Forum - View topicWelcome to the NHK (TV).
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Sohma_Curse
 Posts: 512 Location: New York |
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Welcome to the NHK Genres: comedy, drama, psychological Themes: dark comedy, hikikomori, NEET, otaku Plot: Satou Tatsuhiro, a 22 year old young man, is a NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) and a hikikomori (meaning acute social withdrawal). He believes everything around him is a conspiracy, including the reason why many people, himself included, become hikikomori. Due to this, Satou creates a strange conspiracy theory which includes the Nihon Hikikomori Kyōkai (NHK), a secret organization with the intention of producing a hikikomori filled world. Satou intends to break free from the NHK's clutches, but cannot, since he finds it too frightening to go outdoors by himself; that is, until he meets Misaki Nakahara, who selects Satou for her "project" that she claims will cure him of his hikikomori ways. ---------------------------------- Anime Marathon Discussion (Nov. 6th, 2015 - Nov. 15th, 2015) starts here ---------------------------------- I searched the board and the sticky topic but couldn't find one. If there already is one, I apologize - link me to it and lock this topic (and then I'll work on my forum searching skills). Just have a quick question: how long does it take for this series to pick up? I'm three episodes in and, while it's not bad by any means, things are moving a bit slow. When can I expect it to become as awesome as I was led to believe it is (or at least to become funnier and less boring than it is at this point)? |
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getchman
 He started itPosts: 9134 Location: New Hampshire |
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Well, when Sato and Yamazaki start hanging out, hilarity is never far behind
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Sohma_Curse
Posts: 512 Location: New York |
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Well so far, they've hung out a few times and they're developing the gal game, but not much hilarity has ensued. Now Sato is somehow suddenly able to not only leave his apartment, but he's riding a train, shopping, and staying in public places without much worry or paranoia. I realize he has sort of an obsessive nature, so I get that he's immersed himself in the culture, but this behavior seems a bit out of character after he explained in the first episode that everywhere he went, he felt as if people were talking about, and conspiring against him constantly. |
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By_the_Jelly_Beans?
 Posts: 39 |
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Sounds like you might end up being disappointed if you don't like the antics going on right now.
As far as Sato being able to go out it is kind of explained later on in the show. I found the show quite entertaining but if you where lead to believe it was a laugh riot then you where mislead. Lot of story going on there and character....uh...development? (If you watch the rest you'll understand my hesitation.) Some jokes aren't too in your face. Keep track of his tissue boxes, the fact that he crashed his computer by overloading the memory with pictures, growing trash pile, etc. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5150 |
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Sohma_Curse--
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Sohma_Curse
Posts: 512 Location: New York |
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Yes, I've noticed the humor is way more subtle than, say, Ouran High School Host Club, but it may be a bit too subtle for my tastes. I wasn't expecting a laugh riot, but I wasn't expecting what's been happening so far either. I'm not averse to more character/plot-heavy shows by any means, I just think whoever recommended it to me may have overhyped it a bit. I will keep watching for sure, but I feel better now that I know what not to expect 
Thanks for the kind words! I'm fairly new to anime with about a dozen-or-so series completed, but I'm currently in the midst of about two dozen others (and have amassed quite a queue to still get to!) and I've enjoyed much of what I've seen so far. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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If you are expecting comedy in the style of something like School Rumble, you have the wrong expectations. NHK is a serious story with a comic overlay. The first few episodes stress the comedic part, but soon the dramatic aspects start to build. By episode twelve you realize this show is not just about silly hikkikomori problems. Everyone in the cast has psychological issues that create obstacles to their becoming adults.
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator  Posts: 11442 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Since it's been brought to my attention that there don't seem to be any NHK threads around, I've made this the official thread for the series for now and have added it to the Series Discussion Index.
