Rail Wars!



In a World where the Japanese passenger railway system was never privatized, Naoto Takayama is accepted to the Japanese National Railways on-the-job training ("OJT") program. He hopes this is the first step toward him becoming a train operator... but he's assigned to security squad K-4. . Hilarity Ensues, as does Fan Service and Drama.

Based on a light novel series by Takumi Toyoda, Rail Wars! is a twelve-episode anime series that was aired in 2014.


 * Artifact Title: The light novels are about armed conflict between the Japanese National Railways and terrorists who want to see the system privatized. The anime ignores that after episode 5.
 * Action Girl: Sakurai is the daughter of a police officer, who taught her how to shoot and how to defuse bombs.
 * Beach Episode: Episode 4, complete with the girls being assigned Fan Service swimsuits by Iida so that they can serve as distractions while their male teammates carry out a security sweep.
 * Big Breasts, Big Deal: Of the women in squad K-4, Sakurai is smallest and is still able to fill a bikini top; Iida has a noticeably-large chest (and seems indifferent to it), and Koumi has very-large ones (which occasionally leads to embarrassment on her part). Averted with Sasshou, who does not make any comments about her smaller-but-still-noticeable bust size.
 * Clothing Damage: A few examples, but Episode 6 is egregious - Koumi starts the episode wearing a pretty school uniform, and ends it wearing because everything else has been torn away, not all at once.
 * A Day in the Limelight:
 * Iida finally gets one in Episode 12.
 * Averted for Iwaizumi, who remains a supporting character throughout the series... but he's a male and this series is heavy on the Fan Service, so it's expected.
 * Fan Service: Panty Shots abound, and it appears that Koumi has never heard of a sports bra. See also "Big Breasts, Big Deal", "Clothing Damage", "Funbag Airbag", and "Suggestive Collision".
 * Five-Man Band: Squad K-yon.
 * The Hero: Takayama
 * The Lancer: Sakurai
 * The Big Guy: Iwaizumi
 * The Smart Guy: Koumi
 * The Chick: Iida (who is theoretically in charge of the squad)
 * Funbag Airbag: Played for Laughs in one episode, where Sakurai stops one of Takayama's model trains with her breast. Played Straight in other episodes, usually but not always Takayama/Koumi or Takayama/Sakurai.
 * Idol Singer: Noa, who first appears in Episode 4 and becomes a recurring guest-star for the remainder of the series.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Koumi. The other females take turns providing their share of Fan Service, but Koumi provides more than any two others.
 * Rail Enthusiast:
 * Takayama applied for the OJT program in order to become a train operator. He has a permanent track for model railroad trains in his room at home, complete with a full basic operator's setup.
 * Sasshou can identify trains by their sound. Her friend Kaori (in Episode 3) is even better at this.
 * Prince Bernina (from Episodes 10-11) invites Takayama to be on a First-Name Basis because they're both rail enthusiasts.
 * Out-of-universe, the entire series is Fan Service for Rail Enthusiasts.
 * Requisite Royal Regalia: In Episodes 10 and 11, Prince Bernina has a fancy outfit, complete with epaulets that look like they came out of Revolutionary Girl Utena. The clothing becomes important to the plot in Episode 11.
 * The Show Must Go On: In episode 4, when on-stage, they worked it into the show so as to not alarm the audience.
 * Shown Their Work: Every train, every station, every track route - all match what's really in Japan.
 * Suggestive Collision: Episode 9 has Takayama getting the Marshmallow Hell version while operating a train car.
 * Surprisingly Good English: Koumi, while answering a customer's question about the Shinkansen.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Sakurai and Koumi, respectively. On separate occasions, Sakurai tries dressing in a more feminine manner and Koumi tries dressing the way Sakurai usually does; neither attempt goes well (Sakurai ends up needing to do an Action Dress Rip on a brand-new dress; Koumi ends up kidnapped).
 * Unwanted Harem: Iida, Koumi, Sakurai, Sasshou, and Noa are all interested in Takayama. Takayama is interested in trains.