Print Review: Welcome to the NHK volumes 1-6

Review Welcome to the NHK volumes 1-6Written by WarpshadowRating very good

Welcome to the NHK is a manga about social dysfunction. It is sometimes funny and sometimes poignant but it is never boring.

Satou was a college student who crumpled under the social pressure of his life and became a Hikikomori, or someone that stays inside all the time and avoids society. One day a cute girl named Misaki shows up at his door saying that she has a plan to cure Hikikomori and turn them into productive members of society. Also Satou finds that his next door neighbor Yamazaki is a giant Otaku and has a plan to create a erotic dating sim with Satou. Will Satou follow either of these plans or will he realize that Misaki is actually a devious agent of the NHK?

Welcome To The NHK is a comedy about very messed up people. While this is a rather good dark comedy but even as funny as this manga is it occasionally will back off from the comedy to explore the characters in a more sympathetic way as not to make light of the problem that they suffer. On the other hand it also manages to explore the problems plaguing many modern people without turning the manga into something that is overly sentimental or ... . If you are willing to read something that is a bit dark Welcome To The NHK is a manga that is well worth reading.