Shuumatsu Train Doko e Iku?

Train to the End of the World was a slog to get through because it never really feels like it's inching towards it's ultimate goal, outside of x-point is getting closer to y-point, physically. This lack of real progression can make audiences feel like they're taking more of a passive watch than anything. Story: Train to the End of the World is a strange, strange tale with, possibly, a stranger basis. Pontarou considers himself a genius and believes he has figured out a way for humans to telepathically communicate with each other with, literally, the push of a button. Middle-schooler Youka Nakatomi is randomly selected to push this button to activate this new invention, which is labeled as "7G". She pushes it, and the entire world turns into, what I can only describe as wacky and weird over the course of a few minutes. Youka goes missing shortly after this happens, and Shizuru, along with classmates Nadeshiko, Reimi and Akira, along with Youka's dog Pochi, learn to drive a train so that they can make it to where Youka is suspected to have run off to - Ikebukuro. One of the comparisons I made to the series when I first started watching it was that it reminded me of some of the Studio Ghibli films - weird, wacky and entirely too strange. While I understand that the point of this is to emphasize what the 7G did to the entirely of Japan, it got a little too strange for my liking. Yes, it keeps audiences guessing, but I never felt like it told a great story to go along with it. Look, the ultimate goal for our main cast is to use this train to get to the end of the line where Youko is. But you could basically watch the first two and last two episodes, and really not feel like you're missing out on too much - outside of the brief arc where you learn to Mito Kuroki is. It makes the series feel like it's got a start, end, and really no filling that doesn't feel like a "filler". There are actually some scenes where our characters need to fight against enemies in physical confrontations, and maybe I missed it, but they really make them seem strong for ordinary middle-schoolers. I don't get it. All this being said, the series still does an okay job at addressing the distress that our main cast have with Youka. While her main reason for her disappearance is never very clear to us, the girls believe they know why she is missing and have a real emotional reason to find her. In a series where good storylines feel absent a lot of the time, this was not the case when referring to the reason for our main cast's search. This is the main reason that I was pleasantly surprised by the final two episodes. Were they perfect? No, there were still some bland points or others that moved too quickly, but it was a step up from the storytelling that we got in previous episodes. (5/10) Characters: Our cast each have their own strengths, but there's not enough depth to them. Shizuru mostly acts as our lead, but her time to shine doesn't really come in until the end. She's just kind of feels "there" sometimes. Akira has a solid moment a few episodes in, but otherwise, is probably the biggest worry-wart of the group. She's able to read past the picture in front of her, likely in part because she loves to read novels, but after her little arc, she's doesn't do much. Reimi is the supposed bully of the group, the classic example of more brawn over brain, but she wasn't that exciting otherwise. Nadeshiko was similarly just kind of "there", which isn't great considering I'm say similar things about all four of our main cast. Youka doesn't get a whole lot of screen time, and I'm a little surprised by how little she was involved in the plot until the end. My guess for this is related to her mental state after we meet her, but leaving her and Pontarou until the end doesn't feel right to me. Pontarou, similarly, doesn't come up very often, but his whole idea of a messed up 7G didn't have nearly enough depth to it. Mito meets up with our group about halfway through and reappears near the end. She's a fine character that certainly has a purpose, but her inclusion felt like it didn't have much of a purpose for dedicating so much time to her. Zenjirou has a small role, but it mostly feels like his job was to keep us informed more than anything. Or attempt to anyways. (5/10) Art: This series looked pretty mediocre in basically every aspect. It never really shone and was unspectacular for the most part. Which is weird considering what 7G did to everything. (6/10) Sound: This series actually had some decent tunes, which surprised me. It never went with anything significant going on in front of us, but hey, small positives, we take those. I was actually a really big fan of the ED, Eureka, by Rokudenashi. VA work seemed fine for the most part. (7/10) Overall: I'm a little surprised by how well Train to the End of the World was received on here, but it might just be that I'm not a huge fan of the journey our characters go on. It doesn't feel like it ever has progression to it, but some people are just fine watching the weird and wacky happen whilst turning their brain off. This could appeal to those audiences. I'm just not one of them. (5/10)

