Welcome to insanity!

The inherent weirdness that infects Sato’s life is prevalent throughout NHK’s packaging. On the front cover of the slip box is our sometimes psychotic protagonist Sato, surrounded by the main cast of NHK as well as his household appliances who randomly come to life in his mind. On the back of the box is the series synopsis, episode lists, screenshots, and a small image of Hitomi and Misaki. Each DVD of the two-disc set comes in a slim black case. Disc one’s case jacket has all the characters on its cover in sort of a pop-art layout and on the back is Sato and Misaki and the episode list for disc one. Disc two’s jacket features a nice image of Sato and Misaki in festival attire and fireworks, while on the back is Misaki and Hitomi and an episode list for that disc. The DVD menus are neatly laid out as episodic listings against a background of Sato’s apartment with cheerful background music. Each submenu for the DVD options (language, credits, etc.) has a differing background and background music. Also, for once, I’ve found a series where I just can’t bear listening to the Japanese cast. Their voices don’t seem to fit the characters. However, the English cast makes up for that with both a superb script and acting. I’ve not seen the likes of this kind of role reversal since Cowboy Bebop.

Welcome to the extra content!

To be honest, the actual show was so good I nearly forgot about the extra content for these DVDs entirely. As it turns out, I wouldn’t have missed much. Disc one offers clean opening and ending animations; which is fine, except you see them enough watching the anime that you really don’t need to bother. On disc two there are the DVD credits and a small compliment of Funimation trailers. The trailers are for Shuffle, Burst Angel, Desert Punk, Darker Than Black, Shinobi, and Glass Fleet.

Welcome to the final thought!

“Welcome to the N.H.K.” is a wholly unique anime experience. It’s rare to see an anime that can take such a serious psychological problem and be able to illustrate the humanity involved behind it—let alone do so in such a funny way. And, though the viewers will find themselves sympathizing with Sato on many occasions, it’s not just about him. Every character involved seems to have some deep-rooted psychological issues and it’s interesting to see how that seems to draw them together in a strange symbiosis. As I said, the show is also full of comedic situations as Sato comes just a little out of his shell more and more—especially when he’s introduced to the world of otaku and H-games. It’s not a series that everyone can relate to, and there are parts of it that earn it that mature rating, but it’s such a solid series that once a person starts watching they’ll no doubt be wanting more.