Review of NHK ni Youkouso! (Welcome to the NHK)

Despite not being exactly mainstream, Welcome to the NHK is easily among the most hailed franchises in all of otaku media by elitists and also one of the few that was also very well received by a more casual audience. It is also a title that I wanted to check out for a while, but was holding back because I was expecting it to be a lot darker and harder to consume and face. I recently watched and read all three versions of it, not counting the sequel novel that is still coming out, so I figured I could say something about them in one single review, so this should be a long one.

The concept is well known by now; NHK is a black comedy and primarily a critique on otakus and more specifically hikikomoris and otaku culture in general by showing them in a ridiculous and critical way. It is also a self-critique of the author, who was and still is a hikikomori himself. It is also very clearly about escapism and anti-escapism, but if you look at it from a sociological level, it is also about Japan being plagued by religious cults, scamming schemes, online bets and the addictions that come with them, suicidal tendencies and groups, drugs, dropout students, parasites living off of others, and young people being mocked and feeling insecure about getting a job.

If you want to think about it also on a level that is not only sociological but also philosophical, you can also interpret it as the journey of the characters in trying to find a purpose in life, while also experiencing first hand that, as selfish and sufficient humans could be, as sociological and rational animals, they are still needing of being in company of someone else in order to build a project and purpose in life, and feeling mentally sane and emotionally complete.

Whatever one’s evaluations about these ideas may be, no person could deny them being interesting on paper.

Although the very core is the same in all versions, there are noticeable differences among the executions between them.

STORY

-Novel 8/10 (2/2 premise, 2/2 pacing, 1/2 complexity, 2/2 credibility, 1/2 ending)

-Anime 7/10 (1/2 premise, 2/2 pacing, 2/2 complexity, 1/2 credibility, 1/2 ending)

-Manga 5/10 (1/2 premise, 1/2 pacing, 2/2 complexity, 0/2 credibility, 1/2 ending).

CHARACTERS

-Novel 7/10 (2/2 presence, 2/2 personality, 1/2 backdrops, 1/2 development, 1/2 catharsis)

-Anime 8/10 (2/2 presence, 2/2 personality, 2/2 backdrops, 1/2 development, 1/2 catharsis)

-Manga 6/10 (2/2 presence, 1/2 personality, 1/2 backdrops, 1/2 development, 1/2 catharsis)

The concept is interesting but more so in the original novel, since it takes some chapters for Satou and Misaki to encounter, while in the anime and manga that happens almost right away. Thus the original work is about a look into the mentality of a hikikomori first, and everything else after, while the anime and manga delve faster into the aspect of the premise being about a cute manic pixie dream girl helping an otaku just because. It does not help that the way the characters try to fix their problems is by delving more and deeper into the self-indulging cause of them.

Its first issue could be at the same time one of its most interesting and strongest aspects, how by trying to leave some addictions and fixations, and trying to face oneself’s own insecurities and anxieties, one relies in the same things that started the whole issue, while also depicting how one can fall backwards again in a circular pattern, while trying to move forward.

The main difference between the three versions is that the novel focuses mainly on Satou himself and his hikikomori life and mentality themselves. He has issues with drugs and alcohol and hallucinations and becomes a porn addict with pedophilic tendencies, but also gets confronted about those things a lot faster and more seriously than in the other versions. What the original version lacks is everything else; as the reader does not get to know his parents, nor see much about the lives of Yamazaki and Hitomi, let alone delve into online RPGs or suicidal groups, and Megumi and her brother are nowhere to be found. What it has that the others lack, is a deeper look into Misaki’s religious group.

All those elements and more are present on the manga and later on the anime, effectively making them more complex works on paper. The main issue is that the characters kind of bump into each other in a casual way, and for how big and serious their problems are, they always seem to find easy or convenient solutions to them.

Granted, that always end up leading to more problems and mini arcs, that although can get a bit frustrating to watch and read, at to a point is good in reflecting the cycle of which the characters have it hard to escape from, while also giving those versions a far richer content on paper.

On execution however, these easy solutions and circular patterns are what make the story in the anime and manga worse in my opinion, since the novel is faster, more direct and straightforward and makes more sense.

In terms of pacing the anime is equally good as the novel, if only slightly worse, despite having more elements and mini arcs, because it dedicates enough time to each thing without making it feel like the theme exploration and the progression of the events are rushed.

