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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 22 September 2005 00:00 |
 I don't normally do dorama (although I still have a batch of live-action Sailor Moon to get through sometime ^^;), but this one's just too intriguing. Based on the true story of a 2chan poster, Densha Otoko (Train Man) looks at one otaku's search for true love with the most unlikely of women...
Tsuyoshi Yamada is a grade-A otaku - he's heavily into anime, obsessed
with voice actresses, and spends just about every yen he has on
merchandise and the occasional gadget he gets suckered into buying in
the street. I think about half the people I meet on the internet
could relate to this guy. Saori Aoyama. meanwhile, is everything
Yamada isn't - beautiful, cultured, and she has a social life to boot,
although the high life is beginning to bore her. The two meet
each other on the train, both heading home after Tanabata - when Yamada
first sees her it's like love at first sight, but his big chance comes
when a drunk begins making unwanted moves on her. In a very
un-otaku move, Yamada tries to intervene & save Saori rfom the
drunk's attentions, getting himself a bloody nose for his
trouble. It also earns him Saori's gratitude, and after a number
of follow-up incidents & quite possibly the worst birthday ever,
her phone number. Could this be the start of something big for
Yamada?
The 70's rock soundtrack rocks (OP theme by ELO), and it's great fun
spotting the anime references scattered throughout the episode (I want
Yamada's Keroro Gunso keychain). In other ways, it's damn scary
to watch - pics of Yamada's room (with figures and DVD's all neatly
displayed) and his "social life" on internet forums just rings so many
bells. The way they show all the forum member reading the posts
& their reactions is a big part of the fun - and part of the moral
of the story is the effect his story has on some of the other people
reading it...
A story of hope for Otaku everywhere, and all the more surprising
as it's allegedly based on a true story (which has since become a
manga, a book... Someone's cashing in nicely somewhere!).
;) Saori is quite the honey, while Yamada is the stereotypical
Japanese otaku. It's great fun watching them go weak at the knees
over their favourite VA, get all worked up over character models, and
just basically behave the way most anime fans would if they were in
Japan. Cosplay cafe, anyone?
Funny and touching all at once, as Yamada's story begins to have an
effect on the forum posters who are trying to help him out. It's
a real beauty-and-the-beast relationship, too. Not particularly
deep story-wise, just great fun to watch on a variety of different
levels. Well worth checking out.
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