The Train Man (Densha Otoko) by Hitori Nakano, is a cultural phenomenon among the Japanese geek community in 2004. It is a sentimental love story of an awkward nerd and a fashionable working woman based on supposedly real events. Train Man was collectively written through anonymous posts on the influential 2-Channel Internet forum from March to May 2004, and centres on the couple and the online community who encouraged them. The popularity of this story exploded into mainstream media, earning numerous adaptations including a novel, manga, film, and a TV-series. The legend of the Train Man has become a source of inspiration for many geeks (boys and girls alike), to get out of their shells to start meeting and dating people. This book is a translation of the edited version of those threads, split into 6 chapters.
The tale revolves around an anonymous user, who is later code-named “Train Man”. On one faithful day, he uncharacteristically confronted a drunk man harassing several women on a train. A few days later, Train Man received a package from one of the women: a set of cups and saucers made by Hermès, a French luxury goods company. Flabbergasted, he turned to the internet for guidance. They convinced him that the tea set was too expensive to be a mere thank-you gift, Train Man wasn’t certain at first but soon he followed their advice and suggestions and contacted the woman. This kick-started a relationship between them, the Train Man continuously updated the thread and scoured the internet to aid his bid to transform this into a romantic relationship. As the story progresses, he slowly grows more confident and changes his life to capture the heart of the girl of his dreams.
Train Man was a unique reading experience. Because the book is a collection of internet posts, I felt like I was one of the forum users cheering the Train Man on in this thread.
Another interesting aspect of the book is, since the girl, which the forum code-named “Lady Miss Hermès”, doesn’t post, the entire narrative is from the internet and the Train Man’s perspective. Because her feelings aren’t documented, this adds extra intrigue to the story due to the mysterious nature and suspense each time the Train Man meets her.
As a fellow robotic nerdy type, I am fascinated by the Train Man’s transformation. It is a delight watching him evolve his characteristics without destroying his genuine qualities, and see his persistent effort to refine himself. It shows that no-one is truly un-dateable if he/she believes in themselves and has the determination to become a better person. However, since the whole saga is written completely from the Train Man’s point of view, any pitfalls of Lady Miss Hermès are omitted as the Train Man is never going to say anything bad about his dream girl. Their development is overly smooth and excessively romanticised, so that it seems like a nerd randomly one day becomes a knight in shining armour, rescues his love, and lives happily ever after. This is particularly true because Lady Miss Hermès doesn’t reveal any negative emotions, and there aren’t many hardships in the way of Train Man’s quest to find true love.
Regardless, Train Man is a cult hero that demonstrates to the general public that there is more to the stereotyped geek culture. His life-altering experience gives anybody with a comparable character trait hope. He advocates that if they try hard and they’re resolute, anyone can be attractive, whether it’s a “geek”, “nice guy” or anything else. His story is a sweet and cute fairytale, I would highly recommand it to anyone.
Robot Reviewing 