The drama is about a group of people who board a train that ends up in the middle of the wilderness due to mysterious turbulences. With no civilization in sight, they must try to survive in extreme conditions and figure out how to get out of this place. Don't expect an overly action-packed survival adventure. Most of the drama is rather quiet, with slice of life elements, friendships and a little bit of romance. Sometimes people make stupid decisions until they realize that it can't work that way. I also really enjoyed the nature setting. It's beautiful.

I must admit, I watched this survival drama for Yamada Yuki and it was worth it! He plays one of the main characters, Kayashima Naoya, a charming hairdresser who has trust issues and problems to speak about his real feelings. He was by far my favorite character.

The other two main characters are Shirahama Yuto, a selfless firefighter, and Hatano Sae, a kind-hearted teacher. The three developed a wholesome friendship. However, I wish Hatano would be a bit more interesting. She was often too bland for me. The character traits of the two male leads stole the show for me.

I really liked that the supporting characters received enough attention. Over time, you learn more and more about their personal history, problems and strengths.

In addition to the friendship and detailed information about the supporting cast, another strong point of this drama is the character development. For example, let's look a bit closer at Kayashima. At first he wasn't into "buddy-buddy energy", wasn't open about his emotions, prefered to only rely on himself, but that changed drastically. Kayashima and Shirahama, who were hostile to each other at the beginning, supported each other very much after some time. Same goes for Hatano. She became Kayashima's safe zone! The other characters have also necessarily undergone a development.

Actually, I would be very happy about a second season of Pending Train. Let's see what the future holds.

[finished watching on 17 January 2024]