Galaxy Express 999

is a manga created in 1977 by Leiji Matsumoto. Many anime movies and television series were created based on this manga. It is set in a high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer their minds and emotions into mechanical bodies. By doing so they achieve practical immortality.
The manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1978. The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1981.
Matsumoto was inspired to create "Galaxy Express 999" by the idea of a steam train running through the stars in the novel "Night on the Galactic Railroad" by Kenji Miyazawa.
The movie "Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy" was released in 1998.