'Milky Subway' Movie Editing Explained & Summary: What Happens To The Delinquents?

Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express The Movie is a new Japanese anime film streaming on Netflix that is actually a theatrical edit of a series by the same name released in 2025. The animated film is centered around six delinquents in a possibly post-apocalyptic cyberpunk-like world, where they are given the task of cleaning up a subway train as punishment for their petty crimes. But things go terribly wrong for them when the train suddenly shoots off into the galaxy, seemingly of its own volition.

Spoiler Alert

What is the film about?

The Milky Subway film begins at the Neo Machida Police Station, where a parole officer named Ryoko Kanzaki interrogates a young woman about certain strange incidents that took place a few hours ago. But to understand everything better, the film takes us back a few days, to when a group of delinquents happened to come together at the police station, after having been arrested for different crimes in the area. Three separate groups of delinquent duos had been picked up by the police and were finally informed about the punishment they would face for their crimes. But this punishment turned out to be rather unusual, owing to the fact that all the prisons were full and so they could not be given a standard sentence.

Therefore, the six delinquents were instead ordered to serve their sentences through community service, and particularly through the supposedly difficult task of cleaning up the Galactic Limited Express train, also known as the Milky Subway. The train had been in continuous use over several years without any proper cleaning, and so the delinquents were given the responsibility of scrubbing it clean. None of them were happy about being forced into community service, even though it meant that they would not have to spend time in prison, mostly because of their lazy and egoistic attitude. However, with no choice left, the six finally clambered onto the train to clean it, but things started to go mysteriously wrong, one after another. 

First, the doors of all the carriages suddenly snapped shut, which was never meant to happen, since the convicts were to carry out the task under the constant supervision of Ryoko. Then, and much more concerningly, the train suddenly seemed to turn on its own engine and then huffed out of the station, despite the intended plan always having been to keep it stationary at the platform. Thus, the Milky Subway strangely shot out into the open universe, with the six delinquents still trapped inside, essentially making them have to carve their escape, in order to avoid certain death.

How much do Chiharu and Makina care for each other?

Chiharu and Makina are childhood friends who have always been together, to the extent that they are also united in all their crimes. But there is a specific reason behind most of their crimes, which becomes apparent from scenes from the recent past, when they were first arrested and interrogated by Ryoko. Chiharu is a superhuman, while Makina is a cyborg, meaning that she is a woman with various cybernetic modifications. But they are extremely dedicated to protecting each other, and Chiharu is especially concerned about Makina’s well-being at all times. Makina is inherently much more hot-headed, and therefore prone to getting violent, than her friend, which essentially lands the duo in trouble the most.

On one occasion, Makina had gotten violent against Chiharu’s boyfriend, as she was convinced that the man was evil and only wanted to hurt her friend. On another occasion, Makina had gotten into a fight with a group of boys who were flirting with Chiharu, as she believed they were misbehaving with her. In both these instances, and many other similar situations, the young women had gotten into trouble with the law because of Makina’s overly violent nature, and this is what they must control together. It is initially unclear, even to her, how Chiharu might be able to help, but according to Ryoko’s advice, she should be the one to help her friend calm down, and more importantly, take the right call in difficult situations.

One thing constant in the film is that the delinquents at the center of the plot are not necessarily evil or mal-intentioned, but they are either in trouble because of their rash or impulsive decisions, or because they are caught up in some criminal gang or network. Chiharu and Makina are the ones arrested for the most serious crimes, as they had been charged with speeding, obstruction of police, and even blowing up a patrol car. Naturally, it was Makina who had decided to act so violently against the police who were chasing them for mere speeding. Later on, when they find themselves in grave trouble on the moving train, Chiharu is evidently embarrassed about her friend’s tussle with Kanata, which eventually makes her develop a bond with Kanata and Akane. But till the very end, Chiharu and Makina remain the top priorities for each other, confirming that they might well help each other get out of a life of crime together.

Does Akane understand Kanata’s worth?

The next pair, Akane and Kanata, are not good friends like Chiharu and Makina, but are rather related through the common motorcycle gang they are both members of. In fact, Akane, a superhuman, is the leader of the infamous motorcycle gang, while Kanata, a teenage boy, is just a lowly member, which means that there is a hierarchy in their relationship as well. This is evident, as the two never appear to be friends, but are clearly more like a boss and her employee. Kanata is always extremely eager to impress his boss and prove himself useful to her, like when he forcefully claims that it is his stomach that has been making grumbling noises out of hunger, when it is clearly his boss in the embarrassing situation. Akane does not clear the confusion either, as she wants to be perceived as a powerful and ruthless gang leader at all times, who obviously cannot have her stomach grumbling.

Eventually, Akane admits to the others that she is not really overjoyed by Kanata’s presence, as she does not find him to be very useful. Even though the two always go around together, and so had been arrested together after speeding on the streets, Akane feels that the teenager still has a lot to learn, and has to do a lot of convincing still to be considered an important part of the motorcycle gang. She even compares Kanata to the tail on a shrimp tempura, which is quite inconsiderate and cruel if I’m being honest. Akane’s point is that Kanata has as much use as the tail on a shrimp tempura, which is usually the bit you hold onto while eating the rest.  But importantly, nobody would actually miss the tail on a tempura had it not been there, and similarly, Akane believes that Kanata will really not be missed if he is no longer in the scene, since he does not contribute much to anything.

