Interest
Evangelion Bullet Train Goes Out with an Anime Bang
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The very successful Evangelion bullet train will make its last stop on May 13. The last two years were already an extension of the train's planned run, shuttling passengers on the JR-West line from the Shin-Osaka Station to Hakata Sōgōsharyōsho station.
Fans were able to drink Misato's wine, hear announcements by Kaworu, and with the right ticket, take a sit in an Evangelion cockpit.
The train will, in a way, be immortalized before it completely stops its service. The Evangelion bullet train will appear in Shinkalion, a kids' sci-fi mecha show with transforming trains. Allegedly, a viewer wrote to staff after watching the anime's first episode and said that the premise of a boy, his father, and a robot reminded them of Evangelion. The comment spurred the staff into action on a collaboration with the classic mecha series. The 500 TYPE EVA train already collaborated with Takara Tomy's Shinkanlion toy line in October prior to the anime's premiere.
Neon Genesis Evangelion director Hideaki Anno welcomed the collaboration and said he was looking forward to the episode and especially wanted to watch the transformation. Anno is a train fan himself, and he and original mecha designer Ikuto Yamashita worked directly on the 500 TYPE EVA train project.
The Shinkalion anime series premiered in Japan on January 6. It is not currently streaming in English.
Source: MoCa News
