is a Japanese novel written by Tatsuhiko Takimoto. It was published by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan in January 2002, and in English by Tokyopop in October 2007. The story revolves around Tatsuhiro Sato, a 22-year-old hikikomori, an asocial recluse, who gets aid from a strange girl who seems to know a lot about him, despite never having met him before. Common themes throughout the story deal with depression, anxiety, isolation, existential dread, the hardships of life and how people must deal with them in their own way. The novel profusely analyzes the hikikomori phenomenon, which is relatively widespread in Japan.
Welcome to the N.H.K. was adapted into a manga series, also written by Takimoto, with art by Kendi Oiwa. The manga was serialized between June 2004 and June 2007 in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Shōnen Ace. The manga's forty chapters have been collected into eight bound volumes released in Japan and overseas. The English edition of the manga is published by Tokyopop, and the first volume was released in October 2006. The novel was also adapted into a 24-episode anime television series by Gonzo which aired in Japan between July and December 2006 on Chiba TV. In North America, the series was licensed for English release by ADV Films, who released it on DVD in 2007. In 2008, the anime became one of over 30 ADV titles acquired by Funimation.
In Japan, NHK refers to the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai), Japan's national public broadcaster, but within the series the main character believes it stands for , which is a reference to the protagonist's claim of a subversive conspiracy led by NHK (the real-life broadcaster) to create hikikomori. While it mainly deals with the phenomenon of hikikomori, the plot also explores many other Japanese subcultures—for example otaku, lolicon, and Internet suicide pacts.
Plot
Story Welcome to the N.H.K. revolves around the lives of several young adults all living in or around the city of Tokyo. Many different lifestyles are shown though most of the time the story focuses on the concepts of being a hikikomori (a reclusive individual who withdraws from society), anime otaku, and having most of the characters experience intense feelings of depression and loneliness.
The main protagonist is Tatsuhiro Satō, a university dropout entering his fourth year of unemployment. He leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, ultimately coming to the conclusion that this happened due to some sort of conspiracy. One day, just when his life seems entirely unchanging, he meets Misaki Nakahara, a mysterious girl who claims to be able to cure Tatsuhiro of his hikikomori ways. She presents him with a contract which states that once a day they would meet in the evening in a local park where Misaki would lecture to Tatsuhiro in an effort to rid him of his lifestyle. During these outings, many subjects are discussed, though they almost always pertain in some way to psychology or psychoanalysis. One of their first meetings in fact deals with interpreting Tatsuhiro's recent dreams. Both Tatsuhiro and Misaki, however, have a tendency of over-doing things, such as hiding the truth, especially from each other and themselves. Despite Misaki's offer and pressing attempts at salvation, it is Tatsuhiro's neighbor and high school friend, Kaoru Yamazaki, whom Tatsuhiro often turns to in moments of need and support. Despite his own idiosyncrasies, Yamazaki is one of the more stable characters in the story.
The plots within the novel, manga and anime are each rather different from one another, and many themes and personalities differ between each. The novel also regularly mentions drug use by the main character, and later, his friend, Yamazaki. This element of the story is downplayed in the manga (drugs Satō uses are referred to as "legal psychedelics purchased off the internet"), and, asides alcohol, left out of the story altogether in the anime (with the exception of Hitomi). This is likely due to several reasons, including a more public-friendly rating, as well as ultimately being unneeded for the progression of the plot. The references to lolicon that are present within the novel and manga have also been downplayed within the anime, where most of the women the characters lust after are of mature age, although brief hints still remain.
N.H.K. The of Satō's imagination is supposedly a sinister conspiracy which aims to turn people into hikikomori and NEETs. No clear reason why they would do this is offered, although Satō considers the potential of an "army" of displaced individuals, and it is mentioned that hikikomori are created for the purpose of giving society someone to look down upon, making themselves feel superior. The majority of the N.H.K.'s work is done through the media, via broadcasting anime and other material that is likely to turn the viewer into an otaku. Throughout the series, many shots of advertising hoardings or movie posters incidentally displayed in other locations bear N.H.K. references.
Satō on occasion also believes that the N.H.K. takes a more active role via the use of agents, although of course these agents only appear in dream sequences or flashbacks. Three types of N.H.K. agents are seen: the first are classic Men in Black who appear to have the ability to disguise themselves as anyone else they wish. They occupy key roles in a target's life, ensuring that they fail to develop. The second are cute, or more precisely moe girls who directly break the hearts of targets or who, via celebrity status, induce targets to have impossible or unrealistic expectations of relationships, destroying their ability to develop them in the real world (Satō never considers how, or even if, the N.H.K. would target women). Satō at one point fears that Misaki may be an agent of this type. The final type of agents are bizarre goblin-like creatures who are grey all over but for a letter (usually "N", "H" or "K") written in yellow on their belly. These creatures appear to be the masterminds of the entire N.H.K. conspiracy, but more likely than not they are Satō's mental image of the spreading mindset or circumstances he associates with the N.H.K. In the novel, it is hinted that Tatsuhiro may not actually believe the conspiracy to exist but instead needed an imaginary enemy to vent his frustrations on and to help motivate him into overcoming his hikikomori ways.
