“I wanted both the crazy and stereotypical side of the manga style. I wanted to show a fragmented, distorted, unbalanced, but profoundly vibrant humanity. In my music, I like that you don't know what will happen the next second, like a constant succession of new events, with developments delayed and abruptly stopped, like a bobsled run where everything flashes by without you having time to see what's happening.”

Pascal Zavaro

The Manga-Café booklet is loosely based on Densha Otoko (The Man on the Train). This title is well-known to fans of contemporary Japanese culture. The protagonist of Densha Otoko is a twenty-something otaku who, one evening on a Tokyo train, intervenes to rescue a beautiful young woman being assaulted by a drunk. Desiring to win her over, he recounts this altercation to members of a singles forum. He seeks their help in overcoming his crippling shyness and seducing Makiko. This news item originated in a discussion on the 2 Channel forum. It was subsequently adapted into a novel, a manga, a feature film, and finally, a television series broadcast in 2005 on FujiTV. Phone calls, makeovers, dinners, declarations of love, etc.—the story has been more or less romanticized by numerous media outlets. Like the producers, some people attest to the veracity of this adventure and claim to have made contact with the real "train man".