Review : Rail Wars!

Rail Wars has much to offer anyone who is interested in the Japanese way of life surrounding Public Transportation Systems. It is an average anime that is surprisingly entertaining and easy to get into with some flaws, of course. Nevertheless, here's my first review of the year 2015 and the 60th review in all, continue to read and see if this show is for you!

Story

"The 'dream railway paradise entertainment' story is set in a parallel world where Japan did not privatize its national railways. Naohito Takayama is an ordinary high school boy who dreams of a comfortable future working for the top-rated Japanese National Railways. He is assigned as a trainee in the Railways Security Force full of odd characters such as Sakurai, a troublemaker who hates men. On top of that, an extremist group called "RJ" plots to privatize the Japanese National Railways." So, from what is probably clear by the synopsis, one can tell that they will not get an incredibly heart throbbing romance out of this show. But, They do however get a satisfying slice-of-life feel from it. And, as each episode takes you along a specific story arc, with an occasional arc spanning a couple of episodes. That being said, a couple of cliffhangers may stand in your way, but not in the dramatic sort of sense. Overall, it's a casual story for people who are looking for an anime to get them past a depressing Key based anime that left a gap in their soul. If this has happened, you know what I'm talking about! 

Characters

What we had here was our standard harem setup, a surprisingly tough and reliable bro, and a mentor who started to favor the main character almost as much as the harem members did. Also, there is a drawback I want to bring up first, is that you may find some of the harem candidates falling for the main character too quickly or taking interest in him for the littlest things. But since it's 12 episodes long, I guess the anime had to fit all this love for the main character in sooner before later, as to make for the cute and valid scenes throughout the anime. 

Now for the characters, first up is our protagonist, Takayama Naoto, who has a child like fondness of trains and that appealed to me because I felt I could relate to him in terms of the things I like. No matter how much certain characters thought he went overboard or told him to shut up, he would always have something nice to say about the trains! But, sometimes you may dislike how often he comes off as weak, and yet powered up in certain situations with no reason except to look cool, get opinions of him improved, or with explanations like, "I have a friend who toughened me up and they will never forgive me if that's all I could take". Characters like this are made to seem like they're improving as people as the anime goes on, so I guess I could put up with him being weak. Though, I still found him to be a great person, way ahead of his time mentally, as he would often put the public's safety and comfort before himself.

Next up is Aoi Sakurai, she was the very aggressive tsundere who had a very bad and close-minded view of just about all men, and constantly hits and yells at the main character over accidents and the smallest of things. I cannot stand these kinds of tsundere characters! Even if her aggression, mean streak, and hitting of the main character tones down the more she hears his thoughts about certain matters or sees him in action during certain situations. But like I said, it gets toned down to acceptable levels. She gets a lot less annoying and a lot hotter and cuter, just in time to pay attention to her back story and withheld feelings for the main character. I began to like her and think better of her, so don't peg me as someone who hates tsundere characters in the reviews I make. It's just that I can only take so much of a harem member whooping the main character's butt, until it gets played out and annoying.

Then there was Haruka Kōmi, the big breasted intellectual who was very gentle and was competitive in the harem sometimes. She could also take-charge in regard to serious situations. I'm not going to dig too deep into her as it'll spoil how she became a member of the harem. So I'll just say that it might annoy you at how frail she came off sometimes and less likely to say what's on her mind. Especially when compared to the other members. She's the real "damsel in distress" type who's both resourceful and needs saving.

So, Next is the childhood friend Sasshou Mari, who not only had a normal frame compared to EVERY member in the harem, but also had an edge over everyone else since she knew the most about the main character. She had a bit of a noble, "I'm not too worried about how I measure up to the other girls", demeanor to her. And, I liked that about her.

Now that I got the harem out of the way, the last character I'll talk to you about is the muscle headed character that had a great sense of honor, impressive strength and reliability, and who ate a lot, Iwaisumi Shou. He also appeared to be that smart person who had insight on certain things, for some reason was spared from Aoi Sakurai's hatred of men early in the anime, and was a fun guy to watch. You may find me a smudge forgettable, passing him off as the ox character who was there to round out and support the main cast, but I found him to be a great addition!

Animation and Sound

The animation and artwork of the anime was magnificent. Also, As the title would suggest, there was a lot of trains in this show, and with a show that had so much emphasis on trains the animators and artists did a good job on providing the extraordinary details on all mechanical entities within this show. Along with this and the near flawless integration of 2D and 3D animation, the show was also fond of creating some weird angles for character interactions. But, that was mainly due to the ecchi elements that were present within the show, which can be more distracting than pleasing.

For the sound, I guess there is not too much that an anime can mess up with sound. And, As for this one, I'm sure there were plenty of trains locally available to get good sound in, and the malfunctions and action that came of with it played well too. Though, sometimes dialogues were not synced with animation. But as for the soundtrack, we see very good OP and ED, as well as fitting music to accompany the shows current mood. 

Enjoyment

I liked this show and actually enjoyed it a lot! Although I imagine there will be many people that would have a hard time trying to keep them interested in it, if they're not at all interested in Public Systems or Criminal Justice. And, Even if a viewer did hold such interests, it is still possible that they would not be satisfied with what Rail Wars! has offered.

Overall, Rail Wars! came of as a good series with outstanding art and good characters. But, most likely it won't appeal to all the anime watchers and probably the ones who will enjoy it the most are those who come for the story but stay for the girls! (I'm not one of them.) I would also like to call it the best offering of the Summer 2014 season (especially in the face of titles like Aldnoah.Zero), yet if your just looking for something straightforward and full of zest, it is difficult to call this anime anything short of satisfactory. 

3 STAR ANIME.

Click to view my ratings guide.