I still hate the “love” thing afterall. Sorry. Anyway, time to finish this circle jerk.
I remember Welcome to the N.H.K. as being fucking God damn awesome. That’s right, I said “fucking God damn awesome.” I had to use those words specifically because really…there’s no other way to explain it.
Hot girl befriends hikikimori and then it turns out that ********************. Well, I’m not gonna spoil it, but it had a really awesome ending. To be honest though, the story isn’t THAT great. It’s the way that the story is told that makes Welcome to the N.H.K. How can I best describe this?
The character development in Welcome to the N.H.K. is above and beyond anything else out there.
The characters go through so many problems, issues, and conflicts throughout the series, and what’s more, they all learn and change from each of these. Now, if I were to see a show described like that, I’d probably dismiss it as being a self-absorbed piece of shit anime. But this is different. Welcome to the N.H.K. manages to stay really exciting and filled with BAM moments left and right.
The characters are AWESOME. For example:
Satou - Hikikomori/NEET that live in a small apartment in Tokyo. His parents pay for most of his expenses, and he secludes himself in his room, going outside only at night to buy food at the convenience store. He comes up with a conspiracy in his head, called the N.H.K., which means…………..(watch the show).
Misaki - A girl who develops a program to help Satou escape from his life as a hikikkomori. Why does she want to help Satou though? Hmmmm…
Yamazaki - An otaku who lives in a small apartment somewhere in Tokyo. He goes to school and is learning to develop games. Specifically, he loves eroge games, and he may or may not want to develop one with another character named in this anime.
Hitomi (Senpai) – Satou always calls her Senpai, because….well…..she is his senpai (upperclassman). They went to high school together, and were both in the literature club together, where they mostly played cards. She seems to believe that conspiracies are everywhere, and responsible for everything.
And did I mention the Round Table OP and the ED by the always awesome Kenji Otsuki?
I did now.
There is some great comedy in this. In one scene, where Satou was attempting to create a theme song for a business he may or may not be trying to start with another character, I was forced to replay his musical tones literally 12 or 13 times, and laughed my balls off every time. I would have kept replaying it, because it never lost it’s funniness, but at some point a I had to finish the episode.
This is one of the best anime I’ve ever seen, and I don’t see myself taking it out of my top 10 ever.
Gonzo… Why, oh why did you stop being so Fucking God Damn Awesome…
That’s a damn good question. Let’s take a deeper look.
Since making Welcome to the N.H.K., Gonzo has made:
October – Red Garden & Pumpkin Scissors
2007
January – Afro Samurai & Getsumen to Heiki Mina
March – Tenshi Sairin (Burst Angel: Infinity)
April – Romeo x Juliet, Bokurano, Kaze no Stigma, & Seto no Hanayome (with AIC)
October – Dragonaut -The Resonance-
2008
January – Rosario + Vampire[6]
April – The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk, Special A, Blassreiter
July – Strike Witches
October – Rosario + Vampire Capu2,[6] Linebarrels of Iron
2009
January – The Tower of Druaga: the Sword of URUK
April – Saki, Shangri-La
2011
July – Nyanpire
October – Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing
2012
March – Ozuma (with LandQ Studios)
Out of all of these, I’ve enjoyed:
Afro Samurai (fucking awesome as fuck), Rosario + Vampire (it was okay…Rie Kugimiya & her character was really the only reason I liked it), Strike Witches (I still say they should wear pants), and Saki (was fucking awesome). Everything else can suck my ding dong, and yes, I’m referring to the pastry.
The only way that Gonzo can make up for their lackluster poop show is to make a second season of Saki, and not some shitty spin off. Of course, I think Saki was a joint effort anyway, with Picture Magic. At least that’s what my info says.
And despite all of this, none of the shows that I like even come close to comparing with Welcome to the N.H.K. NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Saki season 2 (Achiga-hen) is currently airing. Different studio though.
Not a sequel, It’s a spin off. I WANT TO SEE WHO WINS THE DAMN TOURNAMENT.
You are just right. Nothing else to say.
1:28 for relevance:
Why oh why was this mediocre show catapulted to major critical acclaim for no other reason than that it presented the shut-ins who make up anime’s main fan base in a mildly sympathetic way? Shows like this are just the other side of the moeshit coin.
I knew that there would be one making that comment about “a show about the audience.”
3:58 for relevance:
Damn the Tarantino is all over the place with my replies today. I guess the only explanation is that I’m fucking awesome.
I am the opposite of a shut in. More than often, I like to get the fuck out of my house and be as social as I possibly can, doing the normal things a guy my age would do: being athletic, going to bars on the weekends, livin up my life. I don’t consider myself to be a shut-in, so the argument of “liking the show because it is presented to me, a shut-in, doesn’t apply.”
Yet, I still love the show with passion.
Soooo…………yeah your whole argument doesn’t hold water.
The character development is great and all, but as a story there’s no real narrative arc to it. The show felt half-finished to me.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo disagreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
I really have nothing else to say to be honest, because I don’t have a clue what else to say.
Basically, none of the BAM moments hit me as especially BAMmy.
Oh God. OH GOD. I was loading the first episode of NHK out of curiosity, banging out a post on my own little wordpress site, and then I check up on here and see you did a review on it. I must be stalking ahead of myself.
Holy shit……YOU’RE A MIND READING TIME STALKER!
dropped this show after cap 4. couldn’t stand the slowness. also im currently programming a game.
Dumbest decision you’ve ever made. So much awesome shit happens.
Pingback: Remembering Love: Gintama and The Art of Retorts « deluscar
“Become a shut-in and a hot girl will come to you”
I learned something new. Yay.
It’s true! (though I’m pretty sure that girl will be something like 10 years younger than you which is weird).
Implying she’s hot
Confirming the fact.