Rating: 9.5/10 & 9.3/10

Overall Series Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Wow, this is the first double season series I’ve finished blogging…It’s been a long time since this show started, and even though I felt like dropping it a few times in the middle as it just isn’t really my thing, the more I blogged the more I refused to give up (since that, to me, is like wasting all that time blogging the show if I dropped it). Oh well, at least this ending leaves me on a positive note. The last two episodes are highly impressive, especially the 23rd, and the ending, in my opinion, couldn’t have been better. Satou may have escaped his hikikomori life, but life in reality dictates that you can’t overcome hardships so easily, and thus Satou is left still extremely poor and in a rather bad situation. However, of course as he now works and is not as afraid of society anymore, he should be fine, and this sort of happy ending is a big relief. Misaki too, goes back to studying (I didn’t know she dropped out of school) and is planning to get into university, so her life should not be a problem either. I guess everything works out.

It’s pretty ironic how the whole series revolving around Satou’s counselling ended up being a waste, as the real push that forced Satou out of his hikikomori-ness is his own body. He really didn’t need much help to begin with; all he needed was to feel starvation and finally do something about it. But if I think like that, it would be pretty troubling as that would mean the whole series was a waste of time, so I’ll just accept that Misaki gives him the foundation for his recovery, in order for that final push to take effect. I’m still wondering about Misaki’s original motives though. Is she already in love with Satou when she starts counselling him, or does it develop along the way, and her original goal is just to have Satou make her feel better? Another thing to think about is how Misaki tried to kill herself…the descriptions given suggest she overdosed on some drug, though I’m pretty sure that when she explains it to Satou, there is a close up of her bandaged arm…meaning she tried to cut her veins. Oh well, it’s not really something to think too deeply about anyway.

Well, out of the whole series, episode 23 just has to be the best. It is the most dramatic and also thrilling episode there is. I was quite amazed when I finished watching it, as it didn’t seem like 20 minutes had passed at all. I thought afterwards that it felt like almost nothing happened at all in that episode, yet for some reason it finished in a flash. The execution of that episode is truly great. The cliff-hanger make the events of the final episode rather predictable, but the overall outcome of both Misaki’s and Satou’s situations would remain a mystery until the last few minutes of the show. Seeing Satou and Misaki together on the cliff was really touching as well. I didn’t think the barrier below the cliffs would do much, although thinking about it, it’s likely that someone who had enough courage to jump once would not have the courage to do so again, so the barrier is more of a mental security. There’s also the possibility that the height from the barrier would be too low to die on impact. And yes, of course I changed my mind about Misaki, as I expected to do so from when I was disgusted with her a few episodes back. It’s only natural for the main characters to at least not be hated in the end.

Rating: 8.8/10 & 8.6/10

Impressions:

These two episodes felt extremely lengthy to me, though it was probably due to how I usually watch one episode of a series before switching to another. However, these two episodes are meant to be watched back to back, and having done so gives you stronger feeling of the characters, as character development is extremely high. Yamazaki is out of the picture: he is now more financially secure than before, and his mental state has probably stabilised. Kashiwa, with the help of Satou, has seen the light of day again and has resolved to lead a happy life. And now the two remaining in the dumps are Satou and Misaki, the two who had started this show and the two who will end it. Everything should be about them now, and wow what two messed up people they are. Oh and before I go on, I’d like to point out how horrible the quality of episode 22 is in comparison to 21. It was rather shocking really. Both Misaki and Kashiwa look rather ugly, which is quite disturbing. And to think episode 21’s quality is actually fairly high. I was hoping that, as the end is near, the quality would remain at an acceptable level. I guess I was hoping for too much.

Misaki troubles me. She has been of low importance recently, but now that all other interference has vanished, she is free to roam around and do as her evil mind dictates. Or should I say, truly screwed up mind? Seriously, her motives just disgust me, and her last words at the end of episode 22 about Satou being her prisoner…that’s actually rather frightening. Although she is no hikikomori, her mental state is far worse than Satou. Of course, it was seeing Satou with Kashiwa which triggered this. She must have had a terrible childhood, as suggested by her fear of getting hit (during the time when Satou had tried to kill himself), which brought her up to need at least someone to feed her troubles into, namely Satou. I’m still wondering whether she’s in love with him or not, or perhaps those emotions are really just her desire to keep Satou down in the dumps and use him to feel more at ease. It’s like using him as a scapegoat to conceal your own faults. And Satou too, he’s still pretty much a failure; not even brave enough to tell Misaki the truth about his senpai. How pitiful…but I guess that’s what this show is all about! Surely they will be able to escape from such misery soon!

