First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「向かい風に打たれながら」 (Mukai Kaze ni Utarenagara) by 茅原実里 (Chihara Minori)

「けーよんへようこそ!」 (Keeyonn he Youkoso!)
“Welcome to the Defense Four!”

I’m still a little confused about how to feel about RAIL WARS. I was stoked about its premise that involved trains and the men and women who operate them, but after getting through the first episode I can confidently say that I was a bit more confused than before I started.

Trains Vs Boobs

I clearly remember talking to Stilts about this show and him questioning me just why I would want to watch a show about a world where Japan didn’t privatize its national railway system. Sure I’m no train buff and I’d have a tough time telling trains apart, but ever since I was a little kid I’ve always been really into trains. Starting with an old cartoon show called Thomas the Tank Engine, I used to have anything and everything involving trains. But even after I grew out of that phase, aren’t trains just a damn cool mode of transportation? They’ve survived through the ages and no matter where you look the history involved with their creation and use always ends up being interesting!

Which is why I was a little disheartened when boob physics came into play. I’m not crazy enough to think that a girl with large breasts won’t show up in an anime about a niche idea, but when you throw the entire focus onto them and apply crazy physics it just shifts your attention to things that really don’t need it. In my opinion, I really think the show could hold itself up with the unlimited amount of knowledge it could dump on us. But then again maybe I’m just an oddball.

Some General Impressions

Even though I was really hoping we’d get a deeper look into just what makes the railways work, I suppose we’ll have to do with the security side of things for now. The best part of the episode though has to be scene where our main cast tries to get their coal engine train up to speed with some fancy coal scooping. That or the short but super well animated fight scene with the two thugs. Because even if it is an anime about trains, there’s never a bad time to show a well animated punch with a satisfying weight behind it.

Looking Ahead

Jumping into something a little different than what I normally watch, RAIL WARS was pretty fun to watch. While I would have preferred a heavier emphasis on the real nitty-gritty things behind what make the railways and I suppose to a lesser extent how the trains themselves work, I did enjoy the little bits of knowledge the show dropped here and there. With a quirky cast of characters who don’t get too caught up in the normal shenanigans most do and a fairly strong supporting cast, it gives me hope that this show has all the things it needs to become really fun.

P.S. Thanks again guys for reading the post! I’m still at Anime-Expo and am trying to crank these posts out as quick as I can. They may be a little late but that’ll be all resolved once I’m back home. Thanks for your understanding <3

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「OVERDRIVER」 by ZAQ

Preview

End Card

60 Comments

  1. Agreed. The animation for the fight scene was simply glorious. Boobs are never a bad thing, but I agree that there seemed to be more emphasis on Haruka’s boobs than trains in this episode. (Boi-inggg!)

    Personally I’ll watch a few more episodes and see where the story goes.

    Sakamoto
    Reply

  2. Hitomi: “Consider how you should deal with a molester that doesn’t provide their ID, and tries to escape.”

    For someone supposedly concerned about the citizenry, giving a known molester a chance to show you their ID doesn’t exactly strike me as sound logic, but maybe that’s just me?

    Sakurai: “Shoot them to death.”

    …It would be almost adorable how she says that with such a straight face if it weren’t so mind-blowingly stupid (no pun intended). Is this an attempt at humor?

    Hitomi: “I wish an era like that came.”

    Take it away, Captain Picard.

    Sakurai: “It looked like you were staring at Haruka’s chest all this time”

    Uh-huh, and how exactly would you know that, honey? Were you staring at Takayama staring at Haruka’s chest all that time without saying a word?

    Do everyone a favor and stop talking now.

    Ah yes, and speaking of Haruka’s chest… ugh. Just. Ugh.

    And this is all just within the first half. As for the second half, well… all I can say is is that shouldn’t this have been a show about trains, not making out – or, attempting to at least – in them? Seriously, Studio Passione, what were you thinking? Could you possibly have shown any less effort into making your shoddy attempt at relationship development anymore glaringly obvious?

