|
| Get plugged in to the latest Japanese TV dramas. |
| Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | HOME | NEWS | ANIME | JPOP | MANGA | VIDEO GAMES | CINEMA | FORUMS | CHAT | FRIENDS | MAIL |
Top | Previous Seasons | Retailers | Contact | Links | Drama Forum
 Itou Atsushi <<Yamada Tsuyoshi |
 Itou Misaki <<Aoyama Saori |
 Shiraishi Miho <<Jinkama Misuzu |
 Satou Eriko <<Sawazaki Kaho |
 Sudou Risa <<Mizuki Yuuko |
 Hayami Mokomichi <<Keisuke |
 |
This drama is based on a novel that has been a huge hit over the last year. It was also made into a movie playing in theatres now. All three versions of "densha otoko" (the novel, movie, and drama) tell the same basic story a little differently. I've only read short excerpts of the novel, but I did go out to a theatre and see the movie. I'm going to be talking specifically about the drama throughout this feature, but I will also throw in some comparison with the movie since I think there are a lot of interesting differences between the two.
The protagonist of the drama is Yamada Tsuyoshi (Itou Atsushi). He is introduced as a dorky "otaku" who hangs out in Akihabara - the electronics and dork center of Tokyo. People who hang out in Akihabara are referred to as "Akiba-kei" and are considered to be dorky and uncool. The drama opens with some very real scenes of Akihabara (accompanied by STYX's "Mr. Roboto" no less) with otaku walking around carrying bags of various geeky goods. In most dramas, only very beautiful and clean parts of Tokyo are shown - giving an overly nice image of Tokyo, so these scenes of the real Akihabara featured here seem very real in comparison to the usual drama scenery.
 |
Yamada hangs out with his two otaku friends in Akihabara, and worships a fictional anime character named "Miina". He isn't very socially adept and often has trouble expressing himself through words. It goes without saying that he's never had a girlfriend.
One night, Yamada is on a train back from Akihabara, carrying bags full of goods sporting manga illustrations of cute girls. Sitting across the aisle from him is Aoyama Saori (Itou Misaki) who is a beautiful girl from a wealthy family. Yamada falls in love with her at first sight, but he thinks that because he is an otaku - and looks like an obvious one at that - that he can never even have the opportunity to speak with a girl such as her.
 |
The scene is interrupted by a rude, noisy drunk on the train, played by none other than Izumiya Shigeru. (He is the perfect man for the part, and is frequently typecast as drunk old men.) He makes quite a ruckus and begins bothering and insulting everyone on the train - including Yamada. When he sees Saori, he fixes his attention on her and tries to give her sexual attention which she absolutely doesn't want. The people on the train are too frightened and worried about themselves to stop the drunken man, but it is Yamada who finally stands up and stammers "St-Stop it." This draws the drunk's attention away from Saori and toward Yamada. They tangle pathetically for a short while, until someone comes to help and the train conductors come and escort the drunk from the train.
Yamada, Saori, and other bystanders are taken to the station office to give a report of what happened on the train. After they tell their story and they are free to go, the older women from the train ask Yamada for his address so that they can thank him for his bravery. Yamada almost faints when Saori asks for it too.
 |
Back at home, Yamada wastes no time in telling the story to the users in a chatroom he frequents. Yamada takes the nickname of "densha otoko" and the others in the chatroom become active supporters of him in his romantic life from then on. The scenes in the chatroom are a major part of the drama, and I believe they composed most or all of the novel. The colorful cast of characters in the chatroom are shown typing in front of their computers in their homes - and many of them are played by well-known actors and comedians. Oguri Shun and Tsukaji Muga from the duo "Drunk Dragon" both play characters in the chatroom. Having faces and voices of the people in the chatroom adds a human element that you don't get in actual text-based chatrooms, so it seems to make it understandable that the chatroom works so well as a social outlet for Yamada. Whereas in reality, chatrooms probably aren't the best place to do the kind of interaction that Yamada does in densha otoko. I can't decide whether the Internet is portrayed accurately or not in this drama, but at least the chatroom scenes are usually pretty entertaining to watch due to the colorful cast of characters. And none of seem to have lives either since they're always there in the chatroom when Yamada needs them, seemingly waiting for Yamada to come and tell them about more of his exploits.
 |
Next in the story, Yamada receives a package containing some expensive tea cups from Saori. Her mobile phone number is written on the package, so - prompted by his friends in the chatroom - he decides to call her and invite her to dinner in thanks for the cups. Yamada can hardly get out a straight sentence over the phone, but luckily Saori doesn't seem to notice at all and agrees to have dinner with Yamada.
Next, the people in the chatroom give Yamada tips on how to clean up his appearance for his "date". He has to get rid of his dorky clothes and overgrown hair in place of something more fashionable. And - of course - he has to replace his glasses with contacts. He spends a long time researching before he finds the perfect restaurant to take Saori to.
Saori actually seems to take a liking to Yamada, and believes that he is a brave man who can protect her. She likes his timid way of speaking, and believes that there are few men like him around anymore. Yamada is all the while uneasy when he's with Saori and stumbles over his words constantly, but their relationship continues on steadily from there.
 |
Also, at work, Yamada is tormented by an office lady played by Shiraishi Miho. She is polar opposites with Yamada, and is very flirtatious and cunning. She is having an affair with an older manager at the office, and Yamada somehow gets wrapped up in the mess. Shiraishi sure plays a b$tch in this drama, and she will deliberately torment Yamada even more later on.
