Ranko holds a train ticket standing in the rain, reading: "LIMITED EXPRESS TICKET, B Sleeper, Ueno to Sapporo"
Ranko meets okachimachi, the panda, at the akihbara canal

have some thoughts on this show that I expect to expand into its own post later, but I did want to collect some trivia about episode 10 that might not be immediately obvious on a first watch since it’s probably one of my favorite episodes. this show is a feast of truly strange events while always being unabashedly honest about itself, which has made it feel like the sort of anime original that just… doesn’t get made anymore in a sea of shows produced by committees that expect safe returns

quick synopsis if you haven’t seen episode 10: ranko (a maid at the cafe) is trying to abscond with suehiro (one of her regular customers) to sapporo after going on a date with him to ueno zoo, but she first has a confrontation with okachimachi (a maid incognito dressed as a giant panda) saying she’s likely going to be murdered if she goes through with the idea. she pushes forward anyway, but okachimachi takes things into her own hands and murders suehiro before he can meet ranko at the station

now that you’re over the shock of how silly that sounds, some fun details:

  • if you start in akihabara and try to go from suehirocho station to ueno station (where ranko’s ticket to sapporo departs) on the ginza line, you have to get past okachimachi station first
Google Maps screenshot showing Suehirocho station leading to Ueno station, with Okachimachi station being passed on the way there
  • ueno to sapporo sleeper trains on the cassiopeia had just started service in 1999, so this detail is very era appropriate (edit: it’s more probably the hokutosei based on the A/B type accommodation, which the cassiopeia did not have)
  • pandas first arrived to japan in 1972 at the ueno zoo, which caused a panda boom that we probably more directly call panda diplomacy these days
  • the panda maid is voiced by aya hirano! this is one of her rare roles in recent years due to the dumb controversy that continues to hang over her, thought it seems she has been showing up more lately. this seems to have been enough to make the show trend on twitter as it aired for once