Love on the Line: A Heartfelt Review of “Train Man”

Plot Summary:  

Directed by Shôsuke Murakami, Train Main is a romantic-comedy movie centered on the coincidental romantic journey of a 22-year-old otaku, living in Akihabara, Japan. The opening scenes show a virtual reality on a computer screen. It eventually switches to the bustling Akihabara and follows the young adult male lead. He is seen browsing a “Rental Shows” shop, specifically at the figurines encased in glass. He then boards the train per usual but is bumped into and drops his figurines and is made fun of. A young woman rushes onto the train and the young man is awed by her beauty. A drunk man is bothering two older ladies and then starts harassing the young woman. He initially ignores the interaction, but even though he was scared, he stands up to the drunk salaryman. Police officers eventually show up and take the drunk man away. The scene then shifts to an online web forum where he is telling his story on an anonymous community board.

He introduces himself to the group chat as a 22-year-old man who has never once had a girlfriend. He also calls himself, “an anime and manga otaku, a denizen of Akihabara.” His online username is Train Man. The scene then shifts to a young schoolgirl asleep on his shoulder. A small beige wallet falls on the ground, and he picks it up. He gives it to the girl, and once she wakes up, he leaves in a hurry. He then tells what happens after the drunk encounter. He goes with the young woman and the two older ladies to the police station to recount what occurred on the train. The two older ladies ask for his name and address, and the young woman does as well.  

At work, he is shown to be an outcast who usually helps with tech support and is knowledgeable about computers, as he easily closes down a virus on one of his coworkers’ computers. He is completely left out of the conversation when his coworker asks about a dating get-together event. He is also completely ignored when a young woman is handing out samples for Men’s Water. When he arrives back home, a package is there from the young woman on the train. It is a fancy set of glass cups from a famous and expensive company, Hermes. With the encouragement from his group chat, he takes the first step and calls her to thank her for the cup set and ask her out to dinner.  

He receives a lot of advice from the group chat and goes out to get a complete makeover: new clothes, new haircut, and new contacts. Train Man also visits the restaurant prior to the appointment and taste tests the food. The young woman, called Hermes, by the group chat, takes a phone call, and he perceives it as a bad sign. On the way back home on the train, she hints that her dinner appointment got cancelled, so that he would ask her out on a date. After gathering enough courage, he eventually asks. They always split the bill, and during their next date, they become restaurant-testing buddies. After that, he meets her female friend, and it is clear that she has positive feelings towards him. He recommends the movie, The Matrix, to her afterwards, and they pick it up at a rental movie store. They then walk home together and say goodnight over the phone.  

The biggest question on everyone’s minds is if she is seeing anyone romantically. He is invited to her house to drink some tea with the new cups. When he arrives, he is so nervous when he finds out that she is single that he dumps too many sugar cubes into his tea. A very interesting scene follows with some of the group chat members going to try the fancy tea served and talked about, Benoist. One of the group chat members, a normal-looking office worker, brings back the tea to his wife, who is also part of the group chat. The critical young man in the group chat also decides to eat his mother’s cooking after not leaving his room for a long time. Train Man has a nightmare on the train that Hermes rejects him and screams aloud scaring the people on the train. He sets up a “perfect” date for the location to be ruined. While he is desperately searching for another great place, Hermes is left alone and gets harassed by a random group of guys. She leaves abroad for work, and he tries to do what he knows best and picks out a good computer for her.  

He puts a ton of work into writing notes for her to pick the best one. She keeps refusing his calls due to work-related issues. He stands in the rain waiting for her, gives her the parcel, and then leaves disheartened. Train Man falls hopeless, thinking that they live in two separate worlds from each other. He goes into a long train scene montage where he apologizes to the people in his group chat who have supported him throughout the entire interaction. After some time of self-wallowing, the group chat yells at him to get it together and go after her. He regains a sense of confidence and bravery and runs to find her and see her. He first heads to her house, and the parents say she went to buy a computer. After running, he sheds off all of the “makeover” clothes and reverts back to his plain but truthful self. She eventually finds him, and they have a touching reunion.  

Train Man confesses, and she responds positively. They share a meaningful kiss and become a couple. After they become a couple, the rest of the people in the group chat become motivated again in their lives and put in effort for themselves. The couple in the group chat become closer and more romantic, the critical young man finally leaves his room and meets a pretty girl his age, the nurse lets go of her love, and the trio decides to assimilate slightly into the mainstream workforce. Flashforward, Train Man finds another otaku who steps in to save a woman from a drunkard. It reflects himself. At the very end, it is revealed that Hermes knew of Train Man from the scene where he picks up the fallen wallet (as the wallet was actually hers).  

Personal Thoughts:

The protagonist of Train Man is representative of the culture in Akihabara itself. The movie expresses the feelings of being an outcast with little or no chance of romance. Many of the characters portrayed are trying to suppress feelings or emotions and live rather numbly. The group chat is a means of escape, but it becomes one of the greatest forms of support for the young man pursuing a completely out-of-the-norm romance. His life, in a way, is a sort of pillar for all otakus in Akihabara—that there is hope!  

Some of the major themes in this movie include societal exclusion and inclusion, faithful self-expression, and tech-based representation through online web forums. It was clear that once Train Man became closer to what the normal Japanese working population looked like, he was invited out more, recognized to be a suitable customer for products, and taken more seriously. Although he was “included” since he became more socially and societally “conventional,” the only one he cared about was Hermes. The more he conformed, the more he lost who he was.  

Eventually, he regained the parts about himself that made him unique, which was what had initially attracted Hermes to begin with. A much more encompassing theme took hold of the story, however. An interesting detail included was one of the final scenes where another otaku saved another young woman. It is as if almost the movie was saying that anyone could be the Train Man, not just this one particular young man. He was a beacon of hope for other otakus to follow in his place.  

My absolute favorite aspect of this movie was that Hermes never judged Train Man for his status as an “outsider." She always saw him for who he was and genuinely enjoyed his presence and his interests. Love, in this case, overcame stereotypes.