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Sohma_Curse
Posts: 512 Location: New York |
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That's all fine and dandy by me. Again, now that I have a better idea of what's up, I can watch without anticipation of things that won't materialize. Thanks! |
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EricJ
 Posts: 876 |
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Although for most of the first half, I had hoped it would find the "silly" angle, but it borders on wanting to either be a social PSA against hikkikomori, or vicariously punishing them through almost schoolyard-level humiliation. Usually, if it was just a mindbending comedy about a sheltered nut's conspiracy theories that might not be, anime humor celebrates a character's embarrassing eccentricities and saying we've all got them. But there's not much about the main character's foibles that's allowed to be pathos'ed or sympathized with--or even "loser"-geek comedy on the level of Sgt. Frog or Tenchi GXP--without the show taking self-righteously vindictive stances of "Pay attention, audience, THIS is one more symptom of pathetic self-delusion and denial of a crippling social problem! The poor loser sap will never admit he's ruining this country or get the help he needs, and he deserves what he gets until he smartens up and does! This could be YOU, or someone you know, and if it's you, sheesh, take a freakin' bath already!" It's one of the clearest illustrations of the old comic adage that "Nothing kills the joke faster than the comic's bloodthirsty personal desire to tell it." |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Aw, but it's such a good message I agree with though. "Please bathe and seek help if you need it." Nothing's ever going to change or get better if someone shuts themself in his or her house all day and they do have only their own mental hangups to blame. You can't help people unless they want to be helped.
The series also says: "Even the most "useless" of people can change themselves and even help support others and make great differences in their lives." spoiler[Such as how Sato is helped by Misaki and how he in turn supports her and saves her from committing suicide.] That's a positive message I think. Personally, I loved the show, even read the original novel as well which was also fantastic, better actually. As mentioned above it's not really a comedy, and more of a social commentary, but it is occasionally quite funny and does have a sense of humor. |
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savedbythebell
 Posts: 17 Location: texas |
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I disagree. Considering Tatsuhiko Takimoto, the man who wrote the light novel, is a hikikomori himself. I'd say the story is very personal and deals more with the authors frustration with his life. It's not the perspective of an outsider looking down on what they don't understand. It's from the perspective of someone thats actively suffering from this sickness. |
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EricJ
Posts: 876 |
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That's another possible theory for the same problem: I've seen some screenplays written by Hollywood screenwriters who've very obviously just come out of alcohol/cocaine 12-step, who feel they have to do a story about an addict who's ruined everyone's lives, and how those people come back to haunt his attempts to get his life back together, etc...Not so much that the story needs to be told, so much as the screenwriter feels he HAS to write one, and more supply than demand. (There're interesting theories of how many classic Star Trek:TOS episodes were actually Gene Roddenberry allegories for his own battle with alcoholism, and it's not without evidence.) The author may be writing about his own experiences, but either he or the show still has the urge to treat the character as a disease rather than an eccentric character study, and all but give him a bell and an "Unclean" sign. The scene where Sato has to sign Misaki's contract; he goes through a dozen strategies of the addict trying to talk, cajole, bargain, rebel, manipulate, threaten his way out of it, and an unimpressed Misaki stonewalls, "That's nice, sir, please sign"--There's a genuinely squicky feeling that the show vicariously takes Misaki's side and wishes it were her: Whether confessional or PSA, it WANTS to see the social-problem addict finally "caught", and make a well-deserved fool of itself squirming and wriggling on the hook, all the way to rehab. If that's the writer's problem, it's not ours, and if it's the producers' problem, count me out. |
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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Misaki is not the angel of sweetness and light that some of these comments suggest, especially in the manga. I think she has more serious problems than Satou-kun, and that's saying a lot. Elsewhere I once described her as a spoiler[loony stalker dressed as a moe cutie].
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Wow, we really didn't have a Welcome to the NHK! thread already? That really surprises me.
Anyway, I would say that the first three episodes are pretty indicative of the later ones, so if you aren't feeling the story somewhat already, don't expect that to change too much. It's definitely a dark comedy/slice of life and so the pacing is fairly slow. And yeah, Misaki is definitely not so sweet and innocent, though you don't quite know this for sure right away. |
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