Anime recommendation: N.H.K.
Welcome to the N.H.K (2006)
Photo Courtesy of Spinoziano- Wikimedia Commons
Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006) is a sobering tale about Tatsuhiro Satou, a 22-year-old reclusive hikikomori—a self-isolating adolescent—living off an allowance from his family. He suffers from delusions and believes that his life is wretched due to secret conspiracies spearheaded by the N.H.K. (Nippon Hikikomori Kyōkai or Japanese Hikikomori Association), an idea he adopted from Hitomi Kashiwa, a senior high school classmate and his romantic interest. The show kicks off when a girl named Misaki Nakahara appears at his door and promises him salvation from his pathetic lifestyle in exchange for attending all of her “lessons.”
Despite how it may seem, Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006) is not a story about a depressed man whose life was turned around by the unlikely event of a beautiful savior lifting him from the depths of his despair. In fact, Satou’s lecherous nature, inability to step out into the real world, and frail attachment to life are only worsened by Misaki’s actions. Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006) is a story that says that the world is a miserable and scary place to live. People are selfish. People are angry. People are afraid. People are trapped. And, above all else, fate is unpredictable and frequently cruel, yet, we are still living despite it all.
Satou desperately wants to do something with his life but he cannot jump the first hurdle: his own fear and powerlessness. Hence, he drowns himself in fiction, fantasy, and the second-dimensional. While hikikomori and otaku culture—fandoms generally centering around anime and manga—are not universal, escapism is. Blaming some great unseen force for your own shortcomings, like the N.H.K. for Satou, is something many suffer from. Even fighting to get out of bed and face the world is something he and others in the real world struggle with. Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006) never romanticises the life or mentality of someone who lives like Satou. Even when he finally takes a step forward, the world does not always reward him. What eventually changes him is not his strong desire to be better, but the need to.
Satou, Miskai, and Hitomi are some of the deepest and most interesting characters in the medium and make the absolute most of the series’ 24 episodes. The three of them are broken people who make all the wrong decisions, causing pain for not only themselves but others as well. They live in situations that hurt them but are escapable if they have the strength. It is both impossible and entirely feasible to predict how they will act as they experience the cycles of depression.
If you are looking for a show that is candid and does not sugarcoat human nature, the world, or depression, presented by a story that will have you simultaneously sympathize with and be enraged by the characters’ actions, then Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006) is for you. It is widely considered a masterpiece and there is nothing quite like this show; it will leave you feeling empty inside but determined to keep on going.
The blunt and unfiltered parts of the show might be triggering to some. Themes of extreme depression, suicide, and unfavorable portrayals of sex are not shied away from in order to express the message. When these aspects are a part of the story, they are not present for pure shock value, but have a purpose and serve it well.
Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006) preaches that no one will save you and things will go wrong. Dreams will be crushed. Some will move on while some live in the past. Pain sucks and pleasure is not the escape. Sometimes life is good, other times life is bad, and above all else, there are times when life is just okay… and that is okay. You are never too far gone to have hope for better days but it will not come knocking on your door. Find something to live for and keep on living.