When I was an elementary school
student, one of my favorite TV animation series was Galaxy Express 999. The
“999” is pronounced “three nine.” It was very popular at that time. They
made a movie version. I asked my mother to take me to the theater. I watched
that, and I was surprised.
The main character, Tetsuro, had
a different face from the TV series. In the TV series, Tetsuro had a unique
face. But in the movie version, Tetsuro had a handsome face.
Now I am an adult and work for a
kind of entertainment business, I know why it happened.
Tetsuro is a brave and gentle
boy. In the TV series, they could show his charm over a long period of time.
But in the movie version, they had to attract the audience in a short time. One
easy way to do that might have been by changing the main character’s face to be
handsome.
But I was a child then. I couldn’t
accept the new Tetsuro. I was confused in my seat in the theater.
By the way, a young woman sat in
the next seat to me. She looked like she was alone.
Galaxy Express 999 is a story about a journey from
Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy. They take the Express 999 space train. There are
two main characters. One is Tetsuro. The other one is a mysterious, beautiful
lady, Maetel. Naturally, Tetsuro started to love Maetel. In the middle of the
movie version, Tetsuro declared his love to Maetel in the dining car. It was a
very awkward but very sincere declaration. But Maetel didn’t answer him with any
words. She just kept silent with a sad face. This was the key of the main
story.
At that time, I surely heard the
woman next to me talking to herself.
At that time, I was a child, and
I couldn’t understand what she was saying and why she was talking. Later, when I
reached puberty, I understood what it was all about.
The woman next to me was
answering Tetsuro’s declaration instead of Maetel.
I am a man. From the point of
view of men, Galaxy Express 999 is a story about a journey with a mysterious,
beautiful lady. But from the point of view of women, the story might be a
journey with a young, brave, and gentle boy. If you can choose the boy’s face,
handsome is better.
I don’t know if the woman next
to me knew Tetsuro’s old face. But changing Tetsuro’s face to be more handsome
might have increased the female audience.
Good-looking characters have the
power to increase an audience. First of all, I am not sure, but if Maetel was
not a beautiful lady, I might not love Galaxy Express 999 so much.
Of course, we can easily make
products without good-looking people. But we need other attractive aspects to
increase the audience without good-looking people.
This is a tough problem.
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