Who would have thought that a movie about people chatting over the internet would be interesting? Well, Train Man managed to show that online chats can be entertaining. It is a fast paced romantic comedy starring Takayuki Yamada as Densha Otoko or the Train Man and Miki Nakatani as Hermes, his love interest.
I previously wrote about Train Man the Series and Train Man the Book a few months ago. I completed the Densha Otoko triumvirate when I finally got the chance to watch its movie version. The movie version was a condensed version of the drama series. As expected it focused on Train Man and Hermes alone. It did have subplots featuring some of the netizens but they are not as detailed as in the series.
The story revolved around Train Man and how he overcomes his lack of social skills to win the heart of a mysterious girl he met in the train. Mysterious is what Hermes is in the movie because the character is undeveloped and if I didn’t read the book or watched the series I would conclude that their love story is unbelievable.
Most of the time the movie shows how Train Man logged into an online forum to ask for love advices. We only see Hermes whenever he meets up with her. This is one of the reasons why I thought their love story is forced. Plus in my own opinion, I find the drama series Hermes (Ito Misaki) prettier than her movie counterpart.
Train Man is one of the funniest romantic comedies I’ve seen that didn’t have to resort to toilet humor for its laughs unlike the recent Hollywood flicks. It’s an inspiring movie for all ages. If you’re new to Train Man, I suggest watching this movie first as a backgrounder, then read the book, and watch the drama series.
