Category: Welcome to the NHK

Hello and welcome everyone, to the finale of Welcome to the NHK! We have a lot to talk about this week, some of it bad, most of it good. For those looking for the long and short of it leading into the final review? Good ending, good show, minor philosophical differences. And for those who want more? Well let’s jump right into it.

Visually there was some really good stuff in these two episodes. In fact, I dare say this finale is the best NHK has ever looked, with Tetsuya Takeuchi’s work in particular standing out. The way he, and others, brought these characters to life was just fantastic. I’m not just talking about bombastic over the top scenes like Sato running towards the cliff, though that was good. Rather it was all the smaller character moments, both before and after, that stood out to me. Sato and Misaki embracing in the snow. Misaki’s mother’s hair and clothing fluttering in a strong wind. The shock, grief, anguish and joy on their faces throughout both of the episodes. And all it pays off in spades! This really does feel like the end, and I think that’s important for a finale. Of course it was also all fantastically shot, as usual.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 23/24 [Welcome To Misaki!Welcome to The NHK!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome, one and all, to the penultimate week of Welcome to the NHK! From Sato to Misaki, Yamazaki to Hitomi, NHK is lining up all the dominoes for a grand finale. But is this setup any good? Or does it start to flub it’s lead at the finish line? Let’s dive in and find out.

First up we have episode 21, “Welcome to the Reset!”. This is, at it’s core, Yamazaki’s finale. And you know what? I’m kind of surprised it actually happened. I wasn’t sure that NHK would actually follow through with it, at least not this quickly. NHK jumped right into Winter Comiket when I thought for sure it would be the climax of the episode, not the opening. This leaves the episode feeling almost more like an epilogue for the character rather than a grand finale. The way Yamazaki packs up his room, gives Sato a bunch of his stuff, voices his frustration and puts to words the emotions I mentioned last week regarding his game being his last mark in Tokyo. It’s all very poignant. But… is it an actually good experience for the viewer?

Details after the break.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 21/22 [Welcome To Reset!/Welcome to The God!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Hello everyone, and welcome to another week of Welcome to the NHK! We are nearing the end, and the arcs are starting to reflect that. Big character moments, final scenes and all around stellar episodes abound. So without further ado, lets dive into it!

First up we have episode 19, “Welcome To The Blue Bird!”. However rather than jump right in with the narrative, I want to talk about something even more striking: It’s visuals. This episode was storyboarded and directed by Erkin Kawabata. I can’t pretend to know much about the guy. I hadn’t even heard his name until I looked it up for this post. What I can say though is that this was perhaps the most visually unique episode of NHK’s run so far. It’s ugly and unrefined art style, combined with some stellar layouts, conveyed the episodes emotion incredibly well. However between those emotional highs, it also lead to very janky lows. Stuttering animation, awkward models, and just messy screens in general. Was it worth it? I think so. But I definitely wouldn’t want to watch an entire series done this way.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 19/20 [Welcome To The Blue Bird!/Welcome to Winter Days!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome back everyone, to yet another good week of Welcome to the NHK. It feels like NHK has hit its stride recently. It was always somewhere between good and great, but the last like… 6 episodes have all been fantastic. And that’s including this week as well! So without further ado, join me as we talk about yet another great pair of episodes.

Right off the bat I want to praise NHK for it’s presentation this week. These two episodes are all about deception and manipulation, of one character deceiving the rest. Usually, this is pretty difficult! Because not only does a show have to trick its characters, it also has to convince the audience that the deception was good enough to trick the characters. Basically, NHK has to make me believe someone would actually fall for what’s being depicted. If it can’t do that, then everything falls apart because the audience hasn’t bought in. Yet its not surprising at all that NHK nailed this. The VA work, dialogue, presentation. Having someone giving audience cues to make them buy in, peer pressure, preying on anxieties specific to each character. It makes complete sense someone would fall for this. It’s not just a plot contrivance, and that’s why the scam works so damn well.

Am I being vague here? Yes, purposefully so. Continue after the break if you want specifics, cause this was another banger of a week.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 17/18 [Welcome to Happiness!/Welcome to No Future!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome back to another week of Welcome to the NHK! This is another fantastic pair of episodes as, for the 3rd time, NHK leaves me absolutely floored. What could it tackle to achieve that you may ask? Well let’s cut this preamble short and jump into it!

