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.

Myriad Colors Phantom World

(無彩限のファントム・ワールド Musaigen no Fantomu Wārudo)
Watch: Crunchyroll

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@touyoko_com made a pilgrimage to Fujisawa and Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture for Episode 3.

@qqbb5at9k (updated post) made a pilgrimage to Fujisawa for Episode 3.

@buzz_tawagoto made a pilgrimage to Fujisawa and included archive images from the former Kyoto Prefecture Head Office for Episode 3.

Episode 3

Shōnan-Enoshima Station (湘南江の島駅)

Strategy discussion for approaching the next phantom begins once aboard the monorail.

Investigation of the bridge is still a pending matter. @high__k found a possible match for the structure itself, the Kasami Bridge (加佐見橋) in Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture:

https://twitter.com/high__k/status/690404987046871041

However, as he notes, this is far removed from our main setting in Kanagawa and the surrounding environment in Maniwa does not resemble the background art used in the animation.

Jack & Betty (ジャック＆ベディ) movie theater in Wakaba, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

Yokohama Chinatown (横浜中華街)

Yamashita Park (山下公園)

Yokohama Marine Tower (横浜マリンタワー)

Girls Beyond the Wasteland

(少女たちは荒野を目指す Shōjotachi wa Kōya wo Mezasu)
Watch: Hulu

Episode 3

Kanazawa-Hakkei Station (金沢八景駅) in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

The team sets off on a weekend retreat in a far out suburb. Because everyone is taking a train together, the creative discussion can begin from the moment they meet outside the ticket gate.

Keikyū Main Line (京急本線)

Akihabara (秋葉原) commercial district, Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Metropolis

Durarara!! X2 Ketsu

(デュラララ!!×2 結 Durarara!!x2 Ketsu)
Watch: Crunchyroll • Hulu • Daisuki

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@tianlangxing made a pilgrimage to Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis for Episode 3.

Episode 3

Ikebukuro (池袋), Toshima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis

I’ll be honest and admit that, with such a long running series, and one that explicitly uses only one location model, Durarara and Ikebukuro have worn out most of their novelty for me. But every so often, we get a fun little romp like this week’s episode. This is the kind of immersive background art that drew me into Durarara years ago, long before I had contemplated this weekly review or gotten into Tokyo street photography as a formal undertaking.

Izaya wanders about for the entire length of the episode, but the compass of his movement is actually quite small, centered on the underground pedestrian passage below the rail viaducts near the Ikebukuro Station east entrance. The second season of Durarara seems to be much more jumpy, having more simultaneous story lines and not focusing on any one thing for more than a few scenes. Izaya’s walkabout as he talks with a stationary Mikado feels like a throwback to earlier days. I enjoyed re-watching these scenes, ignoring the conversation and looking around Izaya instead.

West Ikebukuro Park (西池袋公園)

Seibu Ikebukuro Line (西武池袋線)

Ikebukuro Station (池袋駅)

Haruchika – Haruta & Chika

( ハルチカ 〜ハルタとチカは青春する〜 Haruchika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru)
Watch: Funimation • Hulu • Daisuki

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@habusan (updated Field Guide) and @sakuyaoi (post) made pilgrimages to Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture for Episode 3.

Episode 3

Shimizu Ward (清水区), Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture

Donut Workshop Reporo (ドーナツ工房　レポロ) in Sengawa, Chōfu, Tokyo Metropolis is the location model for a cafe used as third place.

Shantangjie (山塘街) in Suzhou (苏州), Jiangsu Province, China

Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū

(昭和元禄落語心中)
Watch: Crunchyroll

Episode 3

With mentions of Kagurazaka (神楽坂), the location of the rakugo master’s home, and red-light district Yoshiwara (吉原), we now know the main setting is Tokyo.

Streetcar

Matsuya Department Store, Asakusa branch (浅草松屋百貨店)

[Credit: @teo_imperial, Twitter]

Bon is sent to the country to avoid the air raids in Tokyo during World War II.

Update 2015/2/1: This location is Tamana (玉名), Kumamoto Prefecture. The factory where Bon works is actually the Kumamoto Prefectural Tamana High School (熊本県立玉名高等学校), part of which was converted for use as a makeshift plant for manufacturing companies during the war, including Mitsubishi.

[Credit: @sivuchllow, Twitter]

But it’s back to the big city once Japan announces its surrender.

Erased

(僕だけがいない街 Boku Dake ga Inai Machi)
Watch: Crunchyroll • Funimation • Hulu • Daisuki

Episode 3

Satoru walks home from school on his evening commute.

Prince of Stride: Alternative

(プリンス・オブ・ストライド　オルタナティブ Purinsu Obu Sutoraido Orutanatibu)
Watch: Funimation • Hulu • Daisuki

Episode 3

The first official parkour race of the series takes place in the Kichijōji (吉祥寺) central business district and Inokashira Park (井の頭恩賜公園). The first cut is Kichijōji Station (吉祥寺駅).

Chūō Line (Rapid) (中央線快速)

Kichijōji Sunroad Shōtengai (吉祥寺サンロード商店街)

Dagashi Kashi

(だがしかし)
Watch: Funimation • Hulu

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@fureshima made a pilgrimage to Takeoka, Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture for Episode 1 and the OP version 2 (from Episode 3).

Episode 3

Cafe used as third place.

Active Raid

(アクティヴレイド 機動強襲室第八係 Akutive Reido Kidō Kyōshūshitsu Dai-Hakkei)
Watch: Crunchroll

Episode 3

Karaoke used as third place.

Shōtengai

Izakaya used as third place.

 

Special Items

@yomikatajiyu made a pilgrimage to Ōgaki, Gifu Prefecture for the manga version of Koe no Katachi.

@york21c made a pilgrimage to locations in or near Takebashi Station, Ueno-hirokōji Station, Shinjuku-sanchōme Station, Iogi Station (all Tokyo inner wards) for Kizumonogatari I Tekketsu-hen.

@SSEBTBM883 made a pilgrimage to Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture for Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider.

@kbt_tigers1985 made a pilgrimage to Uji, Kyoto Prefecture for the Hibike! Euphonium OVA.

@SSEBTBM883 made a pilgrimage to Wakō, Saitama Prefecture for Saenai Hiroin no Sodatekata.

@thunder_cycle made a pilgrimage to the Nishinomiya Central Library for multiple works from the Haruhi franchise.