Welcome to N.H.K (NHKã«ã‚ˆã†ã“ã)
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
Serialized in Shounen Ace
Translated by Tokyopop
A new year’s about to start so let’s talk about a manga about starting things anew. This is a story about changes. A rude banter from a classmate has turned a man into an anti-social NEET. A girl who has not coped with change convinces herself she can change another. Contrary to popular belief, Welcome to N.H.K is not a story about otakus and the otaku experience. It is a look into the darker side of our humanity, a depressing loneliness only brought about by a conspiracy that doesn’t bring to people together but tears them apart. A painful yet beautiful romantic tale about two people who are trying their best to defeat this great conspiracy. Welcome to NHK.
Nippon Hikkikomori Kyoukai
The world, according to Satou (that’s the hero of this tale), is ran by a great conspiracy. You see, Satou is a Hikkikomori — an extreme anti-social NEET who survives only through his parent’s monthly support. He doesn’t go out of his room nor does he have friends to communicate to. He believes that NHK is the reason his life is a mess. NHK shows all of these lovely anime that shows an ideal perfect world and ideal lovely “Moe~” women. However, as people grow up reality is far from Card Captor Sakura or Nadia. It is cruel, heartless, and lonely. Afraid to deal with harsh reality, he locks himself up in a room and stays in his depression.
Sure, Satou’s hikkikomori road is not entirely the most interesting storyline. Although, the otaku beginnings were quite amusing. In fact, I know most people actually started reading it for that reason. Somehow, a part of our otaku self can relate to Satou’s 30GB porn downloads (admit it!). Yeah, some parts of his story is something we can all relate to and poking some fun at our otaku tendencies can be a bit humorous. However, NHK loses this light-hearted otaku comedy when he gets deeper into his depression and turns into a more painful tale of facing reality. His painful tale of being an upstanding citizen is painful. All the more when he tries to trust in people again, especially in Misaki.
Love will tear us apart.
At first, I really thought this was just an otaku tale. However, as things get more painful for Satou, you realize that in the end this was a tale about love. The story starts to focus on unmasking Satou of his cynicism and making him trust in the people around him, especially Misaki who turned out to be no different than he was.
As you flip through more pages, their love story becomes agonizing. Partly because by this time, you are fully aware of the extent of Satou’s psychological sickness. When you think he could finally get out of his hikkikomori tale, he just crawls back into his blanket. It even gets annoying to a point that you just wish he’d die already and get it over with. However, I think, Takimoto-sensei intended to do this in order to show Satou’s difficulty in getting his life. Yes, Satou (even Misaki) is not like us who just needs a beer and some righteous chit chat to get his life back. He is worse than that. And perhaps, sensei also wanted to stress how bad it really is for hikkikomoris. This annoying ordeal could be their reality. It’s painful and depressing to watch how they go to their lows and how they struggle to get their life back just so they could be a better person for the other. I can perfectly understand if you decide to drop the manga altogether and throw it to the wall. I did that myself but, I’m a masochist so despite how much I hated it, in the end, I still read it faithfully. I even watched the anime which, to an extent, was a lot better than how the manga was running.
Well, the manga was finished after the anime so the anime gave a great preview of what the ending was like. In fact, the insanity and agony of the manga was watered down in the anime which was a little more pleasant. Slightly trippy, not as overdramatic, but less depressing. That’s partially why I even bothered recommending it last year. :3 Nonetheless, the manga also came to its end this year and it was, just like the anime, a very fitting end to this lonely tale. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing altogether. In a way, it’s trying to present hope for the hikkikomori. On the other end, it could also mean that it’s no different to what NHK has established. It is just an ideal setting. I’d like to think it’s the earlier. There are ways to get out of a deep depression. The path may not be as wild as Satou’s but I’m sure that meeting someone, perhaps if you get lucky, a lovely angel like Misaki would definitely take you out of the dark. If you can read beyond the insanity and depression, I’m sure you’ll see the beautiful romance set in N.H.K.
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