2 REVIEWS: Densha Otoko: The Story of the Train Man Who Fell in Love With A Girl, Vol 1 + TRAIN_MAN:Densha Otaku, Vol 1

Today's victims are:

Densha Otoko: The Story of the Train Man Who Fell in Love With A Girl, Vol 1

-Hitorio Nakano and Wataru Watanabe

and:

Train_Man: Densha Ototko, Vol 1

- Hidenori Hoti

Those “in the know” (or those “without a life”) are probably familiar with the “train man” story that’s been popular in Japan for the last few years. For those of you who are not, the (apparently true) story is thus: while riding a Tokyo train, an introverted comic book fanboy finds the courage to stand up to a rowdy drunk that’s been bothering the female passengers – one very pretty young woman in particular, who sends him a pair of teacups as a token of thanks. Thinking that this is the end of their connection, he mentions this to some dudes on a chatboard for lonely single guys – but when they find out the teacups are actually high-end Hermes china, it’s clear that she’s romantically interested in him! Totally confused and social inept, “Train Man” must turn to his online buddies for advice on how to woo “Hermes-san” without letting his awkwardness scare her away.

This story has apparently struck a chord with the Japanese, who’ve turned it into a movie, TV show, and several different mangas – thus the comparison between the two titles. Nakano and Wantanabe’s version is a little more cartoonish and “slap-sticky” than Hoti, who favored a more mature and laid back approach, which I even found reflected in their art – Nakano and Wantanabe rely on the crisp, youthful modern style, whereas Hoti’s art has a more classic manga feel (think of Love Hina versus Maison Ikkoku) Likewise, Nakano and Wantanabe spend a lot of time focusing on the reactions and thoughts of Train_Man’s online peers/fans; Hori streamlines the narrative somewhat by not emphasizing Train-Man’s online conversations as much.

I could easily say that N + W’s work is meant for teens, and H’s for more casual/adult readers, but I’m just gonna say that the obvious choice is to read them both – not just to see what style works for you, but as an exercise in comparing art and narrative styles in Manga.

For those of you interested in learning more about the "real" story behind these works, I've included the link to a Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densha_Otoko