Sacrilege! Takadanobaba Sta. drops Astro Boy theme

[Taro Toporific]

Train Stations Changing Their Tunes -- Literally
Nikkei | Thursday, November 29, 2012
...JR Takadanobaba Station, in the central Tokyo ward of Shinjuku, has chosen the theme song from "Astro Boy," a Japanese sci-fi manga and anime series created by Osamu Tezuka, to signal train departures, because Astro Boy was supposedly "born" in Takadanobaba...
...<big snip>...
...In October, Takadanobaba Station on the Seibu-Shinjuku Line changed its departure melody to a jingle used in the commercials of miso bean-paste maker Marukome Co...more..

[yanpa]

Eh, where does it say they dropped the Astro Boy theme? I'm sure I would have noticed.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I guess station melodies protect us all from radiation...

[wagyl]

Eh, where does it say they dropped the Astro Boy theme? I'm sure I would have noticed.

As someone who, back in the day, provided a lot of custom to the private railway company that loves yellow paint, my memory is that the Astro Boy theme was only ever played at the JR station, not at the Seibu station. I think maybe Taro has been mislead by a poorly worded headline and slightly confusing content in the article, put two and two together and got five. Of course, I am not on the ground at the site to confirm that Astro Boy still flies.

[Taro Toporific]

Eh, where does it say they dropped the Astro Boy theme? I'm sure I would have noticed.

...the Astro Boy theme was only ever played at the JR station, not at the Seibu station.

Yep, my bad.
Down in the basement of Takadanobaba of the Seibu line they play commericial jingles for rotten bean paste. The JR station still has the Astro Boy theme.

[yanpa]

I too ride the Smile Train, after having previously lived within hearing distance of the Yamanote Line platforms, so take any allegations regarding Takadanobaba station very seriously

[dimwit]

I would take having a Astro Boy theme over the Anpanman Express we have in Shikoku anyday.

[yanpa]

I rode that once. It was trippy, especially because it was my first real encounter with the bread guy.

[matsuki]

I too ride the Smile Train, after having previously lived within hearing distance of the Yamanote Line platforms, so take any allegations regarding Takadanobaba station very seriously

Smile train hahaha, the train may be smiling but the people riding it are another matter....

Still, prefer those newer cars to salary man vomit yellow cars they still use on the line. The fact that they have a monopoly on rail transport in the area and still use that shit, are understaffed, and can't seem to go a day without burning the clutch (Oh how I hate that smell!) on those bitches should be embarrassing in this "Customer is god" cuntry.

[wagyl]

Smile train hahaha, the train may be smiling but the people riding it are another matter...

That is one thing that really struck me after I moved out of Tokyo to the country. Whenever I went back to Tokyo, nobody on the trains was smiling.

On the other hand, as a Tokyo resident friend pointed out, if there is a person smiling on the train, it is creepy as fuck.

[matsuki]

Smile train hahaha, the train may be smiling but the people riding it are another matter...

That is one thing that really struck me after I moved out of Tokyo to the country. Whenever I went back to Tokyo, nobody on the trains was smiling.

On the other hand, as a Tokyo resident friend pointed out, if there is a person smiling on the train, it is creepy as fuck.

hahahaha, in which case it becomes the grope train?

[Coligny]

I too ride the Smile Train, after having previously lived within hearing distance of the Yamanote Line platforms, so take any allegations regarding Takadanobaba station very seriously

Smile train hahaha, the train may be smiling but the people riding it are another matter....

Still, prefer those newer cars to salary man vomit yellow cars they still use on the line. The fact that they have a monopoly on rail transport in the area and still use that shit, are understaffed, and can't seem to go a day without burning the clutch (Oh how I hate that smell!) on those bitches should be embarrassing in this "Customer is god" cuntry.

You sure there is a clutch ? I always thought it was the giant resistors that are used to shortcut the motors when braking. The more breaking, the hotter, the smellier...

[yanpa]

I always thought it was the brake discs, but what do I know? Whatever it is, hanging around a Seibu station where a train has done an emergency stop is not a particularly pleasant olfactory experience.

[Coligny]

I always thought it was the brake discs, but what do I know? Whatever it is, hanging around a Seibu station where a train has done an emergency stop is not a particularly pleasant olfactory experience.

Traditionally (except for ceramic brakes who are the opposite) if a brake warm enough to stink... it's usually also warm enough not to brake at all anymore...
(rule #1 on train braking, never let your brakes get hot...)

[matsuki]

Not sure what it is but sure smells a lot like burning clutch to me.