Rating: 8.5/10 & 8/10

Impressions:

So I guess Gonzo probably got robbed or something, since the quality of episode 19 is just so damn appalling. Well ok, it’s appalling, but not ugly or stupid like Yoake’s quality. The main thing you’ll notice when watching episode 19 is that shadows are almost completely neglected, and the in-game scenes are actually more detailed than the real world scenes. The second is the choppiness – obviously a severe lack of frames. It felt like it was with eight or less frames per second or something…yes horrible. BUT, the actual show is actually very, very GOOD. Uh-huh, that’s right, NHK ni Youkoso is STILL getting better every episode. We get to see how screwed up everyone is in that episode, such as Iinchou’s (the class president) unlucky past, her brother’s non-existent life, as well as the complete downfall of Mouse Road. There’s no silliness and random meant-to-be-funny-but-aren’t scenes; most of it is juicy drama that I love so much! It’s nice seeing both Iinchou and her brother get their lives back at the end; some nice conclusions to two side characters, allowing Satou, Yamazaki and Misaki to retake the roles of lead characters once again. Iinchou, having finally (and accidentally) ridden herself of her brother, decides to go back to college and start her life over. Her brother, out of desperation, crawls out of his house and pleads for a job at the take-away store. After a while, he manages to overcome his hikimori ways and regains the ability to be in public.

NHK ni Youkoso reforms on its quality with episode 20, though the story doesn’t live up to the expectations gained after watching episode 19. With the end of that arc, the show ‘cools off’ with a ‘restarting’ episode, one that comes immediately after a climax and resolution. This episode focuses on Yamazaki and finally presents a new goal for him and Satou. Yamazaki’s troubling past is revealed, and it seems that he will have to return to his father’s farm after a month to take over. This means their ero game needs to be finished within that time, and if it is successful enough, Yamazaki will be able to stay and continue with his game designing career. This will probably amount to one of the climaxes in the episodes to come, which will definitely be interesting to watch. I especially like the idea of Satou succeeding at something in life. Misaki also needs to return to the fray, since she still hasn’t gained any important role (as her helping Satou has become old and routine). I’m expecting some drastic changes to occur in the upcoming episodes, since it would be kind of lame for the show to end smoothly. Completion of game, Yamazaki getting to stay, Satou succeeding in life and getting together with Misaki…all of these things could happen, but they better not happen without many expenses and obstacles in the way. I’m also quite curious to know how many people are still watching this show and haven’t dropped it yet. It’s turned out quite good actually.

Preview:

Next episode – #21
Yeah I know I’m very behind…

Rating: 7.4/10 & 7.7/10

Impressions:

It’s probably just because it’s not exactly my ideal type of anime, but I find NHK ni Youkoso to be fairly incomparable with some of the other fall season shows. The quality remains at a fair level, and the story is decent enough, though I just don’t find the show stands out enough. I’m not saying it’s not an enjoyable watch because it is, but it’s not something I’d put great priority into viewing. Nevertheless, I will watch it to the end since it’s nearing the final episodes now. So, how did episodes 17 and 18 do? They were alright. I think I’ve seen everything this show can pull now, and frankly the whole pyramid fraud scheme wasn’t all that captivating. NHK ni Youkoso is straying from the main plot, which is meant to be of Satou getting better (which he has). The varying events now are probably just to demonstrate Satou’s progress, and perhaps illustrate a few ups and downs as well. However, I think it was just stupid that Yamazaki, Satou and Misaki all fell for the scam, especially since they have all just planned out how they would confront the former class president with their ‘cooling off’. I guess the subject she lured them on is a bit touchy, but you’d think that if there’s such a wonderful cure for hikikomori, Satou would have heard about it earlier.

Preview:

Next episode – #19
Stuff about the second hiki…

Impressions:

Ok, so my hopes for a nice, serious situation with some sort of tragedy involving Satou’s mum has been beaten down and crushed. On the other hand, the scene when Satou is told his allowance was cut was a work or art! Probably the best freak-out animations in the series I’ve seen so far. Satou’s temporary addiction to an MMORPG was also a funny result of his allowance-cut. I thought episode 15 would be focused mostly in the game, but only maybe a third of it was. Both episode 15 and 16 turned out to be surprisingly good. I was really pleased with everything that happened, as well as how Yamazaki played Mia to teach Satou a lesson. Although as obvious as it is, I didn’t realise the person playing Misa was him until he came through Satou’s door! Hmm, those two episodes also made me want to play Ragnarok Online again, but I quit because I got bored and I still remember why I quit, so there’s no chance of me starting again. And it looks like Satou is definitely not going to look at another MMORPG again. I was wondering, what exactly did Satou do all that time as a hikikomori before he re-met Yamazaki? I would’ve though that something like an MMORPG would be a hikikomori’s best friend…

I really like the new ED, which is something I should have said in the last entry (or did I already say that?) Although it’s probably the least fitting for the show, which revolves around a hikikomori LEET, the tune is really nice and soft to listen to. The OP also seems to have changed somewhat, leaving out that funky extra layer of sound. It sounds slightly emptier now, but I usually skip the OP and ED anyway, so it doesn’t matter. And is that Misaki singing the ED? Sounds like her, though much more mature. And while I’m on the topic of ‘mature’, it was hilarious watching Misaki dress up as a catgirl then schoolgirl/maid. I didn’t realise how literal it was when she said she’d help Satou with her own ‘body’. Anyway, next episode, another character is introduced! Hooray (though I was hoping that Mia would actually be a real girl and really visit Satou for another love conflict. I had always pictured Mia as a fat person though, as the anime seems like the type to do something like that XD) Satou’s high school class president looks a bit too old though, but maybe it’s just the curly hair and glasses. Then again, none of the girls in NHK look young, except for maybe Misaki.

