Based on a seinen manga by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko, serialised in IKKI.
The "story" is that a manga artist is asked by her boss to accompany him and a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and draw a manga about it.
The kicker though, is that it's completely non-fiction —the creator really did go on all these trips, and the manga simply records what happened, with no embellishment. There's a little disclaimer at the front that says "This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama," and indeed, it mostly is just about them riding trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc.
The "travel writer" turns out to be a super train-otaku who has vast knowledge of the train network, but also micro-manages all their trips, planning every detail down to the second. He cares mostly about following the schedule and successfully achieving his planned goals (e.g. visiting all stations on a line in a completely bizarre order to accomodate infrequent trains). The mangaka doesn't really care about trains; she's cynical, sarcastic, and rather lazy (she mainly just looks forward to the next eki-ben); he's completely gung-ho as long as he's following the schedule, and the inevitable conflicts are pretty entertaining.
Throughout, though, it feels real —if you've travelled by train in Japan it will all seem very familiar, not just the scenery, but also the atmosphere and feel— and the artist does a great job of pacing and applying little tweaks to keep it consistently entertaining. In an additional bit of recursiveness, some of the characters who show up in the manga (who of course are real people, who really did show up) do so because they (really) read previous episodes of the manga!
In addition of course, you can learn about various out of the way and interesting Japanese train lines and stations; some of them really do look cool. There's always this vague sense of surreality about it however, the trips are all planned by the train-guy (goal: visit all 9,843 stations in Japan) who seems to consider everything as part of a checklist rather than an experience to be enjoyed. You learn a bit about train-otaku culture too; there's really only the one guy in the story, but train-otaku culture is a sort of constant peripheral presence.
Tetsuko no Tabi has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 鉄子の旅, Tetsuko's Travels, Tetsuko's Trip
Genres: Japan , Earth , Asia , Comedy , Absurdist Humour , Countryside , Present , Slice of Life
Try our anime quiz: Anime Characters Guessing Quiz/Game
Top Anime Like Tetsuko no Tabi [2024 List]
4. Ben-To
April 6th, 2011—that was the day that 15-year-old You Satou was knocked unconscious while reaching for a half-priced bento, a prepackaged meal sold at the supermarket. By the time he woke up on the ground, all the bento boxes were gone. He left the supermarket hungry and in pain, only for the same thing to happen the next day.
You soon learn that, in the world of Ben-To, discounted bentos are sacred and highly-sought after, and in order to get one, you needed to fight your way to the top. These bento brawls are fought by experienced fighters known as “Wolves”, who leave the inexperienced and weak “Dogs” like him lying on the ground in defeat. In a world where the weak are left hungry and only the strong can dine, You must train under the guidance of the silver-haired “Ice Queen”, Sen Yarizui, to become a bento-eating wolf himself.
Ben-To has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: ベン・トー, Bento, Ben-Tou
3. Rail Wars!
Rail Wars! takes place in an alternate universe where the Japanese government remains in control of the nation's railway systems. Because of the stability afforded by the leadership of the government, the railway system is allowed to flourish.
Naoto Takayama aspires to become an employee for Japan National Railways because of the comfortable life that it will enable him to live. In order to accomplish this he enters its training program, where students must demonstrate their knowledge of trains as well as their ability to be ready for any challenge that might arise.
During this time period he will encounter other students such as the athletically gifted Aoi Sakura, the constantly hungry Sho Iwaizumi, and the human encyclopedia Haruka Komi. Together they will work towards surviving their trainee period, all the while taking on purse snatchers, bomb threats, and the looming specter of the extremist “RJ” group who wants to privatize the railway system.
Rail Wars! has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: RAIL WARS! [レールウォーズ], Rail Wars!
2. Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion The Animation
In the franchise's story, Hayato Hayasugi (his last name is a pun on the words for "too fast"), the train-loving son of a train museum curator, accidentally stumbles into his dad's secret research lab one day. Inside he finds the E5 bullet train. As soon as he enters, he hears an announcement that a mysterious enemy, the Bachigami ("bee god"), is attacking the city of New Saitama. Luckily, with the touch of his father's Shinca ("evolve") card, the bullet train he's in transforms into a mighty robot — the Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa.
In the anime's story, Hayato and other children will serve as conductors to pilot the Shinkalion. The children must work together with the adults of the "Shinkansen Ultra Evolution Institute" (SUEI) to defeat a monster that looks like a jet black bullet train.
Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion The Animation has finished airing and it has 76 Episodes. It is also Known as: 新幹線変形ロボ シンカリオン THE ANIMATION, Transformable Shinkansen Robot Shinkalion
1. Rail Romanesque
Set in Hinomoto, a fictional version of Japan, where for a long time railway travel served as the most important form of transport. Each locomotive was paired with a humanoid control module, so-called Raillord, that aided the train operator. However, many rail lines had been discontinued due to the rising popularity of 'aerocrafts,' a safe and convenient aerial mode of transport. As such, their accompanying railroads also went into a deep sleep.Soutetsu had lost his entire family in a rail accident and was adopted into the Migita household, which runs a shochu brewery in the city of Ohitoyo. He returned to his hometown to save it from the potential water pollution that would occur if they accepted the proposal to build an aerocraft factory nearby. He woke up the Raillord Hachiroku by accident and became her owner. For different purposes, they agreed to help find her lost locomotive, with the help of his stepsister Hibiki, the town’s mayor and local railway chief, Paulette and others.
Rail Romanesque has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: レヱル・ロマネスク, Maitetsu