Director Mizushima Tsutomu isn’t concerned with making the next “hit” – if anything, he’s concerned with making the next “concoction.” A look at his filmography will show that he has directed several projects which involve the heavy collision of various ideas that, on paper, seem like they should get along like cats and dogs. How, for instance, is the idea of cute girls doing cute things in a tank battle setting supposed to work? Why would anybody expect a lowbrow teenage sex comedy that also functions as a prison escape flick to mesh together, and somehow have that work? Crazy, right? But crazy is the point, as lo and behold, *Girls und Panzer* exists, as does *Prison School*. And those are just two examples! Mizushima’s understanding and approach to genre is to take what it is about each that people enjoy, and bend or twist them into new, almost-unrecognizable forms. Mizushima doesn’t care about having something to “prove” as it were, mostly because he gets his jollies out of being weird rather than being artful in the way that other directors are. And in an anime landscape where fresh ideas seemingly are in shorter supply, it’s at the very least worth considering just what he’s cooking up at any given moment. It therefore makes perfect sense why *Shuumatsu Train Doko e Iku? / Where Does the Doomsday Train Go? / Train at the End of the World* functions as it does in its weirdness. It is quintessential Mizushima, in that it feels like a sensible next step in his handling of preposterous entertainment ideas. Our foursome of heroines all embark on a post-catastrophe science-fiction screwball road comedy journey through a topsy-turvy funhouse world of strange landscapes, bizarre people, and way too many bitter lemons to eat. Each stop along the path to Ikebukuro comes complete with its own warped or finagled place, where the people there are just as mystifying. One stop has a serious shroom problem (to put it one way), while another location has a miniaturized military. But where could the adorable Yoka be, the person who accidentally got this whole 7G Network mess started when she pressed the button and screwed everything up? Can the world return to normal? From the first minute, *Shuumatsu Train* doesn’t pretend to be concerned with giving fully fleshed-out character biographies to Shizuru, Nadeshiko, Reimi, and Akira and assumes you’ve seen enough cute girls doing cute things anime to know this rigamarole already with who is who. The immediate need-to-know particulars of who they actually are comes through in the quick conversations and colliding personalities about incidentals and the grand design, and expects you to “get it” already so it can “get on” with the real point – the journey. Any development or more-dynamic character building will come not from the native environment that they know, but instead by venturing into the yonder. And if cute girls doing cute things has often been the gravity surrounding fixations on hobbies / “the main thing” that could be considered either abnormally obsessive or unusual (we all can list at least one show in which the cast revolves around a niche activity that more or less defines them), then *Shuumatsu Train* takes that gravity and maximalizes it to the universe itself. Each location does indeed have its own central “thing” that distinguishes it from every other stop, almost like the different levels of a video game in which each location has its own puzzle to crack before opening the door. It provides a sheer unpredictability to each setting even when the outcome inevitably ends with the train pulling out of the station and moving on. Sometimes, they’re simply passing through and commenting on how weird something is because…well, sometimes something is just weird and there’s not much more to say. Other times, the ridiculous level of micro and macro analysis needed to get through is itself like an overstuffed shogi board ready to collapse under the weight of its excess pieces. Yet, miraculously, it never falls apart because it never stops being fun. The inherent appeal of the screwball road comedy is in the varying locations and peoples, and how the characters are forced to interact with both in order to make heads or tails of what’s happening. Using post-catastrophe science-fiction as the backdrop allows any crazy idea to be applied without needing to spend all this time and energy explaining why something is the way that it is. Any such explanation can be chalked up to “LOL 7G” (its activation in the first episode makes a further lack of explanation all the more acceptable) and instead put resources into making each stop more tangibly present. Beyond the “trait” that each place possesses, each also presents obstacles that are distinct enough to require different solutions rather than a single tried-and-true method. As such, the variety in the settings complements the variety in the situations. But that maximalization I spoke of does not occur often with the heavier drama, though drama is certainly present. Tone-wise, the show rarely makes actually sincere attempts to divert away from the comic because the attempts that appear on the surface to do so are, in and of themselves, far too deliberately silly or tongue-in-cheek to take too seriously. Yokote Michiko’s series composition lets you know who is doing what and how they are functioning within the show’s overall universe either as a force for, against, or within the main foursome, but never to the point where it forgets or misplaces its popcorn origins. This is only broken with Yoka and Shizuru, the ones who got the metaphorical train running in the first place. As a result, the show’s inner structure is quite bare-minimum, but the color explodes every time, coming with some genuinely-impressive layouts and animation displays that go far harder than a show like this would reasonably be expected to have. Coupled with the understanding that Mizushima’s Twitter account over the past several weeks has been talking about train stuff from facts to fascinations, including other incidental things about the production or locations used for making it, he clearly got bitten by some kind of bug and decided to just run full-tilt with it. He’s created something with the full awareness of what it is and avoids the pitfalls of derailment, even if it couldn’t escape production problems with its final episode. The whole is an unusually free-spirited anime, chugging along its merry way and always prepared with a fun little something to whet the appetite. There is no room for normal on this route; *Shuumatsu Train* takes delight in its oddness, and that’s the way it should be.

We got a CGDCT dystopian adventure series this season. Train to the End of the World follows Shizuru, Nadeshiko, Reimi and Akira as they travel from their village to downtown Ikebukuro by train in search of their childhood friend Youka who was lost 2 years prior to the worlds collapse after the Unveiling of 7G technology. On their journey, the group encounter obstacles in forms of supernatural existences, abstract eco systems and their own friendship volatility. How will the journey to Ikebukuro fare for the four young girls? Story & Character: 5/10 & 6/10 Shuumatsu Train is filled with captivating scenery, an array of interest social encounters and just as much not so social encounters. As such, the story exists more for the journey than the destination; Different obstacles occur along each train station requiring Shizu, Shiko, Reimi and Akira to take detours in order to resolve the issues in their path to down town Ikebukuro. The story although very engaging and illustrious gets repetitive early on because it follows an episodic scenario where the characters are thrust into a problem and work together to come up with a solution. It becomes a predictable linear journey that slowly inches to absurdity with each station having increasingly jarring sets of enemies and oddly constructed towns. Character development was this show's best aspect because it manages to articulate a large set of characters in their own unique ways. Shizu, Shiko, Reimi and Akira all have different backgrounds and memories with Youka that we slowly uncover as the series progresses and the longer they spend together overcoming obstacles the more in tune they grow. However, that's the gist of the character development in this series - It feels like a lot of their moments talking together are full of unhinged incomprehensible nonsense outside of the scenario's conflict resolution. The supporting characters they encounter were executed well considering they are used once to be forgotten after the four girls move onto the next station; As such they lack character development unless they make timely re-surfacing later like a few characters they've met since the beginning. (Zenjirou, Neko-nii, Old man in duck boat etc.) Art & Sound: 6/10 The art in the beginning starts off very ambitious with detailed scenery and animal characters but over time it degrades into the typical modern day art style and backgrounds. The character designs are typical of your normal CGDCT style series but the scenery stays abstract and fantastical till the end. Animation and art quality change noticeably between episodes but it's already been expressed that quality was sacrificed to meet production deadlines. I enjoyed the change in art styles when there were opportunities the series took since it felt transformative. Sound design was fairly decent, some audio queues felt well designed like the rain scene earlier on that gave ASMR quality water droplets and atmospheric immersion. Beyond that there weren't major use of thematic music for emotional attachment or extraordinary use of sound design to better the series. Voice acting was good quality by modern standards also. Overall & Enjoyment: 5/10 I was expecting emphasis on the environments and scenic routes by the direction of this series and I wasn't disappointed but the rest of the series felt uninspiring. Most of the scenarios the group encountered felt forced at times and the dialogue didn't help considering half of it could have been dropped and the story would continue without any mishap. The railroad tracks must be built of plot armor considering there wasn't a single damaged section leading to Ikebukuro after 2 years of the world around warping into abstract expressionism. Overall, it was a decent watch 5/10 is what I personally rate it given what I experienced.