Plot Outline:

- Now indulged in his new MMORPG, Satou starts levelling up and collecting items in the game
- He grows addicted to it when he falls in love with a character in the game, called Mia
- He even stops going to counselling with Misaki
- Misaki thinks that Satou made a turn for the better, but she gets worried and visits Satou’s apartment
- She enters through the unlocked door and finds Satou completely engulfed in the game
- Misaki tries to get him back to his senses by dressing up as a catgirl, but this fails miserably
- Satou continues playing and eventually accepts the game as better than reality, deciding to spend the rest of his sad life in this fictional world with Mia
- Mia however, wants to see Satou face to face

- She suddenly drops a bomb on him by telling him that she’s outside his apartment
- Mia enters his apartment as Satou is panicking, since his room is literally a garbage dump
- However, Mia turns out to be none other than Yamazaki
- Yamazaki explains that he did all he did to teach Satou a lesson for wasting so much time on a game
- Although Satou accepts that it was really all a waste of time, he doesn’t hesitate to throw a tantrum and charge at Yamazaki with his chair high above his head
- Shortly after, he gets a call from an old acquaintance, the class president when he was in high school
- The woman had been reminded of Satou after her brother mentioned his name while playing the MMORPG
- In the call, she says…

Preview:

Next episode – #17
Satou meets an old friend…

Download the new ED (Full version mp3 – 10.0mb)
Right click link and select ’save target as’ or ’save link as’

Impressions:

Like with Innocent Venus, I didn’t watch these two episodes earlier because of all the new shows, but now that I am sort of free, I can do these. Even though the money is probably going mostly to Pumpkin Scissors now, resulting in a continuing mediocre quality, I like the story more than enough to continue this show. I’ve said before that the summer shows were all crap, though I think this is the exception. I really liked how they did the whole suspenseful lead up to the big jump. By that time I was extremely mixed up as I wanted them to jump (not sure why, guess the suspense got to me) but of course it’s obvious at least Satou won’t jump as that would mean the end of the show. Also, not only did the animators portray the suspense well, the also showed how hard it is to really die. If you ask me, I wouldn’t care if I was dead or not, as you can’t regret what you didn’t or did do after you die (well, that’s how I think anyway, and I don’t believe in afterlife). However, for me, it’s the act of ‘dying’ that’s scary, not ‘death’ itself. That’s probably what everyone was feeling when they were about to jump (before they began to realise that they didn’t really want to die). Though, I must say the part where Satou slipped was anticipated like as soon as the group got on the cliff. It was so obvious that I laughed when that happened.

I’ve said before that Misaki is probably suffering something similar to Satou, and these two episodes sort of prove it. Not to mention the part where Misaki said Satou was a failure as a human (which was the most HILARIOUS thing I’ve heard all day), she said that Satou was lower than even herself, who she thinks is garbage. This means she probably has a lot of problems too, and was looking for someone in the same boat as her to endure the ride together. While I don’t think what she said would’ve convinced anyone to reconsider their suicide, it did the job of informing us, the audience, of what was really going on in her mind, finally! I actually thought what she thought was extremely selfish, as she never said anything about Satou still having a personal reason to live. She clearly stated that she wanted him to live to satisfy her own desires, which is why I can understand why it made Satou want to die even more. Luckily, we had Yamazaki persuade him with a few words that I can’t even remember anymore. To say the truth, I really thought it would be Misaki to stop Satou, but oh well. There’re also the flashbacks of who seemed like her ex-boyfriend that Misaki had. It seems she was physically abused before, which is why she was so afraid of being hit. The first time she recoiled, I actually laughed, but when she did it again and again, I began to feel bad and sorry for her.

