Welcome to this week’s review of notable instances of transit, place and culture as rendered in anime currently broadcast in Japan and simulcast internationally via the web. For a detailed outline of the approach, please refer to the explanation in the inaugural issue. Links to streaming sources are included when available, though not all may have current episode available at the time this column is published.

Charlotte

(シャーロット Shārotto)
Watch: Crunchyroll

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@qqbb5at9k made a pilgrimage (updated post) to Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture for Episode 7.

Episode 7

After a slow few weeks, Charlotte is moving to new places again. Grieving Otosaka begins a departure from Tokyo on the Yamanote Line (山手線).

Change to the Jōban Line (常磐線) at Nippori Station (日暮里駅)

Otosaka spends several days camped at an internet cafe and arcade in the commercial district surrounding Toride Station (取手駅) in Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture.

[Credit: @desertrabbitno1, Twitter; @ryo_R158, Twitter]

After Otosaka picks a fight at the arcade, we inexplicably jump back to central Tokyo, somewhere along the old, arched brick rail viaduct between Kanda Station and Shimbashi Station. Actually, if it wasn’t clear already, Charlotte‘s setting is a composite of many real places. It does not preserve the spatial relationships between them, though the the trip out to Ibaraki by rail is certainly plausible.

[Credit: @ts_kobaya, Twitter]

Toride

The Idol M@ster Cinderella Girls

(アイドルマスターシンデレラガールズ Aidorumasutā Shinderera Gāruzu)
Watch: Daisuki

Episode 18

Shibuya scramble crossing

Shibuya Station, Hachikō (ハチ公) meeting area

Shibuya Kōen-dōri (渋谷公園通り)

Two idol units are on location to film promotional segements at a preserved Edo period shopping district.

Update 2015/08/18: A reader let us know that we’re seeing Shibamata (柴又) in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo. In addition to being a tourism draw, the location was used as the set for the film Otoko wa Tsuraiyo and subsequent TV series. Thanks Linda!

Edo kiriko (江戸切子), cut glass. The workshop at Edokiriko Ojima (江戸切子おじま) in Asakusa, Taitō Ward, Tokyo was used as the model for these scenes.

Durarara!! X2 Ten

(デュラララ!!×2 転 Durarara!!x2 Ten)
Watch: Crunchyroll • Hulu

Episode 7

Ikebukuro (池袋), Toshima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis

Nisshutsu Yūryō Shotenkai (日出優良商店会), a small neighborhood shopping street near the Higashi-Ikebukuro-yonchōme tram stop (東池袋四丁目停留所)

The Toden Arakawa Line (都電荒川線) passes through the grade level crossing that divides the shōtengai in half.

Gatchaman Crowds insight

(ガッチャマン クラウズ インサイト Gatchaman Kurauzu Insaito)
Watch: Crunchyroll

Episode 7

Tachikawa Station (立川駅)

Chūō Line (Rapid) (中央線快速)

Tachikawa-Kita Station (立川北駅)

Special Items

Asahi Shimbun published an article about pop culture tourism to Toyosato, Shiga Prefecture for K-On! So many fans wanted to see the roof of the elementary school, which appeared in the K-On! theatrical film, that it was added to the official tour run by local volunteers.

@ye_bi_su made a pilgrimage to Sendai and Tokyo for the PV to Wake Up, Girls! Seishun no Kage, the first of two theatrical film sequels to the broadcast series, premiering 2015 September.

@habusan published a Field Guide to Mount Tanigawa in Gunma and Niigata prefectures for Yama no Susume Second Season.

@ewi made a pilgrimage to Nara Tōkae (なら燈花会), a lantern festival held annually in Nara Park, for Kyōkai no Kanata.

@paffue made a pilgrimage to Obihiro, Hokkaido Prefecture for Gin no Saji.

@cairn_07 made a pilgrimage to Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, including Ōkunoshima, for Tamayura: More Aggressive.

Related posts:

Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 151 Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 197 Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 149 Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 134