Pending Train: A Mind-Bending Journey Through Time, Survival, and Suspicion
The show opens in Tokyo on an ordinary morning with several people going about their daily routines. A hairdresser named Kayashima is about to board a train, wondering whether he should meet a certain person. At the same time, high school gym teacher Sai stands on the train platform on her way to work. She is startled when she comes across a man named Shirahama, who is her longtime crush. However, Shirahama doesn't seem to recognize her, and we learn that he is also waiting for the train.
Not long after, the train arrives and all three of them step inside, along with several other passengers. Everyone is lost in their own thoughts and mentally planning out their days. But all of a sudden, an earthquake alert goes off, and chaos ensues as several people and items disappear. The train then enters a tunnel at high speed, followed by a loud impact sound that violently shakes the passengers. This causes them to lose their balance and fall to the ground.
Sometime later, the train finally comes to a stop, and the passengers cautiously get up. They step out of the train, but are forced to find themselves in an unfamiliar forest. The crowd begins making emergency calls, but there is no signal either. As panic ensues, Shirahama introduces himself as a firefighter and assures them that everything will be fine.
He then checks on each passenger one by one to ensure that no one was injured in the accident. Meanwhile, at the station, police discover that a train carriage has mysteriously vanished. They don't understand how something as massive as a train carriage could vanish without a trace. Could it have disappeared into the earthquake, sir? No, no, don't make sense.
Back at the train, Shirahama decides to enter the tunnel to see if they can find any help. Sai and Kayashima also offer to accompany him, to which he agrees. They then begin walking through the tunnel until they reach the end, which shocks them. There is not a single building there, all they see is a vast
desert, and mountainous terrain. Shortly after, the trio returns to the train and informs the other passengers about what they saw. This makes the crowd even more terrified, and they believe that they are in another world. Shirahama then approaches everyone and asks for their names so that he can make a list. All 46 passengers share their details except for Kayashima, who refuses to reveal his name.
Meanwhile, Sai is impressed by Shirahama and recalls that he visited her school to give firefighter training. That was the moment she first saw him and started liking him. Later, a girl named Rina comes across a newspaper article about a murder suspect seen near the train. She then becomes hungry and checks the bag next to her in hopes of finding some food. It turns out to be Kayashima's bag, and all she can find is a
pair of scissors and a letter from prison. Reina quickly puts the stuff back where it was and secretly steals food from another bag. She eats most of the food and hands the plastic bag to Kayashima. Afterward, the passengers become hungry, so Sai checks her bag to distribute some of her
but she is shocked to discover that someone has already stolen it and demands to know who the thief is. Kayashima is seen with the food bag, so Rina wastes no time in accusing him. She even reveals how she found a prison letter and weapons in his bag, implying that he's a criminal. Kayashima denies the accusations, but people don't believe him and become scared. This greatly disappoints the poor guy, so he decides to leave the group and try to find his way home.
alone. Later, the group begins taking out whatever food they have and pides it among themselves equally. A vlogger guy records everything, because of course there's one of those, and when he checks some of his earlier footage, he finds Rina stealing a bag of food. He immediately shows this to the others, and they are shocked to learn that Kayashima is innocent. However, Rina does not feel guilty, and claims she didn't lie about the guy being a criminal. Sai and Shirahama are enraged at the girl and berate her, after which they set out to find Kayashima.
Meanwhile, Kayashima wanders aimlessly until he comes across a dead-end ravine. He tries to inspect the surroundings, when the ground beneath him suddenly crumbles, causing him to slip. Kayashima is now desperately clinging to a tree root, on the verge of falling into the abyss.
But, fortunately for him, Sai and Shirahama arrive just in time and work together to pull him to safety. Once he's safe, they apologize for not trusting him earlier and letting him go. Kayashima responds he couldn't care less, as he doesn't think of them.
as friends. The next day, the passengers are in a desperate situation, as help still hasn't arrived. They begin scattering through the woods, hoping to find a way out. In the evening, a high school student reveals that he discovered a discarded can from a product with a manufacturing date of 2026. An old woman named Tanaka adds that he spotted Tokyo Bloom Tower, a structure scheduled for completion in 2026.
Meanwhile, a botanist named Kato reveals that he discovered a plant that should not have been scientifically developed for another 30 years. Based on these facts, the group speculates that their train has traveled 30 years into the future, where civilization has collapsed.
Uh-oh. Shortly after, an injured man arrives at the train and frantically explains that he had found a cart of drinks, but before he could bring it here, someone stole it from him. The group immediately suspects Rina again, but she insists that she's innocent this time. Regardless, they conclude that the thief must be among them, leading to accusations and heated arguments. Shirahama intervenes to calm the situation and sets up a tarp to collect rainwater, hoping to capture at least some dew. Unfortunately,
it doesn't rain, placing them in an even more hopeless situation. The next morning, the train conductor catches Tanaka with a water bottle and realizes he's the cart thief. He immediately brings him to the other passengers and reveals the truth. Tanaka doesn't deny this and offers to trade the water for money, since only he knows the location. But Kayashima grabs the old man and threatens to kill him if he continues to be an asshole. This terrifies Tanaka.
and he finally leads the group to the location of the cart. Everyone is given one water bottle, which makes them happy, but they know it won't last long and must find a source soon. The next day, a small group sets out to search for a water source. They come across a few frogs and damp ground along the way.
indicating that they are getting close to their destination. After hours of walking, Shirahama ties a safety rope and carefully climbs a cliff, while the others remain on the bottom. He finally finds a fresh stream of water and informs the others about it. However, as Shirahama walks further, he is stunned to see a vast sea nearby, with Mount Fuji visible in the distance. But this is not the Mount Fuji they remember, as there is no sign of civilization anywhere.
