NHK ni Yōkoso! (Welcome to the NHK)

[Dural]

TokyoPop has the license for this series.

Hopefully it ends on the good side(Battle Royal, GTO) and not on the bad side(Initial D).

[Shii]

All you need to find out is whether they will really write "Rika Nishimura". If not, then you know they're going to butcher it for some nefarious purpose.

[akoftroy]

Originally Posted by ashibaka

All you need to find out is whether they will really write "Rika Nishimura". If not, then you know they're going to butcher it for some nefarious purpose.

Who's Rika Nishimura? What other stuff could they butcher?

[Mephisto2k]

this serie is so awesome. in the newest chapter there was yet another OMG moment when he executed his "ultra masturbation plan", while he was supposed to look for a job and his mother enters the room. Yet another fallback just when we though he would get out of the shit period. The author is just too cruell with him.

[Eleutheria]

I can almost feel that there's going to be a correspondingly bad moment for Misaki perhaps two or three chapters away.

The mangaka had me convinced that the series was going to end soon, with the guy finally moving out of his apartment and formally apologizing to his parents. Then comes that ultra masturbation plan -- something similar is gonna happen to the girl.

Then they'll both run away from home and meet up at the apartment, and realize their relationship is definitely a　腐れん (an undesirable but inseparable relationship)

About the anime, I think I got a whole lot more depressed when I read GONZO is doing it...

[arias]

I'm suprised no one is keeping up this thread for what is a real quality manga. I'll be talking about the latest chapter so spoilers ahead..

This chapter (25) was one of the more heartfelt chapters I've read in manga, despite me not having a stable, rich attachment to the characters despite having read all of what's been released. I did not at all care about the mini-Yamazaki/Nanako arc.. but some of the others really punched hard. There is a deep, dank darkness about this chapter that gave my heart a good beating. I felt some of the dialogue was melodramatic and too keen, but some of it was great, like when Satou talked about his mother's cooking.

To think of it, it really took the wind out of me. Haha.. I only hope that the author give some of his characters -- maybe not all because such an amiable ending would betray the current drama, the opportunity for redemption. I hope there is light at the end of the tunnel for Satou, in particular...

[AvianWing]

Chapter 25... depressing. It isn't really something to get into right away, I had to reread chapter 21-25 to get into the mood.

Spoiler:

Seems like everyone other than Yamazaki is in a deeper hole. I'm surprised to see Kashiwa's marriage having trouble... then again, I've always thought that she has bipolar disorder >.>

Misaki is in denial. Like many people, I thought this chapter would be centered on her, but she barely makes an appearance. I'm kinda hoping that the author would write/draw what happened to her a couple of years ago. Right now, I only have a vague concept of that time.

Lastly, Satou is in his schizophrenic delusions again Doubting the existence of things around him... definitely not good. However, he seems to really be accepting Misaki as an angel of some sort. If there IS a redemptiong, I think this confirms that there will be some Satou x Misaki moments (can't wait XD)

[Eleutheria]

Well, I've read up to the latest chapter, 29.

and

Spoiler:

We ain't at rock bottom yet.

Satou spent all his money on Pachinko, and logged onto Final Fantasy to talk to his "friend". Result: the guy's gonna commit suicide. Satou stands in the rain, crushed.

We see him on his knees in Yamazaki's empty apartment...

Misaki tries to help the FF "friend" in real life, and winds up stabbing herself with a boxcutter, bleeding all over the nice clean floor. At least no one has completely committed suicide.

We see Misaki lying in a coma in a hospital bed...

Yamazaki is waiting for the train which will carry him to his farmer's job. He gets on the phone with his girlfriend(?) who happens to be on the opposite platform. Yamazaki declares cheesily that this is life, with all its ups and downs.
The girlfriend SLAPS HIM DOWN by saying she's really a lesbian and likes bishoujo. She only went out with him because he likes bishoujo as well.

We see Yamazaki going WTF at the train station...

Meanwhile Satou's senpai goes apartment hopping (her own marriage to Misaki's school's psychiatrist in tatters, of course), and coincidentially winds up at Yamazaki's former apartment, where, of course, Satou is...

[arias]

Originally Posted by Eleutheria

Well, I've read up to the latest chapter, 29.

and

Spoiler:

We ain't at rock bottom yet.

Satou spent all his money on Pachinko, and logged onto Final Fantasy to talk to his "friend". Result: the guy's gonna commit suicide. Satou stands in the rain, crushed.

We see him on his knees in Yamazaki's empty apartment...

Misaki tries to help the FF "friend" in real life, and winds up stabbing herself with a boxcutter, bleeding all over the nice clean floor. At least no one has completely committed suicide.

We see Misaki lying in a coma in a hospital bed...

Yamazaki is waiting for the train which will carry him to his farmer's job. He gets on the phone with his girlfriend(?) who happens to be on the opposite platform. Yamazaki declares cheesily that this is life, with all its ups and downs.
The girlfriend SLAPS HIM DOWN by saying she's really a lesbian and likes bishoujo. She only went out with him because he likes bishoujo as well.

We see Yamazaki going WTF at the train station...

Meanwhile Satou's senpai goes apartment hopping (her own marriage to Misaki's school's psychiatrist in tatters, of course), and coincidentially winds up at Yamazaki's former apartment, where, of course, Satou is...

Is that all there is up to chapter 29? Shocking.