The Train to the End of the World might look like CGDCT moerot on the surface, but men actually exist in this world, there is a plot and goal to strive toward, and the post-apocalyptic setting—somewhat similar to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou or Girls' Last Tour for the more lighthearted contrast to the usual bleakness—is on the unique side because of the slice of life tendencies, absurdist comedy, surreal happenings, and the usual power of friendship theme so common to moeblob high school setups that provides an emotional grounding to contain what otherwise could end up as a train wreck. Even if the writer often toys with the conventional by inserting zombies with a slight twist or presenting a few simple and predictable storylines in several episodes: Whether it's a parasitic copy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the mushroom mania of Matango crossed with the introspection of Mushishi or employing lilliputians to parody Gulliver's Travels, Gojira, and King Kong to hilarious effect. The episodes are at times a variation on the monster of the week setup but instead become an exotic locale or whacky situation of the week, with the train chugging along like the progression of a corrupted video game, growing more manic with each stop. There's usually enough inventiveness to keep these sub-plots somewhat fresh, but, as opposed to fantasy that tends to have an inherent logic and a cohesive world, we're tossed into disconnected pop culture parody realms, blazing through many of them without much detail and sifting through others for perhaps too long. There are also some ridiculous ideas here, stretching the boundaries of believability, such as our characters communicating with the train foreman by hammering the railroad tracks to communicate in morse code, despite being hundreds or thousands of miles apart. This could never work in a realistic series, but the crazy distortions of the world make it mostly believable; meanwhile, the choice allows the girls to have a continued connection to their village (made all the more important for the usual conflict between the village and the city), acts as a relay point for new information, and provides extra comedy as the competent-for-five-whole-minutes train conductor is quickly zapped into a doddering, beady-eyed fool. Although earlier scenarios resemble fiction I'm familiar with, the series does benefit from becoming more warped as we get closer to Youka, for the Alice in Nerima Land manga comes to life, which has one of the more complex plots and a large cast of quirky characters, heroes and villains alike; but, most importantly, it does far more to build upon the relationship of the moeblobs in ways that most other scenarios fail to do. We're also treated to unhinged parodies of manga cliches and magical battles along the way, and Ikebukruo looks wholly alien. For the duration of our whimsical train travelogue, our moeblob quartet engage in fast-talking and rather naturalistic banter. Shizuru is your typical lead role, though wracked with guilt; throughout much of the series, I mixed Nadeshiko up with Shizuru because their designs and hair aren't too dissimilar. The former's only defining trait appeared to be "I can use a bow," but she also plays mommy to the group and breaks up fights, yet she lacks a character arc of her own or even much screen time devoted solely to her, leaving her feeling incomplete. Reimi and Akira have a kind of rabid-dog tsundere relationship and conflicting personalities, with the former being emotional and physical-oriented and the latter intellectual, providing most of our encyclopedia drops and a surprising dose of humor being wrung out of literary references. We know less of Youka, and her relationship with Shizuru is short-cutted via the usual power of friendship dynamics that are experienced amongst our moeblobs and then interpolated where needed. There's even a dose of melancholy and understated emotion (emphasized well in both the OP and ED), preventing it from being too insubstantial, and even small details like the train being named Apogee has meaning that remains buried for much of the series (didn't expect it to be spelled out in such a sentimental fashion). Unfortunately, the nature of the series is telegraphed heavily from the opening scene and a few parts throughout the first episode. What we know is not just implied; it is shown. The missing Youka had a hand in what happened with 7G and the unraveling of the world as we know it, and there was an apparent falling out between these friends. The journey to find Youka has a "We're not in Kansas anymore" Wizard of Oz vibe, like we're stepping out of monochrome into a whacky technicolor wonderland, at first just a girl and a dog and maybe a potential Wicked Witch. Mystery was not the main concern for the creators, but revealing the catalyst for all of the strange events we see unfolding each episode so soon is indeed a misfire. The delivery of what ended up happening would be more compelling if we didn't know the cause and the search for Youka didn't have an immediately established connection to the world becoming a jumbled mess. These coming of age scenarios are turbulent, and the fantastical impetus engulfing the entire world often ends up being deeply personal in storylines such as these, but an aura of mystery and uncertainty would complement this aspect better than bluntness. It doesn't need to be as dense in its unraveling of an elaborate mystery like, say, Tengoku Daimakyou, but it shouldn't blow its wad faster than the minutemen either. 7G warping the world in a myriad of ways is the type of goofiness the show goes for, but it would have been preferable if that idea were changed to something else instead of being the direct continuation of 5G and 6G, which are real technological projects. Most sci-fi fails in its predictions, and while the writer's intent wasn't to predict anything here, it would have been better to frame the problem technology with a unique name and property, as this aspect, intersecting with the real world, is goofier than just about anything else in the series. There's certainly a relatable anxiety here about the hubris of mankind and a never-ending thirst for "progress," rarely willing to stop and consider the potential dangers of technology rolled out at a rapid pace without any concern for safety or wellbeing, which could have an irreversible impact on the world. There's even a sense in which the various societies warped by 7G are stagnating or regressing technologically, with one village's humans becoming cute furballs (presumably) incapable of advancing civilization, so one could say this is nature "correcting course" to humanity's tampering in unpredictable and even nightmarish ways. Looking through the director's credits, one can easily see how a series like this was inevitable, as he directed the well-produced and quirky CGDCT series Girls & Panzer and worked on a lot of oddball comedies like Shin-chan, Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu, and Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. Overall, despite a sometimes bumpy ride and certain scenarios not being overly strong or original on their own, the combination of various genres, ideas, settings, comedic timing, and effective direction and writing weaves everything together in a pleasing fashion, topped off with decent production values and an atmospheric score. The epic and uncanny proportions of the series lends more weight to this conventional but earnest story of coming of age and friendship than I'd expect from all the tired high school moerot that we usually get combined.

