There were a good handful of shows I pushed to the top of my to-watch list this spring, many of which are sequels. Sure, there were some very hyped newer shows, but for the most part, nostalgia was a strong deciding factor for which shows I decided to watch first. The ones I left at the bottom were isekai, video game adaptations, and slice-of-life-girls-doing-cute-things. Hence, why Train to the End of the World was one of the later shows I picked up. I expected it to play out much like the promotional art implied, or, if things went even better, thought it might turn out like Girls’ Last Tour.
That latter optimism wasn’t inaccurate, but doesn’t go near far enough to describe the surreal nature of this show. What we have here isn’t just a group of friends literally riding a train, but also a post-apocalyptic journey with no sense of distance, time, or reality. And that’s a fantastic thing.
The facts:
- Format: TV
- Episode count: 12
- Studio: EMT Squared
- Source: Anime original
- Genres: Sci-fi, adventure, comedy
It didn’t take long into the first episode to realize that what we had here was nothing at all like my initial impressions, because the first event we experienced was the moment the entire world (or country? It’s unclear) flipped inside out. Blame the 7G they tried to implement, or perhaps the poor high school girl they roped into pushing the button for stopping midway through. Either way, the world as we know it was forever changed, as were the people in it.
Our main cast hails from Agano, a small town where everyone now transforms into an animal once they reach adulthood.
That’s right. You read correctly. The entire town is populated by animals, ones who still retain their memories and sense of self (for now), but animals nonetheless. This is the future our school girls have to look forward to, so it’s no big surprise that they’re not exactly serious about their day-to-day obligations.
News from the outside reveals an old friend may have survived the incident and was last spotted in Ikebukuro. How perfectly fortuitous that the local station retains a working train! Not only that, but a most-of-the-time batty train conductor who transforms into his younger (and apparently good looking) self once he wears his conductor hat–but only for five minutes, mind you–teaches them how to operate it.
As they travel from one station to the next, they learn that not only are the distances much longer than before, the residents of each town suffer their own unique realities. There’s a town of murderous goats who threaten to batter down the train. There’s another town where the townspeople grow mushrooms on their heads and give-off horror-esque vibes in their quest to trick the girls into staying and growing their own mushrooms.
The only thing I can anticipate from week to week is that we’ll be thrown into yet another fantastical setting, and I’m 100% here for it. It’s absurd; it’s terrifying; it’s the sort of adventure I’ve been waiting for.
Watch on: Crunchyroll
Status: Watching, OBVIOUSLY
Anime B&B 
I was surprised myself with how creative this show gets. And each episode is better than the previous one. My only worry is that that creativity may start to lag a little before we get to the finale. Though, another famous episodic anime centered around a train, Galaxy Express 999, was able to keep up the creativity for 113 episodes. So, I’ll keep my hopes up.
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YES, it amazes me how every week just builds on the craziness of the previous. I completely understand the concern about whether or not they’ll be able to keep up the strong writing through to the end, because we’ve seen so many promising shows flag out the closer they get to having to figure out some kind of resolution. I’m still hopeful, but hey, if this does crash, let’s hope the the flames burn bright 😉
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I’m pretty enjoying this zanny, quirky series. Would love to have a train all to myself and just travel from place to place in it.
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