Welcome to the N.H.K. (2006)
Sato's life – or what's left of it – is a paranoid mess of conspiracy theories and social anxieties. He's terrified of the outside world; his apartment is overflowing with the remnants of cheap take-out food; and his retinas have been permanently scarred by a steady diet of internet porn. But maybe it's not all his fault. After all, the nefarious N.H.K. is out there, and they’re determined to turn society's fringe-dwellers into a brainwashed lot of jobless, hopeless, futureless recluses. Enter Misaki – a mysterious girl-next-door type who is Sato's last chance to beat-down his inner demons and venture out into the light of day. She's ready to help him overcome his crippling phobias, but Sato would rather cower in his existential foxhole and pretend to work on the demo for his virtual sex game. He’s afraid to face the world. She's strangely desperate to fix a total stranger. Maybe together they can be normal.
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Welcome to the N.H.K.
2006 / TV-MA
Seasons & Episode
Tatsuhiro Sato is woken up from his deluded dream of conspiracies, by his noisy neighbour playing loud anime music non-stop. All this could be put to an end if he'd just go next door to complain however Tatsuhiro is unable to do this because he is a “hikikomori”. He later meets a girl named Misaki, who will later change his life around.
In the park late at night, Tatsuhiro meets Misaki who claims to be able to cure him of his hikikomori ways, as long as he signs up to her project. Tatsuhiro remains stubborn and decides to forget about it however Misaki doesn’t give up that easily. So in the spur-of-the-moment Tatsuhiro lies by telling her that he has a job as a “creator” but she doesn’t believe him and asks for proof.
By chance Tatsuhiro discovered that his noisy otaku neighbour was in fact an underclassman he knew from High School and they end up deciding to create an eroge (erotic game). Before this Tatsuhiro must first get some inspiration by trying out some eroge himself nonetheless he gets absorbed into the sordid world of bishoujo “beautiful girls”.
The eroge creating has begun however Tatsuhiro has writer’s block, as he is unable to come up with a scenario or a main heroine for it their eroge. So Kaoru drags him out to many otaku hotspots, like maid cafe, to help him come up with a heroine but this appears to be a new world to him.
After 4 years and 4 months, Tatsuhiro has run into his old senpai from High School, Hitomi who now has become a civil servant. His reunion with Hitomi may have sparked something inside him, because now he feels the need to stop running away and to face his problems as a hikikomori. Now the counseling can begin.
Tatsuhiro is struggling with the scenario for his eroge but this has to wait as he has his 2nd counselling session with Misaki. During this session the subject of Kaoru’s girlfriend comes up, which comes as a shock for Tatsuhiro who never thought of him as the girlfriend type. To confirm this Tatsuhiro follows Kaoru to his design school, where he happens to get lost and ends up in a class for game writers.
The day for Tatsuhiro’s mom to visit has come and he is totally unprepared, as his room is in such a state and requires intensive cleaning. When his mom arrives they all go out for lunch in Chinatown. Tatsuhiro begins to feel the guilt from lying to his mom and considers revealing the truth to her, nevertheless she may already be unto him and Misaki and their lies.
Following the recent intimate moment that nearly occurred between Tatsuhiro and Misaki, Tatsuhiro just can’t seem to get her of his mind. With Summer vacation finally here, Kaoru invites Tatsuhiro to the Summer Comic Market however they first need to finish the eroge they started, in one months time.
The day after the fireworks festival, Tatsuhiro and Kaoru are back to working on their eroge nonetheless Tatsuhiro’s love for Misaki has grown and it’s beginning to surface itself in different ways. One thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that he still doesn’t know a thing about Misaki and he begins to have paranoid thoughts that she is plotting against him, as a part of the NHK.
Tatsuhiro has ended his counselling sessions with Misaki as he thinks that she is plotting against him, giving him more time to finish the game he’s creating with Kaoru, with the looming deadline. Meanwhile Hitomi is feeling the stress and strain in her day-to-day life and she beginning to feel like someone is conspiring against her, just like in High School. Later she goes to visit Tatsuhiro.
