] The hero is no Tom Hanks and the movie has yet to be
] made. But like the 1998 hit film "You've Got Mail," a new
] Japanese bestseller is an old-style romance for the
] Internet age -- though with a distinctly Japanese twist.
]
] Ostensibly a true story, "Densha Otoko" -- literally,
] "Train Man" -- began as a series of postings on Japan's
] most popular Internet bulletin board after the
] protagonist, a young Japanese man, rescued a woman from a
] pushy drunk on the train.

[ Kind of interesting. Pushing the boundaries of traditional publication and format is a practice i find fascinating, ever since reading things like Microserfs and Exegesis, among others. Wether the story itself is good, of course, is a critical question, but the origin intrigues me. -k]