The willingness to deal with even undesirable aspects of one’s culture in a humorous-yet-serious way is something that has been ever-present in the media. Social problems, along with the periodic political issue, can unexpectedly be the focal conversation point of episodes of popular shows, with some more popular ones becoming the focus of entire series. The Japanese hikikomori issue, along with the standard social stress and anxiety and hints of schizophrenia that being a hikikomori requires, has actually become the property of a fairly current franchise including an anime, comic, and unique series understood just as “Welcome to the NHK.”
Being a social shut-in, he is also regularly seen to show 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 potential social problem, generally because most of these people have actually a somewhat compromised grip on reality, preferring to focus their time, effort, and attention on various kinds of home entertainment. The sub-culture displays indications that are analyzed as social stress and anxiety, though they in some cases appear to have somewhat regular social interactions on the uncommon events where big numbers of otaku gather.
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 television network NHK. It is noteworthy that while Sato initially thinks 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 accomplish by turning the whole male population of Japan into socially-inept shut-ins.
Together with a range of other characters, some of which appear to be representatives of other socially-challenged Japanese sub-cultures, Misaki and Sato come together in the most unusual methods. Part of the interaction in between the 2 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 stress and anxiety and become a regular, working member of society again. Obviously, to offer home entertainment worth, not everything goes as planned, with Sato experiencing everything from panic attacks due to being outside his apartment, to having Misaki pretend to be his sweetheart to trick his going to mother.
Aside from the previously mentioned subcultures, the show also briefly touches upon other elements of Japanese culture. This consists of the flourishing independent gaming circuit, the “Internet suicide pacts” problem, and other Japanese social tricks. It needs to be noted that, regardless of the title of the show, the network NHK never ever really aired “Welcome to the NHK.” Therefore, unlike the novels, the program does not explicitly connect the NHK conspiracy to the NHK television network.
The Japanese hikikomori issue, along with the basic social anxiety and tips of schizophrenia that being a hikikomori involves, has actually become the facility of a relatively recent franchise consisting of an anime, comic, and unique series known merely as “Welcome to the NHK.”
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 television network NHK. It is notable that while Sato initially thinks 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.
티비착 Therefore, unlike the books, the show does not explicitly connect the NHK conspiracy to the NHK tv network.