Upon returning to the train, Shirahama shows the picture of Mount Fuji to the passengers. This leaves them shocked, as it finally confirms their theory of traveling into the future. They then begin recording tearful messages for their loved ones on their phones, in case they never return.
Meanwhile, Sai approaches Kayashima, and they engage in a heartfelt conversation. During this, Kayashima opens up about his life, revealing how hard he worked to raise his younger brother, Tetsuya. He explains that their parents abandoned them, so all they had was each other. However, as a teenager,
Tatsuya became involved in criminal activity, which eventually landed him in juvenile jail. Kayashima hasn't spoken to him since then, and it has already been two years. He reveals that the letter from prison was sent by Tatsuya, who is due to be released on the day of the accident. Upon hearing this, Sai comforts him, and then attempts to record a video message to send to his brother, but Kayashima refuses, and soon her battery also runs out. This prompts him to call her foolish, but it is evident that he's beginning to develop feelings
for her. Meanwhile, in the outside world, we see the families of all the missing passengers gathering at the train station, demanding to know their whereabouts. Tatsuya is also among them, and when he arrives at his brother's salon, he notices flowers left for him. This infuriates Tatsuya, who angrily declares that his brother is not dead.
In another scene, Tanaka spots a mysterious person in the forest and takes off after them. This is literally just lost. But he soon returns and steals Kayashima's hairdressing tools. To continue his pursuit, Tanaka eventually comes back empty-handed, and Kayashima is furious at him for taking his precious tools. The old man explains that he saw someone wearing a cap.
who wasn't part of their group, but Kayashima doesn't believe him. This sparks a heated argument between the two, but it is cut short when it suddenly begins to rain. Everyone begins rejoicing in the water, but Tanaka declares that he's had enough and chooses to leave the group.
The next day, Keito leads a foraging team to help judge which wild plants are edible and which are dangerous. Sai and Rina are seen chatting and collecting berries, when Sai suddenly becomes ill and collapses to the ground. It turns out that she has eaten a toxic plant that looked like edible berries. Fortunately, she didn't consume much, and Shirahama helps her vomit it out. Kayashima then notices Tanaka lurking in the background, observing everything.
The next morning, the group begins to work together to prepare makeshift weapons for their survival. They craft pots made of iron boxes, cutlery from bamboo, and even sharpen ATM cards to use as knives. In the evening, they gather by the bonfire and begin eating soup made by the older ladies.
But things take a different turn when someone notices a toxic plant in one of the soups. Keito takes a look and realizes it is an edible berry, but he's curious about how it got into their soup. Kayashima thinks Tanaka may have slipped it in when he was lurking earlier. He suspects the old man wanted to poison everyone, but accidentally put the berries instead. Kayashima wants to confront Tanaka, but Shirahama doesn't believe he could be the culprit.
This leads to an argument between them, and Shirahama eventually decides to go in search of the old man himself. A few hours pass, and he still doesn't return to the camp. This makes Sai worried, so she decides to go look for him, but Kayashima warns her that it's too risky to go alone, and asks for her to wait. He teases her, referring to her as a Shirahama fan, but she denies it. Sai then shares the story of how she first met him, though he hadn't known about her existence until the train accident.
Elsewhere, Shirahama is seen walking through the forest, searching for the old man. But he soon falls into a ditch and injures his leg. He begins calling for help, but unfortunately no one is around to hear him. The next morning, Sai decides to search for Shirahama, who still hasn't returned.
Kayashima also decides to join her, but just as they're about to leave, Shirahama limps back to the site. He reveals that he couldn't find the old man, but managed to recover Kayashima's hairdressing tools. This makes Kayashima emotional, and he bursts into tears since the tools were gifted to him by Tatsuya. And now, he can make everyone fabulous.
The other two console him, promising that they will soon find a way home so he can reunite with his brother. Afterwards, Shirahama speaks to the group and explains that the soil was quite damp in the area where he was last night. He suggests that if there's a river nearby, they might be able to catch some fish as well.
The group is thrilled by the idea and becomes determined to find the river. Meanwhile, in the outside world, police are looking for a suspect in a cap who stabbed someone at a train station a few days ago. Based on the CCTV footage, they discover that the suspect boarded the same train that mysteriously vanished.
Returning to the forest, we see Shirahama, Kayashima, and Keito exploring the woods in search of the river. They soon notice a bird, which suggests there might be something to eat nearby. Keito walks ahead to investigate, and the other two notice a strange man wearing a cap in the distance. Shortly after, they hear a groan, which turns out to be Keito, who has been brutally stabbed. Unfortunately, the culprit flees before they can catch him, and the episode ends here.
