The willingness to deal with even undesirable aspects of one’s culture in a humorous-yet-serious manner is something that has actually been ever-present in the media. Social problems, together with the occasional political issue, can suddenly be the focal discussion point of episodes of popular programs, with some more popular ones becoming the focus of whole series. The Japanese hikikomori issue, in addition to the standard social anxiety and hints of schizophrenia that being a hikikomori entails, has become the property of a fairly recent franchise consisting of an anime, comic, and novel series understood merely as “Welcome to the NHK.”
The show focuses on the lives, trials, and adversities of Sato Tatsuhiro, who is essentially a hikikomori. This suggests he shows severe minutes of social stress and anxiety, going so far as to avoid his parents (whom he’s living with) as much as he can. Being a social shut-in, he is also often seen to exhibit another Japanese sub-culture-turned-problem: that of being a compulsive anime otaku. For the unknown, the Japanese see the otaku sub-culture as a prospective social issue, generally due to the fact that the majority of these individuals have a somewhat jeopardized grip on truth, choosing to focus their time, effort, and attention on various types of home entertainment. Usually, the obsessive nature targets a single media form, such as music or anime, and focuses exclusively on that. The sub-culture exhibits signs that are translated as social anxiety, though they in some cases appear to have somewhat regular social interactions on the uncommon occasions where great deals of otaku collect.
This conspiracy, known as the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (the Japanese Hikikomori Association), is the source of the “NHK” in the title, rather than the real-life Japanese tv network NHK. It is notable that while Sato at first believes the female lead, Misaki Nakahara, to be one of these representatives, he never actually takes the time to detail what the NHK hopes to achieve by turning the entire male population of Japan into socially-inept shut-ins.
avseetv Together with a range of other characters, a few of which seem to be agents of other socially-challenged Japanese sub-cultures, Misaki and Sato come together in the most uncommon ways. Part of the interaction between the 2 leads stems from Misaki’s agreement with Sato, which specifies that once every evening, she is to lecture him on how to overcome his social stress and anxiety and become a typical, operating member of society again. Of course, to supply home entertainment worth, not whatever goes as prepared, with Sato experiencing whatever from anxiety attack due to being outside his house, to having Misaki pretend to be his sweetheart to fool his visiting mother.
Aside from the aforementioned subcultures, the show also quickly discuss other elements of Japanese culture. This includes the prospering independent gaming circuit, the “Internet suicide pacts” problem, and other Japanese social idiosyncrasies. It ought to be kept in mind that, in spite of the title of the show, the network NHK never ever in fact aired “Welcome to the NHK.” Thus, unlike the novels, the show does not explicitly link the NHK conspiracy to the NHK tv network.
The Japanese hikikomori problem, along with the standard social anxiety and hints of schizophrenia that being a hikikomori requires, has become the facility of a fairly recent franchise consisting of an anime, comic, and unique series known merely as “Welcome to the NHK.”
This conspiracy, understood as the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (the Japanese Hikikomori Association), is the source of the “NHK” in the title, rather than the real-life Japanese tv network NHK. It is significant that while Sato initially believes the female lead, Misaki Nakahara, to be one of these representatives, he never really takes the time to information what the NHK hopes to attain by turning the entire male population of Japan into socially-inept shut-ins.
Thus, unlike the novels, the show does not explicitly link the NHK conspiracy to the NHK tv network.