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Evangelion Shinkansen service departs on Nov 7 with life-sized Eva cockpit on board

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By Oona McGee, RocketNews24

As far as joint collaborations go, the Shinkansen Evangelion Project is set to go down in the annals of history, with Japan Rail West joining up with the hit anime franchise to make our wildest dreams a reality, by bringing out a special Eva-themed bullet train to shuttle customers from Osaka to Fukuoka and back on the Sanyo Shinkansen line.

Since the announcement of the project, we’ve been waiting on the edge of our seats for more details, and finally JR West has come through with news of the launch date, along with never-before-seen images of the train’s interior, which includes Eva-themed seats and window blinds, and a designated “cockpit room”.

The special 500 Series Shinkansen, dubbed the 500 Type Eva, is the love-child of "Evangelion" creator Hideaki Anno and mechanical designer Ikuto Yamashita, who have teamed up for the joint collaboration, which marks "Evangelion’s" 20th anniversary and the 40th year of Sanyo Shinkansen line operations.

While the exterior is sure to turn heads, although at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour, it’s more likely to look like a purple haze, it’s the interior of the carriages that’s guaranteed to make this a memorable trip for passengers.

First up, there’s a special Exhibition Room in the first carriage, with four points of interest: Shinkansen x Evangelion panel art; a photo area; a diorama display; and a life-sized cockpit. Everything here is exclusive to the 500 Type Eva, making this an extra special space for fans.

Knowing full well that everyone has their eyes on climbing into the Evangelion cockpit, passengers who want to experience the thrill will need to enter an online lottery one month to three days before their departure date. Travellers with their heart set on sitting in the pilot’s seat can book tickets as part of special tour itineraries that will soon be offered by travel agents.

The train will run from Nov 7 2015 to March 2017 and will be limited to two trips a day, so if you want to hop on board the Eva 500, make sure you book a ticket for one of these journeys: Hakata Station 6:36 a.m. – Shin-Osaka Station 11:14 a.m. (Kodama 730) or Shin-Osaka Station 11:32 a.m. – Hakata Station 4:07 p.m. (Kodama 741).

Source: JR West Japan

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Evangelion? Cool. Katana? Cool. Evangelion and katana? Very cool! -- New Shinkansen to Use Revolutionarily Simple Stations, Cuts Include Ticket Booths, Waiting Rooms, Humans -- West Japan’s new sleeper train looks more luxurious than most hotels

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5 Comments
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Japan is cool.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Japan is Cool ! much rather go on the Shinkansen than an Airplane...just wish it could get me from the UK to Japan !!!!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Ok, can I have the plug pod instead?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh man—I HAVE to get back to Japan to ride this train! Evangelion was one impetus that spurred me on to studying Japanese. And I've always considered the 500 to be the most beautiful Shinkansen on the rails.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@dpkworldwide, while the 500 Series Shinkansen was a stunning, futuristic looking trainset, it was also very expensive to build and the interior design--which limited overhead compartment space--was not popular with many passengers who traveled on these trains. As such, only nine 16-car trainsets were ever built for JR West, compared to the 69 16-car 300 Series Shinkansen trainsets, which had roomier interiors with larger overhead compartments.

It's going to be interesting to see what the Evangelion special livery train looks like for real when it is unveiled very soon.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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