Even though the end of episode 14 was probably meant to be very clear-cut, I didn’t really get the phone call. The two possible things that could’ve been happening popped into my mind: the police or the ambulance. It could also have been the fire brigade because of the siren, but I thought Satou’s mother wouldn’t be talking the way she did if her house was burning down or something. So, that left me with two choices. Could it have been the ambulance? I though maybe she just found out she was going to die, or maybe purposely ate too many pills or something to kill herself, and wanted to tell her son that she was about to die before she did. But then, I though what if she pulled off some serious offence and was being chased by police? It could even be something else entirely. Anyway, I don’t even know if this will be revealed next episode, as it will clearly focus on Satou’s MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game, with variations) that he’s about to engage in. Sadly, I’m already dreading watching the next episode as it seems like we’ll take a look at Satou as he endorses himself in the game that his character that he controls will become him. It reminds me of that School Rumble ni Gakki filler…I hope it’s not too bad (and not too corny either). I’ll be surprised if anything serious happens while he’s playing too.

Plot Outline:

- (I can’t really remember where ep.13 ended and ep.14 started so I won’t indicate that in the summary)
- Satou and the others make a campfire and eat their last dinner
- Satou tries to escape but for some reason his mind is already submitting to the thought of suicide
- The group make their way up to the top of a cliff, where they plan on jumping into the depths below (even though they were jumping into water, the height would be enough to rip them to shreds, resulting in an instant death, and it’s probably worse than falling on the ground)
- As they are doing this, Yamazaki, Misaki and Kashiwa’s boyfriend frantically make their way to the shore of the island, rent a boat and start cruising to the site of the offline meeting
- Satou and the others link hands and step towards to edge to jump off together
- However, one guy backs down and convinces the other guys to stop as well
- Kashiwa though, still wants to jump and tries to drag Satou with her
- Just before she drops down, her boyfriend reaches her in the boat (on the water below) and asks her to marry her

- She immediately accepts and all thoughts of suicide are gone
- Because of this sudden agreement, Satou decides to jump
- Misaki tries to tell him to stop but ends up making it worse by saying he’s a failure as a human and such
- Satou tries to jump but everyone else holds him back
- Yamazaki then says something, which is enough to console Satou, but he slips and falls down anyway
- Luckily, he manages to grab the edge, allowing two of the guys with him to pull him up
- Back on the shore, Misaki tries to talk to Satou, but he turns around in rage, about to punch her
- This causes her to have an unwanted flashback and she recoils, raising her arms to defend herself
- Satou doesn’t hit her in the end, but is still mad
- When they get back to the coast, they go and relax in a hot spa and meet up with relatives before parting ways
- Yamazaki goes to the summer festival to try and sell the game but no one buys

- Satou returns home to find a letter from Misaki, saying that she will be waiting at the same place at the same time
- As he is trying to decide whether to go or not, Yamazaki barges in on him and starts drinking
- Satou ignores him and goes to see Misaki anyway
- Misaki tells him that he broke the agreement on the contract, but since she is partly responsible, she lets him off the hook
- Satou almost hits Misaki again, but once again she reacts badly
- However, she starts crying, but they are tears of happiness as she says to Satou ‘okairinasai’ (welcome home)
- Satou replies with a warm ‘tadaima’ (I’m home)
- At home, Satou gets a strange phone call from her mum (and it seems like she’s in some kind of trouble)

Preview:

Next episode – #15
Let’s take a look at Satou’s online game…

Impressions:

Whoa – suicide? I knew Kashiwa was depressed but that’s going a little too far. It’s true that she faces problems everyday, such as her unreliable boyfriend, her job and unfriendly co-workers, but I’m pretty sure heaps of people go through those things all the time. I seriously doubt it’s just those things alone that could make someone suicidal, but since I’m no expert or ever been mentally unstable, I wouldn’t know. Maybe little things just build up until the mind can’t handle it anymore. If she wasn’t so down on herself I’d say Satou is much better off with her than Misaki. For some reason, I just don’t like Misaki. Maybe it’s her voice or short hair. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Satou will bring those depressed people back to their senses, or at least Kashiwa as she’s such a cool character! I don’t doubt that Satou will end up with Misaki, Kashiwa should at least stick around for some opposition.

Kashiwa seems to be more of a help to Satou than Misaki is, as Satou had resolved to quit being a hikikomori because of his senpai. What did Misaki do? If she did anything, it’s make Satou fear people even more and think he’s in some massive conspiracy. I’m surprised Misaki still doesn’t know why Satou ditched her, when she knows quite clearly that he’s not that mentally stable (does she know Satou hallucinates…?) Also, I wonder if Kashiwa is actually serious when she talks about all those conspiracy theories. She seems pretty serious; maybe that’s what led to her depression and eventual desire to die. So now it seems neither Misaki nor Kashiwa are perfect women (though as Misaki only has some family and perhaps social issues to deal with, she’s definitely far better off than Kashiwa).

The next episode is probably going to be a big step for Satou in becoming a normal outgoing person as he tries to persuade the others from committing suicide. It’s quite ironic how Satou would most likely be the depressed one in any group with a shit life, though it seems now he’s the cheerful, friendly guy trying to make some conversation while he’s surrounded by suicidal guys. It seems like Misaki, Yamazaki and Kashiwa’s boyfriend are all going to go to the island and hopefully sort something out, though I would prefer it if Satou did all the work (though I doubt he’s capable of such a task when he’s not too far off from becoming like Kashiwa and the other guys).