So there you have it. It's a very cute story of innocent love between a dork and a princess. Obviously, real-life otaku not unlike Yamada might enjoy watching a fellow otaku succeed against all odds in this romance, but you don't have to be a dork to enjoy this drama. It's for everyone - and above all - it's a story of love and romance at its most innocent, and its message is that its what's inside that counts rather than outward appearances. Still, in reality, this story seems a bit too unlikely to actually happen. The characters of Yamada and Saori both seem almost too innocent for this world, and they both seem almost as if they're from another planet when compared to the more realistic characters around them such as Yamada's sister or Saori's friend Kaho (Satou Eriko). Watching this drama makes me wish that there were more real-life people who are as innocent and kind as these two.
 |
And the other thing that this drama features other than romance in a big way is comedy. Hardly anything in this drama is to be taken very seriously, and there are at least a few scenes in each episode which will have you rolling on the floor laughing. I seriously think this is the funniest drama I've ever seen. There are some scenes that are utterly ridiculous, and well-complimented by the strange BGM accompanying them. There's a scene in the second episode where Yamada is looking for a convenience store so he can buy a charger for his phone, but when he finally finds one, it is being robbed and a SWAT team suddenly arrives and takes control of the scene, while Yamada kicks and screams and continues to try to enter the convenience store so he can buy the stupid charger. And there was a scene in the fourth episode where Yamada is practicing his balance by standing on a skateboard at work, and he ends up rolling across the room, out the door, and down the stairs while taking various bystanders along with him all the way. You've just got to see it. I love how this drama isn't afraid to go way off track in order to create a ridiculous situation.
 |
Now let's compare the drama with the movie. They both tell basically the same story, and there are even a few scenes which are almost word-for-word in the drama and movie, though most are a bit different and it's interesting to see the differences. Obviously, the movie has to tell the same story in a much shorter period of time, so it doesn't have as much depth as the drama. The drama has more characters in the chatroom and shows Yamada's family and friends who were completely skipped over in the movie. And, interestingly, in the movie Yamada and Saori don't even have names and are referred to only by their nicknames: "densha otoko" and "Hermes". Since the drama shows so much of their lives, it would be a little strange if they didn't have actual names. Also, if you just sit back and enjoy the movie, you might forget to notice, but the movie really isn't a comedy like the drama is. It's a dead serious story in the movie.
 "densha otoko" and "Hermes" as casted in the movie version (above) compared with their drama counterparts (below) |
My biggest gripe about the movie would have to be the casting. In short, the cast in the drama is perfect for their roles, and the cast in the movie isn't. In the drama, Itou Atsushi couldn't be more perfect as the densha otoko. He has always played guys who are fairly pathetic, and he isn't bad looking but certainly isn't classified as a "cool" male actor. He works perfectly with the comedy element of the drama too. He was really born to play the part. In the movie, he is played by heart-throb Yamada Takayuki, who is known as one of the coolest young male actors - especially after his role in H2 this winter. He did a surprisingly okay job of playing a dork when he was dressed up as such, and he was pretty good at stuttering and being soft-spoken when delivering his lines. However, after he cleans up his act and cuts his hair, he turns into the usual "cool" Yamada Takayuki, and the feeling of him being an underdog in the game of love is lost considerably since he is so good-looking. Of course, this also makes it a bit more understandable why Hermes would like him so much. I think they cast him as the lead in the movie just to benefit from his popularity so that more people would go to see it. Surprisingly, Yamada Takayuki also makes a short cameo in the drama as the guy who helps "densha otoko" take care of the drunk on the train (you can see this in clip 2). And in reverse, Shiraishi Miho who plays a regular character in the drama also makes a short cameo in the movie.
In the drama, Hermes (Saori) is played by Itou Misaki. Now, I've always been a fan of Itou Misaki and I find it easy to see her placed on the pedestal that she is in this drama. I can understand why Yamada falls in love with her instantly on the train. With the correct makeup and lighting, Itou truly looks like a princess in this drama. In the movie, she is played by Nakatani Miki - who is certainly an attractive woman, but in my opinion doesn't even warrant a comparison with Itou Misaki. And overall, she just looks a little too old - and this is compounded by the fact that Yamada Takayuki looks so young (he usually plays high school students after all). In the movie, it looks like a 19-year old dating a 30-year old, but in the drama they look roughly the same age, though Saori is supposed to be a little older. I think the casting is just right in the drama.
 |
"densha otoko" the movie, wasn't a particularly high-budget film - though the story certainly didn't call for much. It seemed to me that the movie was made on a relatively low budget which is pretty common for Japanese movies. The drama, on the other hand, seems to retain relatively the same level of quality as the movie, and, for a drama, looks like a considerable amount of time and money has been spent (though it can't quite compare to umizaru in budget and cinematography). The amount of care that seems to be taken with each episode is very high, and almost unparalleled in previous dramas. Each episode is unique, and never ceases to be entertaining at every moment. And the number of cameos also leads me to believe that a lot of money and effort was spent on this drama.
So, in case you hadn't realized yet by the unusually long length of this feature, I like this drama a lot. I'll also give a mild recommendation for the movie too, but it's obvious that I prefer the drama. This is some of the most fun that can be had on Japanese TV, and I beg of you all to watch it. There is something here for almost everyone to enjoy whether young or old, male or female, Japanese or non-Japanese, dorky or not dorky... You simply must check out the drama version of densha otoko!
Sample Clip 1 | Sample Clip 2 |
 |
Top | Previous Seasons | Retailers | Contact | Links | Drama Forum
Copyright © 2010 J-Fan
