The Fall 2026 Anime Preview Guide

TETSURYO! Meet with Tetsudou Musume

Misaki is a third year high school student who isn't really sure what she wants out of life. While her best friend is making strides to study and make something of herself, Misaki is still trying to figure out what her passion is. One day she checks out an exhibit at her local train station about the railway system and is impressed with what's on display. Fast forward and Misaki is now a fresh college student who ends up coming across the Railway Travel Club—which ignites her interest in the railways even more.

TETSURYO! Meet with Tetsudou Musume is an original television anime based on the Tetsudō Musume (Railway Girls) characters. The anime series is streaming on HIDIVE on Thursdays.

When I visited Japan earlier this year, the ubiquity and relative ease-of-access of Japan's public transportation system felt truly otherworldly, since I come from a part of the United States where it has taken us damn near 30 years just to get one decent Front Range line up and running… sometime before the end of the 2020s (or so the flyers promise). I have always thought trains were cool, but after enjoying the convenient pleasures of the Shinakensen and braving the utter madness of Tokyo's subway rush hour, I can finally say that I get why the country is so goddamned obsessed with trains. They're not just an occasionally convenient way to travel to specific parts of the one city in your entire state that has a functioning rail system; they're a fundamental, load-bearing pillar of Japan's metropolitan ecosystem. So, I was not at all surprised to discover that the Tetsudō Musume multi-media franchise has existed for decades to disseminate adorable train propaganda via the cute anime girls that live spread the gospel of the railway. It might sound silly, but I was much more excited to check out this TETSURYO show than I would have been a year ago, because the sounds and sensations of the train lines still linger in my memories. Nostalgia can be a hell of a drug, I tell ya.

All of this is to say that it is honestly hard for me to tell where my affection for these characters is being shaped more by my own fondness for the tactile details of TETSURYO's setting rather than the strength of the writing alone. I pretty much decided that Misaki was my homegirl the minute she started getting so excited about purchasing a moderately chilled burdock tea from one of those hundred-ish yen vending machines. I, too, relished every chance I got to drink a chilled vending-machine tea while touring Japan. I have dreams of those LOTTE beverage dispensers every night.

To give credit to the actual anime, Misaki also makes for a solid protagonist on account of being a young adult trying to find her place in the world, which is an experience that pretty much everyone of a certain age will relate with. She's adjusting to the new normal of college life, she's surrounded by go-getters who seemingly have it all figured out, and she is craving "That One Life-Changing Discovery" that will give her the direction that might make the world feel a bit less scary.

Of course, the brand synergy demands "That One Life-Changing Discovery" to be “trains, and all of the lovely little adventures they can take you on.” While the character designs and animation on display on TETSURYO aren't doing anything exceptional, the sound design and presumably photo-referenced background art does give the whole production a very real sense of atmosphere. Like any good travelogue must, TETSURYO manages to make Misaki's feelings of adventurous wonder very infectious indeed, even when all she's doing is grabbing a tasty snack from a local ice-cream vendor in a less-travelled part of the city. This is what makes me look forward to another day out on the town with Misaki and her friends. I may not be able to afford a ticket back to the real Japan for another year or seven, but TETSURYO might be the next best substitute in the meantime.

Listen, I love train travel. I'm not one of those true sickos who pay attention to different makes and models, but my time in Japan is full of fond memories of riding the train around the country, from the shinkansen to tiny local trains. Trains are much more limited in the US, especially on the west coast, but I firmly believe they are the single best way to get around. Even the ride itself is pleasant and relaxing in a way that other methods are not, regardless of your destination. I love the scenery, the rocking motion, even the rhythmic sound the trains make.

Tetsuryō! meet with Tetsudō Musume is not a show for people who like trains. It's a show for people who like moe anime.

All the elements are there. It takes place at a college, so the entire primary and secondary cast is adults, but they look like bobble-headed toddlers. They speak in the high-pitched tones of toddlers as well, going through the excruciatingly rote dialogue with voices as grating as their cookie-cutter personalities. Of course, they only have one personality trait each; looking at the list of characters, that's simply the only way to make sure there's enough for everyone.

The story is a total copy-paste of most hobby anime: Misaki, a total airhead, wants to travel when she gets to college, and she just so happens to meet a group of quirky girls in a club devoted to train travel. One day she rides the train to a random destination and what do you know, the experience is just magical. So she joins the club, and I'm sure they will go on lots of train adventures to various places with tourism boards that have paid the production committee lots of money for the advertising.