    *sigh*

    When all’s said and done, Rail Wars! has potential, potential that’s already been severely undercut by its own adherence to tired old stereotypes, cliché attempts at romcom romance situations – or at least, again, an attempt at them anyway – that provoke no feeling whatsoever out of me and a story about trains that’s not really about trains, if you know what I mean.

    Ryan Ashfyre
    Reply

  3. Also forgot to mention the Uniform-Porn was awesome too. The fashion sense from a side character of the lady handing the balloon to the main cast are all nicely done. Creative, fashionable yet realistic to an extent.

    Wish it was like that here 🙁

    Sakamoto
    Reply

  4. https://randomc.net/image/RAIL%20WARS/RAIL%20WARS%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2002.jpg Koumi looks just like the manager from Yuushibu

    I liked this first episode. I don’t like the red haired bitch, she needs to get her ass handed to her quick. Stepping on a man’s fresh uniform on his first day of his training school to get a cheap ass balloon, which I’m sure the guy wouldn’t have mind paying for another for the little kid to have, deserves a fist in your face.

    You gonna call him a molester because Koumi’s breasts have an obvious magnetic attraction to the eyes of men, lebsians, and bisexuals. We don’t choose to look! It’s not a choice lol!

    I’m glad Koumi isn’t just the big boobs girl either, she’s also the smartest person in that training school. The main character guy seems to be the second smartest, if not he’s just a basic protagonist until proven otherwise.

    The other guy is just the athletic male bro type. I laughed when he showed up with body armor though. I don’t blame him though, anything can pop off at a train station.

    Best ED so far in the season amirite?!

    magoiichi
    Reply

  5. +1: Bit disappointed by the [BOOBS] > [Trains] treatment and “shy girl accidentally shows underwear to innocent boy” antics. But well, will watch a few more episodes to make sure where this is headed…

    Fourchaise
    Reply

  6. I like the show so far. It kinda reminds me of galaxy railways, library wars, sakura wars, You’re Under Arrest, planetes, ie a day in life of a public/civial servant kinda thing, whether the show remain more light hearted or develope more complex problems is left to be seen. I don’t mind either or, it’s more about the characters.

    Sherylfan
    Reply

    2. Yep, and I actually started the episode with the same expectations. I’m not that much of a train enthusiast, and the amount of information wasn’t too overwhelming, so that was good.

      Some main points that left me confused were:

      1. Why did they just leave the lady on the floor like that? Shouldn’t one of them at least asked if she was alright?

      2. Was leaving their post like that too reckless? Chasing down criminals is fine, but wouldn’t that lead to less security in the area they were originally staffed?

      3. Could they have contacted other stations, with information describing the criminals instead? That way, they could have let public security at other stations deal with it.

      ReverseTales
      Reply

  7. I went into the show expecting not to care but it was surprisingly enjoyable. It definitely cleared it’s way for a 3 episode treatment. I just have no idea what is going to happen in this show, it could be good it could go downhill from here but I’m carefully optimistic.

    Definitely a surprise of the season for me.

    Zirthiel
    Reply

  10. I think Rail Wars is going to be my guilty pleasure this season, i do like the characters and the premise (despite it being a little silly, hence the “guilty pleasure” part XD).

    I also like how distinctive and unique each character is, there is more to them than the typical stereotypes you might mistake them for, i wish you eventually get to learn a bit more about their back-stories.

    I’m also pretty damn glad they didn’t extend the school/academy part anymore than a third of the first episode, i didn’t sign up for a school drama/slice of life .. i wanted trains and cool characters so i’m glad they finished the academy part with a neat montage, i enjoyed the test with the steam powered train and the whole thing about coal distribution, the bit about the orange train that check the rails and cables for problems was nice too.

