Ranked #41

Welcome to the NHK (Novel)

Judging Japanese light novels and serial novels isn't an easy task for me. They seem to beg comparison with literary classics by sheer virtue of being novels, but their context demands that they have more in common with the manga with which they share magazine real estate, if not with contemporary pulp horror, action, and fantasy. I do my best to take the middle ground; novels they may be, but works like Suzumiya Haruhi and Full Metal Panic have far too different a purpose than, say, The Great Gatsby and Ulysses to be completely and utterly overshadowed. Light novels and literary fiction exist in vastly different realms, and it's probably most prudent to avoid judging them by the same standards simply because they're prose, no matter what your English teachers have always been telling you.

Not that NHK ni Youkoso wouldn't put up a damn good fight when leveled against contemporary literature. After watching the anime, which all but discards character development after 10 or so episodes in favor of having fun with nerd-dom in all its myriad forms, I was pleased to discover that Takimoto's novel gives us a surprisingly lucid, visceral examination of what it means to be a self-created outcast (and that Tokyopop's editing is surprisingly low on errors here, given how well they usually do).

Plot: NHK's plot is difficult to judge, as there honestly isn't a whole lot of it. Much of the action takes place in Satou's head, and while I personally appreciate this narrative technique, a good number of readers who discover the novel via the anime will go into it expecting more physical action. To its credit, NHK has a few truly grand scenes ... most of which involve the consumption of mind-altering substances, but hey, I'm a fan of phantasmagoria. There's plenty of reason why the author would have chosen to let Satou rant to himself as much as he does, which I'll get into when I get to the characters.

Ultimately, NHK suffers from a few minor organizational issues and plenty of potential but largely unexplored threads. Misaki gets due attention, but I would've liked to have seen more done with Yamazaki, for example, and with Satou's high school sempai. At times, the novel reads more like an outline or a plan than a fully-executed product. The dialogue can be shaky as well, but that might be partially attributable to translation -- I don't mean this as a slight upon the translators and editors, who actually seem to have done a fine job compared to, say, Full Metal Panic, but keeping dialogue lively through translation seems to be a difficult task.

Characters: Characterization is Takimoto's strong point, and I have a feeling that he drew often from his own experiences as a hikkikomori, as Satou truly does embody what it means to feel isolated. Any socially awkward person can relate to Satou's vicious cycles: it seems that the more steps he takes toward integrating himself with society, the more alone he feels, which simply causes him to retreat further into himself and the comfortable world he's constructed around himself. This absolves Takimoto of his loading the novel with internal monologue -- if absolution was needed -- as we wouldn't be able to get to know Satou nearly as well without it. The narrative technique works precisely because of its accuracy. If you're not an introvert, give this novel to an introverted friend and ask them how they feel about it; odds are they'll be able to empathize all too well.

NHK is highly character-oriented. The presentation therein of otaku subculture isn't overwhelming, nor is it particularly central to the story; it's simply something that certain Japanese fringe-dwellers, Satou and Yamazaki included, choose to indulge in as a means of escape. I prefer this approach to the anime's way of doing things, as it leaves more room to expound upon the characters beyond the constraints of a particular context. Misaki and Yamazaki in particular play strong supporting roles, each developed with both good and bad qualities and providing interesting contrasts to Satou in ways I'll let you discover on your own.

Setting: Satou and Misaki's quest for something resembling normalcy unfolds in modern Japan (Tokyo, or somewhere like it, if I remember correctly). Readers interested in such things will get a good look at what it means to just barely scrape an existence out of a parental allowance, and what happens when said allowance ceases to be. Takimoto's presentation of setting incorporates mainly realism, save when Satou and Yamazaki get high, which is always fun.

Art: NHK is not a light novel in the sense that it does not include insert art, so bear in mind that my art score considers cover art, typesetting, layout, and design elements. The cover is detailed and rendered in none-too-bright colors suggestive of the story to come, and I can find no major fault in the layout, other than certain design elements being perhaps a bit too large, particularly the lightning bolt things that separate chapter sections. Some readers may wish for a slightly larger font size, but my bad (and worsening) eyes managed just fine.

Verdict: Anyone interested in the fairly recent availability of translated Japanese light novels and serialized fiction should absolutely add NHK to their collection. It's pleasingly dark, and surprisingly deeper and more relevant than one might assume based on other NHK media.
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