So far through 2024, Shuumatsu no Train has got the wackiest and most original anime award locked up. A truly odd experience full of twists and turns, fun characters and some genuinely head scratching moments in the best possible way. Anyone looking for something new to try should check this out I am a big sucker for shows that deal with journeys through post apocalyptic settings and Shuumatsu train is one of the coolest takes on that trope. Following a group of high school girls on a train through various stops between suburban Tokyo and Ikebukuro to save their friend was not something I had on my bucket list, but I’ll be damned, it was some of the most fun I’ve had watching anime. This show has no rhyme or reason for a lot of the things that happen and I enjoyed that. It made things feel unpredictable and fluid. All the train stops have been affected by the 7G disaster, altering realty and the people living there. For example, we go from mind controlling mushroom spores, to zombies, to a town that’s been shrunk etc. It’s really a hodgepodge of anime genres packed into one. The only complaint I have is that we didn’t get to see more of the stops. Like it’s established that there’s a certain number of stops between where the girls are coming from to Ikebukuro. We only got to see maybe half of those. I know it probably would’ve been difficult with the number of episodes, but it felt like the journey aspect got streamlined at the end. Still, for those that we did see, they were all over the place in the best possible way. A truly eccentric story that mashes a lot of different stuff together and it just works. In a journey anime, the biggest thing is the chemistry between the group and I think the writers here nailed what it would be like to travel with teenaged schools. The fights, the make ups, the doubts and insecurities.. they’re all handled very well and even the way the characters talk to one another feels authentic. There’s so much banter between the group and never a dull moment. One of the highlights of my week was turning this on on Mondays to see what Reimi was getting up to 😂 Although the ending wasn’t quite as good as the start, Shuumatsu train was still fun throughout. Just imagine throwing paint at the wall and making a beautiful painting, that’s basically this anime. Comedy, adventure, hilarious characters, good story, it’s got it all. It’s one of those shows that’s best experienced rather than described so if my description seems a little light at times, it’s because I don’t want to spoil that experience of seeing this insanity for the first time. No doubt one of the best anime originals of the last couple of years. Hats off to the staff for a great story and ride. You will be missed. Shuumatsu no Train gets 9, out of 10.

All things considered, this show handled its extremely tight time constraints pretty well. That being said, I still must remain fair in judging this against other anime of the same runtime. In short, this should have been a two-cour (24 episode) anime. If anything, 7/10 is generous by my standards of rating solely based on narrative explanations and things making sense, although I will admit that things could have been handled a lot worse (as I have seen in the past), so I’ll give this a pass on that front. Shuumatsu Train is an anime original, a notoriously mixed bag ranging anywhere from masterpieces such as Madoka Magica to several atrocities which I will not be naming here for fear of getting off topic. It is for this reason that I reserved judgment until the VERY final episode, only deciding on my rating once all was said and done. Without going into spoiler territory, all I can really say is that this would have been MUCH better if it had been given the time it needed to actually develop its story and characters without going at the same breakneck speeds of the eponymous train. Theorising based on hypothetical scenarios is a waste of time, however, so I will conclude this with my thoughts on Shuumatsu Train as it was. For what it was, this anime was fun and refreshing, albeit heavily rushed towards the end. If you don’t care too much about certain elements being skipped over or moments of almost laughably thick plot armour (these are some BUFF train tracks), I’d give it a watch. However, if you’re in search of something with carefully thought-out lore and detailed character development for the entire cast, perhaps look elsewhere.

This isn't a show for everyone, but it feels so rewarding seeing it from start to finish. Pros: To start off, this show is extremely weird. In a really good way. How many times have you seen the first episode of a brand new anime and you just go "yup, I know exactly what's gonna happen in the next 11 episodes"? This is not one of those. The premise of the show seems really insane, but that's just how the author decides to set the stage, it doesn't change the fact that the story itself is very well done. Outside of that, I think the part that makes it really standout is how this show balances humour and emotional portions of the show. We've seen this type of things done to perfection in many shows in the past; Kaguya, Konosuba... This show knows how to create an extremely bizzare situation, throw the main casts into the situation, and just let things play out in the most ridiculous way possible. But it also knows how to keep things grounded whenever we get these scenes that talks about more important and serious topics. Cons: Pacing: I would most certainly have hoped for a couple more episodes. There are 28 stations between Agano and Ikebukuro, and majority of those stations are skipped. Some parts of the show definitely feels rushed.