    Now for the characters, Takayama might seem like the typical lead character in most anime but he is quite smart and isn’t really a pervert (even if he unintentionally gets in embarrassing situations), Haruka might seem like the typical big-breasted “ahogi” character (air-head) but fact is she is a hard-worker and the best in the academy (not to mention quite knowledgeable), Sakurai comes off as the aggressive tsundere but it seems there is more to her than her relentless hate to males (she is athletic and a sharp shooter, not to mention she seems to act normal towards Iwaizumi), As for Iwaizumi himself, he comes off as the typical sports-head or jock-type character but aside from his obsession with eating and sports there seems to be some interesting sides to him (no sense of direction XD), but he got the least attention this episode so maybe next episode we get to know more about him.

    But i have to say Sakurai’s obsession with guns and shooting molesters to death (funny how commander Hitomi agreed with her so straightforwardly, i can picture them leading a male-hunting squad of amazonian females in some post-apocalyptic anime world), molesters and purse-snatchers are scum for sure but going trigger happy on them is a little bit too much, i know it’s played for comedy but it can feel a little bit uncomfortable (and giving Sakurai a real gun during work seems to me like a very bad idea).

    As for the focus on Haruka’s breasts, i don’t really think it took away much from the episode (they were merely two or three scenes), and there aren’t any crazy physics here, she just needs a better bra (if she was wearing one at all XD).

    All in all it’s an enjoyable show with an unusual premise and an interesting cast (which still have two more characters to introduce, Nana whom we got a glimpse of in the final scene and Mari who wasn’t shown at all), will keep watching for few more episodes to see where they plan to take it.

    Hunter-Wolf
    Reply

  11. Already loving Aoi (Sakurai), lol.

    And I do like how they explain some train related things while on the move and, unlike Mahouka, doesn’t constantly just cut off/away from the flow of the episode solely to explain every little detail (and usually having it not really matter anyways as it’s never really re-visited again after).

    However, I did question just why the group just went out of their way to chase down those two purse-snatchers all the way to the next station when they could’ve…I don’t know…reported it and have a call made down to that station so THAT security team(s) can be prepared to intercept them there when they arrived?

    I mean, they’re supposed to be the security for their own station and the customers there, so what if something else (worse) had happened at their station post during the time they spent having abandoned it just to chase down a couple minor thieves? When they didn’t immediately start trying to chase the purse-snatchers down when they escaped on the train, I thought that’s what they might do, thinking “Hey, they seem to be thinking it through and will be smart and responsible about this”, but nope, they do exactly the opposite, and not only that, but their recklessness and irresponsibility even gets them rewarded with passing their test and getting the jobs officially.

    Of course, that’s not to say it’s not noble of them that they were so dedicated that they’d go so far to stop the thieves, but they also have to remember that they’re not the ONLY (security) team out there. For such a gigantic system to work (spanning the country after all), all the teams must work together and communicate. If you have even just one team constantly doing their own thing without regard for the rest of the groups, the entire system could eventually end up crashing.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  14. the short but super well animated fight scene with the two thugs.

    Fixed that for you Takaii.

    Still, I’m pretty much one the same page as I was hoping a little more train-service and less PLOT. It’s kinda sad, because I was sort of hyped for this show.

    First ep. was pretty “meh”. It did an ” OK” job introducing the cast, which is very generic, but I hope it gets more interesting from here on.

    I should have known better that boarding the HYPE TRAIN is bad.

    あっかり-ん！！
    Reply

  15. First episode’s rather fun to watch. Just like you Takaii, I grew up playing with trains and watching Thomas the Tank Engine. Like Panzers, trains have an allure to them. Even till today I’m continuously fascinated by them.

    The show does give the feel of Library Wars albeit though this seems to be more technical based (somewhat).

    So will I watch this, yes. I’m in it for the trains, the red head (her boobs are in proportion to her body) and the plot.