[roan]

welcome to rock bottom (chapter 30)

Spoiler:

satou winds up freeloading from his senpai for a couple of days and sicks of having an affair with her but is then stopped by his conscious and a few old memories from high school. meanwhile, misaki's up and her father is yelling at kobayashi (the iinchou) at the hospital until the ff guy barges in and says that it isn't his sister's fault.
thanks to misaki, shirou (the ff guy) is inspired enough to try to take the bar examinations. misaki rejects him because it totally defeats the purpose of her plan if the guy recovers, so she runs off. satou sees her and follows her to a park where he is about to declare to her that he isn't going to ruin kashiwa senpai's happiness, except shirou beats him to the punch (using misaki not kashiwa senpai though) and misaki falls for him.
satou looks ahead dumbfounded and decides to just go have an affair.

[arias]

Originally Posted by roan

welcome to rock bottom (chapter 30)

Spoiler:

satou winds up freeloading from his senpai for a couple of days and sicks of having an affair with her but is then stopped by his conscious and a few old memories from high school. meanwhile, misaki's up and her father is yelling at kobayashi (the iinchou) at the hospital until the ff guy barges in and says that it isn't his sister's fault.
thanks to misaki, shirou (the ff guy) is inspired enough to try to take the bar examinations. misaki rejects him because it totally defeats the purpose of her plan if the guy recovers, so she runs off. satou sees her and follows her to a park where he is about to declare to her that he isn't going to ruin kashiwa senpai's happiness, except shirou beats him to the punch (using misaki not kashiwa senpai though) and misaki falls for him.
satou looks ahead dumbfounded and decides to just go have an affair.

And the pain goes on! I am suprised. I scoured the net to read more and acquire more regarding this but apparently NHK is not a very popular series. No one really talks about it.. I read a manga chapter review where the review said that he/she hoped chapter 25 was rock bottom and things would only go up from there.

I guess we were all dead wrong, and I wouldn't be suprised if you were as well. It's excruciating, and what's worse is that this is a monthly serialization. I'll stick with it to the end of this year to see if it rises.. if it doesn't, I'll probably put it away.. if only for my own sanity.

[Mephisto2k]

He really gets himself into all sort of "geek-trouble" there is. Now he even got himself an imaginary girlfriend...just when i though he allready was through everything there is.

[RuFi]

Does somebody know which days is released a new chapter of NHK in Japan? Is it Monthly...?

This manga is awesome It's a pity that the anime had been licensed by Gonzo... Where are the funny faces?

[Truth-kun]

I've only read up to Chapter 26 so far. Volume four actually got me crying a little, especially when Satou wanted to jump from the Ferris Wheel @_@. 21-26 is okay, but its less fun when Satou and Misaki aren't together . I wish I can read japanese and read up to 30 >.<;.

[Sakuyakun]

This is sadistic, i really hope it ends well at least for Satou

[Kamion]

Oh my god.
I only read up to Chapter 26, but since I can't resist spoilers I read those.
This series starts to be rather shocking. I really hope for some kind of happy end for Misaki and Satou, since I find most of their problems rather understandable.

That page in chapter 24 (?) with the wrist-cutting girl (and the cosplay and yaoi) kind of shocked me. That and Misaki even trying to imitate that. I really was like wtf.

[Yotsuba]

Originally Posted by Kamion

Oh my god.
I only read up to Chapter 26, but since I can't resist spoilers I read those.
This series starts to be rather shocking. I really hope for some kind of happy end for Misaki and Satou, since I find most of their problems rather understandable.

That page in chapter 24 (?) with the wrist-cutting girl (and the cosplay and yaoi) kind of shocked me. That and Misaki even trying to imitate that. I really was like wtf.

Actually, wrist-cutting is a pretty common issue among teenage girls in Japan.
I knew at least 2 girls in my class who did it, not including myself; but the teachers aren't as involved as they are here, so nothing was ever really done. The Gothic Lolita girls especially stereotypically cut themselves. It's called "wrist-cut syndrome" there.

[Shiroth]

Hmm, do you guys think the anime is changing the story for Hitomi a lil' bit? I mean..

With having the meet-up in episode 05, i keep getting this feeling that we won't see 'off-line meeting' story if its going like this.

[roan]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Hmm, do you guys think the anime is changing the story for Hitomi a lil' bit? I mean..

With having the meet-up in episode 05, i keep getting this feeling that we won't see 'off-line meeting' story if its going like this.

it's looking more like a merge between the manga and the novel (the source for the manga) storylines.

brief summary of some novel points since it doesn't look like anyone else did this before

Spoiler:

1. kashiwa and satou only meet directly once in the novel. she actually calls him suddenly after getting his phone number from his mother, and arranges a meeting with him. it's almost the same as her first appearance in both but when he asks her what she's doing, she tells him she's getting married and that she's pregnant. this eventually leads to the scene in one of the chapters about her asking about having an affair, since she only had sex with him once back in high school. just like the manga, satou asks her if she's happy and takes his leave, while mentioning that she might have been crying.

2. misaki's reasons for being attached to satou are different from the manga, but it looks like the anime might be using the novel version of her instead. similar to volume 4 but also very different.

3. satou actually gets a brief job.

4. yamazaki almost finishes the game using satou's plot before he leaves. it sucks.

5. misaki goes to college. yamazaki gets married. kashiwa is happily married. satou is still stuck in his room.

[Shiroth]

Wow, i never really knew just how different the Novel told the story.. thats amazing!

At least now i know that any of the scenes that go into the anime that aren't from the manga have at came from a source, & that being the original one. Of course - its still gonna be fun to see just what the animes going to do with the plots of the future.. they've gt many ways to go around them.

Gonna have to track down the Novel. ^_^