On mornings I go running, I take the train to work. The station is right next to my place, and the station I get off at is like 50 feet from my office entrance. The train I take is on the Senseki Line, which goes from Sendai all the way out to Ishinomaki out on the Pacific Coast. Sometimes I get to ride what I call the Mangatrain. I don’t read comics anymore so I wasn’t sure what characters these were, but it always made me a little happier when I saw it rolling down the tracks.

Upon doing some research, I found that the actual name of this train is the “Mangattan Liner”. Since Ishinomaki is home to the Ishinomori Manga Museum this train is undoubtedly an homage/advertisement to Shotaro Ishinomori and his famous work.

The train has four cars, which you can see in the illustration below. First is the “Cyborg 009″ car, featuring characters from this famous manga/anime. Next is the “____-jidai (____-period)” car (I can’t quite make that last kanji out), featuring characters from various manga, including Sandarabocchi さんだらぼっち. After that is the “Comedy” car with various silly characters. Finally there’s the “Hero” car, featuring the famous Kamen Rider!

Many thanks to Chimihen for the illustration and the additional info (Japanese website). When I first rode the train, the interior was plastered with comic book pages, not regular train advertisements. I guess however that the economics of it all won out; the next time I got to ride the Mangattan Liner all the comics were replaced with the usual ads.

Check out the brief slideshow below to see the Mangattan Liner up close and personal, and also check out this post over at Pink Tentacle to see some other beautifully painted manga-themed trains throughout Japan.

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