Shuumatsu Train Doko e Iku?/Train to the End of the World

A technology called 7G was unleashed upon the world, against the protests of physicists everywhere. And sure enough, the world itself goes through a seizure, after which people find themselves in a very strange state of affairs. People transformed into trees, the distances between places have become impossibly long, and the internet stopped working.

In the town of Agano, people began turning into animals once they reach 21 years and 3 months of age. They've mostly adapted to their new way of life and have carried on as usual. A girl called Shizuru is asked about her future career plan, but all she cares about is finding her friend Yoka, who went missing two years ago.

And welp, Yoka turns out to be all the way over in Ikebukuro. Have we mentioned that the distances between places have become impossibly long? Yeah. Thankfully, there's a train which can take Shizuru right to where Yoka is...

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This is basically going to be the dumping ground for all the random thoughts we'll have for the random stuff that will happen in this anime.I expect tonal shifts and mindscrews. But I wouldn't be mad about a more straightforward train ride through this weird post-7G Japan. Either way, I'm buckling in.

Edited by fillerdude on Apr 2nd 2024 at 2:10:43 AM

Kinda reminds me of Shimeji Simulation. Which is good. That was an interesting series

Well, well, well, thanks for the new addition to my to-read list.

What a deeply weird premiere. I enjoyed it? I think? But I think I'll enjoy the series a bit more once it gives itself some more time to breathe (literally - I'm not sure how much airtime in episode 1 didn't have at least one person talking in it, but it can't have been more than a minute). It should have settled into what it wants to be by episode 3, hopefully, so we'll see.

It's been fun.

I agree, like I said in the seasonal thread, I would have wanted more moments where the weirdness of the world spoke for itself. Apparently the constant chatter is something of a directorial style, so we might need to hedge our expectations on that front.

Edited by fillerdude on Apr 2nd 2024 at 4:53:08 AM

I checked this out for Reimi (The cute blonde girl.) and, yeah, I didn't know what to expect going in but it certainly wasn't this. I think I'll follow along just to see how much wackier it can get.

Edited by Chariot on Apr 8th 2024 at 12:08:06 PM

Episode 2: Still with hyperactive chatter, but the dialogue has great flow and is otherwise natural-sounding. I kinda dig it.

These girls are even less prepared for this trip than I thought. Even Shizuru, the one who's been planning this for months, somehow forgot to bring enough food. It's a good thing the bitter melon grew so fast. I'm sure the mutant plants won't be a problem in the future, haha.

We're also seeing some weirdness already with the sudden tidal wave. I assume the rails just magically fix themselves over time? In any case, no choice but to move forward. Also I love the idea of having the grandma hamster revert Zenjiro once a day so they can communicate by hammering the rails to the tune of Morse. Silly concept but it works!

Our first stop: people with mushrooms growing on their heads. Which implies the map that swan-riding dude gave the girls is accurate. We can look forward to octopi, sushi, zombies, depression and kappas.

Edited by fillerdude on Apr 8th 2024 at 6:51:00 AM

Hm, more of a comedy this episode. Wonder if we're in for a genre roulette or can expect it to mostly be a comedy with some darker moments

It's a great setup for a genre roulette, but for this next stop it'll probably be a comedy with an underlying current of unease. That's the vibe I get from the mushroom people at least.

In short: This is the cutest postapocalyptic show I ever watched. Many crazy ideas. But somehow I think, this show is inspired by some Ghibli films. Especially Spirited Away crosses my mind while watching episode 2.

Yeah, this felt a lot better, I think - though Reimi and Akira's arguing may get a little old if they don't have too many directions to take it in.

I'm digging the setup right now. We have huge potential for some really, really wacky wayside tribes along the way.

It's been fun.

Episode 3: Answering our previous query, we are indeed getting a genre roulette, and for Higashi-Agano it's a paranoia-filled horror. I loved the subtle hints of creepiness, like the way everyone smiles at the exact same time. Definitely lay off the shrooms, folks. I think we got a good taste for what our girls can run into during their adventures, and I am pumped for more.

I wonder how relevant the butt-mushroom will be in the future.

Edited by fillerdude on Apr 15th 2024 at 9:46:03 AM

I have to wonder, given the map from episode 2, if Akira isn't growing a tail or something based on whatever's happening in the next station.

This was a really solid episode. The realistic dialogue and voice direction really sold it - almost too much, for Akira's voice actress!

It's been fun.

Okay, staying a dramedy overall, but mixing in other genres

I think Akira is growing a tail? Is she old enough to animalize?

