The Grand Punk Railroad: Local Episode
- Japanese Title: 鈍行編 The Grand Punk Railroad
- Date of Publication: August 25th, 2003
- Primary Timeline: 1931
- Key Cast: Chane Laforet, Isaac Dian, Jacuzzi Splot, Ladd Russo, Miria Harvent, Nice Holystone, etc.
Dengeki Novel Prize winner Ryohgo Narita presents his first volume post-debut in grand scale and artful style!
Stage is 1931, United States. Aboard transcontinental express, Flying Pussyfoot.
The delinquents took the train to acquire certain treasures inside its storage room. The terrorists took the train in hope of rescuing their great leader in chains. The gangsters took the train to threaten the railway company for money. The thief couple took the train to meet their friends in New York for the first time after a year.
Consumed by the excitement of their ride, nobody was aware of the crazy night waiting ahead...
available text
- First Class Lounge ~Men in Black~ (一等客室「黒服」)
- Business Class Lounge ~Men in White~ (二等客室「白服」)
- Economy Class Lounge ~Men in Rags~ (三等客室「ボロ服」)
my review
Just like the title suggests, in comparison with part two of the Grand Punk Railroad saga, this book moves at a slower pace and mainly focuses on introducing a handful of new characters. Nevertheless, there isn't one dull moment in the whole book and the three-way storytelling style is excellent. If you're a Jacuzzi fan by any chance, this book is a must-have.
author's note
This is my first publication after winning the Dengeki Novel Prize. I took half a year off after the first book, mainly because the chief editor asked me to not write anything until graduation. Which happens to show how badly I was doing in university at the time, but hey, that's another story.
After graduation, I was offered to publish a new book in August. Upon submitting my manuscripts in late April, which was a little bit behind the original deadline:
Chief Editor: Hey... I knew we had more pages than usual while printing your book but... the actual content alone is over 400 pages!
Me: Is that a lot?
Chief Editor: Its single volume price will exceed 700 yen.
Me:Whaaaaaat!!
For a single volume by a newbie novelist to exceed 700 yen... it just can't be. Who would actually buy it?
Me: Wha-wha-what shall we do!?
Chief Editor: It's my fault for not making this clear earlier, but I didn't think you'd write this much.
In the end, we settled on a two-part release after much discussion. Again as a newbie, I was anxious about publishing such a long book, but there wasn't any other way.
About the Characters
Jacuzzi: I wanted to create a character who had a large gap between his looks and personality, thus the flashy facial tattoo. To think that there was such a meaningful past hidden behind it! Even I wasn't aware of so much details until the actual writing of the book. (What the!) Now you see how my work ethics usually are.
Nice: A product of unexpected inspiration, the original source of our Bomb Mania heroine is still a mystery. While trying to design her looks with a strong impact, "Eye patch... wait, people used that a lot in the past. Hmm, how about wearing glasses over an eye patch then!?" ... and so, many episodes branched out of my random plan.
Neider: A personal favorite from Baccano! series. He's the stereotypical shy badass who'd act all mighty in front of others but blush in front of his childhood girlfriend. Though that has nothing to do with the actual plot. He'll probably lead a peaceful life with the aforesaid lady at his parents' farm after this book. However, a series of Nebula-related events will take place near him and... well, to include such a plot in later volumes or not will depend on how popular Neider becomes.
Abam: He has the same name as the person who told others to bring in extra bullets. Or to be more precise, he's the guy in black who got hit in the head by Donny and the one Lemures member who worshipped Chane from the bottom of his heart, though his love was never to be returned. Poor guy. Right now he's on the run from police forces. The story behind the origin of his name remains a mystery beyond those who actually know him.
Chief Chef: I wrote a short piece about him before and only a few people had ever seen it. It was simply a story about him knowing Claire's true identity, though.
P.S.
Rony: He will have a big spot in the 1933 timeline. I don't plan to ever make a power ranking among my characters, but Rony's probably the strongest next to Claire. The original setting says he's weaker than Claire.