Tetsuko's Travels, Tetsuko's Trip
Tetsuko no Tabi English Subbed

based on the IKKI-serialized seinen manga by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko. The "plot" is that a manga artist's boss asks her to go around Japan with him and a travel writer by train as they write and illustrate a manga about it. The really shocking thing is that it's entirely factual; the manga's author actually went on all of these journeys and merely chronicles them, without adding anything. Since this is non-fiction, I apologize for the lack of drama. In fact, the most of the book is just about them taking trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc. The so-called "travel writer" turns out to be a super train geek who not only knows all there is to know about the rail system, but also micro-manages every aspect of their journeys, down to the last detail. He is mainly concerned about sticking to the schedule and accomplishing his intended aims (e.g. visiting all stations on a line in a completely bizarre order to accomodate infrequent trains). She is cynical, caustic, and fairly lethargic (mostly simply looking forward to the next eki-ben), whereas the mangaka doesn't really care about trains. However, as long as he sticks to the timetable, he is entirely enthusiastic, and the inevitable clashes are quite amusing. But throughout, it feels authentic—if you've taken a train in Japan, everything will appear extremely familiar, including the countryside as well as the ambiance and feel—and the artist does a fantastic job of pacing and making small adjustments to keep it continually enjoyable. In a further instance of recursion, some of the characters who appear in the manga—who, of course, are real people who actually did appear—do so as a result of having (truly) read earlier manga episodes! Of course, you may also learn about many obscure and fascinating Japanese train lines and stops; some of them actually have pretty nice looks. The travels are all organized by the train-guy (goal: visit all 9,843 stations in Japan), who seems to view everything as a checklist rather than an experience to be savored, so there's always this hazy air of surreality about it. Although there is essentially just one guy in the story, you also gain some knowledge of train-otaku culture because it is sort of a recurring background presence.