Part character study, part dark comedy, and part social commentary, Welcome to the NHK (distributed by ADV) was a pleasant surprise.

Oh, the story itself isn't pleasant. This is one of those stories that is so true to life that it sometimes hurts to watch it. Sato, the hero, is a social recluse. A hikikomori in Japanese vernacular, he's socially awkward, a bit clueless about life in general, something of a nitwit, a college dropout, and a hermit in his own tiny and very messy apartment.  He's so much of a socially phobic recluse that he can't even bring himself to go next door and tell his neighbor to turn down a very annoying and repetitively playing anime theme song.

I know people who have some of Sato's traits. Some things are universal cross-cultural constants: socially anxious guys (or girls) who just can't deal with real life are among them. Hell, as someone who would really rather avoid crowds and any sort of public attention, and who has regular socially challenged moments, I rather identified with the guy. So, while it was a nice surprise that a DVD with the words "porn" and "pornographic" on the jacket wasn't a campy hentai smutfest, the show cut uncomfortably close to reality in spots.

Of course, besides the boy, there's a girl. Every story about social misfits must involve a cute girl. This is a universal constant.

Misaki, said cute girl, is an older teenager, and innocent in appearance. In fact, the first time Sato meets her, it is with her "missionary" aunt who knocks on Sato's door to pass out literature about hikikomori. However, while she is earnest, appears in the first DVD to be squeaky clean, and seems a bit innocent, she is nobody's fool. She has identified Sato as a hikikomori and she is determined to help him.

So, she convinces him to meet with her and persistently calls his bluff whenever he tries to tell her he's not a recluse. Eventually, in a bid to prove her wrong, he tells her he's a creator -- an artist of some sort -- and he spends all his time in his apartment because he's working. She doesn't buy it, and demands proof.

Enter the neighbor with the annoying anime theme song. Sato finally explodes and barges into the neighbor's apartment to tell him to turn the music down!

It turns out his otaku neighbor is a boy he knew from school -- he had attempted to rescue the kid from bullies years before, and had been beaten up in the process. And Yamazaki, despite being younger, is much more socially clueful than Sato. He's a computer geek and a college student, and, oh, he likes hentai anime and games. A lot. However, despite his fondness for porn, Yamazaki is definitely the most perceptive of the three main characters. He also comes across as the most adult.

Sato needs to convince Misaki he really is a creator. Together, he and alpha-geek Yamazaki hatch a plan to create -- wait for it -- a pornographic video game.

Really.

Of course, Yamazaki gives Sato the assignment of learning about porn, because Sato's a bit on the naive side and doesn't know much about video games or smut. Very shortly, Yamazaki finds himself fixing Sato's computer because Sato deleted his operating system in an attempt to make room on the hard drive for -- wait for it -- more porn downloads. Also, Yamazaki observes, while fixing the computer, that Sato needs a bath because he's been neglecting his hygiene in favor of teh anime pr0n.  

I swear I know these guys. Ah, fanboys.

Ultimately, this DVD was successful in making me want to see more. I can't wait to see how all the pieces set up in the first four episodes fall into place. Will Yamazaki conquer his social anxiety? Will the boys succeed in making a pornographic video game, and if so, how will Misaki react? Is there more to Misaki than what we've seen so far? I'm quite intrigued.

I'm putting future disks of this DVD on my "buy" list, in addition to the manga. Welcome to NHK impressed me that much.

Obligatory warnings for my readers: This series is not suitable for children. There's (obviously) discussion of hentai anime and video games and some very brief scenes of female characters in compromising positions. However, the fanservice actually shown in the series is relatively minimal. Blink, and you'd miss it.

Technical stuff: Run time 100 minutes, disk 1 of 6, contains four episodes. Rated TV:MA.