The manga is the fastest in that regard but also the more rushed of them all, as it burns through the same events of the anime in half its duration, or more precisely, the anime choose to end at a midpoint while the manga was still ongoing and adding more stuff. The faster pacing in the manga makes the issue of how convenient things play out a lot more noticeable. It also does not help that, perhaps because it was published on a shounen magazine, its tone is a lot more light, playing off lots of events in a more lighthearted way or that they are not real or did not happen to the characters, who made them up, such a shame.

The novel is the most serious and best of them all in tone, while the anime balances out the mood of both previous versions by being a comedy like the manga, but knowing how to have a lot more just serious moments, closer to the novel.

Before moving on to the conclusion, is important to talk about the characters, since they are in a way part of the story itself. Their presence is strong in all versions for initially being well known stereotypes, but eventually becoming a more looked into and darker versions of themselves. The novel focuses a lot more on Satou while also has Misaki on a middle point between her other two versions, as she is more direct and less mysterious around Satou as she is in the anime, while also nowhere near as screwed as she is in the manga. Yamazaki is a character that was treated far better in the anime version, as he gets a relationship with Nanako, and more backdrop and focus than just being a support character with two lines of backdrop like he is the novel, and perhaps even more in the manga.

And of course Hitomi and her husband are a lot more explored in both the manga and anime versions, and Megumi and her brother exist, unlike the novel which does not feature them in any way.

The main issue with the manga is how screwed every character is in there, by extension becoming more unlikable and harder for the reader to tolerate, let alone empathize with. One could argue that that is beneficial for the main point of the product itself, but it also becomes very frustrating to keep seeing these characters falling more and more for more stuff, being fooled time and time again, repeating mistakes, not moving forward, becoming worse and more damaging versions of themselves, and what is worse, being more mean and manipulative towards others.

As the manga is double the longer than the anime, and even more than the novel, as the equivalent of the ending of both versions happen only in the middle point of the manga, it also changes some characters dynamics and goes deeper into their backdrop stories. This sounds better on paper but again the issue comes in its execution.

First of all, the manga has Misaki interacting with Hitomi and her husband, who here has a different job, and she is also the one that helps Megumi’s brother, and although that makes the characters more interconnected as a whole, it also makes everything to feel a lot more convenient in how the characters just bump into each other or influence others.

Another issue is the manga refusing to take itself seriously; it shows the same backdrops as the anime, but then has the characters playing them out like jokes or lies to manipulate others. One could maybe say that they are downplaying their issues, but being subtle is one thing, while being ambiguous about everything and everyone is another completely different.

Also despite the characters getting more focus, is not exactly for the better, as Yamazaki gets into a dysfunctional relationship with Nanako, only to end it with a joke, it shows Hitomi’s marriage becoming really fucked up, only to not mattering in the end, and Misaki gets a lot more focus, only for her whole story to play out as a lie and her being far crazier, delusional, insecure, mean and manipulative than her other counterparts.

Although a less idealized version of the character, more flawed and with more dimensions should be better, it is not. She fixes others’ problems with ease, going to extreme and not very sane lengths for that, and treats everyone else as inferior, especially Satou, who she has a very toxic and unhealthy relationship with.

Plus the narrative of the manga in the second half becomes very messy, as characters’ backdrops and relationships are shown in between others, you could get two pages centered on a character, then another one on another, then another two on another, then going back to the first character, what is up with that? Why do it like that?

As the conclusion of each version is directly tied with the catharsis of the characters, the closure of the characters arc ends up affecting the overall message and the quality of both the story and piece as a whole. The novel and the anime share the same finale, and although both leave the spectator with an “mm ok” feel, the novel feels like the most logical conclusion because of the major focus that the two main characters have, and because of Misaki’s characterization, the best out of the three. The anime is almost as good in that regard but because of the almost angel like figure that Misaki has over there, and because she doesn’t anticipate stuff about her in the same ways as the novel does, her backdrop and resolution feel a bit more sudden.

Either version is better than the manga, which goes for longer than both the anime and novel and making every character more messed up and miserable and plainly a bad person. It becomes really hard to tolerate them and you stop wanting them to do good after a while for how toxic and manipulative they become, and for how the manga almost becomes misery porn, it gets that bad.

The manga finale should be more complete, as the whole cast gets more focused and a resolution, but because of what I said earlier, and because of a time skip right in the last chapter and before the very end, the whole thing feels undeserved and that came out of nowhere, with nothing leading to that direction. Yamazaki was doing fine in the farm. How? His whole life crumbled. Hitomi was doing fine with her husband. How? Their relationship was the worst. Megumi and her brother seemed to be doing fine. Ok that is the most logical one but it also does not make sense based on how previous events play out. Misaki was doing fine on school. How? She could not even be there.

