May 15, 2016
The anime NHK ni Youkoso is about a slightly unhinged individual who slowly learns how to reassociate with society, through painful realisations and the help of a lonely highschool girl. The manga NHK ni Youkoso is about a fucking insane person who is slowly manipulated and beguiled by his "friends" which slowly leads his mental health into a downwards spiral and his life into an irreparable mess.
There's something to be said about just how sadistic and unyieldingly explorative of the "NEET" condition Tatsuhiko Takimoto is in this manga. This manga is like a rollercoaster, only it's all down. Down, down, down. You keep thinking your
...
descent is nearly over but... it just keeps going. For anime viewers: the first half of the manga covers almost all of what happens in the anime, so the latter half is all new content. And if you thought the anime took Satou to lows, the second half of this manga leaves most readers with some kind of discomfort with how they are living their lives that I have come to term "Post-NHKism". It's a real thing... no need to look it up. The hyperbolic humour of Satou's greatly exaggerated actions and overreactions is more finely honed and the comic relief moments are very well timed. If I had to say where NHK shines the most; it's in tone. You're laughing on one page and hopelessly depressed in the next, it strikes an excellent balance between the humour and the real moments. This is definitely something I believe it is underrated for. If I had to say where it shined second-best, it would be it's cast of broken characters.
The MC, Satou, is a 22-year old unemployed college dropout who spends nearly all of his time in his small apartment. He is very easily agitated into a worked-up state and is very impressionable. This makes him very easily manipulated by the people who surround him, and in fact they all do. The manga follows Satou on his journey to rid himself of his hikikomori status and reenter society. It has heavy psychological aspects, each character is damaged in some way and uses Satou to soothe their own nasty insecurities. However this ends up taking a toll on Satou. It never overtly says this, but the reader is left to assume that Satou would be much better if he had never met them and found a job. Subtleties and clever inferences like this are a big positive in my book.
On the other hand it does have it's flaws. It's easy to see why Gonzo chose to only animate the first half, the plot of the second half is much less directionless. It seems to meander a bit and doesn't really seem sure itself which direction it's headed in. It also has some dull moments when the fast paced comedy and characterization is broken up for segments of dialogue. The biggest fault however is the ending which seemed rushed and much more ambiguous than it needed to be. Not to mention the climax was very similar to a scene that had already happened in the manga, it felt as though Takimoto was out of ideas and reused content to settle his manga quickly.
But these details seem trivial when I admire the overall composite of what NHK is. It's an emotional look into the mindset of a NEET hikikomori that many can relate to. And on top of that it holds up a mirror to our own lives and reflects our dissatisfactions and anxieties about our own futures. If you're looking for a powerful and evocative story that will leave you reevaluating your attitude to life, then I completely and utterly recommend NHK ni Youkoso.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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