http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=5930
Trainman (Densha Otoko), a love-story original born on the popular 2 Channel message board, and later published by Shinchou, is going to receive four completely separate manga adaptations for serialization in four competing magazines.
Trainman, which captured the public attention on 2 Channel in March of 2004, tells the story of a 22-year old otaku who is interested in "Miss Hermes," an attractive young woman he saved from an annoying drunk on the train on his way home from Akihabara.
On 2 Channel, "Trainman" sought advice from fellow-otaku on how he should approach Miss Hermes and reported back on the progress of his relationship, while receiving encouragement from hundreds of online well-wishers.
A collection of these posts, spanning a period of 2 months, was published by Shinchou in autumn 2004 , and sold 260,000 copies in just 3 weeks and half a million copies in 2 months. In the process, the story garnered the attention of several manga anthologies, leading to a rather unique situation...
Not only is Trainman the first successful novel to be created from Internet message board postings (although there are some similarities with the situation in My Sassy Girl), but it is now also the first novel to be independently adapted into four different manga for serialization in four different manga anthologies at roughly the same time.
Three shonen magazines will serialize the story, while one shoujo magazine will publish it as a one-shot. Young Champion Magazine from Akita Shoten was the first to market, with their first installment published in their December 28th issue, followed by Shogakukan's Weekly Young Sunday Magazine on January 6th and then Monthly Champion RED Magazine (also from Akita Shoten) on January 19th. Shoujo magazine Dessert, published by Kodansha, plans to release a one-shot adaptation in their spring issue.
The editorial department of Young Champion explained their aim: "We were interested in the idea of a tale of friendship born on an anonymous message board on the net, being a subject suitable for manga and reflecting the present".
The editorial department of Young Sunday says "Even if there are others doing the same story, due to each Manga artists different style of expression, the content will be different."
Regarding fees due to the original creator of a work when it is adapted into a manga or anime, the concerned parties have stated that they intend to contribute the money to a fund for earthquake victims in Chuetsu, Niigata.
It's currently unknown, and the subject of widespread speculation, as to whether Trainman actually had a real life relationship with "Miss Hermes" or if the story expressed on 2 Channel was an elaborate piece of fiction, a hoax.
>>201
Yes, he was a big big big crybaby! :D
Agreed, it took him forever to get used to being around her. I guess some people have the problem :\
i just saw the movie the other day and it was amazing! it had a great storyline and, in my opinion, was very believable. there is a good number of people there like Densha-kun. i lived in Tokyo for a period of time and saw first hand that there is no shortage of Otakus and drunk businessmen there. i remember one specific occasion where there was an obnoxious drunkard on the train with me. he wasn't starting any trouble but he was very loud and it was obvious that everyone there was bothered by him.
This movie was well developed and the people in it were great. Even if you have visited or want to visit Japan it gets you excited all over again. I especially liked the ending song in the credits by Orange Range. The beat, and lyrics fit the movie nicely.
about what specifically?
I agree, but I think the novel and movie are decent. The dorama just kinda sucks. It's adding wayy too many made-up aspects.
can people stop saying "dorama"?
"terebi" dorama.
Kitaaaaaaaaaa
moe~~
this thread is kinda lonely...
Husky x Medley is similar idea, but yuri version, for those interested ^^
A story of fantasy made true by the mysterious magic of love; this kind of story, is it really far-fetch to think that things like this can actually happen in real life?
Personally, I love the fact that, while the Japanese idolize a man for falling love with a girl met on a train, Americans idolize a bearded crackhead for beating the shit out of a black guy on a bus.
EBM.
Internet culture?
There are a lot of people.
There are a lot of ism and hobby.
I started watching the drama again. Also posting this from a train.
Incase you all haven't read it already, and I'd recommend it highly, here are the translations of the 2ch threads. It is an amazing read, you feel like you're really there, I don't think the book/movie/TV series really does the legacy justice. If this story was true, I'm kind of scared for Train. What happened to him? Is he still together with Hermes? And does he know about all of this catching on?
>>222
Woops, forgot link: http://www.rinji.tv/densha/
Hey, in that manga there is a photo at http://10ch.org/amezou/linkgazou.cgi/www.mangarush.com/manga/husky-and-medley/v-1/4/p-21#
but it has been edited and looks like crap, plus I suspect it is not at its original resolution. Do you happen to have the original? Or if you don't do you know where I should go to look for it?
Does the evil of commercialism have no bounds?
just today I saw the drama and movie Densha Otoko
really a very good love story ...
I hope Densha and Hermes happy until now
Densha is happy, don't worry
I'm still curious ....where are they now....?