People around the country are in awe of the clip, which was taken without the use of filters or any editing software.
If you’ve grown up watching anime all your life, walking around Japan can sometimes seem like you’ve stepped into the animated world of your dreams. There are neon signs emblazoned with Japanese writing, street signs with unusual symbols, and railway crossings that stop pedestrians and traffic even in busy areas of Tokyo.
For many, it’s the country’s trains that strike a chord, as anime scenes often present this mode of transport as a gateway to another way of life, slowing down the pace of the narrative with long carriages, sweeping landscape scenery, and the comforting clickety-clack of the rails.
One Twitter user in Japan recently came across a scene just like this during a rail commute, and captured it on video for the whole world to enjoy. The video looks like a hand-drawn anime playing out in front of your eyes, but no filters or editing were used in its creation.
Check out the video below:
The beautiful clip, which was filmed by Kobe-based photographer Kazuya Hashimoto, shows two Hankyu trains on the rails, making their way past rooftops, tall apartment blocks, and over bridges, as they head faithfully towards their destination.
The signature maroon colour of the Hankyu trains, which run between Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Takarazuka, give the trains character, and at one point it seems as if they’re racing each other to get to their final destination.
▼ Even Osaka’s iconic Umeda Sky Building on the left looks like it’s been hand-drawn.
Adding to the cinematic feel of the clip is the way Hashimoto’s point-of-view changes from the train he’s on, as the camera angle starts off low and then rises higher than the other two trains beside it, making it feel like choices made by an anime director.
Since it was shared online, the clip has received more then three million views, with people around the country in awe of the scene, saying it looks just like something from a Makoto Shinkai anime film. According to Hashimoto, the clip, which was filmed on his iPhone shortly after leaving Umeda Station, has an animated look due to the weather conditions on the day, which gave everything a slightly hazy, muted look.
It just goes to show that sometimes, real life has a way of imitating the animated world in the most beautiful way. Until the anime studio that produced Shinkai’s Your Name releases its next movie, we’ll definitely be keeping one eye out the train window for a glimpse of more anime scenes in the real world.
Source, images: Twitter/@blg3014