The real-life public broadcaster NHK, which is the source of the abbreviation that is parodied by the series, really does provide a support website for real-life hikikomori. In the manga and novel, a concrete link between the public broadcaster NHK and Satō's Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai is implied; in the anime, although the conspiracy is still named NHK, no such correspondence is drawn and it appears that the NHK does not even exist as a broadcaster in the anime's version of Japan (in the anime, Misaki has never heard of the acronym when Satō says it to her). This may have been because the anime was broadcast on TV channels operated by other Japanese broadcasting companies, thus implying that it related to the real TV company and could have been interpreted as slander against a competitor.
Puru Puru Pururin is a fictitious magical girl anime of which Kaoru Yamazaki is a fan, featured only in the anime version (in the novel, Yamazaki is a fan of the real-world show Ojamajo Doremi, which is replaced by Puru Puru Pururin in the anime). It is never explicitly stated, but strongly suggested, that Satō believes this series to be controlled by the N.H.K.; in fact, it is after seeing an episode of the series which inspires him to think up the N.H.K. as a concept. The series had a real website, which further suggested this. For example, although it appears to be a children's style of series, the schedule on the website suggested that it is shown almost daily in the small hours of the morning, when children would not be awake, but hikikomori frequently are. Although the website listed the names of several real-world broadcast channels which supposedly carry the show, none of them are operated by the real-world NHK, again suggesting that in the anime's version of Japan, the N.H.K. is not a broadcasting company and is a conspiracy spanning all media. The listed broadcast times and channels are in fact the times at which the Welcome to the N.H.K. anime aired.
Only brief excerpts of Puru Puru Pururin are ever seen, and it is not possible to guess what powers the main character, Pururin, would have. It appears that Pururin is a good, heroic character and is assisted by a number of animated household objects, including a vacuum cleaner upon which she flies; her trademark is to randomly append the word Purin to the end of sentences, similar to Dejiko in Di Gi Charat. The theme song first heard in the first episode is sung by Rumi Shishido. This theme appears in ringtone version throughout the series.
Characters
The story's protagonist is a 22-year-old hikikomori of nearly four years. He is highly unstable, easily manipulated, obsessive, and often blames the N.H.K. conspiracy, a fabrication of his mind, for his shortcomings. He lives in a rented apartment, but depends on his parents' allowance to live. Within the novel and manga, he engages in fairly hard drug use, which is the cause of his delusional visions, although this does not occur within the anime. Near the beginning of the series he finds out one of his few high school friends, Kaoru Yamazaki, has been living next door to him for quite some time. Yamazaki's influence inadvertently makes Sato become an otaku. Sato also decides to help Yamazaki on the creation of a gal game by writing the script. However, the reason for accepting the writing task was initially to get a girl he met, Misaki Nakahara, off his back. Misaki wants Sato to participate in her project, a therapy of sorts. Although he was extremely reluctant at first, he eventually agrees to take part in Misaki's project, albeit not treating it seriously at first. As they spend more time together he quickly falls in love with her, but is afraid to show it since he knows so little about her despite the fact she knows so much about him. His paranoia drives him to tail Misaki one day to find out where she lives. The result of the expedition reveals that Misaki lives on a nearby hill which gives her a perfect view of Sato's apartment as well as the park where they meet for their sessions. Again driven by paranoia, he tries to save himself from potential betrayal by claiming he doesn't want to see her ever again. Shortly thereafter, Sato accidentally becomes involved in a suicide party but ends up being the closest one to go through with it. Yamazaki and Misaki talk him out of it, and he resumes Misaki's project, but his feelings for her have become platonic rather than amorous. Near the end of the series, Sato's true feelings for her are revealed when Misaki makes up another contract that will bind them together as a couple forever. Despite how he feels, he rejects the contract thinking that he has to protect her from his own condition, and believing she deserves someone much better than he is even if it would mean that he reverts to being a hikikomori. Later, Sato finds a suicide note from Misaki, but because of an earlier conversation he knows where she will be. Sato eventually finds Misaki and confesses the truth that he needs and loves her in an attempt to prevent her from going through with the suicide. In the end, they decide to continue their relationship while Misaki finishes her high school equivalency, and they go to college together. In the closing scene Sato signs a new contract proposal from Misaki that binds their actual lives together.