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I don’t think I’ve ever experienced an emotional rollercoaster like the one Peach Girl has took me on. I’ve had so many different opinions about this show while watching that I just didn’t know what to think at the end of it. But after giving it some thought, this is probably one of my favorite Shoujo anime!


I originally wanted to drop this anime in the beginning. Early on I was fed up with how annoying pretty much all the characters were. It seemed like everyone in this show was a moron. Momo’s “best friend” Sae, constantly tried to stir up drama to make Momo’s ... life a living hell. Yet even after realizing this, she still keeps going back to her. And why does Sae like to ruin Momo’s life? Well that’s just how she is. Now let’s look at the main love interests, Toji and Okayasu. Both of these guys are also complete morons. A lot of Momo’s anguish came from Toji falling into Sae’s trap, and basically becoming her puppet. He believes everything she tells him over his long time friend (Momo) who is also the girl he loves. As for Okayasu, I can’t say too much without spoiling anything, so I’ll just say that he takes what he has for granted.


Even though I still think the characters are morons after I finished the show, they became likable morons. In their own way, the main characters all grew to become better people not just for the sake of others, but for themselves as well. Characters are given enough time to possibly change your view point of them, whether that may be for the better or worse. Giving characters time to grow is one thing that Peach Girl does so well. Unlike other anime with romance elements that involve more than one possible love interest, Peach Girl gives both Toji and Okayasu enough screen time for the viewer to decide on which guy they want to root for. Even if your favorite guy doesn’t win, at least they were enough time to actually feel like they mattered and impacted the story (In a way that would make it a completely different story if they weren’t there) rather than feeling like their entire existence in the show is pointless.


For me Peach Girl was a hidden gem that I’m glad I watched. I laughed, I cried (not really but there were moments that just pulled my heart strings) I cringed, I was mad I was happy, and in the end, I was satisfied.

This anime had plenty of reviews giving it a high score to the point where anything below a 6 is an outlier (estimated of course). And NHK no Youkoso (Welcome to the NHK) certainly deserves this praise. The show takes real life issues and themes and presents them in a way that shows the feelings of the other side. When discussion of anti social people who choose to be unemployed comes up, we always jump right into shaking them, without even giving a second thought to their feelings. We automatically just assume they are lazy low lives who contribute nothing to society. And this is ... where Welcome to the NHK shines and honestly, changed my view on social issues.

This show is narrated by a hikikomori (basically an anti social shut in) NEET who shows us the perspective of someone who is the recipient to the hate regarding people of his kind. He explains when he became this way, why, and he is completely fine with this life style. Well not really completely fine, as he is extremely miserable, but not to the point where he would willingly change. He blames it on the NHK, a imaginery secret organization that he believes is on a mission to spread the hikikomori culture.

The characters for the most part are amazing and well developed. The main character Satou, is the narrator that explains his side of the whole hikikomori social issue. He is very well written and experiences a great deal of change due to his experiences leading up to the end of the show. He goes from being a complete shut in to being able to function normally in society. He isn't some generic character who goes from 0-100 either. There are constant times where he wants to give up and does revert back to his old state because he doesn't feel like he can do it. He shows us that being a hikikomori is like an incurable disease. There are even times where he reverts back to his old state in a worse condition than he was when the show started. Near the end of the show, another hikikomori is brought in as a minor character and shows us the life of a hikikomori who is obsessed with video games. They are completely social in game but outside the game is a completely different story. I feel like he is a very important character due to living with his sister. This shows us the effects this life style has on loved ones who care too much to cut you off.

The female lead, Misaki is the mysterious cat loving girl who wants to "cure" Satou of his hikikomori "disease". Her backstory or motives is completely unknown until near the ending of the show. But when they are revealed, it hits you like a truck. That's all I can really say about her to keep it spoiler free.


Yamazaki is the best friend of Satou, and is a fellow Otaku. (a hardcore one at that) He also wants to help Satou, but by doing so in a way that is just beautiful. He wants them to make a Visual Novel harem from scratch. Yamazaki gives Satou the most basic task of writing the story, and it brings the anti social anxiety of hikikomoris to light. Satou cannot complete this simple task, even though Yamazaki gives him countless of tips, which is pretty much just picturing yourself as the male lead. Something else that should be noted about Yamazaki is that as an Otaku, their social problems are brought to light as well. He is only able to effectively communicate with with Satou and other Otakus unless a very serious matter is brought up. Pop culture obsession has lead to the deterioration of his social skills, like the definition says. A significant figure of this pop culture is Purin, the female MC of a popular anime in Japan. Otakus are in love with her, despite not being real. Yamazaki is to the point where he is not only unable to normally talk to real girls, but is unable to see that the girl he likes is uninterested in him. He is able to work with the 2D harem girls better than real ones

This show is a fantastic psychological anime depicting social issues of Otakus, NEETS, and hikikomoris. Along with the affects they have on others. The MC clings to the idea that a secret organization is responsible for turning himself and others into hikikomoris. And this organization exists only in his head, and appears when he is under severe stress. This organization becomes an important figure at the end of the show that I can't speak on due to being another spoiler. The only downside to this entire show is the art style. It's sub par at best, and is very inconsistent. There are about 2-4 episodes (I don't remember the exact number) where the quality drops dramatically, to the point where it's painful to watch. One episode looks like the characters were thrown in a blender and thrown across the screen. However don't let something like this stop you from watching Welcome to the NHK. This is an amazing anime that might make you think harder about the social issues around you, and might even change your opinions regarding real life people depicted in the show. I'd recommend this to anyone

Itazura Na Kiss gets a lot of mixed reviews. Some love, others hate it. I am one of the ones who love it. Itazura Na Kiss is one of the few romance amines out there that actually follows the characters lives outside of highschool. It is also unique in the way that the main couple doesn't actually get together until they are in college.

Story: As I said earlier, this story is a unique one. Sure, it starts off with the cliche klutz of a girl with a huge crush on the popular highschool genius. And it does remind me of Lovely Complex, in how the ... main girl is persistent in winning the heart of her true love. But think, in this industry, is anything original anymore? Anyway, the main guy, Naoki rejects the love the main girl, Kotoko. All throughout the years, she still consistently tries to win over Naoki. She faces trial after trial, but eventually, Naoki budges and realizes that he does have feelings for her. He treated her badly up until this point, but that is understandably, at least from my perspective. I believe he treats her badly because he can't come to terms with his own feelings about her, so even though he begins to fall for her, he still treats her the same way he did when he had none at all.

Art: The art style is doable. Sure, it's a bit old, but I have no complaints about it. It's very bearable, and the colors are still vibrant. The art style is consistent all throughout the show.

Characters: At least for me, the characters are the type of characters that grow on you. I didn't like any of the characters at first, with the exception of the parents surprisingly. But as time went on, as the characters grew older and started to face trials of their own, even for some of the minor characters, they began to grow on me one by one. By the time the show ended, I liked each of the characters and didn't wish them to be any different.

The character development however, was very little. Aside from the characters falling in love with each other, their actions are pretty much the same as their younger selves. Naoki's brother went through the most character development.

Overall: By the second half, I enjoyed this show very much. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys he romance genre, especially to the ones who are looking for one that goes beyond the highschool first kiss. 7/10