Before reviewing this show, I want to go over the significance of the Japanese Railroad Transportation System to the lives of the Japanese. The train is the most commonly used means of transportation for commuting by Japanese students and company workers. In International comparison, the Japanese are generally heavy users of trains and public transportations. Train riders also tend to have the longest commute time. The survey also revealed that the Japanese spend more time commuting than either other East Asians, Europeans and North Americans. When comparing the happiness vs unhappiness of the different commuters, the train commuters are the only ones who have unhappiness
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outweigh happiness regarding the way they are commuting. Finally, the survey reveals that a majority of train commuters find the trains to always be very crowded.
The next thing I want to cover is the question: who cares about trains in Japan? Apart from otaku who focus on anime, Akihabara, and electronics, there are "Densha otaku" or "train nerds." There are currently 36 types of Densha otaku with interests ranging from walking around the station to the lunchboxes sold on the train. Another interesting fact brought up by the article is that there are female only carriages offered on the metro in many cities (keep this in mind for the review) to prevent gropers from having their way in packed trains.
I am finally going to go over what I liked and disliked about this anime. Based on what I mentioned previously, the show has so much material to make a potentially interesting story. However, it never seems to use all these materials. The author of the light novel that this anime is adapted from actually has experience with writing children books with stories revolving around trains before writing light novels for young adults. The author, Takumi Toyoda, is now currently working on an animated show called "Train Hero" and still publishing more volumes of his Rail Wars light novel series (currently there are 16 volumes). I never read the light novel series and so don't know how much of the story and ideas were lost in adaptation. After watching this show, I am still unsure what demographic the show is trying to target. The show's main character, Naoto Takayama, is a character who is already a big train fan instead of a character who becomes a train fan as the story progresses. This will make it more difficult for people who never thought much about trains to get interested in the story when it revolves on the technical aspects of the train. This also leads me to think that the show is intended for the Densha otaku since there's never any analogies or animated diagrams to help explain the technical aspects; thus leaving an audience unfamiliar with the technicality hanging. However, there is also the harem aspect of the show where the harem ecchi moments seem to always fall in the middle of the technical aspects to pull in the sexual interests of the audience; almost making it seem that it is trying to hold the attention of the non-Densha otaku audience and increase its viewership. Don't watch this show from start to end with the expectation that you will become more knowledgeable about trains without looking through information outside of the show. Also, don't expect to be constantly entertained from start to end. The harem aspects always seem to ruin the flow of the show and take up too much valuable time that can be used for character and plot development with train knowledge impartment to non-Densha otaku. In the end, the only reason why I consider this show to be good is that it made me fascinated with the Japanese Railway Transportation System and how it impacts the lives of the Japanese people in the real world. To me, the show wasn't totally a waste of time.
Outside of review, this show poses an interesting challenge of developing a good story that blends train knowledge with advancing the plot while keeping the audience interested. I think the show can still be a Harem but with the harem-moments minimized or made subtle so that it doesn't affect the flow of the show and allow for more interesting ideas to be developed. Since Aoi Sakurai (one of the harem girls) is interested in punishing sexual harassers she can have a character arc leading to an interest in the female only carriages that I mentioned previously. Mari Sassho (Naoto's childhood friend and one of the harem girls) works as a train station waitress and so can have an arc revolving around the lunchboxes sold on the train. The show shouldn't have all the female main characters fall in love with the male main protagonist but instead should have at the most two females have subtle feelings for the character that only the audience can notice. The show should diversify the functionalities of the other characters so that most of their actions can teach the audience of the technicalities of the railway system as well as its influence on the commuters. The show should also include characters that are regular commuters and have no job function in the railway system to allow for the audience to relate to the characters with their experiences of being a train passenger. Finally, Noata can still have fundamental knowledge and interest in trains and being an engineer but the story should allow these fundamentals to be developed. All of this may have been accounted for in the light novel, so I am now interested in reading it.
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May 7, 2019
Rail Wars!
