Ginga Tetsudou 999

Tetsurou Hoshino is a young street urchin who dreams of replacing his human body with an android one, hoping to gain immortality and the social freedoms enjoyed by androids. This transformation usually comes at a high cost, but there's a persistent rumor that if you board the Galaxy Express bound for the Andromeda Galaxy, you can obtain an android body for free at the end of the line. After witnessing his mother's murder by an Android Count, Tetsurou has no reason to stay on his home planet. Now, driven by the desire for both an android body and vengeance, he sets out alone to find a way onto the train. Then he meets Maetel, a mysterious woman who offers him a ticket aboard the Galaxy Express in exchange for being her companion on the journey. Their voyage takes them from planet to planet, each stop offering new and strange experiences. Along the way, Tetsurou reflects on what it means to be human, contemplates human actions, and ponders the implications of immortality. During their travels, Tetsurou and Maetel encounter various characters, including Emeraldas and Harlock. Ginga Tetsudou 999 originally concluded in 1981. However, after a hiatus of fifteen years, Leiji Matsumoto returned to the series in 1996, advancing the storyline by one year from where it had previously ended.