GE 999 033-035: All that Glitters is not Gold
Episode 33
Just when we were thinking it had been a while since Tetsuro had been kidnapped by a lonely alien lady, here we go again!
How important this episode is within the whole though!! The 999 goes awry because of one screw. Maetel makes a speech to the kidnapper Spiral on the importance of a single screw for an entire machine. This is a fundamental point (and lesson) in this series. And then Spiral, who was on the point of committing suicide after being rejected by Tetsuro, lovingly creates the new screw that will allow the 999 and its passengers to carry on.
Episode 34
El Dorado with a vengeance.
Wow, so now we know what Maetel’s up to when she goes on those trips and leaves her young companion all along!! She’s talking to that voice from episode 1. The question I have is: is this a friendly voice guiding Maetel, or someone evil that Maetel is bound to obey for the moment… I hope we get to hear more of this very soon.
Episode 35
The continuation and end of the saga of the golden planet.
For all the shiny stuff in these two episodes, I found the material very dull and lackluster 😀 Seriously, I really don’t have much to say. This story should have been dealt with in one episode, or even better, in half of one.
The loophole on the Galaxy Express’ schedule routine is rather curious at least. This kind of situation happens in air travel all the time: the runway is crowded and your plane takes off late, but it’s OK because you can make up time in the air.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Do to serious time constraints, I’ll watch and blog up to episode 39 of this series and then take a break, hopefully picking it up again sometime next year. 39 episodes is a good place to stop because it’s exactly 1/3 of the way (looonnngg series!).
Kritik der Animationskraft 
I find the GE 999 and the Maetel saga in general to be a bit poorly written. Plenty is inconsistencies, for example, Maetel is strong enough to break through steel doors, tear metal chains, and break steel and is nearly unkillable. I never understood why Maetel gets kidnapped easily by simple cavemen and ordinary people at times. Also Maetel saga suffers a lot from no science. Maetel saga has no order. I like the designs at least.