The Timelessness of Space

Outlaw Star Ending

“Stars, Moons & the City”
by Hicaru Tanaka, 1998

Do you know this feeling?

There is something about space, the vastness of the universe and time so long it boggles your mind. Something that makes you forget the here and now, that makes you get lost in a reverie of distant stars and an unknown future. There are some memories I have of this sense of timelessness, not many, just a few, but they are very precious to me.

One is a Belgian comic series called Yoko Tsuno that I read, no, absorbed in a library when I was a kid. It’s about a female electrical engineer of Japanese origin that takes place in familiar but highly technological settings on Earth in the future and even some 2,500,000 light years away in outer space.


The second is The Bicentennial Man, a movie based on a novella of the same name by Isaac Asimov. In it, a robot that seeks to be accepted as human survives several generations of a family.

The third is very similar in this regard, a short anime series called Gunbuster. Two girls do important work near the speed of light, meaning that time for them moves slower. And when they get back everyone they knew are gone. They only get to see snapshots of each generation…

Last but not least, there is the ending of Outlaw Star, an anime series in space. The closing has nothing to do with the story, but it’s so beautiful and serene.. and timeless. Watch and dream . . .

Outlaw Star ~ Ending 1

Hiru no Tsuki (Daytime Moon) – Translated Lyrics

One soundless midday,
the wind was fresh and clean,
and the flower petals swayed as if they were asleep.

This serene feeling…
Tell me, what’s the name that people give it?

Tell me a story that’s locked away in the white sand of the moon,
let me hear it as gently as light shining down.

Outlaw Star ~ Ending 2

Tsuki no Ie (House of the Moon) – Translated Lyrics

The sky, the distant sky…
A murmuring voice…
Your dreams are now turning the wheel of stars.

I am always nowhere.
That is how I felt…
…until I sensed your eyes upon me.

There is only one eclipsed moon in the corner of my heart.
Shine down brightly enough to light up the narrowest of paths.

The artist who drew those pictures is Hicaru Tanaka. There’s more nice art at his site.
The first ending theme song is called “Hiru no Tsuki”, which means “Daytime Moon”.
The second ending theme song is called “Tsuki no Ie”, which means “House of the Moon”.
Lyrics translation by AL-Fansubs

4 thoughts on “The Timelessness of Space”

  1. I never saw this anime, but the opening and the endig are so touching! The music and the drawings are so soft and dreamy, and even if I’m not a big fan of shi-fi atmosphere, they made me fly…

  2. Oh yes. Most sci-fi is rather superficial as far as I’m concerned. Only few examples are very special in that they make you feel real, deep wonder and amazement..

    It’s a bit like LotR vs. The Last Unicorn. LotR has an incredible, fantastical world and provides a beautiful story, but it’s The Last Unicorn where there’s real, tangible magic. Something lost and forgotten.

    Just my opinion. 🙂

  3. Thank you for this, looks like I have something new to watch. I found Yoko Tsuno and Outlaw Star.

    I love weird, ethereal stuff that few people would watch/listen these days (right now I listen to John Lithium – Insomnia VII). I don’t even know how I got to your page but that doesn’t matter.

    Thanks!

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