Bullet Train Explosion Ending Explained: Bomber Details and 1975 Movie Connection Revealed  

Bullet Train Explosion is a modern-day remake of the 1975 film, The Bullet Train. The plot follows the Hayabusa No. 60 bullet train running from Aomori City to Tokyo, which has been fitted with multiple bombs. The control center then gets a call from the JR East headquarters, where an anonymous message is left- the train will blow up if its speed drops below 100 km/h. 

The threat isn’t taken seriously at first, but an explosion on a cargo train shows that the bombs are real. The control center workers, led by General Commander Yuichi Kasagi, then have to figure out how to save the passengers onboard. So, who was the anonymous caller? What do they want? And did everyone get saved? 

Who Planted the Bomb on the Bullet Train? 

Yuzuki Onodera, a student, had planted the bombs on the Hayabusa 60 Shinkansen. She had done so because her father, Tsutomu Onodera, who was a respected retired veteran police officer, abused her. He created a toxic environment where he wished she had been born a boy instead. This psychological torture made her reach out to Masatoshi Koga, the son of Masaru Koga. 

This was one of the perpetrators of the 1975 train bombing on a Shinkansen train. This incident was part of the events of The Bullet Train. While Masaru had ended his life with the help of a suicide bomber jacket, the government had kept this a secret and instead falsely credited Tsutomu for killing the man. 

It was this incident, as well as the public adoration and reward that followed, which made Tsutomu arrogant, brash, and violent in his private life. He always referred to himself as Japan’s hero, and his daughter hated him for this. So, she decided to bomb another Shinkansen train as a tribute to her father’s victim, who she felt was better than him. Masatoshi designed the bombs that would go off when the train slowed down. 

What did the Bomber want? 

The anonymous caller wanted 100 billion yen to be transferred to their account, and only then were they willing to defuse the bombs on the train. Collecting such a huge amount was difficult already, but what made it almost impossible was another demand- the caller wanted every person in the country to pay 1000 yen to a government forum, which would then get transferred to them. 

Did Everyone Onboard the Train get Saved?

Yes, the rescue operation began when some passengers were moved into different coaches, and the empty ones were decoupled and left to explode. Then, another bullet train was run parallel to the Hayabusa 60 so that the passengers could get into the new one and be safe from the bomb threat. 

In the end, 9 people remained in the original train with the bomb. Kasagi came up with the idea of derailing the coach they were in from the outside by switching tracks. This coach didn’t have any bombs attached to it, so it was derailed safely and everyone was saved. The rest of the train gradually slowed down and exploded over an empty piece of land. 

What Happens in the end?

Even though Japan has a policy of never negotiating with terrorists, as soon as the common people got to know about what was happening on the train, they decided to donate to save the passengers. A YouTuber, Todoroki, used his social media handle to create an online portal to accept the funds. 

In the end, Yuzuki gave her co-passengers the chance to save themselves by killing her. After all, she had never felt love and didn’t believe that it mattered whether she lived or died. Her heart monitor had the mechanism to defuse the bombs if she passed away. 

However, Takaichi instead hugged her because he realized that the girl was emotionally and psychologically broken due to her father’s treatment of her. This didn't exempt her from the legal consequences of her actions, but in that moment, she was made to feel like a victim even though she was the actual perpetrator. Masatoshi was also arrested. 

Bullet Train Explosion is streaming on Netflix.