It all feels like it just kind of happened during the time skip and out of screen because there had to be a happy ending. It is not the finale itself what is bad, it is the whole thing prior not leading to that in an organic way.

And message wise it feels like the novel and the anime end up saying something like building relationships and slowly getting small opportunities and solutions will help with the problem, although it won’t be fixed because the characters are still blaming someone or something else. The manga on the other hand rushed through the whole thing without showing how to get to that point, plus the main character almost ends in the same spot as he began, only now in a very unhealthy and toxic relationship with a bad and manipulative person, how does that helps or serves with the anti-escapism message?

VISUALS

-Novel 5/10

-Anime 7/10 (1/2 artwork, 1/2 character designs and figures, 2/2 backgrounds, 1/2 motions, 2/2 special effects)

-Manga 8/10 (2/2 artwork, 1/2 character designs and figures, 2/2 backgrounds, 1/2 motions, 2/2 special effects).

Visually the novel only has two illustrations by Yoshitoshi Abe, and even though that means that they are well done, with such a small amount, and with his typical design as always, just with different clothes, I can not give it more than the base average score.

The anime was heavily criticized because of its quality drops in artwork and character figures, even though they stand out for a 2006 anime and even more compared to the novel. The motions could also be notably jerky at times. Backgrounds and special effects are well done, even if they include CGI, which is used subtly and sparingly, plus more often than not they reflect the hallucinations of the characters, so they serve a purpose in-story.

The manga is the best in that regard, with the best artwork and special effects, different styles for the comical moments and for when the characters play videogames or hallucinate. It also has the best backgrounds, as they reflect better the different settings, both real and virtual within the manga, and also for not falling for the white, empty backgrounds while characters talk that most manga use sometimes to save time. The character designs are still simple, there are not very interesting sequences to talk about motions, and the change in artwork at times for comical effect turn the tone a bit goofy in a way that feels like mood whiplash.

SOUND 8/10

The anime can be pretty immersive with its sound design and effects, the music is good as well and fit the mood well, even the normal jpop anime-ish songs are fine because they have an in-story reason. The series has two versions of the same opening, which sounds like a generic romcom opening, but thanks to the lyrics it fits the anime well enough, and even more in the more sad and melancholy second version used during the second half, which even has darker colors. The second ending has a similar feel as the opening, and the first is both awful and amazing, but it is a cool rocker and reflects the more insane bits of the series well. All of them are worthy to check out, even better if they have lyrics at hand. The voice acting is ok, Satou’s voice is a bit weird but fits his awkward personality well, and Misaki’s voice felt a bit too young for me but I guess her angel like characterization she has on the anime, while it would be unfitting for any of her other two versions. As a whole the voice acting feels decent enough but I was mostly unimpressed by it.

VALUE

-Novel 7/10 (Somewhat known but not so much in the West, unforgettable, it doesn’t have that much of a reread value but there is nothing bad with doing that because of how short and easy to read it is).

-Manga 6/10 (Somewhat known and unforgettable, but becomes very frustrating in the second half and the ending feels unsatisfactory, plus is the worst version in characterization and theme exploration, thus I don’t think it has a reread value of any kind really, it is more of a one-time read).

-Anime 8/10 (Known enough in the West, well known in Japan, it is included in several best anime of all time lists, it is also unforgettable and thanks to its balance of the complexity of the manga and a close execution to that of the original novel, it is the one that I find to have the highest rewatch value of the three).

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT

-Novel 7/10 (Very enjoyable two days read that unfortunately felt too short for me to love).

-Anime 7/10 (I would cringe out during the more otaku oriented bits which I’m glad that the novel does not include, but the most serious moments made it a pretty enjoyable watch).

-Manga 6/10 (I was very engaged at first but at some point I hated the switches in tone and the characters).

CONCLUSION

Every version is worth consuming based on characterization and theme exploration alone, and even more because of the mediums they belong to, but the novel feels short and the manga stretched out and dragged out and becomes worse in writing, so I only see it as just another version in case you want more of the same story. The anime more or less combines all the appealing elements of the other two, so it is the best version in my opinion, and even then it had some episodes that are worse and more cringy than others, for focusing on otaku culture. It is a good little franchise, but I think it is also way inferior to the kind of similar Tatami Galaxy.

FINAL RATINGS

-Novel 7/10

-Anime 7.5/10

-Manga 6/10