Is it true that the Tokyo subway launched a train in the shape of Kotobus from the anime “My Neighbor Totoro”?

In the fall of 2023, a video allegedly filmed in the Tokyo subway went viral. The video shows a train with carriages depicting a bus cat, a character from the Japanese cartoon by Hayao Miyazaki. We checked if this post is real.

In 1988, the anime “My neighbor Totoro» from Studio Ghibli, where one of the characters was Kotobus, a huge magical cat-bus. In the fall of 2023, an eight-second video went viral on social networks, showing a train whose exterior was made in the form of this animated character. In numerous publications reportedthat such a Kotobus was launched in the Tokyo subway, replacing one of the regular trains. On "Peekaboo"added that this promotion was timed to coincide with Halloween. At the same time, the authors of some posts ask the management of the Moscow Metro was inspired by this idea.

For example, on VKontakte, a verified public radio spoke about an unusual Japanese train “Europe Plus"(148,000 views at the time of writing this analysis). Similar posts appeared in other VK groups, including “Catism"(216,000 views), "Oatmeal, sir!"(144,000), "Tesla | Science and technology"(54,000), Liberty | People (31,000, post deleted) and “Amazing world"(19,000). The story about transport in the form of a magical cat also became popular on Telegram, where the channels “Koteyka"(150,000 views), "Screwtape"(91,000), "Adult cartoons"(82,000), "Russian digital"(66,000), Reddit (55,000), "Oatmeal, sir!"(41,000), TG Team Russia (37,000), etc. In addition, similar posts can be found in social networks X, “Zene” (for example, in the channel “Public News Service"), as well as on others entertaining And news websites.

The original source of the viral video: Instagram*-account of video artist Ian Padgham, who creates content under the nickname origiful. Author published post about Kotobus with over 3.1 million likes on October 26, 2023 and wrote that it was a “Tokyo dream.” According to the profile description, Padgham is a Californian, living in France and creates poetic-surreal videos.

In fact, there has never been such transport in the Tokyo subway - it's computer graphics. “It’s all 3D animation—I create a mix of real video with 3D models that I add to the scene,” commented Padgham's work on the anime "My Neighbor Totoro". “I don’t use artificial intelligence for my videos, but I expect that AI will be able to produce such an effect in the not too distant future.”

According to the author, the process of creating such a video is quite reminiscent of classic Disney animation. To a question from one of Padgham users replied, which breaks each second of a video into 30 frames and then animates them with 3D objects it creates. He estimates that those eight seconds took about 60 hours. At the same time, Ian noted that there were still uncorrected defects. For example, “Checked” noticed that in the foreground, the last man leaving the carriage walked through the air. Padgham hopesthat one day such a train will actually appear in the Tokyo subway.

By the way, this is not the first time that Padgham’s work has been mistaken for real video footage. Thus, in the summer of 2023, there were reports on social networks that the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was allegedly decorated with a six-color rainbow in honor of Pride Month. "Checked" then found outthat the 12-second video included in evidence was also created by Ian.

*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Cover photo: origiful

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

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