Like I said, with this arc NHK has once again flabbergasted me. The setup, lead in, execution and climax of this arc was simply perfect. From the type of neetdom it tackles to the arc/involvement of every character in it, french kiss. But before I get into details I want to talk about something I thought was really impressive: The way NHK fit this entire arc into 2, maybe 3 episodes depending on what the next one does. And this is only possible because of the consistency between arc, the way they flow into one another. Sato came into this arc after just being cut off by his parents, after trying to improve himself, failing, and then almost killing himself. Already the stage is set for him to desperately want money while being more horrified than ever by crowds and society. This setup leads us into the first episode.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 15/16 [Welcome to the Fantasy!/Welcome to the Game Over!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the 2nd cour of Welcome to the NHK. This week we finish up this whole “suicide cult” think, learn a bit more about Misaki, and Sato doesn’t get the girl. Sound like a sad time? Well it is, but it’s also a pretty good time. Lets dive in and talk about why.

First up is episode 13, “Welcome to Heaven!”. This picks up right where we left off on the beach and has all the same good stuff I loved about last week. The dark humor, the plot progression, the characterization, it was all great. I will admit that, going into this episode, I was a bit worried. Would NHK be able to pull off this suicide plotline? Would it be respectful or would it fall a part at the very end? How was everything going to get resolved? As it turns, NHK ended up going the rather vanilla route of everyone surviving. But it did so in a way that felt very human, very earned, for all of the characters involved. It wasn’t just a last minute switcheroo, rather it was something built up from the very start of the arc. What do I mean? Lets talk details after the break.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 13/14 [Welcome to Heaven!/Welcome to Reality!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Normally this is where I welcome everyone to this weeks episodes of Welcome to the NHK. I have this whole spiel about what happened this week, maybe try to hook you in, its a jovial and happy time. But not this week. Cause this week, after an entire cour of soft balls, NHK finally decided to start playing hardball. And I’m all about it. So lets dive in.

First and foremost, mostly because I want to save all my spoilers for after the break, NHK looked janky this week. It was never a good looking show to begin with, relying heavily on clever and engaging direction. But we didn’t really get that. Instead, this week in particular with these two episodes, the production quality felt like it dropped like a rock. From static cars sliding across the screen to incredibly low detail closeups, NHK did not look good this week. Now luckily NHK isn’t the kind of show where that really matters. It would be nice, I would love this to get the unique production it deserves. But there’s just enough there to not take away from the story *too much.

And what a story it is. To give you a bit of a teaser: Turns out I was wrong, Hitomi isn’t a prostitute. That would have been an easier pill to swallow.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 11/12 [Welcome to the Conspiracy!/Welcome to the Offline Gathering!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome everyone, to what will no doubt be a late week of Welcome to the NHK! I apologize for that, I’ve been playing a bit to much Path of Exile this week and I’ve shirked my duties a bit. Don’t worry though, I’ll get over this obsession soon… I hope. Now on with the show!

This week lets skip the preamble and jump right in with episode 9, “Welcome to Summer Days!”. This was an interesting one, because it was a Yamazaki centric episode. And if I can be honest, it’s more than I thought Yamazaki was ever going to get. My mistake, I know, but I kind of thought NHK would be all about Sato. That it would be using him as a comparison point to all of the other characters, rather than giving them their own solo-stories. More the fool I, huh? My own stupidity aside, I really like what NHK did here. It didn’t just present Yamazaki as this pitiable fool, rather it showed us how he got to be the way he is. And just how easy it would be for him to escape it had he the will. Not to dissimilar to Sato, huh? Spoilers after the break!

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 9/10 [Welcome to Summer Days!/Welcome to the Dark Side!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another 2 episodes of Welcome to the NHK! This week Sato manages to surprise me, Hitomi makes a small return and Misaki finally gets an episode all about her. Was it all good, another pair of winners? Yes! Was it positive progress for Sato? Not really. Lets jump in and talk about that.

It’s absolutely amazing to me how easily NHK can make me go from being proud of Sato to disgusted by him, to pitying him. All while keeping him an interesting, engaging and all around good character. And that’s because Sato is disgusting, he is pitiful, and he is still a good person who is trying to be better. Seriously, just last week I was praising him for going outside! For expressing himself and taking care of his friend rather than tear him down! Yet not one episode later Sato is wrapping himself up in another grand lie. It’s like he can’t help himself. He has these expectations for himself, ones that he assumes everyone else has for him to, and hates that he isn’t reaching them. So he feels like he has to lie or else people won’t care for him anymore. It’s sad. Yet I still like him.

Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK – 7/8 [Welcome to the Moratorium!/Welcome to Chinatown!] – Throwback Thursday” →