Danica Davidson
July 18, 2022 
It’s really not that rare to find Japanese trains, buses and train stations to be decked out by the latest otaku interest, but we haven’t seen as much of that outside of the country. That appears to be changing, though, and if you’re lucky enough to be in the area, there are Demon Slayer trains going from Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
https://twitter.com/DemonSlayerUSA/status/1547400739512848384
This actually isn’t Demon Slayer‘s first time being on these trains. They also decked the outside of the trains in April 2021, specifically to advertise Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train coming to theaters in America.
We’re told that the new Demon Slayer themed trains will be around “for a limited time only,” but have not received dates on that.
But is this a sign that Japanese-style advertising for otaku interests — involving modes of transportation — might be growing more outside of Japan? Earlier this year, for instance, Star Comics in Italy took over the Porta Genova metro station in Milan with a Kaiju no. 8 theme. At the time, Renato Franchi, the head of Marketing at Star Comics, told Otaku USA, “First and foremost, metro station decoration is something really usual in Japan for the release of new manga, and it was never experimented with here in Italy.”
Do you think we’ll be seeing more trains and train stations outside of Japan being decorated to promote anime and manga?
VIZ Media publishes the globally bestselling Demon Slayer manga in America, and gave this description of the first volume:
“Learning to destroy demons won’t be easy, and Tanjiro barely knows where to start. The surprise appearance of another boy named Giyu, who seems to know what’s going on, might provide some answers—but only if Tanjiro can stop Giyu from killing his sister first!”
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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