Whenever an anime deals with themes of life, death, the value of living, fate, or any other thought provoking theme, more often than not, Miyazawa Kenji’s Night on the Galactic Railroad will be referenced in one way or another. It’s pretty much a classic novel among the Japanese. Being the curious Filipino that I am, I naturally wanted to know more about it after hearing it being mentioned numerous times. Sadly, I can’t read Japanese, and I haven’t seen the translated version of the novel at our local bookstores. So I went ahead to the next best thing.