Aug 2, 2024
“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
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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
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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