Episode 11:

Welcome to the Conspiracy:

Episode 12:

Welcome to the Offline Meeting:

Plot Outline:

Episode 11
- Misaki tries to figure out where her plan went wrong regarding Satou
- Yamazaki completes the trial version of the galge, ready for a public release at the summer festival
- Kashiwa goes out with her boyfriend, but does not seem very happy
- She returns home and browses a site with applications for an ‘offline meeting’ and starts thinking about whether she should join
- The next day, her boyfriend calls and tells her he’s too busy to have a holiday with her, so she decides to go to Satou’s place, gets drunk and falls asleep at his apartment
- Next morning, Satou decides to start his new life with Kashiwa and tells her he will accompany her to wherever she wants
- The two get in the car and drive off
- Misaki sees them together and calls for Satou to wait, but she is too far away to be heard

Episode 12
- Kashiwa takes Satou to the offline meeting, though Satou is unaware of what it really is (three other guys attend as well)
- The location of the meeting is an private island and beach owned by one of the men attending the meeting
- Satou tries to communicate with the others as practice to rid himself of his hikikomori ways, though everyone seems depressed and won’t talk to him (Kashiwa simply lies in the shade doing nothing)
- Satou decides to make a fire and starts collecting wood
- As he tries to pull out a large piece of wood from the sand, which results in everyone joining in to help, despite their isolation moments before
- Yamazaki, Misaki and Kashiwa’s boyfriend meet up and discover where Satou and Kashiwa should be
- Just as Satou is feeling good about gathering everyone together, he finds out what the offline meeting is: the last chance for the attendants to have some fun before they end their lives (commit suicide)

Impressions:

I’m glad the story is becoming far more interesting, especially as the animation is very inconsistent. It makes me wonder if the animators just slack through some episodes. While eps 9 and 10 were average in terms of character animation, I have seen a lot worse. Ah well, enough of me criticising that. I actually don’t have that big a problem with the animation, as the story has just become soo good! Dunno what really attracts me now, but I can definitely say I enjoy this series like 10× more than when I first watched it. It’s become more enjoyable as the story focuses more on Satou’s problems – not only his hikikomori part, but his love life as well. Other people are getting more involved as well, including Yamazaki, and we get an insight into his past. We all have to admit, Yamazaki isn’t the greatest socialiser either, and from these eps we find out why. Or at least part of the reason.

Episode 9, Satou has begun to fall for Misaki, while Yamazaki’s past starts unravelling (even though it wasn’t that much of a mystery to me to start with – just never thought about it). Satou is quite shocked that he’s thinking of Misaki in such situations and becomes frustrated and agitated about this, probably because he hasn’t really experienced such love that much before. Yamazaki, on the other hand, has, but due to being rejected and lied to by his first crush in primary school, now has got it in his head that women are heartless, liars and cheats. He doesn’t even trust Nanako, who he probably adores right now, when she turns his offer down to see the fireworks together for an Anime audition. Oh and, before I forget, I swear that scene Satou had imagined with Rei in the classroom was taken from NGE. Not just the name, but the ‘I have nothing left’ is exactly the same in episode 6! Ah god, it’s probably just ’cause I’m totally obsessed with Eva that I’m turning everything into NGE related…

Anyway, episode 10, Yamazaki’s distrust for women is passed onto Satou, who makes a decision that could haunt him for the rest of his life…Now I’m just exaggerating things. Yamazaki persuades Satou that women shouldn’t be trusted, so he starts to believe his electric appliance friends in his mind when they tell him Misaki is from the Nihon Hikikimori Kyoukai, working to convert people to Hikikomori through Anime and such. Because of this, Satou tells Misaki that he doesn’t want to see her face ever again. Oh, did I mention Satou finds out Misaki had been monitoring him in his apartment the whole time, as she has a perfect view into it from where she lives? Well, that probably adds to Satou’s frustration which leads to his current paranoid state. Even so, his words were quite harsh, and I can imagine how hurt Misaki feels. Just looking at her as she awkwardly accompanies her aunt as she goes around doing those religious meetings tells me that she also has a few problems fitting in. Now I wonder why she lives with her aunt. Divorced parents? Perhaps even deceased parents? Whatever the case, she seems pretty lonely, so add Satou’s words and we are a left with a poor, heart-broken girl. How sad. I was starting to wonder why Satou’s and Misaki’s relationship was advancing so quickly, so a setback was kinda predictable.

