Train to the End of the World Ep 10 Review- Artistic Expression Galore

Written by Rei Caldombra 6/5/2024 Video Version: https://youtu.be/Pixi3jxGg7Q

Previous Train to the End Post: https://www.blogunderalog.com/blog-collection/train-to-the-end-ep-9-review-youkas-re-introduction

Time for episode 10, where we get an artistic conflict in Shiinamachi. We got a very funny and goofy episode this time. This will likely be the last hurrah of truly jovial shenanigans before we get to our main destination of Ikebukuro next episode.

We start out with the girls discussing the map from Swam Hermit and the 7G situation. With hindsight it turns out the map was correct after all, even the first one they received way back in episode 2. This could be fun for anyone who took serious looks at the map and tried to predict what they would run into. This could be fun to look at on rewatch too. This scene gives us some nice bantering between the girls that is funny and sweet.

Next we meet Shizuru’s dad when they stop the train from progressing to Shiinamachi. He was gone for two whole years investigating the 7G situation. He is super funny and I like how each of the girls bounced off of his jokes and demeanor in different ways. I especially like how immediately antagonistic Shizuru is. I think this is her letting her anger out while still staying on topic. She does still care about him, as we see once they move onward. But it is understandable for her to be pissed that he has been gone this whole time with 3 measly letters. She had faith that he wasn’t dead, but I think we got to see a bit of resentment come out in their first interaction. I think this reaction fits Shizuru very well, and serves as having a long lost family reunion that stands apart from the usual. Even as the train is pulling away she keeps her angry expression while the rest are chill. This could also in part be their dynamic, which is fun. I have always liked seeing parent and child relationships that are loving deep down but conflictory on the surface.

I really like that the girl’s main motivation continues to be Youka, with the world being secondary. Prioritizing the world would be the logical thing to do, but these are a bunch of emotional young girls who just want to find their friend. They are completely in over their heads and I like that this is properly communicated in their actions. They do have some understanding of the gravity of their situation, but at their core they just want to see their friend. And that purity greatly contrasts what we see from many of their foes. So I believe that pure desire is what will help them be able to win.

Before reaching Shiinamachi we get a bit more of the girls discussing the state of things and the info they learned.

I’m glad they have not forgotten about the damaged train tracks. I guess it's uncrossable but maybe there’s enough pieces still connected for the sound to travel for the communication with Zenjirou. They’re being pretty handwavey with how Shizuru’s dad and the others will get back but with that I don’t mind. I’ve made a bigger deal about the communication through the tracks because that has been important and recurring. The 3 guys made it that far so they can easily get back now that the previous areas are much safer. It would have been cool if we had gotten a little glimpse into how they managed to get through all the other areas, but that was 2 years ago so perhaps all of them were safer, rather than just the obvious ones like the previous area which would not have had the changes the artists made to the world. I love the bit of the girls taking Akira’s bit about getting powers from the food seriously, it’s another hilarious moment. I also appreciate them contemplating whether changing the world back is really needed. These 4 spent 2 whole years dealing with Agano as it was and have grown used to it. They learned to enjoy that life. Of course though they do come to the conclusion that it would be better to change it and later understand that they absolutely need to.

I want to take a moment to compliment these front facing shots of the train that we have gotten a lot of, I have always liked how these look. Especially in this episode when we saw it in movement. It looks really nice and again I appreciate how highly detailed the train is. The art of the characters is not always the most detailed but the backgrounds and set pieces consistently look fantastic. And I don’t think the simple look of the characters is a bad thing. That juxtaposition works a lot of the time with the chaos of the world.

When they reach Shiinamachi they are immediately thrown into battle with the 3 mangaka who still have their Berets. The girls and the mangakas throw down with the power of their imaginations. This segment is hilarious and super fun. One funny joke I want to point out is that Nadeshiko again went to a perverted assumption first like she did in another episode.

This is yet another funny joke that references a past detail. And on this note I appreciate that the mangaka blatantly say they don’t want to and the scene immediately moves on. By not even implying anything creepy the sexual joke was able to be made while keeping the very light tone of the episode. This episode is riddled with funny jokes so I am not going to point out all of them and just repeatedly say that good jokes are good jokes.

We get to see so many different art styles which is awesome, and extra great because the characters' speaking styles change to fit the referenced visual style. Everyone gets a chance to use the beret, with everyone employing their favorite styles. Akira continues her trend of liking western books and history by using things like German art, Reimi is a fujoshi apparently and weaponizes BL, Nadeshiko likes classical shows in a chibi style with a cheesy sounding magical ray, and Shizuru likes sports series. All of this is super great, I love the variety we got here. There’s too many to show with pictures, so I highly recommend watching the episode if you are reading through these without watching. With the mangakas defeated through the power of youthful imagination, we learn of how their situation came about. The theme of this episode is pretty simple, explained well by Akira.

The mangakas has the standard goal of wanting to be successful and influence the world. But their individual styles didn’t get them much success. So they swapped over to following traditional conventions and tropes, but then they were told they were too old fashioned. I assume this frustration led them to the power of the berets, which allowed them to push their personal styles onto others. They were forced to accept their styles when they got transformed. But Akira helps them realize that new styles will always come about that will be inspirational. And they should not give up on being themselves. This is not very deep, as the show intended by the mangaka being an afterthought for the girls, but this is still a nice message for creatives. Do not force yourself to conform to chase empty success. Keep trying at what you enjoy doing and embrace creativity.

Now onto the important stuff that the girls actually care about. We get a sprinkling of social commentary, with the powers the mangaka were given being a paid subscription. This is poking fun at the increasing amount of services that are subscriptions in the modern day. Pontaro really commercialized 7G in the end of the world, I was expecting this to come up somehow. But not through magical berets. A good question is how these came about.

They were given the berets by Youka, Pontaro and “Pochi” directly. Unless they picked these up from somewhere in Ikebukuro, these were likely directly made by Youka using her powers. With how weird her thought process seems to be, maybe she asked them what kind of power they would want. Rather than coming up with it herself. Another new Youka related detail we got is that she apparently attended an astronomy learning session, so she does still have some memory of that dream.

This episode is definitely one of the funniest and I loved it. I’m sure things are going to get much more serious in the last episodes so this is a good reprieve. Now it is finally time for the gang to enter the last world and home of the final boss, Ikebukuro.