News
Rail Romanesque Franchise Unveils origin Game's December 21 Launch, 2nd TV Anime's Promo Video
posted on by Egan Loo
The official X/Twitter account for Rail Romanesque, the television anime of digital novel brand Lose's Maitetsu game, announced on Friday that the upgraded version of the 2018 Maitetsu pure station game will launch on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on December 21. The account also debuted a promotional video for the Rail Romanesque 2 television anime season.
The Rail Romanesque origin game upgrades the story scenarios, vocal songs, and graphics of the earlier Maitetsu pure station game. Its limited first edition will bundle the Blu-ray Disc and DVD release of the entire Rail Romanesque 2 anime season (with audio commentary) and 39 songs from origin and the two anime seasons on 3 CDs. Besides this game/anime bundle, the staff does not plan to offer the Rail Romanesque 2 season on home video through any other retail venue.

The second season Rail Romanesque 2 will premiere on October 5 at 1:00 a.m. JST (effectively, October 6). The account also revealed the cast.

The cast includes (pictured above, from left to right):
- Rie Tanaka as Kaniko
- Aya Yamane as Noir
- Miyuri Shimabukuro as Nako
- Rina Hidaka as Torako
- Azusa Tadokoro as Kiriko
- Kaede Hondo as Umi
- Tomori Kusunoki as Mumumu
- Sumire Uesaka as Suzushiro
Just like in the first season, the anime's second season will also feature unique Railords. The anime's staff previously announced that Tanaka will star in the second season as Kaniko, based on the C11202 steam locomotive . Uesaka is reprising her role as Suzushiro from the first season.

The 12 five-minute episodes of the Rail Romanesque anime's first season premiered in October 2020. Crunchyroll and Funimation both streamed the anime as it aired.
Sekai Project released the original game for PC globally via Steam in June 2018. The company describes the game's story:
Maitetsu takes place in an alternate reality in Japan, where railroads were the most popular form of travel and transportation. But the difference with these railways is that the trains were paired up with humanoid modules called “Railords.” Due to a popular new form of travel, the railroads were practically forgotten about and eventually, railways were discontinued.Players will assume the role of Sotetsu, a recent high school graduate who, shortly after entering University, decides to return to his adoptive hometown to save it from water pollution caused by the proliferation of factories. By chance, Sotetsu reawakens “Hachiroku,” a recently decommissioned Railord. He becomes her owner and decides to assist her in finding her missing locomotive, the “8620,” while attempting to save his hometown in the process.
The story of the anime, which features new original characters, is set in the game's fictional southern Hinomoto city of Ohitoyoshi after its successful revitalization spearheaded by Hachiroku's tourism promotion. The city is now planning to host the first Maitetsu Festival to bring together Railords and their respective masters from all over Hinomoto. Inspired by the humans planning for the festival, the famed Suzushiro and other Railords are also hosting a "Railord Summit" at the railroad station cafe Amairo to share their collective wisdom.
Lose developed the original Maitetsu visual novel with art by cura. The game shipped in Japan in March 2016, and it is rated 18+ in Japan. The game then launched for PlayStation 4 under the title Maitetsu -pure station- in July 2018. The game also spawned a Nintendo Switch version in January 2020 in Japanese, English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese. The sequel Maitetsu: Last Run released in October 2020 after a delay.
Sources: Rail Romanesque anime's Twitter account, Comic Natalie