# 99

99: Densha Otoko/Train Man (2005)

Takayuki Yamada (Densha Otoko), Miki Nakatani (Hermes)

Every fall the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana holds an Asian Film Festival. I attended the film fest in 2008 and while all of the selections were excellent—this film was far and away my favorite. Train Man is based on the true story of a 23 year old “otaku” (which translates loosely to geek or nerd) who was riding the subway in Tokyo when a drunken man in a suit started harassing a young woman. The otaku stands up to the drunk and tells him to leave her alone. The young lady and two other observers all thank the Train Man and one of the subway personnel tells them that the police would like to hear their story. The young woman asks for Train Man’s contact info saying she would like to send him a small thank you gift. Train Man goes home and posts on a bulletin board site about how he met a woman on the subway. A few days later Train Man receives a package: a pair of Hermés cups and saucers. In Japan it is very common to give gifts to say thank you, or to give gifts when you are invited to someone’s home etc.; there’s even an area in the major department stores in Japan which are dedicated to these types of gifts. The fact that she sent him a thank you gift is protocol in Japan, but the fact that she gave him Hermés? Well that’s special; the Japanese are very label conscious but particularly in Tokyo. Encouraged by the thread followers from the bulletin board, Train Man asks Hermés to dinner. As their courtship continues Train Man is posting the play by play on the bulletin board and a LOT of people are reading and responding and keeping tabs on this thread. Supposedly the real life Train Man thread lasted 57 days and had over 29,000 posts. The film indicates the massive amount of followers in the beginning of the film then uses 7 characters to represent the entire audience: a young brokenhearted nurse, three gaming geeks, a young boy who is cooped up in his room, a young woman in her kitchen, and a young businessman. This is where the film separates itself from the myriad of other charming boy meets girl films. These seven characters that egg Train Man on in his quest to win the lovely Hermés are the heart and soul of the film. Some of the most hilarious and poignant moments in the film are not with the two protagonists but with these 7 supporting characters. There are a few really clever devices used in the film—the clicking of words being typed on a screen that appear in store windows, or when the super geeks are at the fancy tea room and the business man is at another table and though they see each other they don’t know that they were both drawn there by the Train Man thread which they are all following. At some parts the film gets almost schmaltzy but I tend to think some of it is due to the translation into English. The climactic scene in which the 7 thread followers confront Train Man in an empty subway station is my favorite—and there’s a really neat reveal when one of the thread followers leaves her kitchen…just trust me. At the end of the film I’m not only wanting a happy ending for Train Man and Hermés, but I’m wanting a happy ending for the 7 people who are following Train Man’s thread. The best stories are those in which the primary character or characters are transformed and Train Man certainly falls into that category.

If you like this film I also recommend the following films which do not appear in the Lisa’s Top 100:

17 Again (2009)

Leap Year (2010)