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Review: Welcome to the NHK Vol. 2
- By Gretchen Lee
- Published 12/13/2007
- Anime and Manga
- Unrated
Gretchen Lee
Gretchen is an anime junkie who spends far too much time reading manga and searching for that elusive new favorite series. She lives with her cat, and raises tomato trees.
View all articles by Gretchen Lee
This second installment of Welcome to the NHK offers up some truly cringe-worthy moments while retaining a deliciously dark sense of humor. With more character development and less fanservice, volume 2 continues the series' social commentary and kind of, sort of, almost shifts gears into a romantic comedy. That is, if Sato can accept a girl's advances without freaking out.
A chance meeting with an old classmate (and seemingly his only friend in high school) finally gives Sato that final push to accept Misaki's offer of counseling. His sempai seems happy to see him, but he realizes that if he ever wants to hang out with her, he needs to be able to leave his apartment. And so begin the meetings with Misaki, who offers him hilariously bad advice. When she pulls out the Freud textbook, it's painfully obvious that Misaki has no clue what she's talking about, and one has to wonder what she's really up to.
Using Sato's insecurity to her advantage by suggesting his neighbor Yamazaki might have a girlfriend, Misaki manages to get him out of his apartment. Misaki's counseling seems as though it might work after all; Sato is so curious he heads out by himself during the day to spy on Yamazaki at the art institute. He even manages to sit in on a script writing class. The excursion, however, delivers some painful results to witness. I was unpleasantly reminded of a recent incident involving myself, a panic attack, and a crowded coffee shop that included elbowing my way to the door as quickly as humanly possible...only without the conspiracy theories. He also learns more than he cared to know about Yamazaki. It would seem he's not the only one leading a dysfunctional life.
Not only is Sato hikikomori (socially withdrawn), he's dense. When his mom announces a visit, Sato panics and tells her he has a job as a script writer for games and that he has a girlfriend.
His lies set off a chain of events that lead to a phony software company co-owned by Yamazaki, and a temporary girlfriend. Can Sato pull off such a spectacular lie to his mom, of all people? Misaki's repeated offers to play the role of girlfriend, and Sato's total ignorance of what she's offering had me wanting to pop him upside the head. So far, Misaki is still quite mysterious, but it's becoming apparent that she's likely just as socially impaired as her "patient" and his neighbor.
Sure, it's an anime, and as such there's a certain level of exaggeration, but there are moments that are so achingly real that it almost hurts to watch. Insecurity, social anxiety, knowing that your lifestyle doesn't meet social requirements, finding success but not being happy...We all either know someone who deals with these things, or we are that someone. While I spent a good deal of time cringing, I also saw so much humor in Sato's attempts to reconnect with the rest of the world. It's not for everyone, but that dark, sardonic humor is there, and will keep me watching. Maybe I feel a little guilty laughing at someone else's expense, but it's worth it for the amusement. I'm certainly looking forward to the next volume, and might even consider buying it. Online, of course. No need to go out in public.
A note: Welcome to the NHK is a series for grown-ups. There's no reason to bring the kids, and it'll save having to explain anatomically correct action figures and porno mags.
Details: Extras include textless opening and closing, a few trailers, and dvd credits. Runtime 1:40, contains episodes 5-8.
A chance meeting with an old classmate (and seemingly his only friend in high school) finally gives Sato that final push to accept Misaki's offer of counseling. His sempai seems happy to see him, but he realizes that if he ever wants to hang out with her, he needs to be able to leave his apartment. And so begin the meetings with Misaki, who offers him hilariously bad advice. When she pulls out the Freud textbook, it's painfully obvious that Misaki has no clue what she's talking about, and one has to wonder what she's really up to.
Using Sato's insecurity to her advantage by suggesting his neighbor Yamazaki might have a girlfriend, Misaki manages to get him out of his apartment. Misaki's counseling seems as though it might work after all; Sato is so curious he heads out by himself during the day to spy on Yamazaki at the art institute. He even manages to sit in on a script writing class. The excursion, however, delivers some painful results to witness. I was unpleasantly reminded of a recent incident involving myself, a panic attack, and a crowded coffee shop that included elbowing my way to the door as quickly as humanly possible...only without the conspiracy theories. He also learns more than he cared to know about Yamazaki. It would seem he's not the only one leading a dysfunctional life.
Not only is Sato hikikomori (socially withdrawn), he's dense. When his mom announces a visit, Sato panics and tells her he has a job as a script writer for games and that he has a girlfriend.
Sure, it's an anime, and as such there's a certain level of exaggeration, but there are moments that are so achingly real that it almost hurts to watch. Insecurity, social anxiety, knowing that your lifestyle doesn't meet social requirements, finding success but not being happy...We all either know someone who deals with these things, or we are that someone. While I spent a good deal of time cringing, I also saw so much humor in Sato's attempts to reconnect with the rest of the world. It's not for everyone, but that dark, sardonic humor is there, and will keep me watching. Maybe I feel a little guilty laughing at someone else's expense, but it's worth it for the amusement. I'm certainly looking forward to the next volume, and might even consider buying it. Online, of course. No need to go out in public.
A note: Welcome to the NHK is a series for grown-ups. There's no reason to bring the kids, and it'll save having to explain anatomically correct action figures and porno mags.
Details: Extras include textless opening and closing, a few trailers, and dvd credits. Runtime 1:40, contains episodes 5-8.
