well, not exactly a normal anime recommendation but close. Still so different that even people who normally skip anime stuff can give it a look. Really, a small piece of man made animation that deserves some minutes of your time if you haven’t heard of it yet.
milky☆subway was made by yohei kameyama. he first did a 4 minute short called milky☆highway back in 2022 as his graduation project at kadokawa’s vantan game academy. That one blew up on youtube. So he went and made a full mini series after.
(On netflix you find the official release as english voice dub if you prefer)
First as 12 short episodes on youtube, each around 3 minutes. Then they did a movie cut version and now netflix has it and reason for this article is the new Theatrical cut which is going to be released next week on june 12 in Japan.
| Edition | Format | Content | Runtime | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prequel Short (Milky☆Highway) | Standalone short film | Story before the main series | ~4 minutes | 2022 | Yohei Kameyama graduation project from Vantan Game Academy. |
| Original YouTube Series | 12 short episodes | Base story | ~40-44 minutes | July 2025 | Each episode roughly 3.5 minutes including credits. |
| Netflix Movie | Single film | 12 episodes + new animated scenes | 47 minutes | June 1, 2026 | Re-edited continuous movie version with extra footage. |
| Theatrical Version (Japan) | Single film | Netflix movie + further new scenes | ~47+ minutes | June 12, 2026 | Also called Extra Service / Local Train to the Theater. Has the most new footage. |
The Story
Two girls, chiharu and the cyborg makina. both got arrested for speeding and damaging some police equipment. they get shoved together with other misfits to do community service cleaning this train called the milky subway. sounds simple right? well the ai controlling the train goes completely nuts and tries to kill everybody on board. yeah :) fun…
where to watch
I recommend to start with the milky highway Prequel on Youtube, followed by the netflix movie version, which is about 47 min. Btw. the Netflix version is fully dubbed in English so don’t be afraid if japanese isn’t your thing. Also it has a bit more story than the pure youtube episodes. Hope the june theatrical cut with the new scenes gets a good release online too later.
If you like weird creative scifi with some heart and not the usual big studio polish, this one is worth it. The fact that mostly one guy did so much himself is pretty cool.
Alone the final post roll of the episodes is the best trailer for the Series one can imagine, a 1977 japanese pop song fly to the galaxy fully fits.
let me know how you liked it.
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