Welcome to the N.H.K.

Welcome to the N.H.K. or NHK ni Youkoso is an odd and eccentric anime. Satou Tatsuhiro is a young hikikomori, which is a lonesome person with a preference for absolute solitude. He lives in a small apartment, rarely leaving because he is terrified of the outside world. Satou is convinced everything that happens is due to a conspiracy. The N.H.K. are a tyrannical company, leading everything from the shadows. This story is about how a young and upbeat girl manages to bring Satou back into society.

Satou Tatsuhiro is a cynical and brilliant protagonist.

You get to meet a few different characters in N.H.K, including a rather humorous Otaku. However, the plot mostly centers around Satou and Misaki working together to solve their problems. You can tell the creators have tried to be controversial with this Slice-of-life anime. The characters are eccentric, some strange psychology and philosophical questions are discussed in length. It's a shame that both the anime and the manga try not to offend anyone. Some of the more scandalous yet interesting aspects of the manga such as drug taking have been completely removed in the anime.

Satou is an extreme introvert.

I feel Welcome to the N.H.K was just a little lacking. It had a lot of potential, and while the anime is a good watch overall it ends up just mediocre. If you're depressed or lonely, I believe the anime or manga would be greatly worth your time. A lot of the discussions are topics that introverts and lone people will usually ponder.

Misaki is adorable at times.

The graphics and sound are all passable and it's not bad to watch. Without fight scenes or extensive movement the animation is nothing out of the ordinary. While it tries to be different, N.H.K just seems very similar to dozens of anime that I've seen in the past.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this anime because of the place I was in when I initially watched it. However, I don't think I would ever watch it again. N.H.K is quite slow paced, and whilst it tries to break barriers and go against tried and tested anime conventions- it just doesn't go far enough to be special and stand out.