NHK ni Youkoso!

Welcome to the N.H.K. is the story of a 22-year-old hikikomori/NEET named Satou Tatsuhiro. More than half of you are probably wondering what a hikikomori is; So that explanation should probably come now before getting into the review of the series. The dictionary definition of hikikomori is "a state or condition of acute social withdrawal". The number of people living the hikikomori or NEET (Not pursuing Employment, Education or Training) lifestyle are increasing everyday worldwide but they are predominantly concentrated in Japan among the adolescent male population. The hikikomori are basically shut-ins. They feel uncomfortable in presence of other people. They don’t leave their rooms/houses unlessthey absolutely have to and make just enough money through various means (parents, relatives, jobs that can be done from home, and rarely part-time jobs outside the house) to survive and continue their hikikomori lifestyles. The main character of the story, Satou Tatsuhiro, is a college dropout. He is a complete conspiracy nut who believes a giant organization encompassing the whole planet called the N.H.K. (Nihon Hikikomori Kyoukai / Japan Hikikomori Association/Society) is working around the clock to ruin his life and make sure he stays a shut-in forever through any means necessary. The origin of his obsession with conspiracies seems to be an upperclassman named Kashiwa Hitomi with whom he spent a lot of time with in high school. Satou realizes that he can’t continue living as a NEET forever and wants to escape the lifestyle and overcome the conspiracies of the NHK but he is too afraid and doesn’t know how to go about it. However, everything changes when one day he meets a girl named Nakahara Misaki who claims that she will save him from his hikikomori lifestyle if he agrees to sign a contract with her and become the subject of her “project”. The story is about a very serious subject matter but it is still full of humorous moments. The creators of the anime realize that the best way to convert such a serious subject matter into an enjoyable anime that will not only entertain the viewers but also educate them is through humor. That being said, the anime is also full serious and sometimes very sad occurrences. If you happen to be an emotional person, be prepared to shed a few tears or at least feel downright horrible watching some of the episodes of this series. The story progresses at a fair pace with a good mixture of serious episodes and some not too serious ones. The characters are well designed and although I have never actually met a hikikomori, I would guess that the personalities and lifestyle are fairly depicted. For me, the most notable character in the series is the female lead Nakahara Misaki. She remains a mystery for almost the entire series and refuses to reveal any personal details about herself to Satou. Even when asked directly, she makes up obvious lies in order to avoid divulging anything personal. Her actions leave the viewer wondering and guessing and although that becomes somewhat annoying at times it contributes to the story coming together quite well in the end. As for the other characters – Satou is your “typical” conspiracy nut shut-in (or what you would imagine one would act and feel like). While his hikikomori lifestyle doesn’t seem to be as severe as some other people’s, it is bad enough to keep him from functioning as a part of society and most of his ventures to the outside world seem to end with him becoming completely scared and freaked out. Satou’s only male friend Yamazaki Kaoru is your typical anime/hentai/game otaku. He is obsessed with all sorts of things the most notable of which happens to be echii games. He is very passionate about his obsessions and becomes easily enraged by the smallest things especially if they have any relevance to his obsessions. Needless to say, he is an amusing character to watch. Satou’s upperclassman (senpai) Kashiwa Hitomi is a complete conspiracy nut like Satou. She seems depressed most of the time and even sees being happy as a sign that she is playing into the conspiracies. She is a supporting character in the series, but plays an important role in the development of the story. The voice acting is nothing spectacular but the voices fit the characters well. The same can be said about the music. There is no ground-breaking piece of music in the series. There is however a somewhat catchy anime song that is played throughout pretty much the entire series. Do be careful not to get it stuck in your head. The art and animations are at best average. You won’t find any great-looking characters and the animation can be sort of clumsy at times. I can best compare the art to ‘Great Teacher Onizuka’. However, it looks slightly better and animations are done at a higher quality. That being said, the art style does fit the series quite well. I can’t imagine the story represented with any different kind of art style. ATTENTION: The next paragraph talks about the ending. While I will not include any specifics about what happens at the end of the series, I will talk about the style and quality of the ending. If you feel this might spoil things for you, skip over the next paragraph. The story ends. That sounds like a weird statement, but most of you know that in many Anime series that doesn’t happen and it’s always a letdown when this occurs. So rejoice; this one actually concludes. It is the ending you will likely suspect part of the way through watching the series with a few twists and turns before it gets there. In conclusion, Welcome to the NHK is a well-written and well-told story about a serious subject matter. It has a good pace and just enough of both humor and sadness. I enjoyed the series very much and if it is a type of anime you normally enjoy, I am sure you will love this series as well.

