Densha Otoko (電車男, lit. “Train Man”)¹⁾ is a viral love story based on a collection of posts from 2channel's /male/ board, roughly spanning from March 14, 2004²⁾ to May 17, 2004. The “Train Man” used three tripcodes: ◆nm4g8qV1Cg, ◆SgHguKHEFY, and ◆4aP0TtW4HU.

For context, we're told that the “Single Men” board on 2channel had a self-deprecatory thread where men would voluntarily share romantic stories from other boards,³⁾ used slang that implied “love is war”,⁴⁾ and occasionally reported on their own progress for love. This is why the story begins with the protagonist saying that he might “betray” them and find love as well, before telling us the following story:

On March 14, 2004 at 21:25(9:25PM) JST, this anonymous user describes riding the train home from Akihabara, standing up to a drunk that was harassing women.⁵⁾ Two days later, he gets a package with two “luxury” Hermès tea cups as thanks from a woman he stood up for. With the community's support, he manages to ask her out to dinner, and they do this three times.⁶⁾

After the third arrangement, she grabs his hand and asks him to walk her home, inviting him over the next day. The two and her dog ended up being alone at her house, she brewed Benoist tea, and he thinks about buying her a computer.⁷⁾ Then on April 23, 2004, she would hint in an email that she does not have a boyfriend, allegedly due to her being so skinny that people find her unattractive.

He starts thinking about confessing his love, but she's on a vacation for Golden Week. At this point in the story, his tripcode somehow gets leaked, so he changes it on April 27, 2004.⁸⁾ The week after, he decides that it's time. On Saturday, May 8, 2004, having bought a computer, they stop at a bench. He confesses, she confesses back, and they kiss. Congratulations were had.

The summary blog's telling of Densha Otoko would be turned into a novel, published by Shinchosha and released on October 22, 2004. It would be authored by “Hitori Nakano” (中野独人, Nakano Hitori), which is actually a pun on “naka no hitori” (中の一人, lit. “one of us”). Despite having less than 10% of the posts in all the threads combined, this is the most direct retelling of events without going into the raw threads.

A number of manga adaptations followed in early 2005, then two live-action adaptations would be released. Toho would help publish and distribute the Densha Otoko movie on June 4, 2005, then Fuji TV started airing the Densha Otoko television drama which ran from July 7, 2005 to September 25, 2005, but do note that both live-action adaptations diverge from the original story.

The Densha Otoko novel has been translated twice: the first and preferred translation is Project Densha by “Lindsay” in 2005, while the other translation is the awkward “Bonnie Elliott” novel translation that was published by Constable & Robinson in 2006⁹⁾ and Del Rey Books in 2007.¹⁰⁾ For an idea of how these translations differ, below is a chart showing how the first few posts in “Mission 1” were translated.

Meanwhile, Viz Media translated the movie adaptation of Densha Otoko, showing its preview at Anime Expo 2006, then giving it a limited run in “major cities” on September 22, 2006.¹²⁾

In general, Densha Otoko mostly appeals to people unfamiliar with 2channel since, without context, it reads like an online chatroom. The work is praised for its true love story, yet criticized as the male protagonist is urged to abandon his “otaku” hobbies and conform to a “romantically capitalist” relationship. All things aside, it shines light on two major components: real-world dating and anonymous internet advice.

As for its impact, the work is considered to be a turning point for how the public in Japan saw “anime otaku” since the lifestyle was largely stained by a pedophilic serial killer in the late 1980s until 2005. With the release of Densha Otoko and media outlets focusing on shenanigans like the Haruhi Movement, more people became aware of the “anime otaku” lifestyle that it just became normalized.

However, the users who inhabited the “Single Men” board on 2channel didn't appreciate the sudden influx of tourists on a pilgrimage to see where it began, especially when most weren't even single men, so it took a really long time for the board to actually go back to normal. As a result, most 2channel users will challenge its authenticity¹³⁾ or discuss the ethics of profiting off of random posts by anonymous internet users.

• A few of the major “supporting evidence” challenging the story's authenticity are as follows:¹⁴⁾
  • The drunk man incident that allegedly occurred on the Keihin–Tōhoku Line on March 14, 2004 could not be verified, and JR East would neither confirm nor deny.¹⁵⁾
  • It's argued that “Train Man” was not actually in his 20s as he says “dial” (ダイアル, daiaru),¹⁶⁾ not “call” (電話する, denwasuru), and his interests reportedly suits someone in his 40s.
  • His tripcode usage is odd. He picks up a tripcode in the eighth thread on March 21st,¹⁷⁾ changes it on March 24th,¹⁸⁾ then claims that it leaked on April 27th and changes it again.¹⁹⁾ This leak is peculiar as the only evidence is a “test” post and, considering the website's anonymous nature, we do not see the leaked password or a slew of fake posts under his previous tripcode.
• “Train Man” mentioned that his friends say he looks like Moomin,²⁰⁾ so most threads would be titled: “Moomin Gave Me a Pointy Hat” (とんがり帽子をくれたムーミン, Tongaribōshi o kureta Mūmin).
• It should be noted that the two have known each other for 55 days when they confess, so it could be debated whether this is actually love or infatuation based on the information provided.
• After the confession, “Train Man” is seen on another board and details having sex with her.²¹⁾ This was not recorded in the summary blog and most readers critique these posts as bad erotica.
• Some of the novels were released under the pen name “Jūnin Itano” (板野住人, Itano Jūnin) instead. This is an extremely obvious pun on “board resident” (板の住人, Ita no Jūnin).
• Densha Otoko did get Napoleon Dynamite renamed to Bus Man (バス男, Basu Otoko) for its initial 2006 DVD release in Japan, solely because Napoleon was a nerd that happen to be on a bus in the start of the movie. However, the move was widely criticized that Fox actually changed the name back to Napoleon Dynamite in 2013 and apologized for hopping on the Densha Otoko trend.²²⁾

• Dokuo

• Densha Otoko - The original summary blog that the Densha Otoko book is based on.
  • Densha Otoko (Project Densha) - The preferred English translation of Densha Otoko.
  • Densha Otoko @ 2ch-Library - Thread archive for Densha Otoko.
  • Densha Otoko @ All Past Logs - Thread archive for Densha Otoko that is a bit critical.
• Densha Otoko on Pixiv Encyclopedia
• Densha Otoko on Niconico Encyclopedia