(L) NHK ni Youkoso! (Welcome to the NHK!)

[Solafighter]

Just rewatched the anime after reading the novel and manga.

Even thought, the manga and novel had their better aspects, the anime is not bad at all and is one of my top favourites. This series has something, not only a single other anime has(from those, i have seen).

I love the guitar playing of the song "Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi", espeacilly in episode 21. This scene is very well maded by the producers, from my point of view.

[Jin Kizuite]

Thank the lord a story of the such individuals of anti-society was written about and shown to the public to better understand 'us.' I can only say that whoever wrote this was a genius. Me too i just rewatched the anime after reading the manga. And made a post discussing the lifestyles brought up.

[Proudleaf]

So I just finished watching the entire series after finally borrowing all of the DVDs from a friend and...

Wow. Other than a few small complaints here and there (episode 4 and the MMORPG arc) this series was truly fantastic. Not only was the subject matter something that I was totally unaware of, but the series was amazingly funny, tragic, and heartwarming all at the same time. I have yet to read the manga, but this anime adaption was extremely well done. I'd just like to mention that I love Misaki's character (in addition to Satou's of course), and I truly feel that the two of them will be happy together. I will also unabashedly admit that I cried a little bit when...

Spoiler:

Satou caught Misaki from falling off the ledge. To me, this scene was particularly uplifting and moving, and fully exemplified the love and the bond between them.

I'm very tempted to buy this series once I get the chance, and I'm pretty reluctant to return the DVDs to my friend at the moment.

Welcome to NHK! Welcome to Life!

[Nosauz]

HAHAH great to hear another NHK ni Youkoso fan is born, if you like the anime you really should check out the manga, also since i never have commented on this thread, man do I love purin purin.... oh gawd just thinking about the op makes me salivate.... died of moe overdose

[Proudleaf]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

HAHAH great to hear another NHK ni Youkoso fan is born, if you like the anime you really should check out the manga, also since i never have commented on this thread, man do I love purin purin.... oh gawd just thinking about the op makes me salivate.... died of moe overdose

Moe overdose is right, and not to mention numerous moe moments with Misaki which left me knocked out on the floor xD

And thanks, I'll definitely check out the manga. Also, I hear there's a novel too?

[ViewtifulAlchemist]

*Hit submit reply button instead of preview in previous post"

I already read the manga some time ago but I too just recently watched and finished the anime version. I really loved the series in manga form so I had planned on experiencing Welcome to NHK in all its media forms. The novel is the last thing for me to get. Anyways, I think the manga handled a lot of parts better than the anime but overall the anime had a much conclusive ending.

Also the animation was very inconsistence, most of the later half of the anime seem like fan-drawings in motion. Luckly the last 2 or 3 episodes shaped up well to let the series end with a bang. The anime also downplayed quite a lot of things and left out certain (mini?) arcs all together. Not really much of a complaint, just an observation. Seeing the way the anime ended some of these changes were needed I guess. Things that came to mind:

Spoiler:

The drug and sex was downplayed a lot in the anime compared to the manga. The story seem to progress much the same regardless although Satou's illusions seems more random because lack of influenced from the drugs.

Hitomi was downplayed quite a bit in the anime. In the novel I hear she doesn't even have a name, making her even less significant, but it was just weird watching the anime version of her coming from the manga where she is much more involved in Satou's life. Because of that the final meeting with her and Satou felt more like filler. In the anime Hitomi's depression doesn't seem to have much weight as the manga counterpart, I guess mainly since they didn't explored Jogasaki more in-depth. In the manga, I found the Hitomi/Satou moments some of the most interesting in the series.

Yamazaki/Nanako relationship, I like how it ended in the anime even though more detailed was given to it in the manga. One of the few changes I prefered over the manga besides the ending.

Offline meeting arc ended slightly different, anime had them all trying to suicide via cliff jumping where in the manga they just tried to suicide via carbon fumes.

The whole "Satou tries to suicide again", and "Satou goes home and gets caught "in the act" mini-arcs were gone. The former didn't add much I guess but the later is one of the funniest moments in the series for me, I was looking forward to seeing that animated.

Megumi/her hikki brother arc ended very differently...but I guess this is mostly due to the way how Misaki is vastly different in her manga form. I'm not sure which ending version of that arc I like though, in the anime he recovers kind of fast but at least it just a common job. In the manga the fact that he recovered into some sort of super lawyer (iirc) so quickly was more far-fetched to me.

Misaki as whole, the manga did a good job of portraying her bizarre personality disorder shattering the angel-like image she is presented with earlier in the series. She was bananas for the most part. The anime however pretty much keeps her as the perfect angel with sad abusive background that, iirc, was mostly made up in manga Misaki's mind.

The ending, one of the things that irked me about manga NHK's ending was that nothing really seem resolved...it just kind of ended on a whimper. Satou's "final conspiracy counter-attack/revelation" was handled much better in the anime imo. It tied into the serious situation beforehand much better and even actually made more sense of the overall theme of the series when he tried to explain the conspiracy of NHK as some sort of metaphor of life to Misaki.

In the manga, the situation is all serious then he just bust out "I'M A BRAVE SOLDIER, I'll KEEP FIGHTING the NHK, etc, etc" then the series flashforwards to end...kind just left me with a "Huh? That's it?" feeling considering all the build-up before that.

I'm looking forward to the novel. This series one of my favorites of all time.

[FallenDevil]

well this series really made my tummy hurt this series is crazy!!

[jigoku shoujo]

Originally Posted by ViewtifulAlchemist

*Hit submit reply button instead of preview in previous post"

I already read the manga some time ago but I too just recently watched and finished the anime version. I really loved the series in manga form so I had planned on experiencing Welcome to NHK in all its media forms. The novel is the last thing for me to get. Anyways, I think the manga handled a lot of parts better than the anime but overall the anime had a much conclusive ending.

Also the animation was very inconsistence, most of the later half of the anime seem like fan-drawings in motion. Luckly the last 2 or 3 episodes shaped up well to let the series end with a bang. The anime also downplayed quite a lot of things and left out certain (mini?) arcs all together. Not really much of a complaint, just an observation. Seeing the way the anime ended some of these changes were needed I guess. Things that came to mind:

Spoiler:

The drug and sex was downplayed a lot in the anime compared to the manga. The story seem to progress much the same regardless although Satou's illusions seems more random because lack of influenced from the drugs.

Hitomi was downplayed quite a bit in the anime. In the novel I hear she doesn't even have a name, making her even less significant, but it was just weird watching the anime version of her coming from the manga where she is much more involved in Satou's life. Because of that the final meeting with her and Satou felt more like filler. In the anime Hitomi's depression doesn't seem to have much weight as the manga counterpart, I guess mainly since they didn't explored Jogasaki more in-depth. In the manga, I found the Hitomi/Satou moments some of the most interesting in the series.

Yamazaki/Nanako relationship, I like how it ended in the anime even though more detailed was given to it in the manga. One of the few changes I prefered over the manga besides the ending.

Offline meeting arc ended slightly different, anime had them all trying to suicide via cliff jumping where in the manga they just tried to suicide via carbon fumes.

The whole "Satou tries to suicide again", and "Satou goes home and gets caught "in the act" mini-arcs were gone. The former didn't add much I guess but the later is one of the funniest moments in the series for me, I was looking forward to seeing that animated.

Megumi/her hikki brother arc ended very differently...but I guess this is mostly due to the way how Misaki is vastly different in her manga form. I'm not sure which ending version of that arc I like though, in the anime he recovers kind of fast but at least it just a common job. In the manga the fact that he recovered into some sort of super lawyer (iirc) so quickly was more far-fetched to me.

Misaki as whole, the manga did a good job of portraying her bizarre personality disorder shattering the angel-like image she is presented with earlier in the series. She was bananas for the most part. The anime however pretty much keeps her as the perfect angel with sad abusive background that, iirc, was mostly made up in manga Misaki's mind.

The ending, one of the things that irked me about manga NHK's ending was that nothing really seem resolved...it just kind of ended on a whimper. Satou's "final conspiracy counter-attack/revelation" was handled much better in the anime imo. It tied into the serious situation beforehand much better and even actually made more sense of the overall theme of the series when he tried to explain the conspiracy of NHK as some sort of metaphor of life to Misaki.

In the manga, the situation is all serious then he just bust out "I'M A BRAVE SOLDIER, I'll KEEP FIGHTING the NHK, etc, etc" then the series flashforwards to end...kind just left me with a "Huh? That's it?" feeling considering all the build-up before that.

I'm looking forward to the novel. This series one of my favorites of all time.

wow, now I want to read the manga, I think the history I want to see was left behind

[Chris87]

Hey, just found this thread via google .

I'm quite happy to see there are still some other NHK fans out there. It seems to me like the anime almost vanished. No DVDs for europe, not even much reactions from fans either.

I can't describe how much I love this anime. Such a perfect mixture of drama and comedy. But what I liked most was more between the lines. No matter what happened, there was always a shadow of desperation in the background. Man, that must sound pretty stupid...What I mean is, although it's basically about Satou finding a way out of his hikkikomori way of life, I always felt like the real theme was the search for a meaning in everyone's lives.

Let's take episode 9 for example

Spoiler for Episode 9:

The hilarious "Go to hell, bitches!" part. I was really laughing out loud, but after Yamazaki changed his mind and Satou still had his "mask" on, saying "Everyone...go to hell", it went into a complete new direction from one second to another for me.

In the end it feels like everyone in this series is desperately trying to find happiness in life, and by doing so worsening the ones of the others. Satou is kind of the last part of the chain, always being left alone and thrown into more miserable situations. Sometimes I really wondered if his friends are helping him to find a way out of his way of life or if they just push him even more to that direction. Maybe a conspiracy?

And especially this part is also very present in the so-called filler arcs, which is why I can't really understand why some reviewers find them unnecessary.

I wish I'd find some other animes that give me the same feeling as this one while watching, but I didn't succeed until now. I guess I have to watch it many more times .

After comparing some scenes from the manga and the anime I don't think I'd like the manga though. Maybe it's just me, but a lot of sad moments didn't seem so sad to me. (e.g. the last meeting of Nanako and Yamazaki)

Oh, by the way: Is there a way to get the novel in europe? Amazon doesn't seem to have it.

[signorRossi]

I am currently reading the manga and certainly will look at the anime too.
One moment you laugh out loud, the next you feel pity and sadness.
I thin kI will spend some more time offline this year....^^

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Chris87

I wish I'd find some other animes that give me the same feeling as this one while watching

Maybe some of these shows might fit the bill?

[Solafighter]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Maybe some of these shows might fit the bill?

Many suggestions are nothing worth. You cant put Haruhi and NHK on the same level of psychological aspect. [
Same goes with some other series, which are displayed, there.

Oh well, when i was reading the NHK manga, it took me 2 weeks and i only watched ongoing series in the mean time.

[CybEssen]

The anime series would probably be great to watch for the people out there soul searching.

As a former avid FFXI player, I lol'd at the sneaky FFXI plug. The first time I saw the information card, I was like "Wait a minute, that font and greeting looks familiar." Then came the Mithra, then came the Tarutaru named Toro-toro (LV73!) Satou's a RDM with a pimp hat on. His spell "incantations" were pretty absurd though.

The ending was pretty bittersweet for me, I thought there could have been more to it...

ED02 is a joy to listen to.

Guess I'll get started on the paperback material...

[Chris87]

Originally Posted by Solafighter

Many suggestions are nothing worth. You cant put Haruhi and NHK on the same level of psychological aspect. [
Same goes with some other series, which are displayed, there.

True, true...

Anyway, I found the novel now (I just had to type N.H.K. instead of NHK :P ) and so far I'm really impressed. It seems to be even more melancholic than the series.

[SkoolRumble4Ya]

Man I love this series it's sad that there are no more NHK i wanna see the relationship between Satou and Misaki.

[Solafighter]

Originally Posted by SkoolRumble4Ya

Man I love this series it's sad that there are no more NHK i wanna see the relationship between Satou and Misaki.

Yeah..

I watched the series, read the mangas and the novel.

What shall i do know?...

[SkoolRumble4Ya]

Yeah there is nothing we can do, we just gotta move on

[maxpepper]

I just finished watching NHK for the first time and I'm glad I did, what a ride

I definitely wouldn't have lasted as long as Satou did having the "puri-puri" theme blasted 24/7.

Spoiler for episode 23+24:

Misaki was my favorite character after Satou. But I feel like the first time we really get to see her is in episode 23 when she gives him the 2nd contract. That part really made me feel so sad for her, she was the stronger one throughout the series and in this moment she was just so vulnerable. The little piece of paper and her facial expressions scream out - I need you - be with me - Help me.

Episode 24 was a just conclusion to a great story. I enjoyed all of the episode, specially when he catches her and when they sign the 3rd contract.

I hope they manage to pull through together and they become something more than just teacher/food provider

[Godai-AK]

I'm currently watching this; just finished watching episode 6.

It really is one of the more fascinating anime I've seen recently, works more as a social commentary/satire than most other titles I've seen. A lot of anime make use of certain standard cliches; I can't see too many here unless it's being skewered (like the various types of girls in "gal games")

I can't really compare it to anything I've seen, and I can't take my eyes off it either. Great stuff.

[SeijiSensei]

Just a note to anyone who has thought about buying this excellent series that discs 1-5 are on sale at RightStuf for $10 per disc. (The last one is still $22, though.) That's less than the combined price of the two boxsets.

This offer ends on May 11th, so time's a-wasting.