Thoughts about "Pending Train" Ep 1 (spoiler alert!)

After watching the first episode, this drama came across pretty strongly as a mix of 2002's "Long Love Letter ~ Hyouryu Kyoushitsu ~" starring Tokiwa Takako & Kubozuka Yosuke (FujiTV) and 2013's "Limit" starring Sakuraba Nanami, Tsuchiya Tao & Kubota Masataka (TV Tokyo). I'm not sure how much CG was used or if there was an actual location where they filed the scenes outdoors but for now, the visuals look pretty convincing and stunning. However, one thing which seemed a bit contradictory was how the train carriage was stuck in a seemingly lush forest with lots of green moss i.e. suggesting that there's a river or water supply which enables this growth of vegetation. In the opposite direction of the tunnel though, there was this huge desert and volcanic-looking dark soil and rocks with tall mountains which made it look like there was no way plants could grow in this dry environment. Perhaps this difference in these two "worlds" separated by the tunnel could be explained more clearly as the story progresses.

In "LLL", it featured people trapped in a senior high school after an earthquake and they ended up in a desolate world in the future where there was nothing but wilderness, desserts and even monsters out to kill them. At the very least though, they had some emergency food supplies and subsequently could plant vegetables to eat. "Pending Train" also hinted that the passengers and staff who were in the same carriage had ended up in the future - supposedly 30 years later - after an earthquake supposedly detached their carriage from the train. The issue is, there are no supplies of food and water on a commuter train like this although it's mentioned that beverages supposedly being transported in another carriage or on the same train were missing. Since we saw in this episode that someone had actually spotted these drinks before this revelation and had kept quiet about this fact, it is natural to suspect him for hiding these supplies for his own survival but there may be a twist ahead for all we know.

On the other hand, "Limit" didn't have any time-leap element and the people who got lost were still in the real world. However, their survival hinged on killing one another when suspicion and human nature forced them to react extremely. It is still too early to tell but I wouldn't be surprised if the survivors (supposedly 68 of them but a group of high school boys are presumed dead now) start attacking one another in order to live till the end.

These similarities might make viewers compare this drama with other predecessors so whether it can stand out from the pack and go down an unique path still remains to be seen. However, I think the basic groundwork of introducing the key characters and their traits was done pretty well so hopefully when the story gets moving faster from next week, it may give an indication on the potential quality of this drama.

Be warned though that the story already gave away a big spoiler in the first minute or so when Kamishiraishi Moka's character Hatano Sae was featured running to catch a train with a baby and a suitcase in tow. And considering the fact that she was the narrator of the story and recounting what happened from the perspective of someone who had gone through the whole incident, she is most likely to have survived the ordeal to become a mother later on, if the baby is hers. There is also a likelihood that the baby may not be hers but either way, she still had to get out of that predicament first in order to do what she was doing at the beginning of the episode. Unless...the narrator changes or someone else also joins her in narrating the story, chances are the other people did not survive by the end of the drama OR there were only a few who did. The question then becomes, did they get out of their situation due to their own efforts like in "LLL" or did they rely on external help like in "Limit"? The thing is, we don't know how long it had passed since the end of the incident to that scene in the beginning. It could jolly well be that Sae married someone else years later if she did not survive with one of the two male leads.

This episode had to introduce quite a number of people at one go but the basic information and key character traits given are enough for now to form a basic opinion of these people. It is obvious that Kayashima Naoya (Yamada Yuuki) and Shirahama Yuuto (Akaso Eiji) would probably be at loggerheads for the entire drama with some bromance moments. Although Sae seems besotted with Yuuto, it does look like Naoya will see her in a different light as time goes by so a love triangle may be in the works since extreme situations can produce romance in the most unexpected way.

For now, it is unclear if there is someone among the passengers who may be responsible for what has happened so whether there will be a culprit hunt is still up in the air. However, everyone having their own issues and background stories will mean that there will be clashes in values and mindsets as people try to ensure their own survival. Bloodshed looks likely but it could be due to external forces or infighting.

The three leads have done reasonably well within this episode with the most interesting character being Naoya. Especially when you consider how Yamada Yuuki looked last season as a law lecturer, the change in visuals and his acting style were quite drastic. His outburst towards the end the episode when the reason why he had to survive was revealed - that was handled pretty well. Akaso's character Yuuto seemed to be holding himself back and was rather subdued as he tried to make good of his pledge to save others in this extreme situation. However, there might be a chance that he might show his true emotions especially if the stress of trying to ensure others' survival gets to him at some point. As for Sae, her positivity seemed to be self-induced rather a natural thing from within and we haven't seen why she is behaving the way she did i.e. trying so hard to be positive. There is more to be explored for all the characters so it will take some time whether we will get to decide if a character is going to be endearing or detestable or a mix of two extremes with reasons we can understand and empathise with.

At the moment, it doesn't look like those in the current world can get to these people any time soon so it might be a case of the people stuck in the future having to do more in order to return to the reality they used to know rather than waiting for rescue efforts. For now, this looks like a promising drama to watch so I'll give it a few more episodes before deciding to watch it till the end.