Jun 30, 2015
TL;DR: NHK is about a whole array of characterq that need to realize that they need the world more than it needs them. And therefore it is uplifting. If you're the least bit interested in it's synposis: Watch it. Now! I recommend the sub because it feels that the voices are coming out of the characters mouths rather than beng dubbed over IMO, but it's just a matter of preference I guess.
Wlecome to The NHK plunges us in room 202 of Mita House in Tokyo where Sato Tatsuhiro has locked himself from the outside world for 4 years now. It shows us Sato's hallucinations
...
that ultimately lead him to conclude that the NHK -a Popular Japanese televisi... err I meant the Nihon Hikokomori Kyokai- is conspiring to turn the Japanese youth into Hikikomori to... What exactly?
So is NHK ni Youkoso! a show about questioning what's real and what isn't?
No, NHK is the opposite. it is firmly anchored in reality and it gives answers and solutiions to questions ranging from "How do people become Hikikomori?" to "Is there a God?" in a brutally honest way. The first issue that comes to mind when you are introduced to Tatsuhiro will ultimately be the key factor to the resolution. NHK goes tests out all kinds of hypotheses and goes trough the whole 9 yards of depression and isolation but ultimately delivers a clear simple answer that says so much.
Story: The story goes in all kinds of places, taking detours every other episodes. Which would've been a bad thing if it was a lesser show , but the script writers here treat each arc with care. All episodes flesh out a facet of the characters (main, secondary or other) and by doing so, advances the plot. Because NHK is a story about dicovering characters.
Teeny Tiny ( not very) Spoilerish Anecdote: At some point in the Anime, a character says something in the presence of Sato that sounds like a very harsh thing. This of course made me pause and reevaluate Sato's relationships and background. After a little while a song is played during another scene and that's when I realized that the afromentioned character was actually just singing this one song and the realization evoked the exact emotion that that particular scene was supposed to evoke. I did the same thing that Sato does trough the whole series: overthinking simple things. You can expect this level of writing when watching this.
Characters: All the characters that this show focuses on are excellent. Each person has a personality that consistent and interesting that truly unveils itself the further we go along. Even characters with Brief appearances have emotional moments and owerfu delivery (in Japanese, at least).
Animation: This is the trickiest one. You can easily translate the faces and backgrounds here into real life which benefits the show. Therefore you shouldn't expect amazing looking set-pieces, the style changes once in a while in order to convey a change in mood and all that. The biggest issue I had with it is that some characters look alike which at first made me think they were the same person and I did get confused when the script didn't acknowledge it. Other than that the animation looks rough sometimes in Comedy scenes (That are actually the most consistently depressing parts with few exceptions) but that seemed intentional to me.
Anecdote: Something I did notice is Hiro's sexual fantasies being more ,uh, stimulating than other instances where we see bare titties Irl. It's the most noticeable part where visual components do all the work and it works. I think that deserves some credit.
Sound: The OST is excellent and used excellently. You will notice that the intro loses something unique about half-way trough. Symbolism? Maybe, but it did make me skip the intro.
The sound effects are mostly unnoticeable which means good sound design in my book Except for the knocks on the door and the telephone rings (they always sound somewhat intimidating).
"Welcome to The NHK" is a jaw-dropping anime that comes from an honest place and is made with expertise. It's the type of show that I actually can see saving people from the pitfalls this series adresses. All things considered, this is a show on a whole other league that should be watched any and all fans of art 10/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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