Densha Otoko: The Story of the Train Man Who Fell in Love with a Girl, Volume 1

Densha Otoko #1

by Wataru Watanabe, Hitori Nakano

When a nerdy geek meets a girl on a train and he does not know how to talk to her, he posts an urgent query on the Internet, follows the advice that he is given, and keeps the Internet forum involved in every step of the relationship.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Graphic Novels, Comics, Slice Of Life

182 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2006

About the author

Wataru Watanabe（ 渡辺航 ）is manga artist of Japan.

Reviews

[Noran Miss Pumkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing -true life story manga about the author. Boy meets girl, boy knows nothing how to court girl-so he turns to community message/chat board for advice and support!!! I adore the drawing-especially the panels, where the other chatters are reading the poor guy's posts. It is like their cyber soap opera-which they get to be interactive with. The girl seems to be dropping hints, like snow outsider my window right now, or is she just being nice and polite-like how the snow looks-before you go out into it!?!

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

sooooo boring.

[Francine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Densha Otoko/"Train Man" is one of those series that really stayed with me since young adulthood. It's a very romantic story, about an intensely shy geeky boy who defends a girl from a drunk on the train and has to gather all his courage in order to ask the girl out on a date. Courage is one of the most important themes, as are the bonds between people - Train's courage comes from the encouragement (ha!) of his online community.

I watched the dorama TV series when I was 18, with a boy who I had a crush on. Then I read the book and one of the manga series (this one). A year or so ago I bought a second manga series (the one by Hidenori Hara), but I've not read it yet. I've been a little scared to revisit this series: I read it when I had just started getting into the medium and wasn't as critical about creative media as I am now. My interests have also changed a bit, as I've gotten older. I was afraid that the story of Densha Otoko wouldn't be as good as I remembered it.
But it still is. I even teared up a couple of times.

[Anders K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always found the cultural phenomena of the Train Man (one of the first mega popular online blogs) and it's many adaptations interesting. as a side note though given the rise of incel culture it is amazing how quaint the "Poisonous Men of 2Chan" are.

[Nicole Bg · Rating 5 out of 5]

He just like me frrr

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this years ago and it floated around on my book shelves. I was surprised at the story. I thought it was a romance and it is, but, it's more than that. I don't really like writing about what the story is about (especially in a manga) so, I will say this is a cute little story that had me smiling almost the whole way through. I just wished that I had read it sooner. Didn't know it was vol. 1 until the end. Wish I could get the rest.

Buzzwordathons 2024
March 2024; character name in title

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

review for all three volumes

One part of Densha Otoko struck me as kinda sad. I’m not sure how I feel about the changes he went through to become a more generically attractive dude in order to be more appealing to the girl. On the one hand he definitely did need to grow up a little, but it was kinda sad that he felt the need to change so much about himself. His interests, his random knickknacks and such all had to go. It was just kinda sad that he couldn't be loved as he was, he had to give up his hobbies as well as get a fancy haircut and clothes to be loved.

That said, I thought it was pretty good on the whole, a very cute story. I liked the enthusiasm the forum people generated and I did find myself rooting for him like I was one of the forum folks several times. I liked the “final battle” aspect and how she saw he was having trouble and helped him along. It was a sweet story.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! Follows the story of nerdy "Train Man" who meets a beautiful girl and saves her from a drunk. What follows is his attempt at romancing her when he barely knows how to talk to her! Luckily for Train, he has an online forum where he posts all the latest details of his romance and asks for advice. Very cute manga. I liked seeing all the different people from the chat forum group together to support Train! :)

[Kristy Buzbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rented this because I loved the movie Train_man (which is what Densha Otoko means). This one is cute, though the art is simple and unspectacular. Also, I liked the movie more because the characters were in their twenties - I think in this they're like high school students, and look like ten-year-olds. It's cute enough though, and only 3 volumes, so I'll probably rent the rest.

[Pam Z (Pam's Shenanigans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read Train Man (the novel) but the books is so expensive and i tried searching for an ebook version but failed so i tried reading the manga version instead! I liked it! Such an interesting story. I will try and read another version of Densha Otoko (and by another version, i meant another illustrator: Hara Hidenori)

[Karaoke OK · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Series Length: 3 volumes / Read: volumes 1-2]

Artist: Wataru Watanabe

(Would you like me to post a short review of this series? Feel free to place a request in my GoodReads InBox. Thanks!)

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute manga rendition of the Densha Otoko story.

[Fery Ardiaga Putra]

good

[Muhammad Zainon]

saye nak bace tapi xleh (T.T)

[Marianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars out of 5.

Adorable retelling of the Densha Otoko story.