    Oh and one more thing….

    http://i.imgur.com/L56k7Wx.jpg

    Show Spoiler ▼

    cruiser2710
    Reply

  16. I thought this show was pretty bad, to be honest. While its premise is somewhat interesting, the way the actual plot progresses doesn’t have an original bone in its body. Neither do the characters, who fall into predictable archetypes (including an aggravating tsundere).

    Now this wouldn’t be so bad it the execution was allright, but it screws up there as well. Most of the show felt kind of dull to me, as the comedy fell flat and it was just a heap of cliché’s. Then the action part started, and I could replace boredom with picking holes in the plot. I mean, really, was it necessary to go after the train thieves themselves? Couldn’t they just call the next station over and have them handle it? ‘There wouldn’t be a plot otherwise’ is no excuse for lame writing. I doubt most purse-thieves would be willing to murder a cop too, seems kind of overkill. And giving these kids a gun after a month of training of being a train cop? Yeah, that’s a great idea. Especially when one is already having the idea of playing her own judge on people who *might* be molesters.

    *sigh* I did’t intend to pick this show to pieces, and I wanted to enjoy it. But I didn’t. First dissapointment of the season, really, and not going to watch this one.

    Dvalinn
    Reply

    1. WOAAAH EASY PAL… SINCE WHEN DOES BOOBY BOUNCING AND UPSKIRTS HAVE TO BE ORIGINAL(requirement for all ecchi shows)??? SERIOUSLY YOU THOUGHT THIS SERIES WAS GOING TO BE GOOD JUST FOR THE PLOT? PAUSE. AHAHAHAHA let me just laugh in your face right now! oh well … if it isnt for you it isnt for you lol

      GoodStuffs
      Reply

      1. LOL K. Maybe you need to dust off the Thomas & Friends show then! Good clean fun! Not all shows are directed for all people if it aint your cup of tea it aint no use forcing it. Oh well this series will hopefully occupy me until my most anticipated s3 highschoool dxd! anyone know when?

        WAIT.BUT DONT WORRY you got Free! Eternal Summer is a totally good wholesome show…LOLS. for girls like that love a show with shirtless muscular boys!

        GoodStuffs
        Reply

  23. My biggest problem with this first episode had nothing to do with the characters, the fanservice, or the animation. It had everything to do with how the entire script read like it came from a bad shounen manga.

    Seriously, just look at the steam train sequence, and the snatch thief sequence. Both read exactly like a bog-standard Jump manga.

    Corin
    Reply

    1. My fellow commenter why do I feel like you and another commenter share your yearning for possibly a Sword Art Online 2 of somesort? would you be happier with a series like that? since it does try to over complicate things and just COMBOGULATES! ok maybe thats more Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei. Why be acting like every series is set out to be the freshest original piece of work? or that it should be? Sometimes they just want to entertain with tried and true methods! dat accidental booby never gets old for me, and upskirt cmon cant go wrong with upskirts but no panty…D: oh well to each their own!

      MEH IM ABOARD THIS OVERHYPED TRAIN CAUSE so far so good! But something like Glasslip on other hand was WAY MORE UNDERWHELMING! I feel like im looking forward to ep2 of rail wars not so much glasslip but ill give it a chance 😛

      GoodStuffs
      Reply

    1. cool are you more of the censored gore fan? like Tokyo Ghoul im not sure whats my opinion of this series yet tho… 🙂 oh well theres always sailor moon for ya 😛

      GoodStuffs
      Reply

  26. Funny thing is I was quite fascinated with trains when i was a kid.

    What i WASN’T fascinated by was a bunch of generic characters managing to stay together through a string of badly written convenient events giving us stupid obligatory fanservice with magical falling down physics that allow you to grope women with no consequences once so ever ending with a big dumb unnecessary theft chase………………………….oh japan.

