Train to the End of the World Ep 12 Finale Review- End of the Line

Written by Rei Caldombra 6/25/2024 Video: https://youtu.be/Y7lon1kDoQ0

Previous: Train to the End of the World Ep 11 Review- On and Off a Train Towards the End. — Blog Under a Log

We finally made it to the end of the line. The train line. But don’t worry, this is not a story about finality. It’s about new beginnings. Overall I think this was a very satisfying finale that ends this series on a very strong thematic note, albeit with some criticisms about pacing and execution.

Starting off, the girls realize that Youka has to be the one to press the button, as the powers affecting the world are tied to her. From how I understand it, 7G power manifested her fears and insecurity into reality. She has to be the one to turn off 7G because the solution is her facing herself.

The main action of the episode is settled pretty quickly. Rest in peace to all the fallen zombies who were the true MVPs. They were ridiculously helpful- they helped them get the button quickly, made a bridge, and prevented the train from being derailed. I don’t have any problem suspending my disbelief with this show, so them doing things they shouldn’t have like being able to hold up a train is absolutely ridiculous though fine with me. But I think it would’ve been a little more interesting if they did not solve so many of the problems in the last 2 episodes. Most of the previous stops get referenced, only excluding the mushrooms from what I can remember. I don’t see how they could have helped, but it does feel like a shame that they got left out. I feel like there could have been some silly way they could have helped, like maybe infecting some of the guards. If the berets hadn’t disappeared they also could’ve been used as a fun way of the girls fighting back. The zombies were relied on a little too much but this isn’t a big deal. The action was a bit brief since we had to get to the reconciliation, but I’m glad they focused on the more important thing with the time they had. It could’ve been better, but it was still a fun final action sequence.

The setting for the confrontation is very cool and visually looks great. Gotta praise the visuals of this show one more time.

Pontaro loses because of his own hubris. Pontaro button mashes too hard and breaks his armed train. Then he assumes “Pochi” will continue to be on his side after revealing he doesn’t really care about Youka. It turns out that the 7G was eating away at her life, which honestly feels like it was kinda just dropped out of nowhere for the sake of “Pochi” turning on him. But like most of these criticisms about how things play out, they do not ruin the scenes. Everything is very functional, just a bit convenient and fast.

Now we get to our girls finally talking it out. Shizuru isn’t great at putting feelings into words as we saw before, but now she is ready to do her best and say what is needed. Shizuru rightly makes it about Youka rather than herself, stating that the apology for hurting Youka is more important than Youka forgiving her. Shizuru lashed out at Youka because she was feeling insecure about herself. Youka had big dreams and the confidence to pursue them, while she was afraid of things changing. Which is what would happen if Youka left. But doing that just pushed her away. But it is not all about Shizuru’s actions, Youka had her own problems. Despite genuinely believing in her dream and having the courage to go to Ikebukuro, she was still afraid. That is a natural feeling, and Shizuru’s words only reinforced that. So when she pressed the button, the powers enabled her to alter the world how she wanted. This would let her control change, not fear it. But the powers ended up backfiring, sort of like a monkey’s paw. The effects on her health from the powers led to her being manipulated and ending up with a life that was just as repetitive as the life in Agano she tried to leave. There’s also the angle that the powers responded to her strong emotions and calmed them. On the surface, she wanted to pursue change, but deep down she was still afraid. So the powers tried to keep her from anything that would make notable change to the status quo.

I really like how as this conversation progressed, Youka’s powers change the world around them to fit what they are talking about. Before, we saw the trains following separate paths. This represented Youka'‘s uncertainty. As the conversation progresses, their environment changes to fit what she is focusing on in the moment, such as her memories.

Moving on with the conversation, Shizuru gives the encouragement and affirmation to Youka that she wishes she could give before, along with support from the other girils. They look up at the star together that they promised under years ago.

I think more time setting up Youka’s character could’ve made it clearer, but I believe the 7G situation is a representation of how trying to control the chaotic world is an exercise in futility. Pontaro tried to control Youka, who controlled the world, but that did not work out for him. With Youka’s mind now cleared, they change to a setting with a parting sea. Now Youka only sees one path forward- pressing the button and accepting whatever comes next, knowing she has the true support of her friends.

In the end, Pontaro gets taken out not by any intentional attack by the gang, but the Swan Hermit accidentally landing on him. While this could feel anticlimactic, I think it fits with the tone and the message. The point of the resolution was Shizuru and Youka making up, not Pontaro being defeated. With his defeat and emotions resolved, the button gets pressed and 7G is ended. But this does not bring us back to square 1.

