Well, if you are looking for laughs, this is quite good since it offers lots of humourous moments. This is a good stress reliever too. The highlight of the story would be how the netizens help Densha Otoko to cope with the problems of trying to woo Hermes. Even though I tried to read the novel once and was put off by the format of Net chat dialogues being displayed as it were on the 2ch forum, the presentation style was much easier to accept in the movie. The words would not appear as static subs at the bottom of the screen but were blended into the set or scenery so as to make it more natural. I felt this was a clever way of making the movie more lively.
As for the romance part, I thought it paled in comparison though. I wouldn't say it's due to a lack of chemistry between Yamada Takayuki and Nakatani Miki but it's the movie itself that didn't give a lot of time for this subplot to be explored. As such, I kept feeling that Hermes didn't feel as much for Densha Otoko as implied. Maybe the drama had more time for this development but I'm not sure since I didn't watch it.
One thing to note, if you are watching the DVD, wait till the credits end and you will see the drama version of Densha Otoko where Ito Atsushi and Ito Misaki appear. Yamada Takayuki also appears as a passerby who drags the drunk guy away but he's wearing casual clothing as compared to the suit he wore in the drama. I guess they filmed this part on different days.
I feel that this movie seems to be a one-man show for Yamada Takayuki. He's the most outstanding in the cast (of course, since he's the lead) where he shows the transition of Densha Otoko from an otaku to a good-looking guy. Comparing this to the first time I saw him in a drama i.e. Psychometrer Eiji 2 which was his debut project, he has really improved a lot over the years. Maybe the only issue which will impede his growth as an actor would be his boyish looks. He just doesn't feel like a working adult to me even though he plays a systems engineer in this movie. As for Nakatani Miki, she's OK but her potrayal of Hermes was outshone by Densha Otoko. Considering that she's the female lead, she didn't appear a lot in this film so there's no way of finding out more about Hermes or seeing her show depth in this character. What a waste!
I do not like the idea that the movie is trying to bring across i.e. you need good looks and a total makeover to woo the girl you like. Due to the fact that Yamada looks horrid in the otaku outfit and suddenly becomes a handsome guy, it's as if saying that Hermes will never love him if he had remained as before. I just don't feel too comfortable with this message.
On the whole, I would rate this movie 7 out of 10. This is supposed to be a love story but the romance factor was so low that I felt like it was an online guide to teach you the rules of courtship.
As I don't read Japanese manga, I was exposed to this story through the drama initially. I loved it. The variety of nutty supporters chatting with Densha Otoko was so interesting and humorous (though exaggerated and over-the-top in many cases). I thought the casting was pretty good. Of course later on I watched the film, too. I didn't think it was as good as the drama, frankly. But because I loved the story already, I wasn't too critical of it.
ReplyDeleteI urge you to watch the drama, although it might feel like overkill to you, spending so much time to see what occurred in the 90 minutes or so of the film.