Kana

**Kana** is a high-speed electric engine from Japan who lives and works on Sodor, acting as the North Western Railway's high-speed delivery engine. As such, she primarily operates alongside Sodor Mail's Speed Post service in addition to minor high-speed passenger runs.

Eventually, she became a certified member of the Steam Team.

## Bio

Kana was unusual for many of Sodor's engines; unlike most immigrant vehicles on the Island, despite being built in a foreign country, Kana was built specifically for work on Sodor, and as such, she only spent a month in Japan before being shipped off to the NWR. Because of this, she feigned being very knowledgeable of her home country, embarrassing herself when she was constantly corrected by Hiro and Kenji. As she was a new build, Kana was very inexperienced in her early work, and made much more mistakes than most other engines. She eventually settled in with help from Thomas and other Sodor engines, and she began having no more problems than is typical for a Sodor engine.

Kana was later one of the many Sodor engines involved with the construction of the Global Transit Terminal.

## Personality

In *All Engines Go*, Kana enjoys going fast and is always up for a game, but she also cares very much for her friends. Although usually up for any challenge, Kana is hesitant to deal with one type of obstacle in particular: Sharp turns. Aside from this, she usually takes whatever challenge she faces with determination and zeal. However, there are some faults that she still has some trouble with, primarily burning her battery levels by regularly speeding and trying to stay still as a statue.

In *Universal Rides* and *Adventure Squad*, Kana is very similar to her original self, but is also hyperactive and thrill-seeking, always enjoying racing should the chance arrive. However, she is much more awkward when it comes to something she has never dealt with before. She is kind-hearted and good-spirited, though, and enjoys a good laugh and company, growing to accept Sodor as her home and Japan her place of origin. While Kana behaves much more like a Sudrian, she still maintains a number of habits that tie her to Japan, including keeping a potted bamboo shoot in her shed.

## Appearance

Like many All Engines Go characters, Kana has no specific basis, however her design was inspired by the high-speed Shinkansen trains (better known as "Bullet Trains") of Japan. Unlike the real Shinkansen units, Kana lacks passenger windows and is powered by batteries rather than an overhead catenary. Said batteries, much like for all electric engines in the reboot, are charged wirelessly, unlike the vast majority of real world examples. These traits are retained in *Universal Rides*/*Adventure Squad*, though in said incarnation, Kana's design was modified to be based off of an E2 Series Shinkansen. She is painted medium lavender with white and yellow lining and yellow wheels, with a skirt painted in a lighter shade that borders on lilac. She has tinted-purple windows on her cab.

In *Universal Rides* and *Adventure Squad*, Kana's livery was eventually tweaked to have her name and the North Western Railway's initials painted on her sides in a deep shade of violet. She also bore the Steam Team Star on her sides.

## Notes

* Kana originates from the *All Engines Go* reboot, and did not appear in the original series. As a result, her design was tweaked to fit more realistic standards.
* To parallel Thomas's nightcap, Kana sleeps with a mask in certain shots. The mask itself is meant as a reference to *Race for the Sodor Cup*, the first film in the *All Engines Go* reboot.