The willingness to deal with even unpleasant elements of one’s culture in a humorous-yet-serious manner is something that has actually been ever-present in the media. Social problems, in addition to the occasional political concern, can unexpectedly 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, along with the basic social anxiety and tips of schizophrenia that being a hikikomori involves, has become the facility of a relatively current franchise consisting of an anime, comic, and novel series known just as “Welcome to the NHK.”
Being a social shut-in, he is also frequently seen to show another Japanese sub-culture-turned-problem: that of being an obsessive anime otaku. For the unknown, the Japanese see the otaku sub-culture as a possible social problem, generally due to the fact that many of these individuals have a slightly compromised grip on reality, choosing to focus their time, effort, and attention on numerous types of entertainment. The sub-culture displays signs that are interpreted as social stress and anxiety, though they often appear to have somewhat regular social interactions on the uncommon events where big numbers of otaku gather.
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 noteworthy that while Sato at first thinks the female lead, Misaki Nakahara, to be one of these representatives, he never really takes the time to detail what the NHK hopes to achieve by turning the whole male population of Japan into socially-inept shut-ins.
뉴토끼 Together with a variety of other characters, some of which appear to be agents of other socially-challenged Japanese sub-cultures, Misaki and Sato come together in the most uncommon methods. Part of the interaction in between the two leads comes from Misaki’s contract with Sato, which mentions that once every evening, she is to lecture him on how to conquer his social anxiety and end up being a normal, functioning member of society once again. Naturally, to offer home entertainment worth, not everything goes as planned, with Sato experiencing whatever from panic attacks due to being outside his apartment or condo, to having Misaki pretend to be his girlfriend to trick his going to mother.
Aside from the abovementioned subcultures, the show likewise briefly discuss other elements of Japanese culture. This consists of the thriving independent gaming circuit, the “Internet suicide pacts” problem, and other Japanese social idiosyncrasies. It needs to be kept in mind that, despite the title of the program, the network NHK never really aired “Welcome to the NHK.” Therefore, unlike the novels, the show does not explicitly link the NHK conspiracy to the NHK tv network.
The Japanese hikikomori problem, along with the basic social stress and anxiety and tips of schizophrenia that being a hikikomori requires, has ended up being the property of a relatively recent franchise consisting of an anime, comic, and novel 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 at first believes the female lead, Misaki Nakahara, to be one of these agents, he never in fact takes the time to detail what the NHK hopes to achieve by turning the entire male population of Japan into socially-inept shut-ins.
Thus, unlike the novels, the show does not clearly connect the NHK conspiracy to the NHK tv network.