(Anime)
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Before reviewing this show, I want to go over the significance of the Japanese Railroad Transportation System to the lives of the Japanese. The train is the most commonly used means of transportation for commuting by Japanese students and company workers. In International comparison, the Japanese are generally heavy users of trains and public transportations. Train riders also tend to have the longest commute time. The survey also revealed that the Japanese spend more time commuting than either other East Asians, Europeans and North Americans. When comparing the happiness vs unhappiness of the different commuters, the train commuters are the only ones who have unhappiness
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Apr 20, 2019
Golden Kamuy 2nd Season
(Anime)
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At the time I wrote this review, the average rating for the second season was 8.17 while the average rating for the first season was 7.78. I believe that the first season gave some viewers the bad impression that the plot is all over the place since Sugimoto has the goal to get money to support his dead friend's family while supporting Asirpa in getting justice for the death of her father. I get that the stakes for Sugimoto seem misplaced since time is moving forward and there were probably better opportunities for him to get money if he wasn't so fixated on sticking with
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Apr 2, 2019
Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line
(Anime)
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I put off watching New Generation and Glory Line after reading the reviews of how these two seasons didn't stand up to par with the previous two seasons. However, after watching Yowamushi Pedal the Movie I felt hyped to watch the third and fourth seasons. I like this anime series because it reminds me of Hanna Barbera's Wacky Races but instead of big personalities riding ridiculous race cars, they are riding ordinary bicycles. I felt that Glory Line actually did a good job in carrying over the spirit of the first two seasons with the well-animated imagery the riders use to compare their riding styles
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Mar 9, 2019
I dropped this anime after watching six episodes. However, after watching Hiding in Public's video about the anime, I decided to give this anime another chance. To be honest I hated the way this anime focuses on the love dynamics between the main characters while not giving much attention to what specifically they like about the games they played. If anyone wants an anime or manga that balances the enjoyment and appreciation of video games with subtle romance then I would recommend Hi-Score Girl. What I was beginning to like after the sixth episode is how the characters begin to understand one another when they
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Mar 8, 2019
Ristorante Paradiso
(Anime)
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I am not really sure why I decided to watch this anime all the way to the end. I think I was getting really bored with the isekai and action anime that focuses on young protagonists surrounded by waifu material. I wanted to watch an anime with a protagonist who is already lost in adulthood and not sure what to do with him/herself for his/her remaining life span. Nicoletta fits this description almost perfectly. The slow pace of the anime allowed me to enjoy Nicoletta's insights into the lives of her fellow staff employees and her understanding of how they get by with their years
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Nov 11, 2018
I rarely find shows or movies with animals/pets that have such sagacious narration of the humans/owners that surround them. I enjoy how Daru's (the cat's) insights on his owners behavior are so perceptive and caring that they turn over my prejudice towards cats that they care for nothing more than themselves (I blame the comic series Garfield for this). I only wish these four short 7 minute episodes can explain more on how Daru came to be so intuitive of his owner's behavior. He spends most of his days in his owner's apartment so how does he become wise with only a few days as
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Nov 10, 2018
To me this show never gets boring. I enjoyed how the members of the Jinko's rugby team interact with one another and spend their time alone. I liked how each episode focuses on an issue with a few members of the team. However, I would like to see a bit more chaos with how each members arc conflicts and reinforces one another. Sure some of the issues may be already covered by other great sports anime and may seem as cliche's, but you have to watch this show while appreciating the effort that this show put into making these characters feel real based on how
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Oct 12, 2018
Nana Maru San Batsu
(Anime)
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I agree with the rest of the reviewers of this show that the show can be a bit lackluster in some episodes when compared to highly-rated sports anime. However, this show still has the potential to set itself apart from the rest, due to the underlying concept of the show: how do you deal with information? The world is full of information and as humans there is a limit to what we can take in and what we leave out. I like how this show tantalizingly explores how an individual's interests can influence how he or she treats the information. If the show had more
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Sep 8, 2018
I didn't enjoy watching the anime and there were many times that I just wanted to drop it. However, I found the overall premise of the anime to be intriguing to keep going. I like how it turns the idea of sending letters to our future selves upside down and deals with the idea that everyone's regrets can be encompassing. In the end I am glad I saw this anime to the end. I like how the anime revisit scenes to give the audience the perspective of each character and how it limits him/her. I also like how the anime make it seems what we
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Sep 1, 2018
Plastic Memories
(Anime)
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The first half of the series fulfills my desire for a slice of life cyberpunk story. I was getting sick of the dystopias and the negative idea that technology is only going to be harmful to humanity. I enjoyed seeing how the short life-span of androids and how putting them out of commission and replacing their personalities were given a more sweet melancholic vibe in comparison to how these elements were treated in Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." Tsukasa had a lot going for him as a character because he's entering a work environment where people don't expect too much out
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