/cel/ - Retro Anime & Manga

>>221
Had to hit up an archive but anipages had some praise for the film that may help.

"Gisaburo Sugii's Night on the Galactic Railroad, in contrast, adopts a storybook tone and visual ethos completely at odds with the previous film. The colorful backgrounds are drawn with bold strokes, like naif art, and the characters are simply drawn anthropomorphic cats, sidestepping the problems inherent in depicting the inhabitants of Iihatov as humans. The animation is completely different as well. The focus here is not on bringing the characters alive through nuanced animation, but on bringing a fantastic world alive through a procession of gorgeous images that are pure and intense. The animation is consequenly very still, but in an intentionally restrained kind of way, combining with the art to create a tone of hushed awe and heightened emotion. The art for the mazelike town is one of the film's most unforgettably beautiful images. This Iihatov may have started out informed of a vaguely rural European sensibility, but it is transformed through the art into a truly unique and compelling world the likes of which we've never seen before. Every image from this film is striking and unforgettable, from the computer CG corn field, to the pillar of cranes, to the Bos skeleton buried in the geological layers of time and space. This film seems like the most imaginative and creative of the Kenji films, and also the most spiritual and profound."

>>221
The film invites you to embrace the dreamlike pace and take the time to experience what the characters are going through, reflecting on the themes of the story along with them. The visuals, music and pacing all set the tone.
That said, pacing is an artistic choice as much as it is a tool. Whether you liked it or not is subjective, and so criticism or praise, while valid, are a bit personal. Watching it again some other time when you feel like it may be more effective than reading other people's thoughts on it.

I only watched the first couple of minutes like ten years ago, but I think it's recently gained popularity because it has the same appeal as ghibli films. Fun for the whole family films with good art and animation. Also furries like it because of course they do.

>>224
What kid is going to sit through such a slow movie?

>>221
I think the main reason for the slow pacing is to convey the melancholy of the main characters' final mortal journey together. Galactic Railroad may be about an adventure, but it is the adventure to end all adventures. This is a farewell, a final commemoration to all the times they have already had. Think about the last time you spent with someone you aren't going to see for a long time, or possibly ever again. It's hard to make it a good time, because the fact that it's the last time looms over both of your minds, but you both try to drag it on anyway. I think that is the feeling the slow pacing is trying to convey.

>>222
what archive do you use to search anipages?
I'd love to hear about more promising information resources like that; I frequently use the /a/ archive to research anime and would like to expand to other sources