A weekly look into American otaku culture

A year ago a major phenomenon hit Japan that completely changed otaku culture as we know it. It went by the name of Train Man (Densha Otoko), and was just a simple story about a nerd turning to the Internet to find advice on wooing over the girl of his dreams. Back in September, I wrote a post about the story behind the Train Man, how it was popular in Japan, and just why I feel it made the kind of impact it did. I encourage you all to read it, since this post is a follow up. The question that this blogger is asking is when the Train Man debuts in the US this fall, will it have the same kind of impact that it did in Japan? I have a feeling that it can, provided that companies make some very smart choices on how to adapt it for the American otaku culture.

In my previous post, I mentioned at how the story had been adapted into a novel, motion picture, TV show, and four different manga series. Today it was announced from Del Rey that they will be the third US manga company to release a Train Man manga series. The previous two companies, Viz Media and CMX, are planing to release their versions this October, followed shortly by Del Rey in November. Three competing companies showing an interest in the same thing should be a sign that the industry is taking this Train Man thing pretty seriously. Could they be considering this to be the sleeper hit that the industry needs right now? I believe so.

Notice how Del Rey is choosing to release their series along side the other two. This is a great marketing strategy. When three different versions of the same story hit the store shelves at relatively the same time, people will notice it. When online review sites receive the three copies, they will most likely compare and contrast each one to the other two. But most of all, when your average manga shopper goes to his or her local bookstore, they are going to see the name “Train Man” written on three different book spines with three different branding labels right next to each other. This is going to catch the eye of many people. The question from that point is how can these companies maintain that interest in the product? That is where the problem lies.

I believe that one of the most interesting aspects is the story behind the story, how this was all created through the collected efforts of the internet community. But even if you tell them the whole story, can the foreign audience understand it? No one in America knows what 2-ch is, not even anime fans. Internet message boards are so vastly different between the two countries that one would need to be educated on 2-ch alone just to be able to fully grasp the story. Otherwise, people will start reading this “Internet Romance” story, and find that it’s filled with vertical smily faces, orz’s, kita’s, and other 16-bit characters impossible to create on 8-bit keyboards. This surely is not the Internet that American users can identify with.

Teaching 2-ch to American anime fans will not be possible by just reading a manga, there needs to be other means of doing so. I personally was able to learn it by watching the TV show. Seeing how the actors visually represented their feelings through the keyboard was a line-by-line demonstration on how and what to write on 2-ch. But even though the TV show is fantastic, there’s no market for j-drama in America. So importing the show does not seem like a good option.

Possibly the best way of introducing Japanese internet culture to the is to import the original book. All the book contained were the message board posts from the original website. These message board posts translate very well, as you can see through this website. And a book completely comprised of message board posts is just as much of a novelty in the US as it was in Japan. The right kind of marketing can have this book not only draw the interest of anime fans, but of normal internet users as well. And as the reader gets into the book, they will start to become familiar with how 2-ch works.

So the hugely successful Train Man is heading for America, and so far seems to have drawn a lot of interests from the manga industry. However, the potential for its success can be ruined if its background in the Japanese internet culture becomes lost in translation. Someone needs to figure out a way to teach America about 2-ch, and translating the book seems to be the best solution. I’m hoping that it is, because I think Train Man is a wonderful concept that more people need to hear about.