Pochi-Gokko.

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Pochi-Gokko is a very interesting look into the mind of a 'loser salaryman' in Japan.

I see this story as an allegory. It's a reflection of the salaryman's desire to escape society. A society that he does not have a place in. Though he tries his best, the fact that he is introverted, weak-willed, slow, unattractive, with no particular interest in anything, means that he was doomed to fail from the very beginning. He's overworking for a company he hates, a boss he hates, and of course he's getting underpaid even though he works overtime for his seniors (lmao). His only passions are gaming, anime, and ... manga. He has no sexual experience and he has zero plans to escape this life.

I'm sure this isn't the first time you've seen a loser MC who hates himself. Where the story just ends up being an escape from that life (eg: any isekai). This manga is mostly the same, with a high school girl picking our MC up and making him her pet, dehumanizing the self. The lack of female contact and a yearning for the purity of a high school girl has led to the creation of the perfect premise. This is the dream scenario, the one life changing event that came outta nowhere, an escape from the mundane.

He then stays in a house with three sisters (including the JK) whose parents are apparently dead. They take care of him in a mostly wholesome way, praising his 'high quality' housework. You know what they say: "Let's start small, get your room in order, do your chores, focus on what you can do". I mean, this is what you say to someone who just stays in their room all day, it's like the first self-help therapy session for NEETs. It's literally a dream where doing the simplest of things is revered by a bunch of young girls.

Luckily, our MC here has a very competent brother, who is the reason he even has a job in the first place. This is probably why MC has an inferiority complex. That brother also happens to be a narcissist asshole who cares too much about appearances, social status, etc. But think about it, isn't that a bit too convenient? The only person who's pushing you to become a working member of society, also happens to have a terrible personality. It's almost as if it's a way to justify leaving society to be a dog.

I'm not saying that the brother is a good person, I'm telling you to ask yourself; "What purpose does this character serve in the salaryman's escapist fantasy?" If you view the whole manga through this one question, it becomes infinitely more interesting to read. I would call it a distorted fantasy, similar to something like Gakkougurashi, where reality isn't what it seems. The difference is that in Pochi-Gokko, the curtain is never lifted.

7/10



notes:
- I actually like this manga. Escapism in a story ≠ bad.
- This is basically Welcome to the NHK but even more depressing in a way. NHK is the redpill, Pochi is the bluepill.

A story of a less-competent individual who isn't fit for job and work cycle that he's been thrust into by his older brother. Now finding himself in a the immature schemes of a naively obsessed highschool girl that sort of accidentally helps him stop blaming himself.

It's short and sweet. It accomplishes in 19 chapters everything that 100+ chapters or more would of other manga. Just without the mountainous amounts of filler material or uncalled for drama. Does give off fetishy vibes though because of the obvious Master/Servant thing it dances around.

Ending is actually good for what it is. Anything else I feel would have ... been a little off-base and unfulfilling for this story.
Being short though it does leave less impact in you than something that takes the affordmentioned 100+ chapters to do the same thing. But I chalk that up to subconscious sunken cost. Do I want to remember Nisekoi 8 years after it ended? Not especially? Will I remember this in 8 years? Unlikely. But I'd still read it again if I'm reminded about it.