Train to the End of the World - A WTF show of batshit insanity that is so unpredictable, yet a certified train-on-rails doomsday of a journey to the vast unknown, and to come out feeling overwhelmingly satisfied with the entire product. In the quarterly grinds of the boring seasonals where you find lots of the "same same but different" Isekai and fantasy take over the reins, one thing that I really miss the most are original shows that take the experimental approach and succeed with their growing fanbases (i.e. this season's Girls Band Cry, which you SHOULD definitely watch, despite having to sail through the high seas), which is becoming more of a rarity these days. But in this Spring, there is a show so out-of-whack that immediately encapsulates the average anime consumer, yet still sticks close to coherency that everything still makes sense from start to finish. And that show is Shuumatsu Train Doko e Iku? a.k.a Train to the End of the World, Kadokawa's show to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Railway Day: the founding of Japan's first railway on October 14, 1872, concocted by the masterminds behind the anime: director Tsutomu Mizushima and storyboarder Michiko Yokote, both of whom had previously worked on Fall 2014's Shirobako (one of P.A. Works's cult classic Working shows), as well as Winter 2019's Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai a.k.a The Magnificent Kotobuki, an underrated 3DCG show, which I feel that everyone should give it the second chance that it deserves (my review from 5 years ago still stands resonant). It's easy living in the world of today to think about what the incoming future will be like, but sometimes, minds and ambitions are damned to deliver a future so out of control that there's almost no reset button to return to normalcy. This is exactly what happens in this show: an experiment of obtuse technological advancement gone horribly wrong — the 7G celluar network. What is poised to become Japan's next step in technology, quickly becomes an aftermath of doomsday proportions where the network spawns a warp in reality, from the likes of people turning into animals when they reach a certain age, to fully controlling the word by the thought process of its creator. In the process, a friendship brewing between friends also unfortunately gets heavily involved due to rough patches, disagreements, and the like, so much that it also plays a significant part in the reality warping as well. This is the plot of a group of high school girls setting out to save one of their friends, in a world so messed up where danger lurks at every corner, expecting the unexpected and not coming out a mess from it, all while commandeering an abandoned Seibu 2000 series passenger train on the Seibu Ikebukuro line to reach the aforementioned city to reunite and save their dear friend from all of the chaos of the disastrous launch of the 7G network. And as I always say with every original show: I will not spoil the show in its entirety with the review, it's best to go in blind and experience it for yourself. From the very start, after Shirobako and Kotobuki, you can feel that both director Tsutomu Mizushima and scriptwriter Michiko Yokote have certainly elevated in their respective fields. To go from a pure classic working series to a show of CGDCT-esque feeling of the Wild Wild West that's laden of dogfights, and now to a crazy wild doomsday journey just to reach a fellow friend, this show is the sum of everything that the both of them have mustered to give it a long-lasting reputation for being one of the most crazily thought-out plot settings, yet make everything Monogatari-esque with the heavy dialogue, and still be coherent and consistent. That is not an easy task, and while you can certainly debate if the extra Episode 13 is ever needed to wrap up the rather loose plot holes in a rather tight squeeze of the 12-episode runtime, I think this show really doesn't need that since its unique story and plot is a one-and-done thing that can be done within that timeframe. With that being said, Shuumatsu Train is a rather eclectic show, bursting full of ideas that'll hit you left, right, and centerstage, almost as if the train journey itself is something of a fever dream that never has a terminus station. The group of JKs, all with their unique personalities and meeting even more crazy people along the way as they analyze the effect of the warped 7G reality, group leader Shizuru Chikura and her gang of peacemaker Nadeshiko Hoshi and frenemies of the optimistic Reimi Kuga and the intelligent Akira Shinonome, as they progress to Ikebukuro to save the friend who had fallen away, Yoka Nakatomi, it's a guilt trip of the supernatural to touching stories of the girls as they start from their rather unassuming hometown of Agano, with train conductor Zenjiro Taira at the helm, with one of the weirdest quirks that only beckons the girls on their journey of fate learning to drive the train (nicknamed Apogee, a reference to the "apogeego" creation name) to areas unseen without foresight for the unexpected. I kid you not when this rather deceptively hours (or rather, episodes) long trip from Agano to Ikebukuro has surprises at every corner, expected at the very least for its post-apocalyptic, sci-fi plot with a slice-of-life setting that's full of surreal comedy, and I LOVE IT. On the production side, this is hands-down, easily the best work that the 3rd-rate studio EMT Squared has ever done, being the studio's first-ever original work (and most likely it's ONLY one for a long time), with gorgeous, beautiful visuals, even if they're intentionally made to be thrown out of whack. It's a good thing that director Tsutomu Mizushima specifically dragged fellow P.A. Works director Fumihiko Suganuma as the chief episode director of the series, since they both worked on Shirobako together, and long-time anime veterans already know the result of that formula. As for the involvement of storyboarder Michiko Yokote, while Shirobako is great, Kotobuki is rather decent, aside from the fact that it and Shuumatsu Train aren't P.A. Works' produced shows for a reason (i.e. the studio can't do dark settings well, a la the rather underwhelming show of Fall 2020's Kamisama ni Natta Hi a.k.a The Day I Became a God). Still, you have to give credit where it is due, and both Tsutomu Mizushima and Michiko Yokote deserve every ounce of praise for creating this once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable show to commemorate Japan's 150-year-long history with trains. The music also deserves a mention here. Composer Miho Tsujibayashi may only have the credits of Isekai Shokudou a.k.a Restaurant to Another World, and Season 1 of Machikado Mazoku a.k.a The Demon Girl Next Door, but Shuumatsu Train's OST is so well-composed that, as the youth of the current generation will say, she absolutely "slays" the competition with her work here, and I'm really excited to see where she'll go from here. Both the OP and ED songs are exceptional, with the catchy 8-bit-cum-modern funky tunes of Rei Nakashima's "GA-TAN GO-TON" which is a banger bop of a song, and the dark tunes of Rokudenashi's "Eureka" really setting the motion of the seemingly arbitrary train ride to unpredictable and unforeseeable lengths. Honestly, it's outstanding. Shuumatsu Train is a show that may not be for everyone given its unruly nature, but in a unique season of reboots and remakes, the original shows (this show, Girls Band Cry and Yoru no Kurage wa Oyogenai a.k.a Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night, forget Astro Note) have been far and away the biggest surprises of the Spring 2024 season, and all 3 shows are great in their own right. But back to this show, if you haven't caught on to my endless singing of praises, then I don't know how to convince you to watch this magnificent anime, which has been a VERY LONG time that a show like this has managed to just capture and suck me into oblivion of its greatness since Winter 2018's Sora yori mo Tooi Basho a.k.…