Are you new to anime? Or are you a veteran? Well, with "NHK ni Youkoso!" it doesn't matter! This is one of those anime that you can easily get through, want more, think about it's message and wonder how such a masterpiece isn't more popular. Not only does this anime entertain it's audience with a wonderful story, a variety of characters, great sound affects and great music, but it also teaches the viewer about the difficulties of social anxiety and psychological disorders. There are only a handful of anime out there that handle such delicate subjects and shower them inbrilliant dark comedy. Anyway, before getting too worked up in my intro, let me start my review. Story (10/10) Unique, complex, entertaining, slow paced and utterly brilliant. The story of this anime is so beautifully constructed, executed and structured that it took me a while before realizing how amazing it really was. The synopsis is already provided so I won't be summarizing anything here. In fact, I'd recommend reading the synopsis before continuing to read the rest of this review. The story telling in this anime is such a roller coaster of emotions that it's honestly pretty exhausting sometimes. Most scenes had me in the brink of tears from either laughing too hard or watching something painfully realistic and relatable. It starts off with a lot more comedy in the beginning, but the further you go, the more bittersweet moments you find. The romance is also pretty realistic in the sense that you'll NEVER see the main couple be LOVEY DOVEY. I think some people might dislike this anime a lot because it doesn't necessarily rely on the suspension of disbelief like other anime. True, there are a lot of weird/funny hallucinations the main character sees and hears, but almost all of the situations throughout the anime are believable. Anyway, this isn't the only anime to tackle on the whole "society is a bitch" idea, but it's one of the few to actually do it in such an efficient, painful, smart, and entertaining way. Honestly, I could go on and on about the story, but I think you guys get my point by now. Art (9/10) Before judging the artwork of this anime, keep in mind that it was released in 2006, almost a whole decade ago. Although it's not the prettiest artwork or the most innovative, but I do think the artwork fits the genre and story perfectly well. With that being said, there'll definitely be moments when you'll be thinking "wow this anime is a lot more beautiful than I thought". Just like the themes, the artwork has this extremely grungy, old school, somber feel to it. It also reminds me a lot of Cowboy Bebop for some reason. Which obviously makes this anime that much more awesome. All kidding aside though, there is also a good variety of artwork throughout the anime. You'll notice a difference of quality in scenes depending on the setting. Scenes where Tatsuhiro is at the beach, the park, or in the city are a lot more visually pleasing than when he's at home. Facial expressions on every character are also unique and interesting. Overall, the artwork perfectly suits the anime. Sound (10/10) The opening and ending songs of this anime are really good. Not my personal favorites, but easily in my top 20. That aside, the quality of the voice acting in this anime is ridiculously high. Each voice actor feels like they're perfectly suited for their role. The sound effects during hallucinations are great and most of the time extremely hilarious. My personal favorite by far is our main character, but that's only because he gets the most screen time(duh). Music during scenes are perfectly intertwined with the situations in the anime. With music you sometimes forget it's there. However, if you've watched anime for a while you can't help, but notice what a big role it plays in most scenes. There's a wide range of music that vary from playful to extremely sad and depressing. It's pretty stunning. Character (10/10) This is probably the strongest aspect of this anime. Each character has a purpose. Every character grows, fails, learns, and maximizes their potential as a solid character. There is no such thing as a "weak character" in this anime. It's actually unbelievable how well written, well developed and well exposed every character is and how that justifies their existence. Not a single character feels extraneous or even annoying. It almost feels like every character has tragic hero qualities. Enjoyment (10/10) I LOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEE THIS ANIME!!!! It's definitely on the same level as Toradora, Lovely Complex, Kimi ni Todoke, Clannad/Clannad: After story, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, etc. It's worth watching, re-watching, purchasing, and remembering. It was painful to watch, it was hilarious, it was bittersweet and underrated. Overall (10/10) Notes: I did write this review a few weeks after watching it, but my feelings and perspectives towards it have not changed. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone looking for something unique and highly interesting. I'm not going to lie, you have to be a little mature to get some references and relate to it fully.

