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.
Myriad Colors Phantom World
(無彩限のファントム・ワールド Musaigen no Fantomu Wārudo)
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. 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Episode 3
Karaoke used as third place.
Shōtengai
Izakaya used as third place.
Other Pilgrimage
@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.
5 comments
q87 says:
Jan 29, 2016
When I saw the temple in the third episode of Gils beyond the Wasteland for the first time, it looked kind of familiar to me.
I think it’s the Kondou of Jingo-ji in Kyoto (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingo-ji).
https://www.google.de/maps/@35.0547356,135.6696634,3a,90y,341.1h,88.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0vkf9zKHzIqU6EVkBZNi1Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Michael says:
Jan 29, 2016
Thanks, very interesting! Especially since Shokomeza has been pretty consistent with preserving real world spatial relationships. I’d have thought the temple was somewhere in Kanagawa.
q87 says:
Jan 30, 2016
I rewatched the episode to find more evidence for my theory. While the stone garden could be located in Jingo-ji too, there are two things that bug me here.
1. Like you already suggested, there is a problem with the location of Jingo-ji itself. A one way trip from Kanazawa-hakkei Station would take more than 4 hours. There wouldn’t be enough time for Hojo to travel back to Tokyo and convince Ando to come back after she left the party.
2. There is no Hotel/Ryokan next to Jingo-ji that matches the one in the anime.
So maybe I’m on the wrong track here.
While rewatching the episode, I was wondering where Andos workplace (“Don’t touch me” maid cafe) might be located in Akihabara. Do you know if the place has been identified by BTC members yet?
My guess would be “Cafe Mai:lish” at 3-Chome-6 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku.
Michael says:
Jan 30, 2016
I wouldn’t discount your theory. That image from Jingo-ji is a dead match, even down to the table of omikuji or whatever that stuff is. No reason they can’t drop in a transplant just because they liked how it looked. KyoAni does that often.
BTC has focused on the Yokohama areas. I think you’re probably right with Mai:lish.
Gones says:
Jan 31, 2016
Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū:
The temple that Kiku and Chiyo dating secretly is Daikannon-ji (大観音寺).
http://www.tesshow.jp/chuo/temple_ningyocho_daikannon.html