Japan Reviewed – Manga, samurai, cooking and more

Train Man and Hermes – A Love Story

Based on a true story, “Densha Otoku (literally translated as “Train Man”)” is the kind of romance that could only happen in Japan. Partly due to the ubiquitous nature of 2-channel, a country-encompassing internet chat board that puts things like MySpace and YouTube to shame. Partly due to the otaku, a style of unsocial misfit that could only be cultured in the group-based society of Japan.

I should say ostensibly based on a true story. Although the real Train Man and Hermes have never been identified, the origin of the phenomenon is a fact. What is known for sure is that, a poster known as Densha Otoku started a thread on 2-channel telling about how he helped a woman on a train who was being harassed by some drunk salaryman. In gratitude, she sent him a set of teacups from Hermes department store, which would be the equivalent of Saks Fifth Avenue or Harrods in London. Thinking that the value of the gift is far greater than the service he performed, Densha Otoku sought advice from his fellow otakus on 2-channel on what to do. And the legend was born.

There have been many adaptations of the popular story, starting with a book that reproduced the 2-channel posts, then a comic book and a TV series. This movie, starring Takayuki Yamada and Miki Nakatani, presents the whole story and does an excellent job showing the fairy tale nature of the romance. Densha Otoku is not a bad guy, just socially awkward and someone who never really learned how to relate to women. His moment of bravery is nothing daring, and he is no hero, but the small gesture of protection is just what is needed at just the right moment. Miki Nakatani, a mid-level pop star in Japan, is perfect as Hermes,. She is not a great beauty, just a sweet woman who seems to have had her share of bad luck with men, and is willing to give a nice guy a chance.

Aside from the two leads, much of real charm of “Densha Otoku” are the 2-channelers themselves. Swept up completely in the story, they swarm the fashionable districts of Tokyo, studying up on English tea and fashionable places to buy suits and go to dinner, all so they can give the best advice to our wayward hero. Showing the isolated nature of modern Japan, a husband and wife are both equally involved in the internet events, all though neither one realizes that their partner is also online. Hiding under the masks of screen names, so many modern Japanese people lead secret lives on 2-channel, and it took the story of Train Man and Hermes to break them out of their shells and get them back into the living world.

I’m glad to see “Densha Otoku” get an English-language DVD release. This is a film that I had admired for some time, and it was always a shame that I couldn’t share it with my non-Japanese speaking friends and family.

4.0 out of 5 stars Love hurts. And then you suffer

Sometimes you just fall in love with someone, even though you know they are no good. Against the advice of friends and family, and even common sense, you just tumble head-over-heels for the biggest jerk in the room. You know that the smartest move would be to leave, but some how…you just can’t help it.

“Happily Ever After” (Japanese title “Jigyaku no Uta” or “Song of the Masochist”) is a rather extreme example of this kind of love. Sachie (played by the adorable Nakatani Miki from Train Man) is the sweetest, most patient girl you will ever meet. She is the kind of girl you can take home to mother, who can cook a meal and clean a house and warm a bed with a smile and a song. Her man, Isao (played by the amazing Abe Hiroshi, who should be a familiar face to any Japanese film fan) is just a lout. He is mean to Sachie, doesn’t work and takes her money, and flips over the table every time she sets down a delicious homemade dinner in front of him. He offers nothing to the relationship, and just feeds off of her like a maggot. Their relationship is clearly the perfect recipe for a wacky comedy.

A live-action adaptation from the 1996 manga of the same name, “Happily Ever After” is a very funny and touching film. The early scenes with Sachie and Isao had me cracking up, especially with the table flipping scenes. This action, called “chabudai gaeshi” in Japanese, is a typical movie trope that indicates an old-fashioned, chauvinistic man; but here it is taken to extremes. Abe Hiroshi is an innately charming actor, who pulls off this sort of gruff unlikable character with signature flair. Nakatani Miki was also a perfect choice. She is the kind of princess of sweetness and light that every lonely boy will want to reach through the screen and rescue from this oppressive jerk. She is every girl we ever lost to a guy that didn’t deserve her.

Mid-way through the film, however, it takes a darker turn and we begin to learn that there is much more to the apish Isao and the long-suffering Sachie than meets the eye. There are hidden corridors of darkness behind Sachie’s bright smile and a shinning prince lurks somewhere buried in Isao. Well…maybe not a prince, but certainly someone better than he first appears.