Well now, I’m amazed I’ve been able to write this much for a review – goes to show how much this Anime can make you think. Of course, it’s nothing compared to some other Anime titles that really make you think. Fate/stay night, Air, Evangelion…omg Air is so sad…ok, off topic, so I think I’ll stop here. G’night peoples, or should I say g’mornin’, as it’s 2 in the morning ~don’t worry I’m on holidays =D~? Btw, the summaries should be up tomorrow (well, technically today for me). *Yawns* so tired…

EDIT: The summaries are up now.

Episode 9:

Welcome to the Summer Days!

Yamazaki asks Nanako to go see the fireworks together, but she says she has an audition on that day and can’t make it. Yamazaki becomes unexpectedly irritated and remembers the time he had been rejected by his first crush many years ago.

At their usual counselling meeting, as Misaki is droning on about Freud and Jung, Satou cannot get Misaki out of his mind. Misaki also seems to be fretting over things as she is going over material she’s already talked about before. When Satou points this out, she decides to call it a day. Back at home, Satou starts thinking about Misaki again, and how he doesn’t know anything about her, yet she practically knows everything about him. He then imagines her coming onto him, but that dream is interrupted by Yamazaki banging the doors. He comes in, obviously drunk after being rejected, and convinces Satou to go to the ocean, where the ‘Summer Comic Market’ is open. Yamazaki also explains how his drunk self had promised his classmates to display his finished game at this market in a month’s time. Satou is pretty wound up about the fact that he has to finish his part in a month, but Yamazaki thinks of it as motivation for him to work as he hasn’t been trying very hard lately.

The next day as the two work on the game, Satou suggests they go see the fireworks for a change of scenery. Yamazaki refuses as he reflects upon the time his first crush, who had told him was unable to go with him, turned up at the festival anyway with another boy. Satou doesn’t object, and after Yamazaki shows him his character designs, Satou starts imagining the storyline in which she’ll be in. However, her face always turns to Misaki’s. He’s still agitated over the fact that this is happening, and cannot figure out why. After a while, Yamazaki concludes that he’s been thinking about Misaki for the past few minutes, which must mean he’s in love. Satou is quite shocked to realise he has fallen for her. Yamazaki tries to tell him that he should concentrate more on the love in the game, rather than in real life. Satou points out that Yamazaki is in love with Nanako. This leads him to recalling ‘that’ time again. In primary school, he had been bullied by some boys, but was saved by a girl who ended up being his first crush. Later, he asked her out to the fireworks festival, but she rejected his offer and said she needed to go see his hospitalised grandfather. During the festival, Yamazaki saw the girl with one of the boys who beat him up. This lie has led him to believe that all women are the same: liars, cheats etc. He’s even convinced himself that Nanako is probably cheating on him as well. He convinces Satou that women are untrustworthy as well, until Nanako calls him and tells him her audition was cancelled, so she can make it to the festival. Yamazaki changes his heart quite quickly…

A little while later, Misaki starts tossing stones at Satou’s window. When she manages to get his attention, she asks him to go to the festival with her. And so, the two go and see the fireworks together, and it seems that their relationship is progressing smoothly.

Episode 10:

Welcome to the Dark Side!

The day after the festival, Yamazaki has changed his mind about women. Satou, meanwhile, is fretting over all the things he should have done when he was out with Misaki which he didn’t do. When he continues with the scenario, he thinks about Misaki too much and mistakes the game’s heroine’s name all the way through. Everywhere, it says ‘Misaki’ instead of ‘Rei’.

After a short nap, Satou decides to go to the park early today (where he’s meant to meet Misaki for their meeting). He sees her give a cat a tin of tuna and tells her that cats aren’t faithful as the it’ll forget her straight away. Misaki doesn’t think so, and believes that as long as she gives it what it wants, it’ll remember her. At home after the meeting, Satou once again starts thinking about Misaki. He even goes to such lengths as to think about marrying her. Shortly after, Yamazaki comes home, drunk again, pissed because Nanako had been with a guy at the spot they were meant to meet. So now, Yamazaki has reverted back to his old, women-hating self. Because of this, he starts thinking about how Misaki know so much about him, and envisions her as a Nihon Hikikomori Kyoukai agent.

The next day, Satou decides to go on a walk and drags Yamazaki out with him. In turns out that when Satou said ‘walk’, he meant ’stalk and spy on Misaki to find out more about her’. They tail her as she leaves her manga store and returns home. What they find out is that Misaki lives in a mansion on the top of a very large hill, where she has a perfect view of the park as well as Satou’s apartment. This revelation makes him think that she has been monitoring him for quite a long time (which is probably true). He and Yamazaki then follow Misaki and her aunt as they go around doing their usual religious meetings. Satou decides to leave things at that and stop following her, and returns home.

Thinking about Misaki further, he starts hallucinating about his talking appliances and furniture again, who all tell him that Misaki cannot be trusted. He eventually loses to this inner mind of his and concludes that if he distances himself from Misaki, he can’t be hurt when she betrays him. That night, he goes to the meeting late, but instead of continuing with the counselling, he tells Misaki that he’s done with it. She asks if it’s because he is busy with his game, but he doesn’t answer this and simply tells her that he never wants to see her face again. He immediately starts to run back to his apartment, but has already begun to question whether his actions had been the right ones.

