20th century society a young kitten with a lonely and difficult life called Giovanni is whisked away across the Milky Way on a mysterious and completely empty locomotive. Along the way numerous enigmatic passengers materialize and disappear, including Giovanni's only friend Campanella, who he slowly realizes has died and is being taken to heaven. This is not My Neighbor Totoro, this is dark, brooding, depressing stuff. Not many children are going to be entertained by this.

Directed by Anime icon Gisaburo Suuji this film is surrealist, psychedelic, dreamlike, disembodied, abandoned, existential, and overwhelmingly puzzling. It's a fusion of Christian, Buddhist, and Salvador Dali imagery on acid. It has a captivating and haunting vibe that I know for sure influenced both Chris Van Allsburg and Robert Zemeckis when they wrote and directed The Polar Express. The sudden appearance of the train, the unexpected magical journey, a downbeat hero who needs to overcome his sadness...there's no way that it's just a coincidence.

A fun time it is not. An extremely singular viewing experience it most certainly is.