Densha Otoko

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Densha Otoko ( Japanese電車 男, Zugmann ) is an allegedly true story about the Japanese otaku being (fans living in isolation), which was picked up and spread by other media based on the Internet and which gives an insight into the development of Japanese media society.

Emergence

Densha Otoko started on March 14, 2004 as a thread in the largest Internet forum in the world, the Japanese web forum 2channel (Japanese ni channeru ). A 22-year-old anime and computer game Otaku with the nickname Densha Otoko (電車 男, train man ) asked other otakus for help: he had saved a beautiful woman from a drunk grabber on the train. The following series of meetings with the woman working as a secretary - who gave him valuable "Hermes" branded porcelain bowls because of his heroic intervention and was therefore called Hermes (エ ル メ スerumesu ) - prompted him to get tips on the Internet for her To conquer heart.

The romantic story immediately met with great sympathy among the forum visitors, and their current status was closely followed. Densha Otoko worked on his appearance and behavior on the basis of many tips and hints and gradually emerged from his seclusion. After a few weeks he had enough courage to declare his love for Hermes. The news that the two were now a couple sparked great enthusiasm in the 2channel thread. The last postings were made on May 9, 2004, the last message from Densha Otoko was " minna arigatō " (み ん な あ り が と う, thanks to everyone ).

Doubt about authenticity

There are different views on the authenticity of Densha Otoko . Doubters are of the opinion that the initial situation was a made up story or an Internet experiment that later became a sure-fire success. Others, however, claim that the story really happened in every detail, such as the producers of the television series, who say they had contact with the real Densha Otoko but never proved it.

Publications

The story of Densha Otoko and Hermes led, due to its great popularity in Japan, to the publication of a novel, its implementation as four different manga series, a feature film and a television series .

The TV series

From July 7, 2005 to September 22, 2005, an 11- part Densha Otoko television series was broadcast on the Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV . There were also two more episodes: Another Ending (October 6, 2005) and the two-hour episode Densha Otoko Deluxe (September 23, 2006).

The series, produced with great technical effort, emphasizes the computer affinity of those involved and contains numerous insider allusions to various Japanese otaku directions:

  • For scene changes and in the story itself - just like in the original Internet posts - graphics composed of letters ( ASCII art ) are used.
  • The opening credits contain references to the short anime Daicon IV , which the operators of the anime studio GAINAX produced for the SF convention DAICON before the studio was founded .
  • The song in the opening credits of the first episode is “Mr. Roboto ”from Styx . The following opening credits use the song "Twilight" by the group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) , which was also the accompanying music in the opening video of the Daicon IV science fiction convention and was chosen as a homage to it.
  • The actress Toda Keiko, who plays Densha Otoko's mother in the eleventh episode, was the voice actress for a main character in the first series of the anime series Gundam .

The movie

A Densha Otoko cinema film, which was released in Japan in June 2005, was completed in just 25 days of shooting . The film grossed 3.7 billion yen (approx. 26.5 million euros) and was ranked 6th in the list of the most successful cinema films in Japan in 2005.

Manga

  • Train Man - Densha Otoko by Hidenori Hara , 3 volumes
  • Densha Otoko - Demo, ore tabidatsu yo. (電車 男 で も 、 俺 旅 立 つ よ。) by Wataru Watanabe (渡 辺 航Watanabe Wataru ), 3 volumes
  • Densha Otoko - Ganbare Docu Otoko! (電車 男 が ん ば れ 毒 男!) By Daisuke Michiya (道家 大 輔Michiya Daisuke ), 3 volumes
  • Densha Otoko - Bijo to Junjō Otaku Seinen no Net Hatsu Love Story (電車 男 - 美女 と 純情 ヲ タ ク 青年 の ネ ッ ト 発 ラ ブ ブ ス ト ー リ ー) by Machiko Ocha (御 茶 ま ち こOcha Machiko ), 1 volume

novel

Web links