Train Man: A Shojo Manga

by Hitori Nakano, Machiko Ocha,  

LONELY HEARTS UNITE! Geeky fanboy Ikumi Saiki has a dream that someday, somehow, he'll finally get a girlfriend. Then one day, on the train home, he rescues a beautiful girl from a troublesome drunk. Now the girl sees the hero inside the otakuand it appears that Ikumi will finally find romance! But though Ikumi found the courage to save her, how will he ever be brave enough to win her heart? Desperate, Ikumi posts an urgent plea on an Internet message...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345496191
• ISBN13: 9780345496195
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

Densha Otoko... shoujo-fied...

A while back, I reviewed both Viz and CMX's introductory volumes for their respective Densha Otoko (Train Man) series. To be honest, I knew that there was a third title coming (this one from Del Ray), but I tried to stay away from it due to an irrational fear of shoujo style comics. Then it hit me... If I can watch Honey and Clover, I can read this manga. Heh. Anyways, here's the review for this Train Man book... First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with the Densha Otoko phenomenon, the story revolves around a Japanese internet meme about a seriously introverted otaku who, having met a girl, had no idea what to do. In true geek fashion, he went to the message boards for advice and thus a legend was born. Have no fear that the Del Ray license will go off into umpteen books. If you're looking for a short, but sweet, romance then this book is your best bet as it covers the ENTIRE Densha Otoko story from start to finish. You'll see their first meeting, the possible torpedo to their budding relationship, and the final resolution packed very tightly into 167 pages. This is kinda refreshing as the CMX version barely got to the first date in their first volume, while Viz only got to the second... date, that is. Another point on which this book differentiates from the others is that its told as a series of flashbacks. While some of that comes out in the other two series, it's particularly spotlighted here as everything is revealed after the fact to the forumites to keep in spirit with the original meme in which the story was based on. One minor nitpick is that names are revealed... both Train and Hermes have their names revealed in the story scenes, facts that wouldn't be in spirit with the original. My guess is they were added so the heartwrenching scenes would have extra oomph. ("Marsha." "John." "MARsha!" "JOHN!" You know what I mean?) Anyway... it kinda bugs, but it's not a big deal. One MAJOR nitpick is that you never get the feeling that Train is really an otaku in this version. Sure, he is shown going through the motions of buying Doujin (amateur, often erotic parodies of manga and anime) and being an anime fan, but it all just feels glazed over... that the manga character himself is just an actor playing an otaku. This is probably due to the fact that it's a one shot manga and there just wasn't room... but it left me a little disappointed. The art is most certainly shoujo, where even the shy and lonely geek is a pretty boy and the "ugly drunk" is far from it (in fact, I'd almost call his features "stately"). It doesn't detract, but it might turn off some readers who favor shounen stylings. Another art mention is for all the ASCII images that show up every other page or so. Apparently the Japanese have taken it to an entirely new level than the rest of the western world, as there is no way I could ever concieve and implement the small scenes they create using only keyboard characters (such as =/\{} and the like). They're neat and a g