East Fish Studio, perhaps after learning from the crimes against the concepts of “on-model characters” and “functional walk cycles,” have stuck with a simple, cute style that looks much better, even if it's still noticeably stiff—not that they'd have a choice, because the characters are all pre-determined. Yeah, this is a merchandising tie-in to extant marketing mascots. It's all a big commercial.

But then again, my cat seemed to enjoy the episode, so maybe I'll put that on next time I'm trying to work and she won't stop yelling at me. Actually, no—I'd rather listen to her bullhorn of a meow than the shrill character voices.

I wasn't expecting the overly cute and constantly blushing character designs of this show to hit me in any kind of mature way. I knew the series was going to be about the Japanese railway system and, while that can be interesting from an educational perspective, I was surprised that the show actually ended up winning me over on a personal one. Misaki is a character that is struggling to figure out what she wants to do with her life, a concept that I think most adults can even relate to in this day and age. This idea that you need to have everything figured out or at least some kind of plan by the time you graduate high school and go to college is a difficult one to execute. There are so many different things to try out in this world and some people end up going their entire lives still trying to figure out where all of their attention should be focused. I think the first half of this episode captures that perfectly with a soundtrack that is equal parts listless and cute.

Having the story take place in college, and having interest in the railway system be the answer to Misaki's issue, was handled very well in this premiere. She gets easily overwhelmed by everything, is dominated by the multiple options that she technically has, and wants to get away from it all. Ironically, going on a trip on the train to a place that she's never been before ends up solidifying her decision. It's a very real conflict that ends up being handled in a very simple way—but sometimes that's all it takes in order to give your life some direction, taking a step back and trying something new.

This whole premiere told a completed character arc (which is incredibly impressive) but now the question is where the story goes from here. Misaki has found her passion and she's found like-minded people that could help develop that passion for the future. Is the rest of the show going to be about her developing a career from that passion? Or is all this just an excuse to get her into the club so then the club's presence can educate the audience on the Japanese railway system? I hope this show is a blend of the two because while I am certainly not against learning new things or having a show with such a unique premise, it does feel like it would be a shame if the show lost that relatability factor. I want to see this college life get explored, I want to learn more about some of these additional characters and I want to see what else is in store for Misaki's journey.

I think we can all relate to trying to figure out what to do with our lives—either because we're in that situation or have come out the other side and found it. I was lucky enough to find out that I wanted to write in high school—though making a career out of it took another decade to even get off the ground. Of course, a job and what you want to do don't necessarily have to be the same thing—you can do your job so that you can do what you really want to do in your down time.

The problem Misaki is facing in this anime is there are a lot of things she likes to do but nothing—neither a job nor hobby—that specifically calls to her. Her wants are simple: tasty food, uncrowded liminal spaces, and a nice bottle of tea. Unlike her friend Ya-chan, who knows what she wants to become and is 100% committed to the study grind awaiting her, Misaki looks at college as the place to find herself. She wants to be exposed to as many things as possible rather then keep her head down and study.

And to be clear, neither character is wrong in their approach. Ya-chan just simply has a goal while Misaki is searching for one—or waiting for one to find her as the case may be. Luckily, it only takes a day for her to run into the members of the Tetsuryo Club. While hesitant to join the first club she's approached by, going on a random day trip inspires her to try the club out. After all, if she can have such an enjoyable day going somewhere on a whim, what kind of adventures could she have with a bit more structure to her travel?

All that said, what I enjoyed most about this episode was how the other three girls of the Tetsuryo Club were shown as background characters before their introductions. Ushio shows up on a YouTube video, Usa helps Misaki when she spills her bag, and Kodama is at the same train tourism event as Misaki. This makes the girls' eventual friendship seem like fate—they were always orbiting one another but it is this club where they're destined to be.

In the end, this is an above average premiere episode. Rather than focusing too hard on the trains and travel, this premiere uses human nature—our fear of not knowing what to do with our lives—to make its connection with the audience. Now, will this trend continue in the following episodes? I doubt it. I have a feeling this will turn out to be like many other travelogue anime—basically be a glorified commercial for places to visit. But I respect that it tried to be more than that, if only for a single episode.