Extremely interesting. A multi-faceted adventure and perspective on life. Not for the inexperienced.

Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: It's difficult to summarize "Welcome to the NHK". Written by Tatsuhiko Takimoto with art by Kendi Oiwa, the series follows Tatsuhiro Satō, a 22-year-old hikikomori (a shut in) who has no job. His only source of income is his parents giving him money. He is also a massive pervert. In the first volume, he learns that Kaoru Yamazaki, a fellow otaku from the same High School, is living next door (and playing anime soundtracks loudly). Tatsuhiro also meets Misaki Nakahara, a mysterious young woman who claims to be part of a group that helps hikikomori. Tatsuhiro and Kaoru decide to develop a porn video game, and hijinks ensue.

I kept running across Welcome to the NHK in stores and considered buying the first volume. Then Amazon started recommending I buy it. I don't know if it was the fact that I kept running in to the title, or whether the concept eventually convinced me to give it a try, or what, but I recently decided to take the plunge and read volume 1.

Having finished it, I'm still not sure what to think. The story teeters between Tatsuhiro being an endearing otaku and an outright pervert. He develops a disturbing lolita complex, that gets so bad he goes to take upskirt photos of school girls as they leave school. It's hard to root for a guy that's so disturbed, but I found myself hoping he would pull out of the tail-spin and get his life together.

I will say this, the book made me laugh and cringe, sometimes at the same time. I will probably flip through the second volume to see if it's worth following the series.

For more manga and anime reviews, please check out Hobotaku.

NEET族的狂想搞笑題材。

absolutely brilliant no cap

satou does set me on the edge, with im being so nery all the time! but somehow i am hooked ~ i like misaki-chan she's sweet - also she seems to have a hidden motive~ mmmm!

Very good

Great series I picked the the psychial book a long time ago but the manga has the explicit content badge for a reason the story so far gets top marks for being original

The strongest aspect of this manga is it's exploration of the Japanese social phenomenon known as Hikikomori. For those not in the know hikikomori "refers to the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement due to various personal and social factors in their lives. The term hikikomori refers to both the sociological phenomenon in general as well as to individuals belonging to this societal group." (Wikipedia) So, in that respect, having a main character who is a hikikomori is fascinating. However, there is also zero plot to be found here and lots of written "shouting" which was really getting on my nerves. So, interesting socially, yet totally boring as a story.

I'm not sure if "Welcome to the NHK" is supposed to be as profound of a cultural critique as it ended up being, but I found the bizarre story of a emotionally stunted, perverted urban hermit with paranoia complex and a drug problem strangely relatable. I initially saw the 24-episode anime which was somewhat of a casual watch, but the manga is the older, darker and more disturbing sibling. "Welcome to the NHK" exists in the manga space outside of the popular norm, without schoolgirls, mechas, magical talking cats, fantasy or sci-fi themes (except for Puru Puru Pururin. All hail Puru Puru Pururin). Instead it is a dark character drama focusing on some of the stranger elements of the human condition, possibly as a metaphor for consumption saturation and a rebellion against pop culture.

I have mixed feelings about this manga. The story is clearly presented and the art is generally good. When something new is mentioned (e.g., Hikikomori) it is clearly defined in the glossary. My problem is that I'm not certain I can find the characters attractive; I'll have to wait and see. I expect to find the story interesting and well-told regardless of the outcome.

I'm working through the anime of this series, and honestly I like it better than the manga. I haven't read the original novel so I can't say which of the two is closer to the source, but the main character here, a depressed and (probably) psychologically disturbed young man who has shut himself in his apartment for four years, is very hard to like. In the anime he manages to reserve a sweet, self-effacing side that makes him empathetic, but here he comes across as acerbic and basically a horrible person all around. He also crosses certain moral lines here that are softened in the show (regarding his computer game project), but on reading I lost my ability to care about this guy. I don't think I'll pursue the manga any further, but I do like the show a lot (though it does have its weak points too).

Ratings: 2 stars

Probably didn't like this because the main character is a pedo.
And romance is just not my genre, I was expecting more.

Una historia que es por lo menos entretenida, mucho más explícita que la adaptación al anime, que ilustra con un humor bastante negro la problemática del aislamiento social y como el individuo cae en el abuso de sustancias y el autoengaño para autojustificar su comportamiento problemático en lugar de buscar ayuda. Todo esto en el contexto de la subcultura Otaku. De nuevo, muy entretenida, combina muy bien la tragedia y la comedia.