Welcome once again to High Strangeness with Train to the End of the World! Together, we’ll dive into the bizarre, the unexplained, and the odd. So pour yourself a drink, ask Siri to play some Mortician, and let’s dive into episodes 6 and 7 of Train to the End of the World.
High Strangeness with Train to the End of the World Episode 6–7 Recap
As the Shuumatsu girls continue their journey to Ikebukuro, all isn’t as well as it could be. We learn that Yoka and Shizuru were on bad terms before the 7G incident. And this is a big part of why Shizuru is risking so much to try and find her. But, in her emotional state, she’s lashing out at people around her and trying to distance herself.
As they try (badly) to remedy the situation, it devolves and causes Shizuru to set out alone to find Yoka. While Remi and Akira plead with Nadeko to stop her, she realizes that Shizuru needs to be left alone. Plus, she knows they’ll find her easily enough. Shizuru needs to stick to the tracks to get to her destination. Or, at least, that’s what they think. She deviates and goes into the woods as a shortcut. Word to the wise: the woods are never a shortcut. You can’t travel a straight line away from a path.
Shizuru inevitably gets lost, and if that weren’t bad enough, she’s soon subdued by a zombie hoard. As she’s taken hostage by the zombie hoard and meets their queen, she realizes she’s not going anywhere. As such, the other girls have to mount a rescue effort. And immediately run into zombies themselves causing them to flee. Eventually they immitate zombies with face paint and find Shizuru. But, rescuing her is another dilemma. And as all seems lost, they turn to the power of friendship lewdness. Which, effectively saves the day and lets them one-up the queen and get away.
Zombie Apocalypse?
If you stay awake at night dreading a World War Z scenario, you’re in luck! Of all the ways the world could end, it’s not that. Hollywood tends to make a big deal about zombie apocalypses. But if a zombie outbreak ever happens, biology is on our side, so are scavengers and insects. Viruses and other pathogens do not work that quickly. And with global temperatures and humidity rising, the bacteria that fuel decay are thriving. That added to the fact that in less-than-ideal conditions, the human body is surprisingly brittle; zombies wouldn’t last long.
But that’s a biological zombie outbreak; what if it were supernatural? What if one day someone activated 7G while you were taking a dump in a convenience store bathroom, and BAM!!! Zombies! Now, not only do you have to live with the fact that you took a dump in a convenience store bathroom, you have to live with the undead.
With the information we’re given, we can’t even assume that the zombies in this show are truly undead or infected. However the latter could be argued due to fungal growth after a period of inactivity. According to the big, wide world that is the internet, a regular bowel movement takes under 5 minutes. At 5–10, you should probably eat a healthier diet or get yourself checked out. After 10 minutes, you’re constipated. Over 15 minutes, pray to whatever god you believe in and turn away from your life of sin. Now, let’s say Mito was in that bathroom for a few minutes to around 15 minutes. 7G was activated in that time frame, and everyone got zombified. It doesn’t really bode well for it being an infection. Nor does it bode well for everyone dying and resurrecting. That leaves us with the hypothesis that 7G instantly turned her town into zombies.
Zombies Don’t Laugh
In most of the world, decomposition would make short work of a decomposing corpse. Miko, the self-titled zombie queen, states that if conditions aren’t ideal, zombies fall apart. But despite the passage of time and adverse conditions, the zombies in Train to the End of the World are still able to see and listen. This means that their overall bodily functions, while decreased, are still present. But, that decrease allows the Shuumatsu girls to fool them with just a bit of face paint.
Surprisingly, while several zombies are wounded, they’re able to merge severed body parts back together when they’re attacked by the girls. This would require an insane amount of cellular activity. More than enough to heal all the wounds they have present, yet that’s not the case.
Mentally, they’re not quite there, but they still retain enough cognitive function to carry out instructions and recognize people. And, most importantly, there’s enough left in the brain to respond to sexual stimuli. Why is this the case? Akira believes that this is because sex is the essence of life since zombies are the personification of death. But are they, though? If anything, a zombie is an insult to death. Especially the ones that come back from it.
I’d argue that the zombies here explode when presented with sexual stimuli because they just can’t handle it. The cognitive function left in their brain is enough to do the basics, but when hit with the over-stimulation of anything sexual, it’s poof. Regardless of what causes this, the girls can take on a hoard with some dirty jokes. Personally, in that situation, if I knew my lewdness could save my life, I’d be racking up indecent exposure charges left, right, and center. But I’m known for being needlessly excessive. And even with their modesty, the girls survive and start their journey to another station.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
© apogeego / Shumatsu Train Doko he Iku? Production Committee
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