You might be on to something there!

And yes, Akira's voice actress killed it. You can feel the goodebumps from her freaking out.

Guessing it’s a mushroom, or what Red Savant posited.

Edited by fillerdude on Apr 15th 2024 at 11:12:22 AM

This show is genuinely amazing, although that last episode was pretty creepy, I think I might swear off mushrooms for a while. Praying that Akira has a removable mushroom and not a tail.

Clear prop!

Well, unless Akira is about five years and three months older than the rest of them, I doubt it's the Agano curse, and having escaped this station's Wacky Thing makes her a prime candidate for getting hit with the next one.

It's been fun.

Count me in on Akira is growing a tail. Yeah you become a full animal as an adult but nothing we knows says you can't develop animal traits at a younger age. Not to mention it's only been, what, a year or so in universe? And our main cast are the only Agano kids their age from what we can tell so maybe there just hasn't been enough time for the characters in universe to realize that younger people can slowly develop animal traits after a certain point.

Well, the entire show's premise is that reality's been turned upside down, so I guess something like "oh it's not 21 years anymore because they aren't in Agano" would be handwaved, similarly to how Akira was magically able to contact Agano again, even when the tracks were destroyed by the tsunami. I guess willing suspension of disbelief is in play here.

Also don't know if anyone noticed that 21 years and 3 months is 255 months. Ring a bell, anyone?

Edited by AirplaneNiner on Apr 17th 2024 at 10:23:05 AM

Clear prop!

Huh, you mean it might have to do something with integer overflow?

In other news, someone made a page for the anime.

Oh, speaking of Akira, you know how the melons grow bizarrely fast in the rail car...?

they took over the train in foggy weather. Those are some very virulent melons.

having just watched the episodes I'm leaning on the budding tail theory, myself

The dynamics are interesting. Shizuru is the one with the Call to Adventure (finding Yoka). Reimi is a ditzy gal. Naidshiko is the team mom and Akira seems rather quick to snark and barbs (with Reimi usually)

I had got a Crunchiroll account for this, so I'm guess I'm going to see where "Cute girls doing 'traveling through an eldritch location version of Japan'" goes next.

(Might as well consider slime isekai and see if they have Kaitou Saint Tail as well)

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Speaking of which I had figured Yona would be at ground zero of this mess, nice to see it comfiemd by the opening scene.

As for theories on how this could end. I say it's going to take 2 and 2/3s cours first given how many stops there are. But that aside I don't think this is going to end with a return to normalcy (largely becuas ei suspect that after two years this is the new normal basically FBOW). As for other aspects...

• I do think Yona will be very relevant beyond being the goal, but I also think it is possible that she might not be alive in the present, due to being at the epicenter of it all.
• On whether or now the quartet will stay on the human end of the anthopomorphic scale, I say that is a coinflip at best but with a lean towards no. It seems like its going to take a month or so to even reach Ikebukuro and I think the girls had lived among their zoomophed family members to make peace with it on some level, however that is a tentative status that can easily change esp if ep 4 focuses on Akira's tail among other). It is very likely the the girls will be somewhere at the kemono to furry states by the end of the series, but beyond that is more unknown bar a short distant epilogue.
• As for what to do with the effects of the 7G. again I don't think this is a state of the world that is so easily reversed. Especially since the main thrush is just trying to reunite the girls with Yoka.
• There is a slight focus on Shizuru's lack of ambition in general. Before Yoka left. I think that will be a revevant factor in how things develop and how the resolution happens.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Apr 17th 2024 at 4:28:56 AM

Random thoughts I had while watching episode 2:

• The melon vines go from not having any flowers, to having a few flowers, to having fruits ready to harvest. They aren't simply growing quickly; they're going through all of the biological processes. Which could mean that they get rootbound quickly, as well.

• They've started on a journey, met a guy who told them what to expect, and I know the next stop involves people who try to tempt them away from their journey with the promise of an easy, but empty, life. Is this based on The Odyssey?

• I kind of like that Zenjiro is the sort-of Mission Control, and that he'll probably appear at least once or twice more. This might also be one of the few pieces of media I've seen where a character reasonably struggles with Morse code.

• The concept of an apocalypse that broke reality in a fundamental way and made everything impossibly far apart keeps making me think of The Dark Tower, and I will henceforth be referring to the activation of 7G as "when the world moved on".

Nach jeder Ebbe kommt die Flut.

That possible connection to the Odyssey is pretty nifty. I guess we'll have to see how things go.

It's been fun.