Train to the End of the World is the latest screwball sci-fi comedy (?) anime on the block, and the sheer creativity of it had me quite impressed with it. It is not often that we see an anime go so far into the depths of “What were the writers thinking?”, and commit so hard to every comedic bit, but also tell a coherent story, so full credit to the writers for that. It being so out there does not surprise me though, given what the director, Tsutomu Mizushima, has directed previously. With the likes of Prison School, Shirobako, xxxHOLiC, and Girls Und Panzer on his resume, Train to the End of the World follows in the same vein, as it lands between a lot of genres, but not committing to just one or two, but distorting and breaking the mold to create a memorable experience. This is a risk to take for sure, as sometimes, these sorts of stories fall flat from one misstep, leading to a snowball effect that brings the viewer completely out of the experience, whether it’s through questionable writing, theming that is all over the place, or just an incoherent storyline. Perhaps, that was what happened to Mayoiga, which funny enough, took place on a moving vehicle as well. Was this show the redemption to that one? Such a fate happens rather often to anime originals, but this anime had no such fall off. One particular thing I really enjoyed about this anime was how snappy it was, while not feeling too rushed. Yes, there is an argument to be made about whether or not this would have functioned even better with more of a runtime, but what we got here was excellent nonetheless. The characters talk quickly, the story is fast-paced, and the comedy is as well. Honestly, that’s very befitting since the characters are on a train for a good portion of the anime, and trains in Japan are associated with fast speeds. The director’s Twitter account made numerous tweets about trains, inspirations for the show, and talked about some real life locations as well. It is great that he did his research beforehand on such things to make the show pop even more. Despite all the odd things that happened in this show, it feels like you’re on a tour along with the characters, with how the story is structured that some stops along the road to the final goal, which is Ikebukuro, get explored, just like if the viewers were on a crazy train ride themselves. The background music in this show certainly helped a ton as well. Another thing I was very glad to see was that it stayed a fun romp until the very end. There were numerous opportunities to perhaps delve into more drama, with how the relationships between the characters were like, but the show stuck to its identity of being more comedy and adventure-based, and didn’t fall into the pit of emotional backstories. It did not deviate from the path of the train at any point, rather, it charged full steam ahead at every turn, and left no time for any interruptions. Visually, although not the most polished at times, it ended up being quite solid and creative. Episode ten stood out to me the most with how many styles it employed to create such a hilarious battle between the main characters and the antagonist henchmen. Overall, this was one of the best anime the Spring 2024 season had to offer. I had high hopes going in, and I leave this train having been on such a wild, and fun ride. Its imaginative, creative artistry had me in awe, and its comedy kept me laughing throughout. Mizushima grabbed a blender, scooped up every ounce of his wild ideas from that head of his, blended it, and out came a delicious smoothie. I don’t know how this mad man did it either.

“Driving that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones you better watch your speed” - Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead) Shuumatsu Train is a surreal trip which provides excellent character interactions and you will never have a dull moment. This is a fast paced anime that was clearly rushed through production yet it offers enough variety and has a good balance between absurdity and the familiar. While not much time is spent developing each location and side character, the main cast has a surprisingly dense amount of dialogue that highlights their interpersonal relationship with one another. I feel like people who didn’t watch this series weekly are missing out, because the series is so fast paced that I believe it would be simply too much too fast to binge all at once, however watching it in pieces with a week spacing in between helps to process what you’ve just watched and prepare for what will happen next. I would have liked to see what they could have done by making the series 25 episodes and slowing the pace down while more fully developing the lore of this 7G plagued world. Characters – 8 Without much time to properly develop the side characters and fever dream landscape beyond a first impression and persistence of plot relevance, the primary focus is on the 4 girls who serve as the main cast, and this is where the show really excels. There are lengthy dialogues that continue through the majority of the runtime that develop main characters and the dialogue is as fast paced as everything else in this anime so the script is quite impressive for a 12 episode anime. If you enjoy anime like Monogatari you might appreciate this one as well. Art – 7 The trains and backgrounds are usually depicted in a more realistic art style while most of the characters are drawn simply. This works well, however nothing about the art or animation particularly stands out and there are moments where the animation quality simply looks rushed. Sound – 8 Both OP and ED are excellent. I enjoyed listening to them each episode when I usually skip OPs and almost always skip EDs. They’re catchy and fit well with the overall vibe and themes of the anime. The Japanese voice acting is good quality. Overall - 8

Train to the End of the World is a surreal/ sci-fi adventure-comedy where new technology called the 7G Network accidentally warps reality throughout Japan. High school student Shizuru Chikura and several of her classmates decide to take an abandoned train to Ikebukuro to find their missing friend, Youka Nakatomi, who had activated the network. During their journey, Shizuru and her companions visit different locales that are affected by the 7G Network in various bizarre ways. A major area that I praise this series for and found the most entertainment out of is the creativity put into the various locales and characters affected by the 7G Network. Train to the End of the World relishes in its absurdity with many of the bizarre ways the Japanese populace and locales are affected by the 7G Network’s reality warping and relishes in the absurdity of the various ways how folks are affected. I won’t bother getting into examples to risk spoiling the experience of seeing this series. But I will admit that this creativity and embracing of the absurd was quite amusing and enjoyable. But outside of this, I’ll admit I have some gripes with this series. The storytelling and characters are largely kept pretty simple and straightforward in their developments thanks to more focus being put on showing off the various effects of the 7G Network’s reality warping. Shizuru and her friends largely fulfill character types typical of high school anime and largely don’t have much to show as far as personality and developments go. The series also could have been longer to both explore more of the different locales affected by the 7G Network to show off more of this title’s absurd humor and create more world building, as well as offering opportunities to flesh out and develop Shizuru and her friends. In short, Train to the End of the World largely gets by with embracing its absurdity with the different effects of the 7G Network’s reality warping that made up much of my enjoyment for the series. But at the same time, I do wish it had more time to flesh out its world and characters, as the effects of the 7G Network largely made up the title’s focus. But still, I don’t regret the time I got out of seeing this series.

