Densha Otoka / Train Man (2005)

My finals are over! Whoooooo!!!!!

Now I get to relax and watch as many movies as I want. And I just watched a great movie to kick off my summer.So here i go!

I just freakin' love romantic comedies. Scoff at me as much as you like but I just love a great romance with with lots of laughs. What's even better than a romantic comedy? A romantic comedy that circles around a geek.

"Densha Otoka" highlights the lonely tribulations of a geek. Meet a geek named Densha. He is a painfully and awkwardly shy geek. He spends his days huddling in his IT desk corner, oogling the aisles of anime figurine stores at night. He's hunches as he walk, hair that flops over his eyeglasses, carries a backpack, and wears sneakers. You get the picture.

One night on the train, he sees a girl that catches his eye. She's serene and simply beautiful. He ducks away from her glances until a belligerent drunk harasses her. To the surprise of himself, the passengers, and the pretty girl he stands up the drunk. From there begins the attraction.

Except wait. This is a geek. A geek who can barely even glance at a person let alone, gasp, a girl! What's a geek to do but to lean on his chatroom/website buddies under his screen name: train_man. Lucky for him, he has some kind website buddies because they help him every single step of the way. From calling her up until the crucial moment.


For once, there is a romantic movie about a geek that doesn't make fun of his quirks in a mean-spirited way that Hollywood tends to do. It's not exaggerated or insulting. His geekiness is portrayed as an extension of his defenses to his vulnerable, sweet nature. There are some funny moments, but just like most of the movie, it's cute and sweet.

It was such a a great movie! I seriously never cried from happiness from watching a romantic comedy in a very long time. No joke, I had tears of happiness stinging my eyes. I was clutching my throw pillow as I wiggled from giddiness. All I was thinking was "This. is. so. romantic!!!!"

I just love Densha. Love. Love. Love him!!! He's so painfully shy but he's so cute and sweet. And absolutely romantic in a geeky way!!!!! He goes out of his way to show her his love. One of the first "Awwww" moments came when he asked his website buddies to help get ready for his first date. And he takes every advice to heart. When they advise him to research the restaurant, he not only visits but takes picture of each dish on his phone. They advise him to lose as much of the geekiness appearance as possible so he goes through an intense makeover that spits out a very, very, very, cute Densha! Sigh...

To curb my gushing on Densha, the rest of the movie is just simply sweet and awesome. Every character in the movie is relatable and lovable. You get to know almost every character involved with Densha in the movie. The website buddies become more dimensional and fleshed out. It makes it so more fulfilling as you see how much they care for the success of Densha. How these strangers to him and one another support in his quest for love. Dammit that is awesome.

One thing that alot of other reviewers point out is that this movie plays out the romantic comedy sans sex. So many american hollywood movies seem to believe that to make a romantic comedy valid, it must have level of sexual escapades. Which I do enjoy, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it's nice just to focus on the romance.

I'll say it once, I'll say it again. If you want a great, romantic partner, date a geek. They know how to appreciate a woman.

And yes, I do speak from experience. ;)