It is Summer vacation, Tatsuhiro and Hitomi are now heading to the “Offline Gathering”, which doesn’t seem to be what Tatsuhiro expected. They seem to heading to an island with some strange people and it isn’t until later that Tatsuhiro learns of the true meaning behind and offline gathering. Misaki, Kaoru and Hitomi’s husband later discover where they have gone.
On an island that should have been heaven for a hikikomori as become a hell because Tatsuhiro has learnt that the Offline Gathering, he went to with Hitomi, is for people who want to end their lives.
The phone call from his Mom was about his Dad losing his job, so now Tatsuhiro’s allowance is cut and he needs a source of income. With the free trial he got from the kid in the offline meeting, Tatsuhiro is planning to make money from an MMORPG by selling game items. Yet things don’t go according to plan as he gets hooked on the fantasy life.
After discovering the wonders of the fantasy online gaming, Tatsuhiro has become even of a hikikomori and the one to find out is Misaki. While Tatsuhiro is trying to acquire rare items in the game, with his new party, Misaki is trying to get him off this new addiction but that may be unnecessary. Tatsuhiro later receives a call from someone from his High School.
The call Tatsuhiro received was from the class representative from High School, Megumi who he ends up meeting with. He admits to her that he is a hikikomori, so she invites him to her successful senpai who can supposedly cure him of his NEET problems. However once arriving to a weird seminar Tatsuhiro has noticed that he has wondered into a Pyramid Scheme.
Having just returned from being fooled into buying products in a Pyramid Scheme, Tatsuhiro and gang attempt to Megumi to call the deal off but she has no intention on returning his money. After being fooled a second time they all go to Megumi’s house, with the intention to return the goods, but end up finding out something truly shocking.
Tatsuhiro, Misaki and Kaoru went to Megumi’s house to return the “Mouse Road” goods, when they discover that she is looking after her hikikomori brother (Torotoro from the Ultimate Fantasy Online game). After clearing matters with Megumi and her brother the group head back to return to their usual lives.
Tatsuhiro and Kaoru are back on track to finishing their eroge when all of a sudden Kaoru receives a serious call from home and has to return immediately. After a long period on his own Tatsuhiro is happy when Kaoru returns however he returns with bad news, of having to work at his farm once they finish making their game. The two end up drinking their troubles away and doing something foolish.
Tatsuhiro and Kaoru are in high spirits after finally completing their eroge nonetheless it doesn’t seem to do any better in the Winter Comic Market. Now with that over all that is left is for Kaoru to sort out his belongings before he leaves for his parent’s farm.
After getting separated from Misaki, in the middle of Tokyo, Tatsuhiro runs into Hitomi ands ends up spending New Year’s Eve with her. They just end up separating after saying their farewells, when Tatsuhiro later meets up with a melancholic Misaki. The next day Misaki continues to spiral in despair as Tatsuhiro remains unaware, until their next counselling session.
Misaki’s mental state doesn’t seem like what it used to be, as she chooses an odd topic for their counseling session. It turns out that this is Tatsuhiro’s final session as Misaki is giving him a final exam before a graduation from the project. The graduation doesn’t go to well, because Tatsuhiro doesn’t think of himself as worthy enough to support Misaki, so he cuts all ties with her.
Sato's life – or what's left of it – is a paranoid mess of conspiracy theories and social anxieties. He's terrified of the outside world; his apartment is overflowing with the remnants of cheap take-out food; and his retinas have been permanently scarred by a steady diet of internet porn. But maybe it's not all his fault. After all, the nefarious N.H.K. is out there, and they’re determined to turn society's fringe-dwellers into a brainwashed lot of jobless, hopeless, futureless recluses. Enter Misaki – a mysterious girl-next-door type who is Sato's last chance to beat-down his inner demons and venture out into the light of day. She's ready to help him overcome his crippling phobias, but Sato would rather cower in his existential foxhole and pretend to work on the demo for his virtual sex game. He’s afraid to face the world. She's strangely desperate to fix a total stranger. Maybe together they can be normal.
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