When you give this work a chance, you have to understand that it's an anime that blends fantasy, comedy, action, and surrealism all at once. The post-apocalyptic world is great, and the references to pop culture are spot on. The premise of the show is great and it starts off in a very good and captivating way. But before I talk about what I thought, I have to say that I loved the animation, the character design, the setting, the soundtrack is excellent, the jokes are good, and the voice actors' work is very good. That said, the anime kind of stagnates in its middle, but that's more the fault of the script than the direction (which is very good for what it sets out to do).

Train to the end of the world is another in a long line of great off the wall anime. It's a wild ride that firmly sticks the landing with it's ending. Visuals are above average to good, limited CGI is used but it's well integrated and personally I found no issue with it. I generally find an episodic style to be slightly annoying but the really good quality of these episodes pushed it over the line for me. I'd highly recommend this show especially if you liked sonny boy (more serious and contemplative) the night is short walk on girl or Id invaded (more of a mystery style).

This is a very interesting case. When the project was first announced, it was announced as a collaboration project with the Japanese rail system. Off the bat, that already makes it sound like nothing more than a promotional project. That doesn't right off write the project as bad. It depends on handling. Fortunately, this anime project was not a train wreck. The idea of this series seems to try to have a thematic connection with railways & how they are fixed lines that bring trains to their destination. The world is warped & everything is messed up, save for one rail line. Four girls embark on the line to try & find their friend who ran away. Against the random world, they trek on straight to their destination. One part that seemed to conflict with the series was the number of stops. The series was slated ahead of time for a 12-episode run, but as soon as the first episode ends, an ending tag said there were 29 more stops to go. For the first 3 episodes, this raised a few eyebrows for me, but when they showed that not every stop was safe to get off at, it made the length not as bad. Done lazily, it could have been terrible, but the directing kept it going without resorting to being lazy. The goal was most important. It seems to harken back to older episodic adventure series, most notably Galaxy Express 999. (Two series about trains.) This series is also a good example of how to utilize insanity. Even if an idea seems absurd or ridiculous, as long as it has one grounding element, it can be an enjoyable experience. For this series, it's the journey to find a friend. The one point of contingency is the dialogue. When they talk, they never let in a pause. There is so much dialogue that goes on in a shot that can be hard to keep up with. (Not one I'd recommend for first-time subtitle watching.) Though the argument could be made that since speaking has not changed, it's the one point of normalcy kept over from when the world changed. When they do stop talking, it does feel unnerving. This could be more a matter of taste. One last thing: that ED is amazing.

Honestly surprised me very nicely with the overall product. I thought this would be a temu Made in Abyss but it actually delivered on numerous of occasions without getting stale. When I first saw the synopsis I envisioned the anime - Cute slice of life made in abyss-like anime where a group of kid friends venture into the unknown to get to the endgoal and meet with their friend while going through the most bizarre and unique enviourments and creatures along the way. Sounds like made in abyss yet? I really mostly went in because the pure synopsis in a vacuum is an invitation to let imagination run free as the logic really only exists in the first minute where they pull a Lain and go ''we will connect all human subconsciousnesses and never ever again need to use an electric device to communicate'' then DOKAAAAAM and it's all weird quirky and fun. Story is 4 girls who live in Agano in the post-apocalyptic world that was ruined by 7G (which was a button that merged every human consciences into one) in a normal city that now when a person enters the age of 20-21 they turn into an animal. And that is just the starting area. The anime is basically a quest for the 4 girls to Ikebukoro (where 7G was pressed) and revert back the changes alongside reunite with their old friend whose appearance is last seen there. So they find a train no one's been using and venture into the unknown as they pass through the wackiest scenarios. The anime despite being very episodic in nature and being my third least favourite category (slice of life) had me with the expectations that thtis would be a mediocre to fine entry but surprisingly enough the crammed 12 episodes NEVER got stale. It never gets boring with its ideas and it's fast paced meaning theres never real slowdowns to get you tired of the episode. It all moves at a great fast pace and the humour usually always hits. It's just really nice. I can't really complain about it. It's fun fun fun This is the adjective I will use to describe this anime - fun. To it's core Train to the end of the world is FUN! Production wise surprisingly didn't miss either. It's 10/10 during the full runtime with really detailed enviourment , amazing lightning and smooth fluid aniimation. Production wise it's TOP! That being said if you care too much about the main story you'd probabaly be somewhat dissapointed as the main goal which is reuniting with said friend....feels almost like an excuse to have this adventure in the first place as said friend or conflict with them doesn't contribute all that much but just enough to scratch a sweet slice of life feel. You really should just watch this anime as a nice relaxing funtime watch while eating your food or something. I really can't find any flaws to critique it. It succeeds in what it wanted to be. GREAT anime highly recommend!

