Welcome to this week’s review of notable instances of public transit use and urban design, as well as discussion of place identity and culture, through anime currently broadcast or screening in Japan and simulcast internationally via the web. This review also documents seichijunrei (聖地巡礼 sacred site pilgrimage) and butaitanbou (舞台探訪 scene hunting)—on this website referred to collectively as anime pilgrimage—which are forms of place-based engagement induced by the use of real locations in show settings.
Media and General Interest
Nishinomiya Haruhi Clock
More coverage of the Haruhi Clock return to Kitaguchi-ekimae Park, from the Nishinomiya Keizai Shimbun and Kobe Shimbun. @keyboar was interviewed and quoted in the latter.
The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior
(僕らはみんな河合荘 Bokura wa Minna Kawai-sō)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@yomikatajiyu made a pilgrimage to Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture for the OP and Episode 1.
Opening Credits
Kawai-Sō takes us to Gifu City, not far from the setting of last season’s No-Rin. Nagara Bridge (長良橋)
Ending Credits
Nagara Bridge
Episode 1
Nagara River (長良川)
The File of Young Kindaichi Returns
(金田一少年の事件簿R Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo Ritānzu)
Opening Credits
This is an interesting reboot of a franchise that hasn’t been released as an animation in 14 years. Though the color palette has been updated to keep up with the times, the character design and writing feels very 1993. The mystery genre isn’t one I really get into, but maybe a refreshing break from the moe dominated contemporary fare is in order. We know the story is set in Tokyo and the opening credits make it clear we’ll be headed back there in due time, but almost all of the first episode is set in Hong Kong.
Episode 1
One Week Friends
(一週間フレンズ。 Isshūkan Furenzu.)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@chabata_k made a pilgrimage to Tama and Hino, Tokyo Metropolis for the ED and Episode 1.
@rimatai dug up archive shots of the staircase and cityscape in the ED.
Opening Credits
One Week Friends is set in Tama (多摩) and neighboring Hino (日野), both cities in Tokyo Metropolis, in some of the same locations that were used in the Miyazaki penned Whisper of the Heart, first released in 1995. There is a clue right up front in the opening credits, with a sillouette of the Fuchū-Yotsuya Bridge (府中四谷橋), part of Tokyo Prefectural Route 20 (東京都道20号).
Ending Credits
Minamidaira Station (南平駅)
Episode 1
Seiseki-Sakuragaoka Station (聖蹟桜ヶ丘駅)
Embankments (土手 dote) along the Tama River (多摩川)
Love Live! School Idol Project
(ラブライブ! School idol project Rabu Raibu! Sukūru aidoru purojekuto)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@kortoku made a pilgrimage to Manseibashi Station, an abandoned rail station in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo near Akihabara for Episode 1.
Episode 1 (Season 2)
In the second season opening, Love Live! recycles familiar locations from last year, beginning in Akihabara (秋葉原).
Akihabara UDX (秋葉原UDX)
Manseibashi Station (万世橋駅), an abandoned rail station near Akihabara through which trains still pass
Honoka’s family continues to operate the confectionery out of a shophouse.
Kanda Myōjin (神田明神)
Brynhildr in the Darkness
(極黒のブリュンヒルデ Gokukoku no Buryunhirude)
Opening Credits
Right off the bat, we can see that there is some composite location use. The show appears to use Matsumoto (松本), Nagano Prefecture as its key model, but the observatory that is an important prop for the protagonist combines a position that @Beetle787 suggests is somewhere in Ogawa village (小川村), between Nagano (長野) and Hakuba village (白馬). The structure itself comes from a building at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (国立天文台) in Mitaka (三鷹), Tokyo Metropolis, that is currently used as the Observatory History Museum.
Episode 1
Alpico Kōtsū (アルピコ交通)
Saki: The Nationals
(咲-Saki-全国編 Saki: Zenkoku-hen)
Episode 13
Other Pilgrimage
@yomikatajiyu made pilgrimages to Minmaya Station in Sotogahama and Aomori Station in Aomori City (both Aomori Prefecture) for Makoto Shinkai’s Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days).
@rimatai made a pilgrimage to Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture for Ping Pong.
@kai881 returns for another pilgrimage to Kumano, Mie Prefecture for Nagi no Asukara.
@ye_bi_su made a pilgrimage to Sendai and Tokyo for Wake Up, Girls!
@paffue made a pilgrimage to Sapporo for Gin no Saji.
@ssslocation made a pilgrimage to Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture for Go! Go! 575.
@fureshima made a pilgrimage to Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture for Mikakunin de Shinkōkei.
@darkflame_esper made a pilgrimage to Nara and Kashihara for Kyōkai no Kanata.
@sky_dj_ made a pilgrimage to Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture for Monogatari Series Second Season.
@darkflame_esper made a pilgrimage to Toyosato, Shiga Prefecture for Keion!
