Welcome to the N.H.K
| Welcome to the N.H.K | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original Manga | Tatsuhiko Takimoto Kendi Oiwa |
| Director/Artist | Yūsuke Yamamoto |
| Format | Anime |
| Made By | GONZO |
| Episode Length | 25 mins |
| # of Eps/Volumes | 24 |
Contents
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Summary
Satou is a 20 year old unemployed college drop out, who lives the life of a hikikomori (an apparent socialogical phenomenon in Japan, where reclusive young adults withdraw and live in extreme isolation) in his single room apartment, when one day it hits him. The conspiracy! The consipracy of the Nippon Hikikomori Kyokai (the Japanese Hikikomori Association), the evil oganisation that has forced him into this reclusive failure of a lifestyle. As he ponders this, he is visited by a cute young girl, Misaki, who invites him to join her 'project', promising to cure him of his hikikomori ways.
Description
Welcome to the N.H.K is misleading. It draws you in as a comedy with promises of hentai games, lolita complexes, and paranoid shut ups, but becomes something much deeper, dealing with the complex relationships between the characters and their bizarre range of psychological problems.
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Personal Opinions
Samuel Q. Boxman
For me, this anime has a perfect balance of everything. It's got comedy, drama, emotion, tension and even a healthly bit of romance. As mentioned, the show starts out fairly light heartedly, mainly focusing on the comedic side of things, but the plot soon advances and into a much more detailed, heavier analysis of the characters, the dark origins of their problems and their attempts to overcome them, and their relationships. A lot of the comedy is fairly black and is done really well, fitting with the themes of the show, for example when Satou decides to embrace his newly discovered lolita complex and takes a trip to his local school with his camera.
It's fantastic. Watching Satou trying to get over his hikikomori ways as he tries to deal with the various other problems he encounters on the way (MMORPG addictions and suicide cults, to name a few) is as hilarious as the emotional scenes are touching. Probably the best aspect of this show is how it manages to balance just the right amount of seriousness with stupidity, and how it deals with the darker elements of the plot without going over the top and taking itself too seriously.
Although the animation seems to take a massive hit towards the middle and second half of the series, other than that it's fine quality stuff. The music in the series is awesome, especially the first ED which is so trippy it fits in perfectly with the rest of the show. If you like black humour, socially awkward and somewhat insane characters, and poking fun at the darker side of nerdy sub-cultures then you can't go wrong with N.H.K. Watch it, it's great.
