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Salaryman Thomas (Katakana: サラリーマントーマス, alternatively titled Businessman Thomas) is a live-action online mini-series released on the Japanese official YouTube channel to promote Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go. The series began on 16th November 2022 and ended on 2nd December 2022.
The series recreates episodes of Thomas & Friends in an office environment, with the engines, rolling stock and other vehicles being portrayed by human actors. Accordingly, many of the events of the original stories are altered and swapped with workplace equivalents; for example, Thomas becoming addicted to a mobile game and spilling coffee on his keyboard replaces him falling down the old lead mine.
Trivia[]
- The Island of Sodor in this series is depicted as a company located in Shimbashi District in Minato, Tokyo. In real life, Shimbashi was the terminus of Japan's first railway line.
- Real locomotive C11 292 - plinthed in front of Shimbashi Station - makes various background appearances throughout the series.
- With the exception of Harold, all named characters in this series are given localized and more Japanese-styled names written in kanji instead of their original Japanese names written in katakana. Their original katakana names, however, can still be seen displayed above their new ones as annotations.
- Despite being portrayed as male in the original television series, Percy (Hashii) is portrayed as female in this series. The same applies to the special visitor in Thomas and the Rumours (re-titled "Thomas and the Sign of Restructuring").
Thomas Falls in Social Game Obsession[]
Thomas Falls in Social Game Obsession (Japanese: ソシャゲ沼におちたトーマス) is the first video in the series. It was originally released on 16th November 2022.
Characters[]
- Thomas
- Gordon
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Annie and Clarabel (cameos)
- Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants (cameos)
Trivia[]
- The video recreates the events of the first series episode, Down the Mine.
- The game which Thomas becomes addicted to is the 2018 version of Go Go Thomas!
- Thomas is seen playing on his phone during the opening, showcasing his mobile game addiction. After this video, he no longer has a phone out, having overcome his obsession after it gets him into trouble.
Trouble in the Staff Toilet[]
Trouble in the Staff Toilet (Japanese: 社員用トイレのもめごと) is the second video in the series. It was originally released on the 25th November 2022.
Characters[]
- Thomas
- Edward
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants
- Percy's Workshop Friends (cameos)
Trivia[]
- The video recreates the events of the first series episode, Trouble in the Shed.
- Sir Topham Hatt is informed of the strike by one of his assistants instead of the stationmaster.
Thomas and the Sign of Restructuring[]
Thomas and the Sign of Restructuring (Japanese: トーマスとリストラの気配) is the third and final video in the series. It was originally released on 2nd December 2022.
Characters[]
- Thomas
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Harold (does not speak)
- The Special Visitor (does not speak)
Trivia[]
- The video recreates the events of the fifth series episode, Thomas and the Rumours.
Cast[]
- Ōshirō Maeda as Toomasu "Thomas"
- Hiroaki Nerio as Edowada "Edward"
- Tetsu Hirahara as Henri "Henry"
- Takeshi Itakura as Gotou "Gordon"
- Hideki Fujimoto as Joumu "James"
- Sakura Minehira as Hashii "Percy"
- Paolo Andrea Di Pietro as Harold
- Yūjirō Taki as President Hatto "Sir Topham Hatt"
- Shūichi Ōda and Denwa Yoshida as Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants
- Kana Kurozawa as The Special Visitor
Awards and Nominations[]
- Nomination - ACC Tokyo Creativity Awards - Film - Online Film , 2023
External Links[]
- Press Release on PR TIMES
- Interview on Dentsu-ho