Apocalypse stories are an odd breed. They rip characters out of familiar settings and societal structures and throw them into a challenge to navigate a new world where the old morals and logic don’t apply. Zombies, natural disaster, virus, or whatever the cause may be, the apocalypse forces its characters to rely on each other and come to terms with their place in a world that is gone and may never come back. In Tsutomu Mizushima‘s original anime “Train to the End of the World” the apocalypse is a truly bizarre one, but its core cast are determined to see their quest succeed.
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Launching the new 7G network was meant to change the world. And technically it did. Two years on with Japan and potentially the whole world twisted and warped into nonsensical realms, the area around Agano station tries to carry on as normal. This is despite the entire adult population turning into animals. Four girls; Shizuru, Nadeshiko, Reimi, and Akira, have little to do except listen for news of the outside world and wait to turn into animals themselves. A chance moment reveals to them the whereabouts of Yoka, their friend who disappeared just before the 7G incident in Ikebukuro. With Shizuru in particular desperate to find their friend, the girls commandeer a small train with the aid of an unusual conductor and begin to make the journey. But what should be a simple journey of a couple of hours will now take days through a landscape of surreal encounters that the girls will have to overcome if they ever want to bring their friend home.
Director Mizushima and writer Michiko Yokote have worked together before on series “Shirobako” (2014) and “The Magnificent Kotobuki” (2019). Both previous series focus on groups of female friends with a common goal, so in that sense this is familiar territory. “Train to the End of the World” falls somewhere in between the two in terms of quality, as whilst the animation quality and structure are a lot better than “The Magnificent Kotobuki”, it doesn’t have the attention to character that helped make “Shitobako” so rewarding a watch. We never really get to know the girls here in any meaningful way. We know Reimi is the brash gyaru, Akira the sarcastic bookworm, and Nadeshiko the kind peacekeeper, but whilst the character designs by artist namo are lively and adorable and we get glimpses of more facets to their personalities, it’s not enough.
Shizuru is the one we know the most about as she is the driving force for the search for Yoka and the journey. It’s also through her we get the show’s main themes of maturity and personal growth, brought to life effortlessly by Chika Anzai. Her and Yoka fought just before the world ended and she’s carrying a lot of guilt and shame from that. In this weird landscape, the kernel at the centre of the story is one of friendship and ruminations of how to go back to normal life, what that may mean, or if it’s even possible.
The tone of the show can best be described as over the place but that feels oddly appropriate for the world that we are experiencing. It also makes the shifts in mood a bit more forgivable. There are moments that effectively veer into horror territory, like the community of mushroom people in episode 2 which has an almost “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” or cult horror flavour to it. Then, in another episode, the girls travel through a town under the tyranny of a group of disgruntled manga artists that feels like an affectionate jab at that industry. Sometimes the shift comes in the same episode, with the solution to dealing with a wandering group of zombies being more than a little unconventional. Yet in other moments things speed by without much explanation or a chance to breath that could have made for interesting stories.
A premise of a fractured and chaotic world gives an opportunity for a variety of visual styles and environments. Studio EMT Squared clearly had a lot of fun with these, not only in the amazing landscapes but also in the little creative details and flourishes throughout. There are a few times when the 3D animation for the train doesn’t quite blend with the 2D animation in the rest of the shot, but this is in fairly minor moments. The opening credits for the show are absolutely stunning; at times a colourful dreamscape while in others a reflection of the girls’ odyssey, all set to “GA-TAN GO-TON”, performed by Rei Nakashima, a song with an appropriately train-like rhythm. The score by Miho Tsujibayashi is light and matches the mood without being obtrusive. The main theme for the series, that plays once an episode, is this beautiful and melancholic electronic piece that invokes both the strange and the wondrous.
Sometimes, much like a train, life must keep going forward, always travelling to something new. And it means that we can’t go back to exactly what we left behind but we can face it with what we’ve experienced and those we care about by our sides. “Train to the End of the World” is certainly an unconventional coming of age story. However, if you can get on board with its particular style you will find the journey very rewarding at the end of the line.