    When they are talking about trains the show is kind of neet but otherwise I don’t have much to be invested in.

    leatherhead333
    Reply

  29. if you tuned into this show hoping to see an anime of the year candidate………. well that’s just your own damn fault. If this show can provide some funny moments along with some decent fan service and some train knowledge on the side, then this show did it’s job. if not, then it’ll get dropped, simple as that.

    cookievalenzuela666
    Reply

  31. Honestly learned something other than the fan-service, about how the letters in the trains mean specific things and the quality of the show is fantastic. Don’t let the first episode make you uninterested after being excited for this show, that’s the first mistake. We’ve seen many shows (i.e if her flag breaks) where it goes down a path that seems like it can’t redeem itself (too much fanservice and filler) and then all of a sudden come out of nowhere and surprise you.

    Sure we have a Mikuru like character but hey, she is pretty smart and this is just character introduction so don’t cut it short! (Also what’s with all these down votes on some peoples posts these days? Sometimes they’re valid points yet you see 0 up and 8 down lol)

    Jason Isenberg
    Reply

  33. as a steam loco driver in Australia …..well miniature ride on steam loco driver , I really only came here for the steam locos ….bit disappointed really with the art work of it , seems like lazy animation using snow and steam to hide all the motion work but at least they sort of covered coal firing …in a layman’s way…and to the bloke who wrote the review above, Thomas the tank engine is not a cartoon well not for the first 12 seasons anyway when it was done with gauge 1 models not the lame cheap ass CGI they use now.

    greg
    Reply

  34. Ep 06:

    You know, i like Rail Wars, and i am watching it. But Episode 06 was not the best of them. The Story was so thin.. i just wished they end this fast, but it took the entire episode.

    Guys, this Story was thiner then Water Soup

    Germanguy
    Reply

    1. Ep 07:

      Well…

      Okay, just dont try to use to much “Ecchi” to catch the Fans. Your doing a Anime for Train fans, are you not? (Well, i am not. But i like it). So, the Females in Train Comapany’s are not that Ecchi, you know?… So dont overdo it… You just strip the Female here naked with the Fans mind… (You know what scene i have in mind.. Track and field club)

      Germanguy
      Reply

  35. Ep 08:

    Yes yes, this is it. This Story can live. This Emergency Train, can shoulder the “Red Line”. Yes, D4 Heroes GO!!!!

    🙂

    p.s. it is nice to have Old Fall Back systems, if the Modern Trains/System not working.

    (Diesel Trains, if the Electro Trains are flat lined, through a Earthquake or so)

    Germanguy
    Reply

    1. Btw, This time the “Ecchi” pass my Checkpoint without problems 🙂

      Your not throwing the Females at the Male fans, your toying with them. But not showing to much.. Yes. i like it

      Germanguy
      Reply

    1. See, resolve to endure Danger. It is possible without sacrifice Life, or had to do with Fights or battlefields.

      i begin to love the ED… Is there by any change an instrumental only version of the Music?

      Germanguy
      Reply

  38. Ep 11:

    Rail Wars, now you give the name a True meaning. Looks like a Hidden Gem is about to sparkle like a Diamond. Even being afraid, they stood to their Duty’s. If i had a Mat, i would took it of and Bow in Honor before them.

    p.s. Your Script Writer seems to like Womans ass 🙂 Well as long they are not to “Spicy” it is okay. Even the Scene where she take of her stockings, was not feel like trowing Ecchi to the Fans like dirt. I even oversee some “ugly” drawings, i guess it is because of saving the Episode Budget or time.

    But short story, as i said. Rail Wars found herself the right Track and getting better. Sadly we soon have the Final. Anyway, i happy i stay with you and enjoy now till the end

    Germanguy
    Reply

  39. Ep 12 END:

    The Show end with smile on the faces of everyone.
    Thanks for being in your care, Team of Rail-Wars!. I enjoyed your Show, even if sometime in the middle you lost the Track. I am not regret anything here

    *bow in respect*

    Germanguy
    Reply

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