- CONTINUITY -

Understanding Leiji Matsumoto Universe

Continuity in Matsumoto Universe

Matsumoto mentions in many interviews that all of his creations are components of the same world. Here are only few examples from Matsumoto's own comments from his interviews:

• "Maetel from "Galaxy Express 999" and Yayoi from "Queen Millennia" are totally identical beings, and Maetel's long and hard journey starts from the ending of "Queen Millennia"."
• "Tetsuro form "Galaxy Express 999" belongs to the same lineage with other characters as Tochiro, and Oyama from "Yojyouhan-Series" (another one of his non sci-fi comics), and others. They are almost like brothers. Tetsuro, of course, is not wearing glasses, but you can pretty much think of him as the exact same character as others."
• "Ban from "Miraizer-Ban" and Doctor Ban from "Galaxy Express 999" are the exact same characters."

You see, all of Matsumoto's work, although each one of them seems to be so unrelated from one another sometimes, are all bits and pieces to compose one comprehensive Universe. It is almost like a jigsaw-puzzle. More pieces you read into, the more you understand how it all works.

And remember, Matsumoto creations, although many of them take shape in more scientific manners, are not quite sci-fi stories. He uses sci-fi settings only as a tool to paint fantasic stories. We find contradictions and discrepancy in his story settings and characters in many forms, however, they are all irrelevant to Matsumoto after all. First and foremost, he wants to tell the story. He treats his characters merely as a symbol figure, therefore, every single one of them is a representation of something that we all remember from our own experiences. Matsumoto uses and re-uses his characters he created, choosing whichever the one he thinks does the best job to tell that particular story. Maetel as a "illusion in adolescent", Tetsuro as a "youth with full of hope", Harlock as "supporter for the boy's departure", and the list goes on. If you are the "Star Trek" type that demands the perfectly-realistic world and looks for every little flaws in the story settings, then Matsumoto Universe is not quite right for you.

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