This anime surprised me. I thought it was pretty fun. It had good visuals. It was pretty funny. I liked the main characters. The opening was cute. No episode felt wasted, because everything came together in the end. The premise is that after an accident the world is no longer recognizable. Each town has been transformed into something new with a surreal twist. My favorite episodes were the ones where they fought the zombies and when they got to the town where everything shrank. The only thing that was pretty bad about the show was that the girl that they were trying to save has no real motivation for much of anything that she did.

Train to the End of the World is a wacky anime with fast-paced dialogue. The anime starts with the idea that "7G" distorted the world and only keeps going crazier from there. Just like the beginning, most of this anime doesn't make much sense and is best enjoyed as a 'turn off your brain' kind of anime. Most of the events that happen have no effect on the overall plot and are forgotten by the next episode. This also works in its favour as you have something unique to look forward to every episode. There's only one goal from the beginning of the anime and by the last episode that goal is achieved which gives this season a sense of completeness that is missing in most other anime. There are still a lot of loose ends which can be used to make a second season. The characters consist of 4 girls looking for their 5th friend. They meet some other people one the way but most of them are unnecessary. The 4 main characters have pretty clear personalities that fit well with each other. Overall their interactions and fast-paced banter is really enjoyable. Most of the runtime is spent on their conversations yet it doesn't get boring. The plot in nonsensical and it's futile to try and make too much sense of it. It's best to 'just enjoy it' and not think too much about what happened or why it happened. It's also impossible to predict anything as every episode does completely unpredictable and crazy stuff. The visuals are nothing special. It's your usual CGDTC visuals seen in every other anime in the genre. Overall this anime tells a pretty fun and unpredictable story with a satisfying conclusion consisting of a group of cute girls that have good chemistry between them. 7/10

What happens when an anime studio is supplied with unlimited DMT? This! This is about the trippiest train trip you'll ever take. And while this could have easily jumped the track, you make your station safe and sound, if somewhat amazed. This series definitely deserves more consideration than it's gotten. The artwork is well above average. Colorful and bright and a touch surrealistic. Some of the background work is masterful. The animation takes some minor shortcuts, especially in the middle episodes, although it doesn't detract from the narrative at all. Some of the animation, especially as the story progresses, gets pretty trippy. Just about sent me into flashbacks. They did such a great job with the characters, They start out cookie cutter: You got your driven MC, her trusty sidekick, a gyaru and the goth girl. As time goes on though, these young ladies bond closely, and find their way to confronting another friend who's unknowingly gotten herself into some deep doo-doo. My favorites turned out to be the gyaru and the goth girl. They fight like real sisters, but when push comes to shove, they are there for each other. Their dynamic is perfect, in large part due to some fine VA work, which pervades this series. Could have been easy to leave them 2 dimensional. Even side characters like the Zombie Queen or the Swan Hermit are quite interesting. Many kudos for the character designs, writing and acting. If there is a problem with this series, it is the narrative writing, though. It's so weird and bouncing around, it's hard to follow at times. Plus there are lots of plot holes that get conveniently overlooked as time goes on. But this is not horribly distracting, as the series is more about the characters and the journey, not the destination. And in the long run, the writers do rope in most of the dangling strands and make for a satisfying ending. I found myself so looking forward to my weekly trips on the shoo-shoo train. If it hardn't been for the writing quirks, I would have rated this a 10 for it's creativity. I'm still going to grade it at 92/100 and give it an A-. Highly recommended, especially if you are bored with the trash the studios dump in the mass consumption trough for the last 20 year. One of the recent titles that gives me hope that the anime artform is not yet dead.

A literal psychedelic drug trip with friendship at it's core. While Train to Busan made my cry tears of sadness, Shuumatsu Train made my cry tears of reconciliation. While it looks like a turn your brain off show when you begin watching, the purpose of the mission is much deeper than that. Great job Shuumatsu Train for keeping me guessing all the time what will happen next. Every train station (civilisation is probably the best word) the girls come across is a roller coaster of emotions. One of the best things about this show is how unpredictable anything can be, yet still worthy to watch. From a city where mushrooms give the girls personality disorders rather than magic to a zombie kingdom and "no words to describe the chaos" manga land, worldbuilding gets a solid 8/10. Trust me, stuff just happens which will leave you laughing or scratching your head, but you'll still wanna know more what happens next despite confusion. There is not too much depth to character writing, but each girl is unique in their personality and does their best to look out for each other. In times of crisis, these girls are the epitome of thinking outside the box. Plus this show takes "a dog is a man's best friend" to the next level; all pet lovers assemble. The story weaves not giving up and friendship together in addition to the moral of leaving the past behind and moving forward. True friends never let each other go! If you like heavy metal music, this show will be even more enjoyable if you listen to Primus' songs while watching the chaotic episodes. Overall a joy to watch, even though some parts of the story may be too all over the place for comprehension. Yes, this original story maintains wholesomeness until the end.

"Every little action have consequences, you reap what you sow." "Train to The End of The World", an anime with unique premise. The anime sets itself apart by blending a post-incident and apocalyptic setting with an unexpectedly cheerful CGDCT vibe. The result is a journey that's both bizarre and surprisingly lighthearted. While the world building is deeply strange, it’s also what makes the show so compelling. The underlying story is quite dark, but the anime's tone keeps it from feeling heavy, making for an interesting contrast that keeps you engaged. One of the show's biggest strengths is its music. The opening theme, "GA-TAN GO-TON" by Rei Nakashima, is incredibly catchy and perfectly sets the mysterious tone of the anime. It's a fantastic hook that pulls you right into the strange world. Just as good is the ending theme, "Eureka" by Rokudenashi. This song is an absolute banger and a high point of the entire series. Both tracks are excellent and worth a listen on their own. If you’re looking for a show with a fresh concept and don't mind a bit of strangeness, Train to the End of the World is a journey worth taking. The unique concept makes it worth to watch. 8/10