Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
End of Page Ctrl + ENDThis page has a lot of images ! I'm sorry if it loads slowly.
This is the main page for the animated film Night on the Galactic Railroad, or Ñokto de la Galaksia Fervojo.
It's a rather faithful and lovely adaptation from Group TAC and Nippon Herald Films, released July 13, 1985. Directed by Gisaburo Sugii (Known for earlier adaptation of Genji Monogatari), screenplay by Minoru Betsuyaku, storyboarded by Kōichi Mashimo (Who would later found the Bee Train studio, known for .hack//Sign & Noir), and music composed by Haruomi Hosono. It takes it's own distinguishing points such as the use of Esperanto for captions and writing within the world as well as depicting the characters as cats after Masumura Hiroshi's designs.
Releases Soundtracks Merchandise Commercials
Watching this during childhood was the entry-way into the story for me, and I would heavily recommend any release or version of it.
Outside Links
Releases
*These will only cover the releases I have personally provided archival on or have extensive information for, though I hope to have more (Notably the Japanese LaserDisc) when possible.
English
1995 VHS & Subtitles
The movie was licensed by Central Park Media starting 1995 with a subtitled VHS release, likely the first outside of Japan. It has also been claimed that this release aired on Canada's 'Space: the Imagination Station' 1997-1998.
2001 VHS, DVD, Subtitles & Dubbing
Still under Central Park Media there was another VHS release (With a new box-art to differ) alongside the first DVD release, this included an English dubbing starring well known voice actors. It's staggeringly good, faithful and really worth the watch, though the video quality for this particular release may not be up to one's liking as the video source was poorly transferred from the Japanese LaserDisc release. The DVD's dubbed video has been archived online.
2015 DVD, Blu-Ray & Dubbing
The most recent English release after the film was re-licensed by Discotek Media. At the moment this is also the easiest version to find online or physically. It's very good quality, including your own choice between audio or subtitles, chapter selections, and 3 trailers bundled into the Extras.
German (DVD, Blu-Ray, Dubbing & Subtitles)
The first official German release is from Anime House, 2018. A lot of effort was put into all aspects of this release and the making of said dub; many of the sound and music tracks were lost over time but the studio recreated them from scratch or restored it using the official soundtracks. The video quality is stunning as well, with the most vibrant colours and clear art I have personally seen out of any release, and the dub itself is fairly nice too. There's also additional options to have the Japanese original audio and German subtitles.
- ISO of DVD & Converted Videos
- Box Scans (To be Uploaded)
- Bonus Booklet
- Anime House's Page on the Collection
It also came in 'Die Gisaburo Sugii Collection', bundled with their releases of 'Das Leben des Budori Gusko', 'Genji Monogatari', and 'Animation Maestro Gisaburo'. This bundled box is the version I have, I may go more into detail on the other material featured another time.
French (DVD, Blu-Ray & Subtitles)
Train De Nuit Dans La Voie Lactée
Released May 2018 from RIMINI EDITIONS without much notice. Like the German version, you could buy it separately or bundled alongside Genji Monogatari. It includes an interview with the French translator of Kenji Miyazawa's works and an overview of Gisaburo Sugii's Career.
- ISO of DVD & Converted Videos
- Scans of Box & Case
- Train de nuit dans la voie lactée: Interviews Bonus
Soundtracks
The music of the film was primarily credited to Haruomi Hosono, with the help of Miharu Koshi for 4 of the tracks, along with Osamu Shimizu on the music box arrangement for "La Kanto de la Rondiro de la Steloj" originally composed by Kenji Miyazawa as "Hoshi Meguri no Uta" (星巡りの歌).
Vinyls & ect
The first soundtrack release for the film was in 1985, June 7th on a 12'' vinyl to promote it's upcoming release. All of the titles featured are written in Esperanto along with Japanese, it includes tracks not found in the movie itself and a 4-page booklet, information can be found on Discogs. There is also an alternate cassette print, released July 7th of the same year, information here.
On June 24th, 1985 a 7'' vinyl featuring Haruomi Hosono's "Temo De La Adiaŭo / 別離のテーマ" from the film, and an original upbeat song (Night on the Galactic Railroad / 銀河鉄道の夜) sung by Kaori Nakahara to promote it! Discogs' information here.
Less documented is an alternate print of the vinyl above, I can't find information on how it was distributed. My scans of the front and back (Including the lyrics and alternate cover) can be found here. The start of 銀河鉄道の夜 seems slightly different. I don't own the equipment to properly rip the audio or record it well anymore, though I took a video too mostly for the sake of it.
CDs
The first CD releases were released after the film aired, August 1st 1985, featuring the same content as the first vinyl release. It was reissued again in 1990, 1996, 2008 and 2018, containing the same content in audio but often different packaging or under different manufacturers. Some hold the content over two CDs while others utilize only one.
On December 12th 2018 a special edition CD released, including the previous content, Kaori Nakahara's song and a new instrumental version of it, arranges of the songs, previously unissued alternate takes, demos, promotional/commercial themes and more spread across 2 CDs.. "Includes a fifty page perfect bound booklet featuring extensive liner notes, track commentary and interviews, stills from the movie, advertising and images of related music memorabilia, and lyrics to track 1-23. Original credits in English/romaji, Esperanto and Japanese, reissue credits in English/romaji."
Indirectly Related Releases
"COINCIDENTAL MUSIC" from Haruomi Hosono includes 'Nokto De La Galaksia Fervojo' and many tracks similar to compositions for the movie.
There is more from or referencing the movie in Hosono's "THE ENDLESS TALKING" album, Birdoj and La Pliocena specifically.
Merchandise
*I don't own or have much information on the following yet, I'm sorry !
The artbook 『アニメーション 「宮沢賢治銀河鉄道の夜」設定資料集増補新装版』, released September 18th, 2018 with over 300 pages giving detailed in-sight into the anime film adaptation, it's relation to the manga and likely much more. There are two versions with differing cover arts.
A set of stuffed toys featuring Giovanni and Campanella, meant to promote the film prior to it's release.
Another later set including Zanelli and the Bird Catcher.
A mini set, including the Teacher.