Everything does NOT go back to normal. And to me this is the perfect way to end things. This is better for the theme of change that is heavily talked about in this episode. The 7G period happened, that is a fact. In life, you can’t take away the past. All you can do is hope things will change for the better, and do your best to make that happen. The characters in this story made mistakes that they cannot reverse. The conflict of this story was resolved by the characters recognizing their mistakes and growing from them. Shizuru had to accept that Agano won’t stay the same way forever, such as Youka leaving. Change can be scary, the gang encountered many dangerous and frightening things on their journey. But in the end they got through the adversity, grew from it, and enjoyed that process. We must face the adversity that comes with change head-on rather than trying to avoid it. This is what Shizuru learned on her journey. Pontaro was the loser villain because he tried to reject change once it stopped working out for him. When the 7G plan messed up the world, he did not want anything to change in a way that would fall back on him. He made 7G to try to change the world, but he did it in a reckless way that ended up punishing him in the end. We should embrace change, but not in a way that ignores risks and rejects consequences. We have to take responsibility for our actions. Shizuru and Youka were willing to, but Pontaro was not.

The theme of change also loops back around to the capabilities of transportation. It gives people the opportunity to experience new places and change their lives. The girls were able to reconnect thanks to the train. Now there are new train lines that will take people to new places. The entire world can be considered a new place now. Another bit of imagery concerning the train is that the ED always showed the train driving down a winding path. Now it is a straight line.

This show is meant to be advertising for various train and transportation companies if you couldn’t tell. I think this show succeeds with flying colors at using that original purpose to tell a strong story that promotes these systems without feeling like it is trying to sell you a service. You can feel the love and effort that was put into this anime.

Mito goes from having a zombie squad to a simp squad. This is a case of things basically being the same, but now we know they are truly choosing to follow her. This gives her more confidence and feel better about herself as a person. “Pochi” ends up turning into a crow. It looks like he was originally a crow rather than a dog, as Pontaro calls him a crow before he gets thrown off the train. But as a bird, he can continue watching over Youka without the premise of controlling and monitoring her. They can continue supporting each other if they desire, or be free to separate.

With everything settled as much as they can be, the girls head back home to Agano. But it may not be an easy ride, as the world is still a bit of an unknown. With this, the girls can have another fun journey on their way back. And this time Youka can be a proper member of the Gatan Goton Gang. 

I think the 2nd train the gang sees as they head back to Agano represents new beginnings. Purely from a story standpoint the train is confirming that the world outside the line has returned. But there is important thematic meaning to it too. With 7G in control, the world literally revolved around Youka. This train shows how that is no longer the case. That’s a new train on a new path, independent from the one the gang has been traveling on. Those people are going on their own adventure that will change them. All across the world people are going on unique journeys. We’re all growing and changing.

Not everything gets firm explanations and I also think that is for the best. A lot of the fun of this series was reveling in the unknown and using our imaginations. This ending supports that. We don’t know what our crazy world will throw at us.

Let's look back at some of my predictions and see what came to be. I’m a little sad my double-button press theory didn’t bear fruit. Not holding it against the story, but I really thought I was onto something interesting. I was pretty good at figuring out how the world worked, with everything tying back to emotions and desires. I was right about Pontaro not being redeemed, the man was an asshole until the end and got turned into food aka death. No emotions or additional background for him from this episodes, he is exactly what he was presented as. Whether this is a bad thing or not is up to you. I do think he suffered a bit as a result of the pacing, it feels like he could have had more to him. But on the other hand, I do think him and the 7G stuff itself were simple on purpose. They were vehicles (pun intended) for the characters and story. They brought up some explanations about what 7G is, but we didn’t get a firm answer. And I don’t think it’s needed, the point was its effect, not the thing in itself. Who knows how 7G managed to create a reality bender, but sci-fi explanations and the defeat of a big bad villain are not what this story was about. It was about the journey, the growth the characters experienced on that journey, and how that growth allowed the characters to come back together again to support each other. I do think I was correct in seeing the similarities between Girls Last Tour and Shimeji Simulation. I won’t go into detail; I will just very highly recommend them to anyone who enjoyed this anime (anyone in general really). There’s a lot of tonal, thematic and story similarities to End Train.

Now for some final thoughts. I won’t applaud this show as something amazing, but it was a ton of fun. It is not a complex or deeply nuanced story, but I appreciate what it did tell in its short runtime. I loved these characters and the wacky adventures they went on. It doesn’t have explosive highs, but it was consistently a great time that always left me wanting for the next episode. I have no regrets about sticking with it. This show got the theorizer brain juices flowing more than most shows do, which is a big compliment and added a lot to the experience for me. It was incredibly creative and truly unique. It did have some issues with pacing that were most heavily seen here, but they did not ruin the experience at all. Setting up the story to be very silly and random helps to take the edge off of more blatant narrative convenience.

I’m very happy to see another anime original being very successful. I hope we continue to get more originals, as I think it is great for the industry. It opens up more opportunities to use anime not as just a medium of advertising the source material and encourages creators to be creative, as they do not have to hold themselves to the story, visuals, etc of a source.

And this marks the end of a great series. Thank you very much for taking this ride with me!

My Patreon: patreon.com/ReiCaldombra