The Japanese TV drama「電車男」 or "The Train-Man" (2005) is an oddly heartwarming story of romance between an autistic loner and a beautiful woman with trust issues, told from the unique storytelling perspective of a classic "booru"-type message board. He gets his nickname from the initial story he posted on the message-board, retelling of when he prevented a drunk old pervert on the train from harrassing a woman, who later gifts him a set of teacups for his bravery. He soon pursues a relationship with her by cluelessly following the (often well-meaning) advice of the various anonymous users on the message-board.

I really liked it, as despite its TV-drama clichés, the premise is unique. It's supposed to be based on a true story, almost as if a weirdly wholesome message-board thread was made into a TV-series.

What strikes me as almost inplausible, is how friendly these internet strangers are, and how well they can work together to help the socially clueless train-man navigate the intricacies of courtship. Maybe it was a different time? It shows an unusually optimistic vision of the internet age, of friendship and collaboration. It seems hard to imagine today.