Train + Train, Vol. 1

Story by Hideyuki Kurata; Art by Tomomasa Takuma
Go! Comi, 192 pp.
Rating: 13+

Train + Train, Go! Comi’s first foray into shonen, is a mixed bag. On the plus side, the series boasts action-movie pacing and a rogue’s gallery of characters that includes a nun with a bright future in the WWE, a dead ringer for Disney’s Beast, and a badass heroine with a bottomless appetite. On the down side, the art is unremarkable; the character designs are as forgettable as the sparsely sketched settings, and the action sequences fall flat.

Our story begins when bespectacled milquetoast Reichii Sakakusa and be-pigtailed harridan Liae Igarashi arrive on the planet Deloca to enroll in high school. In what sounds like an educational experiment from the 1970s, all students on Deloca attend class aboard trains, traveling and working as they learn trigonometry, Shakespeare, and World History. Before Reichii and Liae can board the General Studies train, however, Liae offends a tetchy winzbeel (see above for a description). Reichii makes a valiant attempt to defend his galpal’s honor, only to find himself pinned to the ground. Enter Arena Pendleton, an uncouth, sword-swinging teenager who agrees to rescue Reichii for a price: an all-she-can-eat buffet lunch. Their lunch is interrupted by a group of armed men looking for Arena. Through a series of misunderstandings and fist-fights, Arena and Reichii find themselves handcuffed together and facing a dilemma: will they board the General Studies train—the one-way ticket to a regular but dull life? Or will they board the Special Train and light out for the territory?

For me, the book’s primary appeal is Arena. She reminded me a lot of another bath-phobic, butt-kicking heroine: Toph, the fierce Earthbender on Avatar. Arena shares Toph’s casual, devil-may-care demeanor. She doesn’t give a damn about her appearance, couldn’t care less about Reichii’s feelings, talks trash with the élan of Reggie Miller, and dismisses Liae as nothing more than a whiny irritant. Both characters share another trait as well: they have forsaken lives of privilege and comfort for the adventure of the open road, leading their bewildered families to hire bounty hunters and gumshoes to bring them home. (More on that in a minute.)

Although Arena left a positive impression, I can’t say the same for the artwork. Given the description of the Special Train, I expected Tomomasa Takuma to have a field day rendering the different cars. But he does little with the set-up, offering us only a generic-looking glimpse of the mall car. (Forgive me if I let out a grumpy sigh—the MALL car?! Wouldn’t a school have a library and a gym?) His action scenes are no great shakes, either. Despite the heavy use of speed lines, the characters look firmly tethered to the ground. And I found one action sequence—in which a hulking, muscle-bound thug tortures Arena—in poor taste. The scene is meant to demonstrate how resilient and stubborn Arena is, but I found it hard to stomach the sight of a grown man beating a 15-year-old girl with a heavy link chain. (Before you call Child Welfare, Arena gets the best of her attacker.)

My verdict: I’ll stick with Go! Comi’s current crop of first-class shojo offerings—After School Nightmare, Cantarella, Her Majesty’s Dog, Tenshi Ja Nai!—and miss the next departure of Train + Train.