[...] to Tranquility #2 keeps up with the promise of the first issue. I’m also signed up for Densha Otoko Book [...]

[...] of interest to a wide audience. For instance, I wanted to see this because I’d read the three translated manga versions, but my husband also was interested enough to watch it, although he doesn’t read much [...]

[...] so I’m not sure if it’s worthwhile; Johanna at Comics Worth Reading is going to be your source for sorting through the various versions of this [...]

[...] Also in February, the Train Man: Densha Otoko DVD will be out from Viz. I’ve enjoyed the various manga series enough that this might be something to look for. [...]

I was introduced to Densha through the TV series, which my school’s anime club has been showing. The TV Densha is short and capital-N-Nerdy and cute in a puppy kinda way. And the TV show puts a lot of effort into building up the people on the BBS as characters, with their own personalities and obsessions and problems.

As geeks, we all fell in love with it. On the one hand, some of these characters are SO geeky that it sort of makes us look good by comparison, so it’s reassuring that way. On the other hand, extreme though he sometimes be… Densha’s one of ours. He’s FAMILY. We do see ourselves in his obsessions and his awkwardness and his shelves full of stuff. We recognize him as kin. So we are right in there, part of the community, cheering him on and groaning at the setbacks and shouting advice and telling that miltary fanboy in the fatigues to shut up about fashion advice and roaring with delight when the ASCII artist makes an appearance.

When I read Del Rey’s shoujo version, I was personally kind of disappointed. Densha wasn’t as much of a geek any more. And the other geeks online seemed to have a drastically reduced presence. I missed that feeling of an online community, all the people with their personas and catch phrases and attitudes.

The Douka manga version gave me more of what I wanted. We are introduced to the thread as it was, a place for men to bitch and moan about involuntary celibacy and indulge in a little schadenfreude when somebody has a particularly bad experience. We see Densha sloppily dressed and talking to his bishoujo figurine. We see the other characters reading Densha’s posts, experience it with them, see more characters get added as the thread changes focus, gains popularity and momentum. And I would say the art is the best of the four.

I’m really hoping this version makes it over the Pacific eventually, but failing that, it looks like the Viz version might appeal to me most of the three currently available. Thanks!

I liked the Viz one a little better than the DR one because it showed more details about the dates themselves rather than just descriptions to the MB afterwards.

It is a cute story, except in the CMX one which was lame, and I do want to try the movie when it comes out.

[...] Johanna has been busy lately. At Comics Worth Reading, she compares the three versions of Train Man and reviews vol. 1 of Emma, vols. 1 and 2 of Mushashi #9, vol. 1 of Penguin Revolution, vol. 8 of Gals!, vol. 1 of ES (Eternal Sabbath), and the trade paperback edition of the manga-fied Sabrina the Teenage Witch. [...]