Welcome to the N.H.K.

Synopsis:

Hikikomori, a person who has withdrawn from social life and seeks total isolation and refuses to leave their homes. Sato Tatsuhiro is one such person. Living off an allowance supplied by his parents, feeding himself with instantly prepared foods, and constantly thinking about how everyone is out to belittle him, as he is unable to cope with any type of social rejection. However, one day he is visited by a strange girl named Misaki who claims that she can cure him of his condition, but only if he signs a contract saying that if he refuses counseling or fails to redeem himself after it's over he is subject to a penalty... one million yen.


Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 24


Review:

Wow, and I though *I* was anti-social... Welcome to the N.H.K. follows the life of a complete shut-in, or NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) because he has a fear of social rejection. However, when he is given that one chance of salvation, Welcome to the N.H.K. steers clear of any type of predictability in that even though the answer is right in front of Sato's face in the form of a girl willing to cure his mental illness he chooses a different path. Instead, Sato tends to plague his own life with an onset of constant failures. This is where I sort of have to commend the show on it's dark comedy element as you watch Sato try to take on every easy out he can find but it never works in his favor. Through this you see how Sato causes his own downward spiral of social depravity but the thing is that it's only happening in his own mind where as the real world around him could care less making Sato come across as a very unlikable character. You will practically feel no sympathy for since everything that happens is basically a result of his own laziness but luckily, it's the supporting characters of Welcome to the N.H.K. that help make up for Sato's own stupidity and balance things out. But through their contact with Sato you will also get to see how he indirectly brings out everyone's dark side or what skeletons they have been hiding in the closet that they must ultimately face.

Welcome to the N.H.K. doesn't follow the typical anime set of plot devices but instead does everything completely opposite giving you a somewhat original story with a moderately despicable main character. But you'll see Sato grow mentally as every scheme he tries to use to make life easier always ends in failure and he learns that there is no easy way through life.

Welcome to the N.H.K. (opening)

Recommendation: |Average|

Online viewing: Available at FUNimation's website -

Welcome to the N.H.K. (shit dub only)

Media type: DVD
From: ADV/FUNimation
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English