This was the first anime review I ever wrote (which I posted on my naver blog a couple of months back) so I might be a bit rusty here and there. I don’t follow a standard format and I’m not very used to focusing on details. I just write how the anime made me feel. Anyways, enough with excuses. I really hope that a lot of you must have seen this and if not I will tell you why I consider this anime one of the hidden gems!
How I came across this anime was when I was looking for animes that would motivate me to study. Yes. Honestly. And Welcome to the N.H.K. was what was recommended by most on several different forums. At first I wasn’t sure why it was so. It seemed to be loved by everyone who has ever watched it but it wasn’t known by many, and as I started watching it I realized that it has this strange motivating capability. No it has nothing to do with students or studying. But It’s because this is almost as if you’re watching yourself or maybe a part of yourself. You start encouraging Satou, the protagonist, a socially withdrawn college dropout, to accomplish things in life, that you start reflecting back on your own.
The story revolves around Satou Tatsuhiro. An unemployed 22 year old college dropout in Tokyo who lives off the allowance he receives from his parents. Although those aren’t exactly my living conditions Satou Tatsuhiro was one anime character I could absolutely relate to, being somewhat a Hikikomori myself. But what does “Hikikomori” mean? Hikikomori is a Japanese term that speaks of acute social withdrawal shown by adolescents or adults who always seek extreme isolation. So yes, the protagonist is the utter definition of “Hikikomori”.
The image of Satou lying on his futon surrounded by beer cans, his ashtray loaded with cigarette butts, tied up trash bags at every corner of the room and his faithful refrigerator, computer and television keeping him company through the entire day will be one of the most common scenes in this series.
But his life takes a turning point when he meets Nakahara Misaki a mysterious girl who appears out of nowhere, offers him a contract saying that she will cure him from his “Hikikomori” state. The story then revolves around Satou and Misaki along with Yamazaki Kaoru, Satou’s neighbor and high school junior. Be it Satou and Yamazaki working on taking over the world with their very special project, be it their curious adventures, be it them questioning their life’s choices this story is immensely enjoyable and pretty realistic(atleast that’s how I see it).
The story has plot twists. But I can assure you that these plot twists will only make you get attached to the story even more as they are sometimes the most unexpected or the most wonderful occurrences that take place in the anime.
As for the characters and their traits, I’ll start with the protagonist Satou Tatsuhiro. Satou is an extremely lazy overthinking anxious young man who is also unemployed and never leaves his studio apartment. He is one of the most realistic anime characters I’ve ever come across. Why he is such a relatable character is he mimics real human behavior in all those given situations in the anime. He has desires, he fears great many things, he tries out many and fails at many. He suffers from major social anxiety and this condition is very cleverly depicted in the anime and plays a major part in talking to the viewers about the character that is Satou Tatsuhiro. Meanwhile Nakahara Misaki is a mysterious character. No one knows who she is, where she comes from until later in the anime. She is innocent and is thoroughly determined to cure Satou and is prepared to succeed in it by any means necessary. Satou’s Neighbour Yamazaki Kaoru plays an equally important role in building up the story. He takes part in “adventures” together with Satou almost always and doesn’t hesitate to knock some sense in to Satou’s head whenever necessary. All in all, the characters are much similar and much different from each other the same time.
To be honest the anime is drawn crudely at most times but it doesn’t fail to depict the situations clearly. The fact that it’s very realistic not only when it comes to the occurrences but also it pays attention to very little details like how each character dresses, makes up for the drawing style.
The background music is incredible! I was pleasantly surprised by the fascinating guitar sequences that are played from time to time. As for the opening and ending themes, this anime has two opening themes. the first one “Puzzle”, sung by ROUND TABLE featuring Nino, has a refreshing intro. The second opening theme is a remix of the first one. But to be honest I’ve always skipped the OP because I was impatient to see how the story unfolds. The first Ending however, was my absolute favourite. The intro got me hooked up on it and I’ve listened to it several times and I’m still not over it! The name is “Odoru Akachan Ningen” sung by Otsuki and Kitsutaka. The second ending theme “Modokashii Sekai no Ue de” sung by Yui Makino is absolute sweetness!
Welcome to the N.H.K has been one of those animes that gets you deeply attached to the characters and the story line. I got so emotionally attached to the characters that whenever they start doing something questionable I couldn’t help but scream at my screen or laugh out obnoxiously whenever Satou starts blabbering about conspiracies or let out an evil chuckle at his misfortunes. This is a great, hilarious, wonderful, realistic anime and it is one you will surely watch again!