Densha Otoko (電車男? translated as Train Man) is a Japanese movie, television series, manga, novel, and other media, all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old otaku (Japanese geek) who intervened when a drunk man was harassing several women on a train. The otaku ultimately begins dating one of the women.
The event, and the man's subsequent dates with the woman, who became known as "Hermès" (エルメス Erumesu?), was chronicled on the Japanese mega-BBS 2channel. This led to the compilation of the relevant threads in a book, followed by several manga versions, a movie, a theatrical play later released as a DVD, and finally a TV series.
Densha Otoko is a popular example of the "nice guy" class of Japanese geeks who wish to lead normal lives, but are too shy to find a girlfriend, or speak openly anywhere but online. The television series uses a large number of computer-bound extras.
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On March 14, 2004, at 9:55 pm, an anonymous user posted in a 2channel thread for single men to talk about their woes. According to his account, he had been sitting next to a young woman on the train when a drunken man entered the car and began bothering the other passengers, most of whom were female. When the drunk began to badger a particular woman, the poster took the risk of telling the man to stop bothering the passengers. The two struggled for a short time while the other passengers used this distraction to summon the conductor, who took control of the situation.
Never having done such a thing in his life, the poster was amazed to find the woman thanking him deeply for saving her from harassment. The young woman requested his address, telling him that she wanted to express her appreciation for his act, before they parted ways. The poster, upon returning home, shared his experience with other posters in the thread and was eventually nicknamed "Densha Otoko" (Train_Man).
A few days later, Train_Man received a package from the woman: an expensive set of cups and saucers made by Hermès. Flabbergasted, the man turned to the 2channelers for advice; he was soon convinced that the tea set was too expensive to be a mere thank-you gift. Following the advice and suggestions of the other posters, Train_Man eventually contacted the woman.
The man wrote admitted things about himself, such as that his number of years without girlfriends equaled his age, that he was an Akihabara nerd and an otaku, and that he had never been on a date. Because of this last fact, he consistently posted updates on his situation, asking for advice on everything from restaurant choices to what clothing to wear. After an enjoyable first date, they began meeting regularly. Following the 2channelers' collective advice, he got a haircut, updated his wardrobe, and began to emerge from his shell. After several dates, his demeanor had changed for the better and this culminated a few months later in his confessing his love for her. She reciprocated, and when the 2channelers were informed, there was a mass celebration; posts began flowing in congratulating the new couple, and extravagant Shift JIS art pictures were posted.
Densha Otoko's posts continued for awhile longer, but on May 17, there were posts about being on the verge of having sex, forum members made inappropriate comments (they had been expressing their opinions and thoughts about him). Later that night, Densha Otoko left the boards.
While many attest to the truth of the story—including the producers of the television series who contacted the real Densha Otoko—it has not been proven that the story was completely authentic.[1] The true identity of "Densha" is never revealed and the book is based on a collection of posts on the 2channel bulletin board.
A tankōbon called "Densha Otoko" (ISBN 4104715018) was published by Shinchosha on October 22, 2004.
The story is written in the form of message board postings. It takes place from March 14 to May 16. For people who do not know what 2chan is, the book aims to try to convey the feeling of the threads. As it is not a short story, ASCII art directly from the threads are included, as are 2chan vocabulary words and explanations. However, a large majority of the threads that were posted were not directly copied; rather they originated on the "Matome site". According to "Fūin sareta 'Densha Otoko'" (封印された「電車男」?) by Kenji Andō, only 6.4% of the sentences published in the special Densha Otoko book were left alone.
The author of the book used the name "Nakano Hitori" (中野独人?). This name is a pun on the Japanese term "Naka no hitori", a term that refers to all the people who are part of message boards on the Internet. There isn't a specific person that is credited as the author; rather, it is close to a shared pseudonym.
The editor of the "matome site" said that the fixed username "Naka no hito" (中の人?) was used, and that it was planned to use that name in the publication.
When the story was turned into manga, movie and theater performances, as the number of copies of the book had exceeded 1,015,000 copies.
In July 2006, the English translation of the story was published as "Train Man". It was published by Constable and Robinson (ISBN 1845293517).
The drama aired on Fuji TV from July 7 to September 22, 2005 (with a special episode on October 6, 2005). The series originally aired on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. A two hour long TV special, Densha Otoko Deluxe, aired on September 23, 2006. It also aired on:
A film version of Densha Otoko was released in June 2005.
There are five manga adaptations of Densha Otoko: