OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Maetel Legend

This 2-episode OVA is the beginning chapter to three of Leji Matsumoto’s creations: Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldas, and 1000 Year Queen which some old anime TV watchers might remember as Captain Harlock And The Queen Of 1000 Years from 1985.

We see a younger Maetel and her sister Emeraldas who live on a planet residing on the other part of the sun, slightly parallel to Earth. They are the princesses of this world called La Matelle. Their mother, the queen, has undergone the mechanization process which all the people on their planet are going over as La Matelle is slowing dying out due to exposure from the cold causing it to become an icy wasteland. Maetel and Emeraldas fight to stop this, but their mother ultimately succumbs to her machine half, and now sets forth to turn all humanoids into machines as part of the Mechanical Empire. Emeraldas and Maetel escape on the Galaxy Express 999 which is a space bound train that goes to all planets in the universe.

This leads into several of the other “Lejiverse” titles like Captain Harlock and Harlock Saga. As far as comparing Maetel Legend to some of the other Lejiverse titles that have been released in English like DNA Sights 999.9, the animation is very tame, and the story drags on at least 30 minutes longer than it needed to. The whole thing could have been wrapped up in one single 60-minute episode as there are a lot of flashbacks and scenes with reused footage. But if you're a big fan of Harlock, Emeraldas, and the other Matsumoto anime titles, you should see this one to know the beginning of it all.