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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.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

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.
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Popularity: 9% [?]

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…

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Popularity: 7% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 9% [?]