Preview:

Welcome to the Conspiracy!

Episode 6: Welcome to Chinatown

Impressions:

I enjoy watching this show much more now. It has become quite humorous and is very refreshing to watch. I started with high expectations with this show, but they dropped around the time when Satou was introduced into the world of visual novels. However, now it’s going back up. I know it’s a 24 episode season, but I’m already about how the ending will be. I hope (and I emphasize hope, as I doubt this will happen) that the quality and plot continues to improve until the end. I like how the animators include the unnecessary things as well, such as the excessive clothe movement in strong breeze or Misaki losing balance at the start of the show while she was twirling…All this makes it so much more realistic and better overall. Btw, this DOES NOT include the toilet scene. That was uncalled for. Disgusting…

Summary:

The day that Satou’s mother is meant to visit him has arrived. Misaki is preparing for her outing with them, as she is meant to play along with Satou’s ploy. He had already told his mother that he had a girlfriend and was thinking about marriage. However, it seems that Misaki is overly happy for someone who supposedly ‘reluctantly’ agreed to become Satou’s girlfriend for a day.

At the airport, Satou’s mother has just arrived and quite disappointed that her son didn’t come to pick her up. She doesn’t think too much of this and decides to find her own way to his home.

Meanwhile, Satou is struggling to clean up his room, which has taken 2 hours already but led to nowhere. He considers borrowing Yamazaki’s room, but then his mother would see all the figurines, hentai and galgames. A knock on the door signifies Misaki’s arrival. When Satou hears footsteps climbing up the stairs, he pulls Misaki into his room and closes the door, just in case the footsteps belong to his mother. The footsteps go away, allowing Satou to breathe a sigh of relief. After seeing the incredible mess, Misaki offers to help Satou clean his apartment as she is already inside. As the two are cleaning, Satou starts wondering about why Misaki would come into his room and help him clean, even if it is an act.

When someone knocks on the door, Satou thinks it is his mother and resorts to throwing all the mess onto the loft. When everything is on the loft, Satou climbs up to cover it up with a blanket. Misaki sees a fax from Satou’s mother buried under everything and pulls it out, resulting in all the junk collapsing. Hearing the crash, the person rushes inside, who turns out to be Yamazaki. What he sees when he opens the door is Satou on top of Misaki as the result of the mess falling off the loft. However, he doesn’t know that and assumes what anyone would assume if they saw a man on top of a woman in such a way. Yamazaki is quick to apologise for intruding and leaves hurriedly, before Satou can explain himself.

As the room is a mess again, Satou has no time to worry about what Yamazaki thinks. He appoints Misaki to continue with the cleaning whie he stows his porn outside. However, when he gets outside, he sees his mother and drops all his magazines. The impression his mother has mustn’t have been very good…

Satou returns to his room and tells Misaki that his mother is outside. When he goes back outside, his mother tells him that she isn’t going to go into his room because she knows what it’d be like, and suggests going straight to a restaurant. He goes back inside to change and retrieve Misaki. When she comes outside, she shyly introduces herself to Satou’s mother, Shizue.

After a ride on the train where Misaki and Shizue get to know each other better while they are choose restaurants, the three arrive at Chinatown for lunch. At the restaurant, Satou’s and Misaki’s reluctant behaviour almost immediately tells Shizue they are lying about dating. To confirm this, she asks Misaki a few questions which she replies uncomfortably. Satou goes off to the toilets, allowing Shizue to express what she really thinks about him and Misaki. She blatantly tells Misaki that she knows they are lying about dating as well as the company. Satou comes back just in time to hear her say this. He starts feeling bad about lying, as he had promised himself that he’d never lie to his mother again when he was small. It was due to the fact that Shizue always stood up for him, even when he was lying about something.

After lunch, the three take a stroll through the parks. Satou is prepared to give into his guilt and tell his mother the truth, but sensing this, she quickly makes up an excuse for having to leave. Before she leaves, she suggests that the two go on a date while they’re here. Satou is about to go home, but Misaki holds him back and says they should follow Shizue’s advice and go out. The two take a walk around the area in seemingly random directions, but Misaki is actually leading him to a dating spot. When he realises where they are (with all the couples making out around him), he really starts to think Misaki is being serious. Misaki grabs his arm and leads him onto a path where there’s even more loving (she is blushing the entire time). They stop and Misaki finally finds the courage to offer Satou her lips. Satou cannot resist, but before he can grab the kiss, his phone rings. It is Yamazaki, who is angry that Satou’s mother never called him about the company Satou’s meant to be in. And unfortunately, the date is over.

