Shelf Life

Big Trouble in Little Tokyo

Welcome to the NHK is a somewhat tragic, but beautiful, and sometimes whimsical account of a hikikomori—someone who has completely withdrawn from society. They're a societal phenomenon in Japan, and although there aren't really any American equivalents that are as heavily publicized, the struggles that the main character goes through still resonate. His name is Sato, and just going to the convenience store is an ordeal. He's not without hope, though—there's a girl who's willing to help him break out of his hikikomori ways, giving him “counseling sessions” as a way to try to improve his life. Without getting into the story too much, he also ends up helping his otaku neighbor script a dating sim, but that doesn't really come to immediate fruition. Over the course of the series, Sato gets involved with a few people, including a friend who's convinced the NHK broadcasting network is part of a giant conspiracy, but it's the way that these interactions play out that provide the meat behind the story.

Many stories have been described as “rollercoasters” before, but with Welcome to the NHK, that feeling is almost tangible. The series rides in waves of comedy and tragedy—you get caught up in what seems to be a high point in Sato's life, laughing along with scenarios you might even relate to. Inevitably, the high crashes and there's always a sick feeling in your stomach when you realize that Sato isn't getting better. These highs and lows are hard to watch, but it makes the story compelling. This really reaches a pitch near the last several episodes, where you start to see just how much of Sato's life is entangled with those who care about him.

Somewhat tangentially, it's worth talking about the animation in the series. It's actually a bit inconsistent, to the point that sometimes there's a visible change in characters' facial features. It does get distracting at times, but luckily, it didn't detract from the series. Most of the time, you're so engrossed in the story anyway, that it's easy to forgive a few shortcomings. It wouldn't have even been worth mentioning in the review were it not so jarring at times, but don't let that detract you from watching the series.

There was one particular line that was uttered near the end that stuck with me. One of the characters said that society liked hikikomori, because people liked knowing that there was always someone worse than them. It occurred to me that that was almost the reason I really got into the show. It's really easy to get sucked into the first few episodes with all the chuckles and otaku references, and “haha, look at him!” But that attitude really does change rapidly as you get to know Sato, and I think that's something this show accomplishes beautifully.[TOP]

Let's start with the visuals. This show was meant to be seen in HD—Gonzo dropped $300,000 per episode, for this very reason. But weirdly, the quality isn't consistent at all for the first episode. I'm not sure if that was before Gonzo decided to film everything in HD, or if there was something strange with my TV settings, but there was a noticeable contrast between some of the scenes. The key sequences are really vibrant, as are close-ups of major characters' faces. The lines are crisp, and it looks like you'd expect a high-definition animation to look. Some of the scenes in the between, though, border on dreary. This disparity lessened in later episodes, which were all pretty crisp, but that first episode was worrisome. On the plus side, all the action sequences and the special effects were incredible. The prologue itself is worthy of being drooled over a few times.

Also, one minor gripe about the DVD menu. On my 50” widescreen, it barely managed to take up a square foot of space in the upper left corner. I had to squint at the words and click around a bit before I could even tell which option I was choosing, since the only indicator was font that changed from white to a light yellow.

But, onto the story. If you haven't seen Samurai 7 yet, you really ought to. Based on Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, the series takes place in a feudalistic future. A rice-producing village is tired of having all of their crops taken by bandits, so they decide to hire samurai to help them fight, using rice as payment. Eventually, the samurai decide to launch an attack on the capital to defeat the power-hungry ruler.

It's a really well-paced story, and the characters are incredibly vivacious. The samurai are a varied bunch, and it gives the show a lot of pep the entire series. Every time the narrative is in danger of slowing down, they throw in an action sequence, so it's pretty hard to get bored. It's the kind of story that would blow away a lot of the live-action crap that's on primetime network TV right now—and maybe the kind of show that could get someone into anime. Even with the futuristic setting, this is the kind of story that will continue to be relevant for years to come (obviously so, as Kurosawa's film remains a classic), and is worth seeing at least once.

Is it worth buying on HD? I'd say so. I was pretty bummed after the first episode, but those staggering dips in clarity didn't really pop up again too much in the rest of the show. Considering all the good stuff is at the end of the show anyway, I'd say it's a good trade off.[TOP]