Shinkansen

The Shinkansen arriving in Kansai, reflected in the Black Cat's eye in Episode 1

The Shinkansen (新幹線), or Bullet Train in the manga, is a high-speed rail train and an item of worship in the fictional Kansai region of Akudama Drive.

Appearance

The Shinkansen is a white bullet-shaped train modeled after the real-life Japanese Shinkansen with six cars. Seen moving at a high speed from Kansai, it appears to be surrounded by rainbow lights. In Episode 4, it can be seen leaving Kansai's station, revealing that its rainbow aura only appears at its highest speed.

The Hacker standing in front of some of the train's cargo

At the back of the train, a large hatch leads to two medium-sized, mostly unlit storage areas.

Despite being rumoured not to take passengers, the inside of the train turns out to be filled with luxurious-looking seats, wooden tables and shelves, yellow lights in-between each booth, and large wooden alleyways.

Two cars appear to be reserved to passengers. The fourth car has blue seats aligned against the walls and lantern-shaped lights, and the third car red seats facing each other two by two and round lights.
The Shinkansen's second car is an unlit space filled with drones assuring the first car's protection. The latter, entirely white, contains nothing but a vault.

History

The Shinkansen is a high-speed rail train linking Kansai to Kanto.

Infiltrating the Shinkansen

In Episode 3, the Black Cat instructs the Akudama to infiltrate the Shinkansen by passing the Hacker off as cargo, and making him open the hatch for the Courier's bike.

The Shinkansen's destruction

The Execution Division's drone aiming at the Shinkansen

In an attempt to retrieve the Brother and Sister, the Courier and Swindler have come aboard the Shinkansen following their fight against the Doctor in Episode 10. In Episode 11, they arrive in Kanto, where the Swindler frees the children with the Hacker's remote help. They take the Shinkansen back to Kansai, only for it to be destroyed by a drone led by the Execution Division.

Trivia

• The Shinkansen was localised in the manga to "bullet train", a commonly used English name for the real-life Shinkansen. Dangan ressha (弾丸列車) in Japanese, it was originally the nickname of the Tokaido Shinkansen, the first high-speed rail line instaured in 1964, having been the name of a first, abandoned railway project from 1939.

External links

• Shinkansen on Miraheze