Spiegel

Anime: Welcome to the N.H.K.
Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life
Author: Tatsuhiko Takimoto
Anime Director: Yusuke Yamamoto
Demographic: Shonen
Original run: July 9, 2006 - December 17, 2006
Episodes: 24


::PLOT::
Welcome to the N.H.K. (Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai); the N.H.K. is a sinister organization in which they create conspiracies to ruin the lives of people. In essesence they are the root of all evil. At least according to Tatsuhiro Sato, a college drop NEET (Not currently engaged in Employment, Education or Training) out which came up with this the theory of an evil organization being behind all the bad stuff that happen in life.

The story focus on Tatsuhiro Sato, a college drop out who withdrew himself from society because he thinks people are always talking and laughing at him behind his back, he is the main protagonist. It got to the point which it affected him on a psychological level which in turn turned him into a hikikomori and a NEET.

His life is turned around when he meets a young girl (high school age) by the name of Misaki Nakahara who claims that she can help him get cured from being a hikikomori. She made him sign a contract which states that he has to come to all the counseling sessions at said time otherwise he would have to pay a million yen. Ironically the sessions with her do help him little by the little as the story progresses. The thing that makes her mysterious is the fact that she knows everything about him yet when he asks about her she will dodge the question or make up a story which puts Sato on edge making him think that she might also be part of the N.H.K. conspiracy.

Next door to Sato's aparment lives an otaku, Kaoru Yamakazi, who by chance ended up being a school mate of Sato from his high school years. Sato tried saving him from a gang of bullies while Yamakazi was still in middle school (mostly to impress his senpai Hitomi Kashima) but ended up getting beat up himself. Well now Yamakazi lives next door to and spend most of the time together. Further along the story Sato and Yamakazi decided that they didn't want to be faliures so they decided to create a hentai video game (or Gal game as they call it) and make a video game company and be rich.

The story deals with the lives of these kids and how they deal with being hikikomori, anime otaku, and depressed. A slightly dark tone sets the mood with a balance of comedy and drama.


::MY THOUGHTS::
At first glance this seems like your typical slife of life anime but after watching the first episode I was immediately hooked. The dark comedy tone was nicely balanced witht he overall tone. The dialog (in Japanese and English) was great because I felt the connections the seiyuu actors had with the characters. The felt that the director had a good grasp of the story trying to be told which was seen consistent in every episode. He did a good job with character development even with key people that didn't have a lot of lines in the show like Hitomi. Especially enjoyed the first ending theme, Odoru Akachan Ningen" by Kenji Ohtsuki and Fumihiko Kitsutaka. I watched the entire outro for every single episode up until episode 12 when it ends. The overall experiance was amazing, I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys these kinds of series. It had me hooked until the end.


::SCORE::
Story: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

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"Inherited will, the destiny of the age, and the dreams of its people. These are things that will not be stopped. As long as people continue to pursue the meaning of freedom, these things will never cease to be!"
-Gol D. Roger

*Ex-Kakashi87*

kurosaki2112

watched the first episode. enjoyed it will watch more. thank you for the recommendation.

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Freshgrease

It's one of my favorite series. Good stuff. That girl is too good for him.

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Spiegel

I like Yamazaki's character, his sporadic outbursts remind me of the kind of people I used to go to high school with (I went to an IT magnet high school).

__________________
"Inherited will, the destiny of the age, and the dreams of its people. These are things that will not be stopped. As long as people continue to pursue the meaning of freedom, these things will never cease to be!"
-Gol D. Roger

*Ex-Kakashi87*