電車男 tells the story of a Japanese Otaku (nerd) who falls in love with a girl he meets on a train, and overcomes his nerdy nature to ask her out and blah blah blah. Very standard romance stuff. So why am I writing about it? Well, the gimmick of the film is that we see the posts the kid made asking strangers over famous Japanese message board 2channel what to do next, and throughout the film we meet a few of these faceless helpers. The mix of classic love film and contemporary internet team spirit (if that even exists?) leads to a lovely, enjoyable film. What makes it even better is that it’s based on a true story.
Whilst I have to admit ‘Hermes’ the girl (named after the brand of cups she sends to train man for saving her from a drunk businessman on a train) kind of annoyed me, it didn’t really impact on the film simply because of the outstanding performance of Takayuki Yamada, who played train man. At the start of the film he was so convincing in his stuttering, stumbling and heavy breathing I actually found myself becoming embarrassed for him. His body language and facial expressions were pretty convincing too – I genuinely found myself feeling sorry for him throughout the film.
The other element I want to talk about is meeting the other posters who help Train Man in his quest. Whilst at the start of the film you don’t really know much about them, just seeing their faces as they type and react to train man’s ongoing story, after a while they get more and more screen time, and it actually puts across a really heart breaking point. The kid who never leaves his room or talks to anyone (referred to in Japanese as the hikikomori phenomenon) takes train man’s story to heart and begins to reflect on his life. The fact it’s such a small part of the film is a shame but it does introduce a very real and serious problem in a great way. That’s not to say the film is serious – without giving too much away, the ‘war flashback’ scenes of three of the nerds had me cracking up on a constant basis.
Overall Densha Otoko is a wonderful film which plays nicely on the otaku geek image without being too scornful. Wholly recommended, and if anyone knows any other similar films, gimme the lowdown in the comments!
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To be honest I didn’t understand a lot of the film – the scenes with the boys pretending to be soldiers, and the significance of ‘Hermes’ brand cups. Are they famous in Japan???
You should watch the series – although I haven’t seen the film, the series had a lot in it, hard to see how they could cut it down to 90mins or whatever. The guy who plays Yamada in the series is painfully embarassing as well…
P.S. When are you heading back out to Japan? I’ll be there mid June til end of July if you are around.
Synch: I think it was to create a sort of visual role for the soldier boys. They would have been a bit dull if they just sat at their computer in every scene.
Tom C: Not seen the series, might have to check it out. I’m back to Tokyo in September for a year. Maybe next year?
I loved Densha Otoko. Cheesy, as most modern J-movies are, but classic.
Not really in the same vein, but for heartwarming J-movies to watch next, I’d try Always三丁目
David: Yeah, it was cheesy. GLORIOUSLY cheesy :D I’ll try to get my hands on Always三丁目, then!