Welcome to the N.H.K., Vol. 1

A little background on the hikkikomori is an individual who subjects him or herself to being an indoor recluse for months or even years as a result of giving up on life. The term hikkikomori is of Japanese origin, though the stigmatized phenominon does exist outside the country. The hikkikomori aren't typically people who are well put together and they seclude themselves because of past traumas or previous failures. The main character is himself a hikkikomori supported by a cast of odd characters. One, a girl, who is tasked with counseling and reintegrating him back into society. Another, a former classmate and fellow hikkikomori interested in initiating a game company that designs erotic games. The story itself so far is a progressive narrative on the MC's resolve to terminate his hikkikomori status in order to regain some control back into his life while ensuing a partnership with his classmate in developing games exclusively for the hikkikomori demographic.The narrative itself is great, but due to the sensitivity of multiple subjects such as sex and eroticism, the manga itself may offend casual readers. That said, art-wise, the manga itself is excellent and is easy to follow.

Weird and wacky with plenty of Otaku humor about a guy who is Hikkomori, a shut-in with trouble socializing or even talking to other people especially girls. A girl, Misaki, tries to help him to resume a normal life and rejoin society. Entertaining!

I got up to volume 4 of Welcome to the N.H.K and I just can't go on. Initially the cool style of the art appealed to me, but the story just has no point. It is so repetitive and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Here we have Satou, an anime and porn obsessed shut in. Along comes a cute but strange girl to "cure" him...but she's not doing a very good job. Satou's character seems very one dimensional. He pretty much wants to screw every girl he comes in contact with. He hates himself and thinks he's useless to society. There's nothing about him that makes him a particularly likable character, other than the sympathy he gets from others by being so damn pathetic. I guess I just can't root for a character like this. He's really such a loser that I hope he doesn't have a happy ending.This manga is definitely not for kids. There is a lot of sexual content in the manga and also suicide and drug references. The adult content doesn't bother me, but it doesn't seem to move the story along. After 4 volumes nothing has really happened! I can tell that the author himself didn't know the direction he was going when he wrote this. No event feels particularly important or relevant. Just a random series of events. Don't waste your time with buying this manga.Pros: cool and unique art, edgy contentCons: dumb story with no progressstupid and unlikeable characters who are difficult to connect withVery few truly funny parts for a "comedy"

as someone who hopped on with the anime, i can honestly say i REALLY enjoyed the manga!

Such an amazing manga series! One that not many people know about, I can't recommend this series enough.

GREAT ITEM LOVED IT !!!!

Its a good anime but the book is kinda stupid. I hate saying this but yea i regret buying it.

Tatsuhiko Takimoto is a writer whose skill is comparable to contemporary literary greats, in my mind, such as Chuck Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis. His body of work is impressive and varied, but unfortunately, we only know him in America for his acclaimed "Welcome to the NHK" franchise. It tells the story of Satou Tatsuhiro, a deluded shut-in who leeches off of his parents to support his shallow existence, and the individuals in his life who either try to help him break out of this behavior, or encourage it to an even more unhealthy extreme. The initial novel is positively brilliant, and one of my personal favorites, and the anime adaptation is pretty great as well. But then, it's easy to forget about the third venue to experience "NHK," which is through this manga version.Personally, this is my least favorite "NHK" work, which isn't to say it's bad. In fact, it's quite the engaging little series, and definitely one I recommend highly compared to most. Still, as a fan of Takimoto's work, and of Gonzo's adaptation, I can't help but feel a little put off by the way this manga handles the subject matter. First and foremost, the tone is incredibly uneven when held in comparison to both the novel and the anime. The novel is a very bleak satire, to the point where many can't even find any comedy to be derived from it. It offers a borderline nihilistic view of humanity, a kind of hopelessness that you can't help but think that Takimoto truly felt while writing it. By contrast, the anime is much more optimistic, and while it definitely treats the serious subject matter with respect, it came several years after the novel, and I suspect when Takimoto was feeling a bit more optimistic about life.The manga, also penned by Takimoto, feels like a bit of a rough transitional piece. We see glimpses of the gloomy despair that dripped off so many pages of the source material, yet it's place side-by-side with some jarring tonal shifts. Ultimately, this does the series a lot of harm, and works to undermine the entire narrative at times. For example, Satou's descent into being a pedophile for a chapter is played for mostly laughs, while in the novel, it's not funny at all, and meant to illustrate how far this character has fallen (for those curious, the pedophilia addiction is glossed over in the anime, for reasons that should be very obvious.) To me, it feels like Takimoto and Kendi Oiwa fail to strike a good balance between the funny and the serious at times, which undoes the strength of the content.That aside, though, it must still be stated that this is a good manga for all intents and purposes. The characters are truly dynamic and interesting, and their depictions here are arguably the best in the franchise. I say that because that, over the space of eight volumes, they have room to grow and breathe. In turn, their respective bundles of psychoses are unpacked in a slow-cooking, pressure-boiler kind of way, especially with the case of Misaki, the young girl trying to "cure" Satou, and Hitomi, a pill addict with crippling anxiety and self-confidence issues. While perhaps this isn't my favorite "NHK," I think I like the depictions of the memorable cast best here. It helps, too, that Oiwa's art is great, and his depictions of the characters helped shape them for the subsequent anime."Welcome to the NHK," in my mind, is the lesser of the three versions of Takimoto's opus, but it's still a very good series with great art and an off-the-beaten-path story that you don't see in manga every day. Despite the pacing issues and tonal shifts that undermine the overall narrative, this is a very solid manga that is definitely worth your time if you can handle some occasional tasteless depictions of sensitive subject matter.Grade: B

Welcome to the NHK is a manga following Satou Tatsuhiro, a hikikomori(shut in) who has no job or social life to speak of. Satou is a real loser in life. He's so depressed and suicidal. This may sound like a strange opening for a comedy mangs but the manga is funny really funny. The story itself is actually realistic for the most part and is set in this universe.The manga also has a bit of a serious side showing people just how quickly life can go wrong for you if you let it, as well as showing Japan's hikikomori problem and how it develops.The art is well done and there are a few fanservice moments, all in Satou's mind.Satou as a character is really funny and you become attached to him throughout the series.Volume 1 is all about setting up the story for the volumes to come and introducing various characters.I recommend this series for who likes comedy and anyone who has seen and enjoyed the anime.

Coming from a Gaijin (White guy) who is moderately experienced with anime and manga:If you can get the first volume of this series from somewhere; it's awesome if you understand some of the basic cultural differences. It's supposed to be comedy but it's very deep at the same time.The main character is a "hikkimori"; a label that roughly describes someone with what we call "social anxiety disorder" in the West (the only anxiety disorder more common among males, BTW). His friend and next door neighbor is a stereotypical "otaku"; if you know what that means then you qualify to enjoy this series.If you are offended by twisted and amusing stories of mentally/sexually/emotionally disturbed people, than this series is not for you.

A slice of life manga with an interesting premise, our shut in main character trying to get his life on track. Some of it doesn't land right (like taking pictures at the school) but other parts are laugh out loud (the heroine they design)

Great series I picked the the psychial book a long time ago but the manga has the explicit content badge for a reason the story so far gets top marks for being original

really wanted this