This was such a feel good story! I needed a feel good story.

This is the (supposedly true) story of an otaku in Japan who meets a girl and goes out with a girl.

An otaku is a guy (or girl) who doesn't socialize much. He spends his time on the Internet, playing video games, reading comics, watching movies - that sort of stuff.

By a miracle, he meets a girl and actually asks her out! His internet chat room buddies keep giving him advice and encouragement. He's awkward but she's a little awkward, too.

So far, so good. I'm assuming, since this is more than one volume, there has to be some conflict between the two in this series. Meanwhile, it's nice to root for the underdog who seems to be doing well in volume 1.

This was apparently big in Japan for awhile - there's a movie out there and they made it into a TV series. ( )

It is great to see the actual face of Train Man, Hermes, and his fellow geeks. I like how the 'behind the scenes' are also shown like he prepares for his date or how he fidgets on his date. ( )

I've read the novel, so I knew what I was getting myself into. It does make the manga pass by much quicker, since the text is basically the same. The drawings are pretty good, I especially like the way Hermes and Train Man look. I enjoy being able to see the reactions of the 2Channel users as well. I do think that if I hadn't read the novel first, I wouldn't enjoy the manga quite so much. ( )

This review is for all three books in the series.

Interesting story with decent humour and the artwork isn't all that bad.

I have a problem with the moral of the story though. The whole point of the work is that the main character changes his entire life just to get the pretty girl. Instead of trying to have her accept his as he is, he has to change his clothes, his appearance, what he likes, his habits, and all the rest. In other words, he becomes a fake.

While love may be more important, is living as a lie for how ever long this relationship lasts worth it? After all, the very end of book 3 has him introducing her to what he enjoys without her seeming to be upset about it. ( )