Back at home, Satou reflects on his date with Misaki, while she does the same at her home. Then – this is so random – Misaki grabs her toy dog and starts barking like a puppy.

Preview:

Impressions:

Another pretty good episode. I’m not sure why I liked this episode, as if I were to reason with myself, I’d say that nothing really happened. I think it’s because there were a lot of psychological references. Satou’s thoughts and such are probably what I liked about his episode, as it wasn’t all jokes and fun (although some parts were quite funny). The overall animation is still good and should stay that way. The end where Satou concludes that Misaki must’ve lied to him about her parents makes me think that, if Misaki really did get all her information on Satou from Satou himself, they must’ve known each other some time ago. That’s another thing I like about NHK ni Youkoso: more questions keep popping up. It’s all quite subtle and very interesting.

Summary:

Satou is dreaming of a life where he has overcome his hikkikomori problems. However, when he is thrown into the populated world, he is mocked by his game scenario teacher. All his classmates suddenly rip off their outer clothes to reveal black tuxedos underneath. It’s a conspiracy!! And so, he ejects himself out of the building using the seat he is in, and somehow winds up in the desert, where he is being pursued by numerous tanks. He flees but is halted by the sun which proceeds to engulf him…

Satou wakes up. Ever since he went to Yamazaki’s game design school, he has become more of a hikkikomori. He has even tricked Yamazaki into believing he has the summer flu so he can bring him food and look after him, when in fact he is just more afraid of going outside now. He spends a lot of time inside pondering about where his life is heading and such. He starts hallucinating, where the fridge tells him that it’s all the NHK’s fault (Nihon Hikkikomori Kyokai). Other electrical appliances start talking as well and try to convince him to do something about this. Interrupting his visions, the phone starts to ring. He allows it to go to message bank as he is too paranoid to even answer it. The person who called turns out to be his mother, who announces she will be coming to visit him in two days. When she calls again, Satou picks it up and they discuss his current situation. His mother wants him to go home and get a job, but he pretends he already has a job as an employee at a game design company. He even tells her that he has a girlfriend who he’s planning to marry. But now, he must face he problem of how to get out of this mess that his thrown himself into without a second thought.

He gets a call from Misaki asking about his absence from their meeting. He informs her about his mother coming to visit. The meet at the park and discuss this in detail. She is about to suggest that she pretend to be his girlfriend but Satou gets up and announces he will ask Yamazaki. Misaki thinks he is going to ask Yamazaki to pretend to be his girlfriend, when in fact he just wants him to make a company. Yamazaki, after being woken in the middle of the night and hearing Satou out, agrees and the two proceed to plan out their company.

Their discussion is quite funny. The first thing to decide on is the name of the company. Satou suggests taking the ‘Sa’ from Satou and ‘Yama’ from Yamazaki to call it the ‘Sayama Company’, but Yamazaki reason people might think the owner is called Sayama. Satou then suggests an English name: ‘Wonderful Fantastic Dreamy Galgames Company Created by Yamazaki and Satou from MH for the Future’. This is obviously rejected by Yamazaki and in the end, they settle for the ‘Y.S. Company’. After more talk, the only real thing they decide on is the business card. This is only the real thing Satou needs to convince his mother he is indeed a company employee. At first, Yamazaki prepares Satou a card with the status of ‘NEET’ on it (Not in Employment, Education or Training). This gets him a kick in the face, so he quickly fixes it up.

After listening to the whole discussion, Misaki comes into Yamazaki’s room and once again tries to offer to be Satou’s pretend girlfriend. However, Satou doesn’t hear her and races back to his room to call Kashiwa. He asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend, but she is busy on that day, mainly because she has an appointment with her own lover. After this, Satou lowers his head in failure. Misaki tries one last time and the message finally gets through.

The next day, Misaki and Satou go out on a date to get a feel for the real thing. On the train, Satou expresses his concern about being in a populated place, thinking his condition might get worse. Misaki reassures him that as long as they are together, things will be fine. They spend time together like any normal couple; going out to eat, watching a movie, hanging around, until the day is almost over. As the two are walking down the street, Misaki suggests they lock arms to make them look more like a couple. Satou reluctantly agrees, but starts to freak out when she grabs his arm and holds it against her breasts. He is afraid that ‘truth might emerge from a lie’, meaning that this fake coupling might turn into a real one. These thoughts escape though, when Satou walks into a pole.

When it is night again, the two return to the park and are about to part ways when Satou realises he knows almost nothing about Misaki. He asks Misaki about herself as otherwise his mother will become suspicious that he is clueless about her. Misaki tells him that while he doesn’t know much about her, she knows a lot about him. She reveals all she knows about him, which surprises him greatly. Misaki says that Satou had told her all this once before, but he can’t remember it. She then explains about her own family and asks Satou to remember it. When she runs off, Satou realises that it must be a lie, and starts wondering who Misaki really is.

Preview: