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

[monir]

Genre: Comedy, Parody, Action and Drama

Expected Release Date: July 11, 2006

Website: ??

According to my anime watching experience I've noticed that most of the anime adapted from novel turns out to be great, not just good, i.e. FMP, Scrapped Princess, Sujumiya Haruhi and so on. The good news is this series is also will be adapted from a novel. What makes me a bit cautious and makes me want to curve my enthusiasm is the production company, as it is none other than Gonzo. Nontheless, I will give them the benefit of the doubt by the virtue of the type of show this is supposed to be, an action-comedy with a touch of drama. Anyway, the synopsis is as taken from AniDB:

The existence of the evil organization of "NHK", I happened to find it. All the reasons why I dropped out from the university, being unemployed and a "Hikikomori" - homicidal young person - are due to NHK`s conspiracy. I`ll keep fighting till the day I will beat the vice organization.

But one day, an assassin from a religious group, shows up to kill me. She is a neat and beautiful girl, Misaki-chan, with a parasol. Who is she? What can save our future contaminated with eroticism, violence and drugs? Love, courage, or friendship?

The show is based on a novel by Takimoto Tatsuhiko. It was later illustrated in manga by Ooiwa Kenji.

[YoshiZumi]

I've been following the manga and I am enjoying it alot. Some people might say, "Hey, it's just like Genshiken." Wrong, I own both NHK and Genshiken and they're not even close. Let's just say that NHK deals with more serious issues just like the description states. As Genshiken follows people dealing with being an otaku, NHK deals with a socially with-drawn man. I am looking forward to seeing this being animated and how they portray some of the really looney scenes.

[CaiSter21]

YAY!!!
an anime adaption of one of my favorite mangas!
lets just hope that they dont screw it up

[Keitarou]

Considering it's GONZO, let's remake 80% of the original stuff so nobody will ever recognize it again, I would staple low. Then again NHK is sheer brilliance in its whole existence, so they would need to pull off a Yume Tsukai to completely destroy it and even GONZO wouldn't go as far and one thing we can be sure of is that it will have high technical values.

Anyway, I'm still looking a lot forward to it as it's one of my most favourite works and was the anime I was waiting the most for after hearing the announcement of an adaption. I'm really curious at how they will handle all the "hard" stuff which the manga has enough off, if they really decide to let most of it untouched it will be definitely this year's winner. ;)

As for the comparison with Genshiken, true, Genshiken is by far not on the same level concerning the people and their issues it depicts, but some of the comedy aspects and the pacing of the story are kinda similar.

Spoiler for For the Manga:

In the beginning NHK has a lot of otaku related in-jokes etc. and the mood is despite the prerequisite quite light and funny, but from episode to episode it just gets worse and you can't help but laugh and be saddened by the happenings at the same time. The manga has hit an all-time low as of now and while the last bit somehow shows a bit of progress, it's just impossible to make an 180° turn now and any further implications would lead straight into hell.

So despite the different issues and the far more serious tone there are a few things where you can draw a parallel to Genshiken. I wouldn't go as far and disregard it as just some copy, that it is most certainly not. On the contrary it's definitely a quite original piece of work and a must read because of its many facets.

*edit
Took a look on new infos regarding the anime adaption. Seiyuu cast is rather unknown, Tsubasa Sakura is Misaki...hmm.... Opening by Round Table feat. Nino, ouch, I simply dislike most of their stuff. Oh well, one month to go, let's just hope for the best. ;)

[yamikage]

By the power of Gankutsuou, I pray that this series does not suck. It's the only series I'm actually expecting right now and I seriously hope that it will not disappoint. Having seen the some of the anime character designs, I'd say that it's quite good. The characters, especially Satou, look more appropriate for their age.

I do wonder how they'll handle the sensitive parts in the manga, though. Heck, the main character already shocked the hell out of me in chapter one. First time I saw a main character doing "talking to appliances". I guess episode one will be a sign of things to come, for better or for worse.

[NeoSam]

Kadokawa's site for the anime has opened:

http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/hikky/

Kadokawa: the publisher of the shounen manga NHK ni Youkoso!

[shadowplay]

New character designs are truly awful, die gonzo.
Ok on second thought, designs on character page are not that bad, though seeing it for first time on splash image was too surprising...in a negative way.

[Eleutheria]

Originally Posted by Keitarou

Considering it's GONZO, let's remake 80% of the original stuff so nobody will ever recognize it again,

Nope. It will be very amazing for the first oh, three episodes, deteriorate by episode 5 or so and only become unrecognizable in the final few episodes. And the ending will leave you with a WTF that is strangely familiar with Gonzo.

[bluemist]

For what it's worth, GONZO is at its prime whenever they adapt a manga series, so I'm holding on to that side of GONZO.

[eggplant]

Just came back from a screening of episode 1 of N•H•K ni Youkoso!.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

Let me start off with the songs. The opening theme Puzzle by ROUND TABLE feat. Nino is a catchy, uptempo song, uncharacteristic of their works featured in the ARIA series.
Whereas, the ending song Odoru Akachan Ningen by Outsuki Kenji and Kitsutaka Fuimihiko is a hard rocking rendition of Outsuki Kenji's song during his Kinniku Shoujotai days.
The music is guitar oriented, done by Pearl Kyuoudai, another remnant from the 80s, and can't deem whether or not it fits the atmosphere yet.

The art is more or less similar to that of the manga, and the animation is pretty smooth. However, already with the first episode, Gonzo is quite dependent on overseas outsourcing, which can mean that they are tight with budget and time, warranting concern on the quality of future episodes.

The story basically covers volume 1 of the tankoubon, except that Yamazaki is yet to be introduced and Kashiwa-senpai only makes a cameo appearance by way of a flashback. Episode 1 is dialogue-heavy, especially with Satou's monologue, which can be a turn-off for those who have not read the manga, due to the lack of action, compounded with the emphasis placed on psychological factors. This is somewhat offset with the introduction of the Mahou Shoujo Pururin anime character that Satou (and Yamazaki) is obssessed with, similar to what Kujibiki Unbalance was to Genshiken. By the way, the limited edition of volume 6 of the tankoubon will include a PC game (quasi-ero game) of the story Satou and Yamazaki will work on in N•H•K.

The voice for Satou was different from my image, rather deep-set. He also mumbles alot, often incoherently, which makes it difficult to hear what is being said. Misaki (Makino Yui) is exactly what I imagined her to be.

As for potential censorship qualms, NHK was pronounced exactly as it is letter for letter, so there probably aren't any legal problems with the national broadcasting station of the same name (although the title is N•H•K). The portrayal of Satou's delusions of Misaki was toned down for sure, so I wonder how far they will cover the ero aspects, including the loli story.

All in all, a good start, especially for those who have read the manga. My concern is that N•H•K replaces Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu time slot-wise, so there are bound to be plenty of comparisons to it, perhaps disappointing a few, but the two titles are totally different.

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Edited for fixed typos and clarity.

[tugatosmk]

Originally Posted by shadowplay

New character designs are truly awful, die gonzo.
Ok on second thought, designs on character page are not that bad, though seeing it for first time on splash image was too surprising...in a negative way.

Looking at episode 1 screenshots, the character designs look very nice. You didn't like these?

BTW, according to you, what are the series that Gonzo screwd up?

[Emil Scherbe]

This program attracts my attention because of musicans of ED.
Kenji Ohtsuki(vo) and Fumihiko Kitsutaka(gr) are reunion
after practically breaking up Kinniku Shoujotai in 1998(or so).

Sound sample for their pieces can be heard at
http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discogra...ICL-36098.html

track 1 is Odoru Akachan Ningen (Dancing Babyish Humans)
track 2 is Nippon Hikikomori Kyokai no Theme (Nippon Hikikomori Kyokai's Theme)
track 3 is Odoru Dame Ningen 2006 (Dancing Useless Humans 2006)

Odoru Dame Ningen is Kinniku Shoujotai's piece back in 1991, IIRC.

Kinniku Shoujotai's vidoes at youtube.
http://youtube.com/results?search=%E...deo_view_count

ETA:
筋肉少女帯 (Kinniku Shoujotai) is abbreviated to Kin Sho and they write themself in alphabet as King-Show.
They might be known as Eat-Man's OP Chiisana Koi no Melody (Melody of Little Love) for oversea anime fans.
And/Or
CM piece for the SFC version of Street Fighter II Batoru Yarou -
Hyakuman Nin no Aniki (Battle Rogue - Elder Brother Of A Million Men).

