Welcome to NHK is anime all about Mr. Satou Tatsuhiro, a 22 year old college dropout living his hikkimori life style. A Hikkimori is a person who hates or afraid of society; people who refuse to leave their house and, thus, isolate themselves from society in their homes. This anime tackles that since the author who made the story is a hikkimori himself while he wrote this, that's what he claim that is and is unknown if he still is till now.
This anime have story arcs that compose of sensitive subjects like the life of an otaku, making dreams happen, depression, scams and suicide. These subjects were handled as realistic as can happen in real life. The good thing is it was handled in a very lighthearted way with each arc. All of this involves Satou that you would think his character is developing for the better, right? Not really.
From the beginning you will describe Satou as a very pathetic man. He will easily be influence from those of whom or what is around him and affect his actions. But without those influence either good or bad well, he will not do anything like a mannequin waiting for someone to look at him. As the show goes on I really can't say for certain that something change or any improvement for his character, same goes for the supporting characters. In short, character development in this anime is vague.
The driving force that kept things interesting is the mysterious girl who wants to help the main character out of his hikkimori life. You can say her methods are quite silly but kept the main character attach to her. Not because of her methods, but because he wants to figure out why she's helping a bum like him. This led this two in an unusual romantic development with both not even knowing. It was cute.
The animation in this anime is slightly above average and inconsistent. It was standard for a mid 2000's anime but you will notice some animation style changes in some scenes. Our description may be different but I find it inappropriate to change the animation styles in random moments. I assume it’s due to budget or they want to emphasize that certain moment. The result, I was not impressed. The music is also slightly average because the only memorable soundtrack for me is when the harmonica is playing.
Overall, Welcome to NHK is the best hikkimori themed anime you can find. It shows the struggles, the mindset and psychological aspects of being a hikkimori. This show will give its viewers life lessons like moving forward in life is important, depression is a serious matter, and being a hikkimori sucks.
But that doesn't mean I wouldn't overlook the flaws as it stands out throughout my experience watching it. As much as I like the story as I want to give this anime a high score in its story alone, but other elements like the animation, music and overall enjoyment prevents it
