Train to the End of the World Episode 3: Mushroom Town Zone

I can’t be the only one who had the Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1 theme playing in my head watching this episode. Not the whole way through but you know what I mean.

When we last left our heroines they had reached the first stop on their long journey, Higashi-Agano, a town full of people with mushrooms growing out of their heads.

The leader/queen/head of the mushroom people, Matsuta, welcomed everyone to the town where after the decrease in population gave the ones who chose to stay more time to focus on enjoying their lives to the fullest and hoped visitors would feel the same.

The only one not feeling it was Akira (and the doggo) while everyone else mostly enjoyed the hospitality…

Even when the mushroom people did the bare minimum to hide their suspicious behavior. How our heroines didn’t get the heck outta there toute suite was beyond me. They were THAT openly suspicious. As Matsuta showed our heroines to their lodgings she recommended they visit the sauna. Actually she INSISTED.

Again Akira (and the doggo) was the only one who chose not to partake in their accommodations whereas the others were all too eager. Her suspicions were pretty much confirmed when she sucked up her fear and went to the bathroom at night by herself. She overheard the mushrooms plot their scheme of making the girls part of their “garden”.

She tried to sneak back to warn the others but gave herself away and was chased. Luckily the girls found her and the mushrooms conveniently disappeared…but they were not far off. The next day she tried to convince them to leave this place but they accused her of being a conspiracy nut. The night prior it was noticeably cloudy. This would play a role the next day as the train was fully covered in bitter melon plants. In the last episode the plant noticeably grew quicker when the train rode through a foggy area.

However, the mushrooms saw the bitter melon as the enemy because it reminded them of sunlight and growth. Mushrooms shriveled up and died quickly when exposed to sunlight. Seeing plants that thrived in such hot temperatures infuriated them.

Poor Akira starts to go paranoid seeing her homies not react all that alarmed after Matsuta’s bitter melon rant. Their sense of urgency was disturbingly minor, especially Shizuru’s who was in no hurry to resume her journey. As Akira went to retrieve the others who went to get supplies she saw more disturbing mushroom things. She found them at the store where Matsuta explained the people who stayed behind came to, in simple terms, accept a short and sweet life over a long and miserable one. It’s best to live life to fullest while you still can.

That and mushrooms shrivel up and die quickly, hence the mushroom people have a short lifespan too.

As Akira tried in vain to fight the good fight it eventually became clear why her homies were so disturbingly chill and why Matsuta wanted them to go into the sauna. While our heroines were becoming one with the mushroom Akira tried one last time by reminding Shizuru of the mission. Mushroom Shizuru’s like “What’s the point? Yoka left for a reason. If I find her she most likely won’t want to come back with us”.

The remaining part of Shizuru’s will to find Yoka remembered why she’s so determined to find her. She needed to know why. Why did the person she treasured most go away. There were things left unsaid and she HAD to find her to have THE TALK. Thankfully it was enough to snap her back to normal and they helped free the others of their mind control.

AGAIN. Give me “more than besties” please!

Shizuru went all bitter melon badass and tried to free Matsuta. However…

“EEEEEEH SCREW YOU BITCHES! We wanted this! We accepted the way of the mushroom because ‘life SUCKS, and then you die’ sounded real crappy to us. We’re cool with the short and sweet existunce we have goin’ now. We dunno why ya dumbasses insist on livin’ longuh so if you don’t wan’ in then piss off and go rot slowly and miserably for all we karh!”

As they got back on the train and rode off they reflected on the visit and tried to understand where the mushroom people were coming from.

Could Akira’s “furrification” be happening sooner than expected? We’ll find out next time.

Another pretty good episode. More comedy-horror so far than “Gakkou Gurashi-esque” as some mentioned.