WELCOME TO THE NHK - ****

Directed by Yusuke Yamamoto. Anime. Cert 15.

Released in UK on DVD by MVM on 9 January, £29.99.

WELCOME TO THE NHK’s protagonist, Sato Tatsuhiro, is the poster child for social dysfunction; a 20-something ‘hikikomori’ or shut-in who hides away in his rubbish-strewn Tokyo apartment. Convinced that he is being targeted by a secret organisation trying to produce a world filled with jobless recluses, Sato is trapped in a downward spiral of paranoia and despair… until he meets Misaki, a mysterious teenage girl who claims she can cure his hikikomori condition. Having lied to Misaki about being a games developer, Sato also persuades his übernerd next door neighbour Yamazaki to help him make an eroge, a pornographic videogame, giving him an occupation of sorts as well as human contact. So, Sato’s life is finally coming together, right? Well, maybe... The blackest of black comedies, the 24-episode WELCOME TO THE NHK is a lot less warm and fuzzy than GENSHIKEN, another great anime about otaku culture. Sato’s self-defeating behaviour is often cringingly uncomfortable to watch, there are no psychological quick fixes and the show’s satirical jabs at geek culture cut close to the bone at times. Visually, WELCOME TO THE NHK is a curate’s egg – studio Gonzo’s character designs and backgrounds are good, but the animation is nothing special and the quality of the artwork varies wildly. You won’t be watching for the pretty pictures, though; the series’ strength lies in making you care about its dysfunctional cast, hoping that they’ll find happiness despite their emotional hang-ups and social misadventures. At heart, WELCOME TO THE NHK is a fucked-up love story about fucked-up people, and it tells that story very well indeed.

David Axbey.

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