Um…what in the ever-loving name of nationalized railways was that? What a train wreck of an episode. There were better ways to deepen Naoto and Haruka’s relationship…like any other way imaginable! Instead, the show decides to turn everyone into crazy people. Ugh, where to begin? Better go into…RABUJOI LIST MODE…List Mode…List Mode…
1. Everyone in D4 is supposed to be under house arrest for the events of last week, but no one is actually home. What does that say about the level of discipline at JNR? I didn’t even think what they did last week was that bad. Was it punishment, or forced leave due to trauma?
2. Never mind, because no one is home anyway. Naoto receives a letter in the mail that he does not read or inspect completely, and decides to break the rules of the organization he claims to love so dear to meet up with Haruka and talk about this letter. Why didn’t he just meet at her house, or vice versa? At least then one of them would still be home.
3. Anyway, Aoi, who is also not home, just happens to spot Haruka, who is meeting up with Naoto. Alright, fine; coincidences happen. But then it happens again. And Aoi, for some reason, decides to take out her loaded and ready-to-fire sidearm and point it at Naoto and Haruka across the street. Aoi should be in jail.
4. Some giant mascot thingy that bumped into Naoto and Haruka also bumps into Aoi, causing her to discharge her firearm. Aoi should really be in jail! Naoto and Haruka think it’s a sniper, and bolt from place to place, hand-in-hand. Yet despite spending the entire episode together, Haruka is unable to fully express her feelings to Naoto. Not the most irritating shortcoming of this ep, but just putting it out there.
5. “What’s going on?! Why are there cats?!” Why Indeed, Naoto…Why Indeed.
6. As the cute couple runs around the city like lunatics for no reason, Haruka sheds clothing article after clothing article, until, by the climax of the episode, she’s completely naked. No bra or panties; apparently they were “torn off” by random guys in masks. Sorry, but that’s just dumb. And WTF is with the guys in masks?
7. Shou is barely in the episode, only appearing for a few moments on an LCD screen, having won a curry-eating contest. Again with the defying of JNR regs. I don’t watch the show because of Shou, but…after this episode, now I’m questioning why I’m watching this show at all.
8. Where does one go when being ruthlessly pursued by clowder of assassin cats? (Hits top of head with palm) the Transportation Museum…of course! What the hell, let’s add breaking and entering to the myriad crimes of D4 this week. They can’t be stopped.
9. The museum is the same place where Naoto “rescued” Haruka from a dark room full of boxes eight years ago, and he “rescues” her again this time, too, though Iida, Hitomi and Aoi handle those masked guys who exist for some reason, so he actually ends up relying on several people after pledging not to rely on people so much.
10. Turns out all the paranoid darting around town was for no reason, because had Naoto merely opened the seemingly threatening letter, he’d have seen it was just an overly provocative life insurance pamphlet. Also something that happened for no reason? This episode. Go Home, Rail Wars!…You’re Drunk.
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 
oh god this ep was so stooooooooopid….and yet for some reason i had this smile on my face. Would this count as one of those it’s sooooo bad it’s good situations?…cuz i was laughing my ass off the entire time at just how dumb this ep was…who wrote and directed this ep is what i want to know. The one thing..THE ONE THING i actually enjoyed from this ep was seeing sasshou again
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Yes, I’ll subscribe to the notion it was so bad it’s good. I did get quite a few laughs out of it. But it was definitely bad. Of that I am certain.
The little scene with Naoto and Sasshou (Mari) was nice – and the only part that felt like “normal Rail Wars!“, as opposed to some extended-length omake where everyone is either wildly out of character or an extremely amplified version of their character.
Perhaps this episode was never meant to be taken seriously, so I won’t belabor its awfulness. There are least six more eps for the show redeem itself.
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“Better go into RABUJOI LIST MODE”
That needed an echo effect… just because…you know… IT DOES!
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DUUUUDE i feel you
i HATED this episode
and not just because i’m not a haruka x naoto shipper, but i skipped around 10 minutes of it and STILL understood what the ‘plot’ was in this episode (if there was such)
it just felt like a haruka x naoto episode that adds to the growing naoto harem
with no plot
and no brains.
>.>
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