Like both of these characters, “Happily Ever After” is more than it first appears. What should be a light-hearted comedy gets a little serious, and adds depth to the laughs. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, seeing as how director Tsutsumi Yukihiko is also the brilliant mind behind 2LDK. He knows how to mix and match genres, and take us by surprise when he wants to, and that is exactly what he does here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality or Quantity

“Supermarket Woman” (“Supa no onna”) is the fourth in director Itami Juzo’s “woman” series, that started with his 1987 film A Taxing Woman. All of them follow similar themes, featuring his plucky wife Miyamoto Nobuku who tackles the big boys with nothing more than spirit, common sense and a great big smile.

This one tells the story of a local grocery store, Goro’s, that has to face a new challenger in the undercutting Bargain’s Galore. The owner of Goro’s is despondent, until a chance encounter with former classmate Hanako (Miyamoto) gives him a ray of hope. Hanako convinces Goro to set up his store around the needs of the housewives who do all of the shopping, and the idea of pushing quality rather than shoddy quantity.

The plot is simple, but carried out with Itami’s usual comedic style. The humor is more smiles than guffaws, although there are plenty of laughs to be had. The theme is still relevant, pitting local small businesses against giant chain stores, and provides a roadmap to success for those willing to fight.

Like the rest of his “woman” series, Itami does not shy away from sexuality and “Supermarket Woman” is no different. At the time of this filming, Miyamoto was 51, but neither she nor her director husband were ashamed at showing the sex life of the middle aged, and there is one really charming scene in particular. It is the kind of natural, human way of looking at things that it so often missing from American flicks, where sex must be played for comedy or arousal, and not just a part of human nature.

Itami’s flicks are just pure feel-good fun, promoting a better world where the nice guys finish first and a spunky young woman can change the world. He is the Japanese version of Frank Capra, and while his films can be just as corny they are also just as much fun to watch. I want to live in Itami’s world.

Beware the Big Man Japan!

If you aren’t fairly familiar with modern Japanese comedy then you are probably going to miss a lot of what “Big Man Japan” has to offer. For example, “Downtown” is not a name that is going to mean much to most Americans, but they are a phenomenal comedy-duo that are incredibly influential and whose style dominates much of modern Japanese comedy. Think Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Second City Theatre, or Saturday Night Live.

“Big Man Japan” (Japanese title “Dai-Nipponjin” or “Giant Japanese Person”) is “Downtown” member Matsumoto Hitoshi’s big screen debut as both a staring actor and a director. Much of the humor is in his trademark style, and he brought along plenty of famous friends for cameos, although noticeably missing is his “Downtown” partner Masatoshi Hamada.

The film is done in a mockumentary-style, following the life of slacker Daisatou Masaru who has inherited his power to grow to an enormous size from his father and his now-senile grandfather, both who previously served as “Big Man Japan.” Masaru draws a government salary to protect Japan from the various Godzilla-like monsters that attack from time to time, but his heart isn’t really in it. The public mocks him and complains about the property damage and environmental aspects of his battles. His manager sells advertising space on his giant body. Things just aren’t going well.

Most of the first part of the film is just following Masaru around, looking in on his daily life, dingy apartment and how he looks after his senile grandfather. When duty calls, however, he swells up to battle the monster-of-the-week (many of whom are the aforementioned cameos of famous friends), sometimes managing to beat the monster away but sometimes getting it handed to him. The final sequence goes to even more left-field, as Big Man Japan gets to live his dream by joining the Ultraman squad, and all pretense of story goes out the window.

All of the monsters are CGI, and they are intentionally done in a cheesy manner. Like the bad special effects on shows like “Saturday Night Live,” much of the humor comes from how terrible and unrealistic the special effects are, and from seeing famous comedians morphed into giant versions of themselves. Other than these big flashes, the humor is done in a deadpan-style, and it isn’t a fast-paced movie until the final payoff in the end.

I really enjoyed “Big Man Japan,” but I think this is because I lived over in Japan for several years and am a huge fan of “Downtown.” Like the film Takeshis, which also was cameo-ridden, this just isn’t something that was made for the overseas market, and I think if I was seeing it cold then I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. Fans of pure absurdity will probably get a kick out of it, and people who enjoy a good man-in-suit giant monster movies like The Super Robot Red Baron and All Monsters Attack might find something good here too. Otherwise, it is probably going to be a snoozer for you.