Train Man: A Shojo Manga
The second of three separate manga takes on this story, Del Rey offers the shojo (girl's) version of the tale that has had a deep impact on Japanese culture, also appearing as a novel, an anime and most recently a live action movie. Shy otaku (obsessive fan) Ikumi Saiki spends more time in the popular Internet forum Channel 2 than he does interacting with real human beings. Yet Saiki yearns to find love. An incident on a train leads Saiki to stand up for a group of women being bullied by a thug, and one woman, Mai Kohinata, seeks him out to express her thanks. With Channel 2 carefully guiding him, Saiki begins a courtship that he hopes will blossom into true love. From a makeover and a wardrobe update to learning to act with confidence, Saiki grows up both on and offline with Mai and all of Channel 2 looking on. Ocha adapts the story originally written by Nakano into a charming and heartfelt love story, finding an art style that seamlessly melds Ikumi's geeky charm with Mai's beauty. In shojo land,Train Manbecomes a timeless love story.(Nov.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.