Shinkalion: Change the World

Shinkalion: Change the World is the third entry in the Shinkalion franchise, and boy is it a shake up. An artstyle change thats not as energetic as before. Not in the same universe as the previous two. And older looking characters. And now that its over, no crossover characters you can make go viral online (which to some is a good thing, I'm neutral). The hobby elements seemed like its not there anymore, no fear because this is still Shinkalion, and transforming trains that defend the world from weird entities are still here. Following Taisei Onari, who is a train otaku, and his AI buddyVina, with his missing sisters words "become a cool person with something to protect" eternalized in him, as he gets wrapped up in a new invasion of mysterious beings known as Unknown and joins a secret force known as ERDA who operate as the Railway Club at school to fight back as a Shinkalion pilot. Very classic plot that you expect from Shinkalion. However, Change the World is a much much slower show initially with setting up its 3 main pilots, the supporting cast pilots, their internal dramas, and of course train tourism!!! It all feels a bit more serious as a whole, I personally like it. There's some cool stories that were told. Another change is of course, the digital implementations, because it's the 2020s, and we got VR. So for Shinkalion, that means the ever trendy Metaverse, as is the hot word Japan likes calling it. The Unknowns are transported from the real world to a digital space where their asses get kicked by digital versions of Japans finest trains, with the pilots controlling the machines with their avatar selves via VR headset. A cool gimmick of every train having their assist vehicle that combines with them and makes up their main form. It makes for some very cool combiner sequences and designs. The cast of characters we meet outside our main trio are all pretty cool, and seeing them get added to the op gradually is very nice. Of course maybe you'll get attached to one but they aren't a regular cast member and so you join the long legacy pain of this franchise. But hey, thats what the toys are for, repping your favorite character! People do complain about the length of this series compared to Z or the original, the shortening of ep count, but honestly for this series in particular maybe this could have been shorter, not that I think the show does anything wrong, but rather maybe, they held onto their cards too long. Like I enjoy a majority of the episodes, however it is a balancing act of enjoying the new pilot character from a different branch and how they interact with Taisei and gang from the East Branch ERDA and also theres a villain looming in the back with many questions we still don't have answers for. I could see someone say "ok enough of this guy from whatever Branch, I want my answers questi-questions answered". But of course this is a niche within a niche, so I believe most people who are watching Shinkalion in the are gonna stick with it completely because a kids show about mecha trains? You're too deep in the rabbit hole if you're watching this at all. Otherwise you'd be watching harem isekai #498738595394 right. Anyways, once the late game reveals in the final stretch of the show drop, it's a wild ride. Somewhat a mood shift and once Taisei's journey is all done, I'm still kind of speechless with what they accomplished a day later. Its great, I loved everything about it. I guess I'm buying this series Plarails now.