October 25, 2007

Densha Otoko: The otaku's love story

densha otoko live actionYeah I know, Densha Otoko has been around for so long already. It still stands as my favorite live-action series ever. There are a whole lot of references to Densha Otoko in the otaku world that it's kind of hard to think that there's some anime/manga fan out there who doesn't know about Densha Otoko.

Is there anyone who doesn't know who Densha Otoko is?

If it's your first time hearing the term Densha Otoko, it literally translates to "Train Man". That's the nickname given to the lead character. Erm...well... It's kind of hard to just go on about this in this way so here's an "about Densha Otoko" portion:

Densha Otoko is the story of an otaku who falls in love with a normal - meaning non-otaku - girl that he met on the train (hence, Densha Otoko). He saves her from a drunkard who was causing too much ruckus and who was trying to hit on the girl. Densha stood up to the man, earning him the gratitude of several older women and the girl. She asks for his address so that she can send him a thank-you gift. She sends him a Hermes-brand tea set, which causes Densha's friends to nickname her Hermes.

When I say "friends", I meant a bunch of strangers who all log on to this online discussion board (2ch according to some) and talk about their lives there. Yep, an online community of people of all sorts. We see Densha falling in love with Hermes and his friends help him overcome his fear of talking to girls and to actually make a move on Hermes. They give him all sorts of advices on what to wear, what to do, what to say, etc. It's actually funny.

Ah and I forgot to mention that the story of Densha Otoko supposedly happened in real life. It's cool if it did, right? After I finished watching Densha Otoko, I think I want to believe that his story really did happen and that somewhere out there, Densha and Hermes are living a happy life together ^^

Even if you aren't an otaku, you'll still find Densha Otoko really amusing. It's a light-hearted comedy that has a bit of a drama in it...heart-warming, really. If you don't really like to watch a 13-episode live-action series, you can opt to try the Densha Otoko movie or the manga too. If I remember correctly, there's also a novel, which I think was the basis for the live-action, movie and manga.

One word after you finish watching Densha Otoko: "Moe..." (^v^)y

7 comments:

Random by Design said...

This is a great story, I actually have the movie poster hanging on my door }:op.

I've the movie, tv show and one year later special, but haven't seen any of the anime's that are supposedly inspired by it.

for those interested in the original thread that sparked this story

This page supposedly has a log of the entire 2ch thread, split into missions.

This one has the same stuff but translated to english.

Unknown said...

Hehe thanks for the links!

Unknown said...

I would surely enjoy it... I havent seen Genshiken 1 but Genshiken2 is a bit on that genre and i guess would almost compare to Densha Otoko. I'd check it out tho!

Unknown said...

Ah but you should watch the first season of Genshiken first. Then the OVA (I did a review of that) because characters and the plot of the second season are introduced there =)

If you've been an anime fan for a long time, you can relate to Densha!

Anonymous said...

I watched the Live Action drama of Densha Otoko. I enjoyed every moment of it. The anime references are hilarious, and the progress between Densha and Hermes were fun to watch. I own the movie and a couple of volumes of the manga, but it's not the same as the drama.. :(

Unknown said...

I haven't seen the movie yet. As for the manga, it's still on my "to-read" list.. So the live-action drama is still better?

- Mitch - said...

Hrmm I remember watching the first episode a long time ago. Then forgetting the name of the series to try and find it. More stuff on the to watch list after I finish downloading clannad,bleach,naruto,dragonaut etcetc