– One thing that is not correct in the anime: the traffic lights in Germany are red-yellow-green not red-yellow-blue.
– There is a little bit of Japanese intention here. Traffic signals in Japan in the 1960s were also “red-yellow-green.” However, people called them “red-yellow-blue.”
This is because in Japanese:
“red-yellow-green” = “aka-ki-midori” (2 syllables, 1 syllable, 3 syllables)
“red-yellow-blue” = “aka-ki-ao” (2 syllables, 1 syllable, 2 syllables)
And, there were issues about color-blind people having a hard time distinguishing between “red” and “green” colors on the traffic signals – hence, after 1970 all traffic signals in Japan became “red-yellow-blue
Maybe it’s not a mistake at all. Indeed, in Episode 03 when Adolf Junkers runs out in front of a passing car, leaving a potentially fatal head injury, the traffic light we see a minute before the accident is "red-yellow-blue”. However… in all other episodes, Episode 27, for example, – it’s “red-yellow-green”:
The traffic light in Episode 03 is twice as important, since it appears in the manga. It’s not just a minor detail added by animators in order to represent a transition between two scenes, it’s a symbol included by Urasawa himself and it is meant to catch one’s attention.
Also, It should be mentioned that Episode 03 is the same episode which already includes a funeral scene right from Twin Peaks – http://erichspringer.tumblr.com/post/160840301828/guess-who-is-rewatching-twin-peaks-this-is
One of Lynch’s main images for Twin Peaks is the traffic light, alone in the night, changing color “red-yellow-…blue”. Traffic lights serve a specific purpose, obviously to direct traffic. However when they continue irregardless, no traffic in sight, unseen, unwitnessed… it seems to reflect the idea of unseen things existing in Twin Peaks. Some hidden forces still in motion.
Generally, we associate red with danger. And within the show it is associated with the Red Room that Cooper sees in his dreams. So it conjures forth ideas of both danger and of the supernatural. When the lights are red, a murder is going to occur.
Now, let’s remind ourselves that Adolf Junkers was chased by something or someone unseen he later called “a monster”. Although we know it was actually Johan, who had already successfully executed his partners, which caused Junkers to run away in terror, we never actually see him and the whole scene evokes an eerie vibe.
In manga the light is just red, while in anime it goes from red to blue symbolizing an act of being saved from what we assume as supernatural danger.
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