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First Impression: Miracle Train

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By: Fernando RamosSeason Premiere: October 4, 2009Director: Kenichi KasaiAnime Production: Yumeta CompanyStory: There exists an urban legend about the Miracle Train that is only visible to troubled young women. Those who board the Miracle Train are to be visited by six tall handsome young men embodying six major stations on the Oedo Tokyo Subway Line. There’s gentle-yet-playful Fumi Roppongi; cool and narcissitic Rintaro Shinjuku; uber-polite yet insecure Saki Tochou rounded by Izayoi Tsuishima, Iku Shiodome and Itsumi Ryogoku.  Watch as our bishonen heroes battle the forces of self-induced teenage melodrama and teach you about trains the process!Impressions:Many sites have been comparing Miracle Train to last season’s Axis Powers Hetaria and not for lack of just cause: both shows feature pretty boy characters personifying and lampooning traits of the things they’re personified by. However, far from beginning with Hetaria, Miracle Train is just another manifestation of a trend of loving our inanimate objects too much and really little different from sad girls dying in the snow or giant robots punching each other.  Similar to the delightful antics of Bishi-America or Busty-Windows-XP, most of the fun of the show comes from being familiar with the train stations in question.  
In-jokes to the Japan Rail train service abound, from The Conductor of the titular train speaking exclusively in the formal Japanese heard on the train intercoms to Shinjuku’s host club wear. It also makes for a fun time arguing with the show for those in the know: for one, why the hell is Roppongi such a clean-cut nice guy? In real life one of Tokyo’s most notorious areas, shouldn’t he have a Nigerian bodyguard trying to get loose Japanese girls into dance clubs? Will otaku destinations Nakano and Nerima get an episode of their own? Until those questions are answered, rail fans can appreciate the faithful and unrealistically empty re-creations of the Tokyo Metro trains and their various stations.

What becomes problematic is when the show needs to stop being about goofy train trivia and starts to be about magical train station spirits helping young girls out. The story presented in this episode is about a gal named Chinatsu missing her dog. There’s some melodrama about the pooch being in danger of dying and Chinatsu’s own fear of loneliness. This leads to scenes like our heroine-of-the-week having a heart-to-heart with one of our sexy station spirits for socially awkward fangirls to live vicariously through.

End of the Line:
Despite what might come off as one of this writer’s more positive reviews, it is very hard to actually call Miracle Train anything resembling “good.” It’s a very idiosyncratic show made for a very niche set of audiences:  people who really like preening pretty boys and people who really really love riding their local subway.


Fernando Ramos
Written on Sunday, 11 October 2009 12:53 by Fernando Ramos

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