According to facts, 90% of a person's life is spent in pain, sadness and suffering, while the other 10% is spent in enjoyment. However, for some people, their life is a total crapfest, and they don't really have that many enjoyable moments, causing them to become hikikomori, which means they shut themselves out of society as much as possible. Welcome to the NHK was a very interesting anime. I had found it on Amazon, it happened to be part of the S.A.V.E. collection, going at less than $15, so I bought it and started watching it. I had no idea what it was about or if I'd even enjoy it or not, but I'm glad to say that I actually did enjoy it. It had some good comedy and a pretty interesting (if not confusing at times) plot. So, without further ado, let's get this review started, shall we?
I just stated that the story was interesting, but also confusing. Like a lot of good animes, you can't expect the story to make sense the first time you watch it (Steins;Gate, Higurashi, Bakemonogatari, etc.), but for the most of it, if you pay attention to every word spoken, it might be a little easier to understand. In other words, this isn't an anime you should multitask to. Anyways, this anime is about a man in his early 20's who goes by the name Sato. In college, he had started to believe that everything that had been happening to him had been the work of a conspiracy. Not just any conspiracy, the NHK (Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai). He drops out of college and becomes a hikikomori, living in his apartment, going outside as little as possible, and frankly not giving a damn about anything in the world. He then meets Misaki, a girl who wants to save him from being a hikikomori by teaching him how to be "normal". Then comes Yamazaki, an otaku living right next door to Sato, who turns out to be an old friend from high school. Together they agree that the two of them will create the greatest "Gal Game" on the planet (by Gal Game I mean Hentai Game). Over the series, Sato goes through many problems, and how he deals with them is the most entertaining part.
Welcome to the NHK was animated by Gonzo, known for associating in the creation of the Rosario + Vampire series, and Samurai 7. They aren't my favorite studio based off of some of their previous work, but frankly I really, really liked the art in Welcome to the NHK. It reminded me a lot of some of my favorite movies like Summer Wars and The Girl who Lept Through Time. It felt similar to me. However, the OP animation was nothing to sneeze at. While I enjoyed the song, the animation felt a little sloppy. However, I feel like Gonzo did a really good job this time around.
I was expecting the worse when it came to the voice acting, but I was pleasantly surprised once I heard Chris Patton and Stephanie Wittels playing the main characters. You might remember them from other animes, like Chris Patton played Greed in FMA: Brotherhood, Keiichi in Kanon (2006), and, my personal favorite, Tomoo from Elfen Lied (the kid who gets brutally murdered by Lucy in the scene with the puppy at the school), and you might remember Stephanie Wittels as Kano from Air or Kouko from the Clannad series. Then we have some other crazy good voice actors like Greg Ayres, Luci Christian, Monica Rial and for a brief time David Wald. I liked how they played their characters, and I really laughed at some of the dialog. The smallest jokes made me laugh my head off, and part of that is because of the way that the actors said it.
Now it comes down to the characters. While all of them made me laugh a lot, I can't really say that there were many that made a big impression on me. My favorite character out of the bunch was probably Misaki for certain reasons that I can't really explain. I liked her way of thinking, and it made me happy to see her come on the screen. As for Sato... all I can really say is that he's pretty much an idiot. I don't hate him or anything, but I definitely wouldn't call him a favorite by any means. I get that he's an "indoor" person, but all his talk about conspiracies and the NHK got on my nerves. "I dropped my food on the floor... IT'S A CONSPIRACY OH LORD SAVE ME!" Really? Then there's Yamizaki, the super otaku. His room is the single reason that I liked him a lot. He's in anime paradise. The only thing that might have made it better was if all of it wasn't hentai games and manga. But he was a really funny character, but he snaps way too often. Overall I wasn't entirely impressed with the characters, but I think it kind of fit well with the series.
Overall, I enjoyed the series. I'll be honest here, I was hesitant to watch this at first. I bought it because I knew it was a good deal and that I'd eventually watch it, but I think the thing that made me want to continue watching was a part in the first few episodes where he played a Hentai Game for the first time and he kept getting the "Manly Love" ending. I was laughing so hard that it got hard to breath and my side started hurting. His reaction was so beautiful that I couldn't resist in watching the rest of it. Overall, if this sounds like something you might enjoy, then I would recommend it for sure. I can't say that this anime isn't for everyone though. Despite how funny I'm making it out to be, there were some moments that either got me bored or depressed. It might be a comedy, but it's not like that the entire series. Either way, I will be showing at least the first episode to a few of my friends to see if it piques their interest.
Final Verdict:
Story: 8
Art: 9
Sound: 8
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8
