Rail Romanesque Anime Season 2: Key Visual, October Premiere, and Updated Staff

(Last Updated On: July 13, 2023)

Rail Romanesque, the television anime adaptation of Lose’s popular Maitetsu game, has exciting news to share for its second season, Rail Romanesque 2. The official Twitter account unveiled the key visual, announced a new team of staff members, and revealed that the second season will premiere in Japan on the TOKYO MX channel in October. To build anticipation, the first season of the anime will also be re-aired on TOKYO MX starting from July 13.

Similar to the initial season, Rail Romanesque 2 will feature an array of unique Railords. Notably, Rie Tanaka will be portraying the character Kaniko, based on the beloved C11202 steam locomotive. Under the direction of Michiru Ebira at Yokohama Animation Lab, the second season promises to deliver an exceptional experience.

Tensho Sato, known for works like Gamers! and Tawawa on Monday Two, takes charge as the new character designer, while Kō Ogata assumes the role of art director. Yūsei Kashima is responsible for color design, Ryohei Miyasaka serves as the director of photography, and Kisuke Koizumi, recognized for projects such as Chainsaw Man and My Happy Marriage, joins as the sound director.

Moreover, the creative team announced the development of a new game titled Rail Romanesque Origin. This game will reconstruct the original Maitetsu game by incorporating the story and world view of Rail Romanesque, further expanding upon the beloved franchise.

The first season of Rail Romanesque consisted of 12 five-minute episodes and premiered in October 2020. Both Crunchyroll and Funimation streamed the anime as it aired, attracting a dedicated fan base.

Initially released globally via Steam in June 2018 by Sekai Project, the Maitetsu game offered players an alternate reality where railroads thrived and were accompanied by humanoid modules called Railords. The narrative followed the journey of Sotetsu, a recent high school graduate who returns to his hometown to combat water pollution caused by rampant factories. By chance, he becomes the owner of “Hachiroku,” a decommissioned Railord, and embarks on a quest to find her missing locomotive, the “8620,” all while striving to save his beloved hometown.

The anime adaptation introduces new original characters and takes place in the fictional southern Hinomoto city of Ohitoyoshi. After successfully reviving the city through Hachiroku’s tourism promotion, the residents plan to organize the inaugural Maitetsu Festival, uniting Railords and their masters from across Hinomoto. Inspired by the humans involved in the festival planning, renowned Railords such as Suzushiro come together to hold a “Railord Summit” at the Amairo railroad station cafe, sharing their collective wisdom.

Lose, in collaboration with artist cura, developed the original Maitetsu visual novel, which was released in Japan in March 2016 with an 18+ rating. The game later launched for PlayStation 4 as Maitetsu -pure station- in July 2018, followed by a Nintendo Switch version in January 2020, supporting Japanese, English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese languages. The sequel, Maitetsu: Last Run, experienced a delay but ultimately released in October 2020, further expanding the rich Maitetsu universe.