First, let me say that I saw this entire show in a period of 3 days. So, that in itself says something about how enjoyable it was. If I wasn't having a good time watching it, then I wouldn't have bothered doing 12 episodes in one day. :) The story is pretty well done. It basically traverses through Satou's rough life as a hikikomori and his various means to combat it. There are a few episodes that I had issues with, as they were quite "okay...this is really cheesy". But, overall, the episodes went well with the life of someone who is afraid to go outsideor be in large crowds. Animation is top notch. Absolutely no qualms with anything in this department. The music was probably the best part about this show. Great opening and decent ending. The background music and "main theme" were awesome too. I'm pretty sure I'll end up grabbing the soundtrack for this series. Very catchy tunes. The characters...were well explained I think. There were a lot of gaps in my opinion though as quite a few things are left out in the open throughout the show. We don't learn much of anything in detail about the cast either. We learn plenty about Satou and such, but I think they could have done better with "reasons" and stuff like that. 2nd thing I loved about this show was the comedy. Freakin' hilarious scenes everywhere. Satou and Yamakazi are great together and will have you rolling on the floor laughing countless times. The jokes are original and none of that lame crap that "younger audience" anime titles might throw at you. Overall, very good series. The ending was well done too (though it left me wanting a bit). Pick this up, you'll have fun with it.

I was expecting a dark Satoshi Kon style satire on hikikomorism; the dehabilitating affects of media as represented by the NHK broadcasting company and post millennium conspiracy theories, but instead this anime merely uses hikkomorism as a backdrop for melodramatic relationship angst and blues. There's no satire, no NHK broadcasting company, and no conspiracy. Why this show is even titled the way it is, I don’t know. The main character only mentions the NHK a handful of times and only in passing, there's no actual focus on the broadcasting company itself. The name is just an abbreviation of the main character's conspiracy theoryspouted here and there. There's no deep exploration of hikkomorism, as this anime would fool people into believing it does; the condition is just the Big Quirk (tm) of the character, who suffers more from being a NEET than hikikomori. In fact he spends more time outside than inside his room during the 24 episodes. Shame on the writer also for having the recovery process kick-started by a cute girl coming out of nowhere and helping the loser protagonist no matter how pathetic he is. Anime screenwriting is just masturbation. Other drawbacks of this show are innumerable amount of contrived coincidences, and plot lines wrapped up so quickly and neatly they might as well have CGI'd a freakin' bow onto them. The main character is written like such an oaf, he is by far the dumbest person on the planet, and probably one of the dumbest in the history of anime too. And it's purely for comedy; but it’s not funny at all, just tiresome to watch his stupidity move him from one plot point to another. I gave this show a personal non-review score of 7 which means it entertained me, and ultimately it does avoid climaxing into a generic cliche; having the grace to show how life is just too great for some of us to handle in the end. So contrary to what I've written so far this isn’t a 'bad' anime at all. It just falls short in so many ways and could have been something different. This story could have been special; it could have been an actual compelling look at a real illness plaguing Japan and could have made the protagonist beat it without the help of a girl, and then this anime could have been an encouragement to actual hikikomoris watching it. I don’t know how well the anime followed the source novel, but regardless the writing is at fault, which is ironic considering the main protagonist is also a lousy writer. We can expect too much from anime sometimes, and must be sadly reminded that there are only a handful of writers, directors, and producers in the industry who don’t follow convention and trends, and stand firm to deliver creative and challenging work. As unique a backdrop as this anime has, it is neither creative or challenging.

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