Tetsuko no Tabi

Studios: Group TAC

Produces: Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Toei Video Tohokushinsha Film Corporation Shogakukan

Description:

The manga "Nonfiction Travel" by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko, originally serialised in IKKI, follows the story of a manga artist who is tasked by her boss to accompany a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and illustrate them in manga form. The unique twist is that the manga is completely non-fiction, with the trips being real-life experiences of the artist and the writer. As a result, the manga lacks any fabricated drama and instead records their journeys verbatim, including mundane details like waiting for trains and eating eki-ben. The travel writer, who is a train-otaku, meticulously plans each trip, taking care to follow a strict schedule and achieving all of his planned goals. The artist, on the other hand, is cynical, sarcastic, and apathetic towards trains, but finds entertainment in conflicting with the train-otaku. Despite their differing attitudes towards train travel, the artist and the writer make for an entertaining duo. The manga's realism is palpable, as it evokes a familiar atmosphere and feel of train travel in Japan. Furthermore, the manga is pacey with subtle tweaks that keep it entertaining. The recurring characters in the manga are real people who enjoyed reading previous episodes, adding an extra layer of recursiveness. The manga also sheds light on various lesser-known and interesting Japanese train lines and stations. While the manga offers an insight into train-otaku culture, it also portrays a sense of surreality as the trips are planned by the train-guy with the end goal of visiting all 9,843 stations in Japan, treating everything as a checklist rather than an experience to be enjoyed.