[Mr. Guy]

http://dat.2chan.net/18/res/3189942.htm

Screens up on 2chan. The character designs look a bit better then what my first impression was of them. They still don't look as good as the manga but they're still pretty good. Looks like a few things were changed though... GONZO...

[Omniscient]

Episode 01 Screencaps

Spoiler:

That was really freaky, and the words "on crack" come to mind when describing the episode, mainly the first half. I have no complaints about production quality, which was pretty good, but Sato's voice did take a little getting used to (it felt a bit too deep at first).

[Keitarou]

Originally Posted by Mr. Guy

The character designs look a bit better then what my first impression was of them. They still don't look as good as the manga but they're still pretty good. Looks like a few things were changed though... GONZO... :frustrated:

Well, it's pretty much impossible to retain the original traits of a manga's character design and the anime version in this case is really nice and quite close to the original designs. Satou's usual self is almost the same, his freak-out phases look quite different though. On the other hand Misaki is just too cute in every scene and imho just as cute as she was in the manga. :D

Spoiler for Thoughts about the first episode:

Things that were changed:
- Drug abuse toned down
- Misaki's sex scene toned down
- Suicid attempt was cut (well, almost)
- Yamazaki's appearence was cut (will be the main theme next episode, I guess they'll combine both his appearences to one)
- Flashbacks to high-school and the day when he snapped were already shown (it took quite a few chapter of the manga to show all of them)
- He was never pwned by those thugs
- And most importanly, the third meeting with Misaki was cut (because of missing Yamazaki), that was really a "lol" moment in the manga

Other than that, I liked the opening (the song itself but also the animation and style), same goes for the ending, which was quite surprising. Voice-acting was pretty good, I had a hard time at first to get used to Satou's voice, just like Omniscient and eggplant, I had a different image of him, but it works out quite well throuout the episode. And Misaki's voice (Makino Yui - Sakura in TRC) fits perfectly, there's no flaw, Misaki alone is pure awesomeness and win in this first episode. =P

Animation and style were quite good and I actually liked the expanded scenes of Satou's soliloquies. The dialogues of the remaining scenes were left like they were, with additions.

So overall there is not much to complain about, I guess next episode will be important to see whether it'll be able to keep up with the source despite some toning down or not, after all "Welcome to the Lolita!" is one of the most disturbing parts due to the topic.

Oh, one last thing I wonder about is the pace, seems quite slow. There's not enough time to show some really great parts. :(

[MrProphet]

It's fairly good, but, honestly, I am not a fan of series that show you how fucked up people are in order to make you feel good about yourself.

People must be thinking: "Hey, I have a weird side, but at least I am not like that guy." And then they feel good, cozy and not in a hurry to shape up. To me, this is idiotic. Not my kind of entertainment.

So, as a general comment: the animation is good, the show raises interesting issues, but the plot is way too surreal and self-serving for my taste. The main character, Sato, seems to have a perpetual hang-over.

I seem to have read that the whole hikikkomori thing is some kind of a social problem in Japan, yet through out the whole episode I had a feeling that the guy would certainly benefit from some more fresh air and a healing visit to a neuropathologist.

All in all, it seems like a fine show, but I have a feeling that people's mileage will definitely vary as to the issues presented.

[froinlaven]

Hmm, opening is by Round Table feat. NINO, so I pretty much have to watch this.

Spoiler:

The first episode was kinda confusing, what with the hallucinating and all... I really like the designs for Misaki though, simple yet cute. I'll keep watching this since so many people seem to like the manga that it's based on.

Full impressions here.

[dxgarten]

Episode 01 screencaps and review

Spoiler:

As a major fan of the manga, it's a bit disheartening to see the subpar animation. But I'm hoping it's mostly just the raw that I got or maybe Gonzo failed to do their QA check. The story, however, is still interesting although I think it'll be hard to watch this if you can't at least sympathise with Satou.

[domino]

This show looks really good (good character designs, and I love GONZO ~ )

How long is this manga? It looks like it would be better for a short series than a long one.... And only 1 episode is out?

I'll look forward to this sub. ^_^

[Thelastguardian]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

It's fairly good, but, honestly, I am not a fan of series that show you how fucked up people are in order to make you feel good about yourself.

That is one out of the two main thoughts when I read it. The other one is "Hey I do that too! Oh my god I am as nut as him hahaha!"

PS In case you think I am kidding- no I am not.

Anyway I have my expectation for the anime tuned very low. Nothing can surprise me now.