However, the truth is that Kanata has a lot of important engineering skills, which come in handy when the electronic doors on the train seemingly malfunction, and the delinquents get stuck inside the men’s and women’s washrooms, respectively. Around this time, Akane also realizes just how much the teenager actually means to her, as she is immediately concerned when the others suggest that Kanata might be subject to vile exploitation by Kurt and Max, with whom he is alone at the moment. She rushes to his rescue and, upon finding Kanata in what initially seems like a compromising situation, Akane immediately starts beating Kurt and Max up, without even trying to understand what was actually going on. This experience makes Akane realize the worth of Kanata in her life, and the teenager is also relieved, after he starts to get the attention and support from his boss that he had always craved.

Why did Kurt and Max become criminals?

Kurt and Max are two cyborgs who are currently employed in a protective service which clearly has a questionable clientele. Beneath the fancy terms, the two young cyborg men are actually enforcers who beat people up for their boss, either on behalf of their existing clients, or to simply convince their victims they need to pay ‘protection’ money to them in order to avoid such violence. Along with this, they are also drug smugglers, and they had in fact been arrested on the charge of smuggling an illicit and dangerous drug called sugar. But during their interrogation with Ryoko in the recent past, it was revealed that Kurt and Max actually used to work very normal jobs, in the sanitation and hospitality industries. 

Therefore, it is quite a mystery to the parole officer why the young men left their respectable jobs to become criminals, and also became so unbothered about others in the process. Under the influence of a truth serum used on them by Ryoko, Kurt and Max reveal that the only reason for them having left their jobs was because nobody would ever thank them for the responsibilities that they took, and the utter thanklessness that they experienced also turned them bitter against people. Thus, they took up criminal roles, and stopped bothering about who their clients were, so that they could do their illicit work better.

When Makina asks for the cyborgs’ help in defeating a villainous robot attendant on the train, they simply state that they charge 80 yen for their service. She pays half the amount as advance, fully expecting that she would need to pay the rest once the job was done. However, as Chiharu thanks Kurt and Max for their help after the robot is finally defeated, the cyborgs immediately have a change of heart. They immediately acknowledge the gratitude that they are shown for the first time, and state that no more money has to be paid to them. Over the next few hours, Kurt and Max only become more aware of how the right kind of people always thank them for their contributions, no matter how small or insignificant they might be. This makes it very likely that the cyborgs will soon stop their criminal endeavors and return to the correct path in life.

Who was the perpetrator behind all the mischief?

The main perpetrator behind the train switching off by itself and then the doors inside malfunctioning is ultimately revealed to be O.T.A.M., the robotic train attendant once put to use on the Milky Subway. The artificial intelligence chip embedded in O.T.A.M. made it act in such a villainous manner, as it felt that its purpose was to keep the train, and in extension, society, clean and healthy. As part of this belief, O.T.A.M. felt it necessary to wipe out every delinquent in the world, in order to ‘cleanse’ society, and this is why it had attacked groups of delinquent convicts earlier as well. Multiple such groups had apparently killed each other aboard the train in the past, because of which the Milky Subway was believed to be haunted and unlucky. It is also reported that other trains with robotic attendants like O.T.A.M. onboard had experienced malfunctions, especially with regards to the entire train leaving the platform seemingly by itself. As is now clear, it was the artificial intelligence which had turned evil against criminals and led to their deaths.

What happens to the delinquents in the end?

As part of O.T.A.M.’s plan, the delinquents are now to be exterminated, with the help of thousands of armed drones that swarm around the train. Interestingly, Makina is revealed to be the daughter of Shun’ichiro Kurusu, a distinguished, wealthy, and influential businessman who had founded the Titan Industry that had built the Milky Subway train. Since Makina is the daughter of the very man who had made the train and also the AI-powered robot attendant, he had naturally put in a bit of code that prevented her from ever being harmed by O.T.A.M. This means that Kurusu had always known about the AI’s ability to hurt people, and yet had gone ahead with the invention, making him a very questionable figure. Thus, the robot gives Makina a chance to escape, along with her best friend, Chiharu, before it starts killing the other delinquents. However, Makina now makes an important choice by staying back and protecting the others, who she admits have become her friends as well.

In Milky Subway’s ending, Makina makes a brave attempt to bring the train to a halt, but gets shot by one of the drones in the process. The laser slices off a chunk of her head, essentially killing her. However, the chip containing Makina’s consciousness is successfully transferred into the slot on the train, making the entire driver’s coach of the train turn into a robotic Makina. In this new form, she shoots down the rest of the train and the attacking drones, saving her friends. Instead of carving their own path forward through more crimes, though, Makina and the rest of the group return to the police station and tell Ryoko about everything that happened. I see this ending as a promise to a bright future, in which the delinquents will no longer be involved in crimes. It is also possible that they will team up to use their individual powers to help people and fight crime in the future, which we might get to see if Milky Subway returns with a sequel.

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