Welcome the the N.H.K. 1
by Tatsuhiko Takimoto and Kendi Oiwa
There is a small, odd media subgenre of self-reflective/self-deprecating media which allows a heavy metal mockumentary like “This is...Spinal Tap” to lead to actual album sales, rock videos and tour dates. This same phenomenon can be seen in the Japanese release “Otaku no Video”. This was movie by anime makers about anime superfans (or “otaku”) which both celebrated and made fun of their fanaticism. It was a huge hit among otaku, and at nearly 25 years old is still popular today.
On a similar scale is the TOKYOPOP manga release, Welcome to the N.H.K.: 01. This book tells the tale of Satou, a college drop-out and “hikikomori”. A hikikomori is someone who drops out of society and has little or no social contact with other people. Modern technology has made it possible for more of these people to exist in Japan (text messaging, online ordering, staffless video/DVD rental stores, etc.). Of course Satou doesn’t want to admit to himself, or the cute girl he likes, Misaki, that he is a hikikomori, but all signs point to “DEFINITELY”. All efforts to prove otherwise only force him to look worse and worse. He employs help from his kohai (younger in school) neighbor. His neighbor is an anime and loli-con addict, and thinks the two of them should make a hentai PC game together. At the same time Misaki wants Satou to join her “project” (for hikikomori and otaku). Satou wants to get to know Misaki, but can’t admit he is the weirdo that he clearly is.
What follows is an odd adventure jumping from here to there deeper and more far-out into otaku heaven. From hentai shops to Akihabara maid cafes, this comedic mish-mash of misunderstandings and panty shots is vibrant, energized and very weird.
If all the above italicized terms are a mystery to you, and you don’t know where (or what) Akihabara is, then Welcome to the N.H.K. probably won’t be for you. It is essentially an otaku subculture inside joke. Japan has no shortage of otaku, and there are gigantic manga, cos-play, game shops all over the country. This is a sub-culture with many branches of sub-sub-cultures. As more and more aspects of Japanese youth culture travel west and are picked up by American fans, we are going so see more books like Welcome to the N.H.K. It would be hard to imagine just a few years ago manga translated into English which talked about doujinshi (Japanese for fan-fic and art) and manga cafés even being comprehensible to an American audience. But, thanks to the increased internet usage (on both sides of the Pacific), greater interest in Japanese language study, and just the natural progression of pop-culture evolution, these same sub-cultures are spawning from natural blondes and brunettes over here, and the American manga publishers are responding, as should be expected.
A non-manga or anime fan will probably be a little confused and shocked by the images between these covers, and it wouldn’t be fair not to mention that although the erotic images aren’t particularly titillating (nor are they meant to be), some are more extreme than American audiences might be used to. Attitudes about pornography are different between the two countries. In the US pornography viewing is a more shameful act than it is in Japan, especially some of the fetish types that show up here. The reality is that Welcome to the N.H.K. is laughing at, and laughing with, a very real slice of Japanese society.
This is what makes Welcome to the N.H.K. such an interesting cultural phenomenon. It is otaku material about otaku, which shows us the reality of the hikikomori, but at the same time is a fantasy (the love interest, Misaki), which will keep the otaku reading. One nice feature of this title is the glossary which gives explanations to all the bizarre references which appear in the book. Whether you are an American otaku looking for a story about your Japanese heritage or a curious newcomer who wants to know what the buzz is about, or simply interested in Japanese sub-cultures such as this, then Welcome to the N.H.K. may be what you are looking for. Be warned, it’s not always PC and not always pretty. Volume 2 is released in February, 2007. There is also an animated series broadcast in Japan.
There is a small, odd media subgenre of self-reflective/self-deprecating media which allows a heavy metal mockumentary like “This is...Spinal Tap” to lead to actual album sales, rock videos and tour dates. This same phenomenon can be seen in the Japanese release “Otaku no Video”. This was movie by anime makers about anime superfans (or “otaku”) which both celebrated and made fun of their fanaticism. It was a huge hit among otaku, and at nearly 25 years old is still popular today.
On a similar scale is the TOKYOPOP manga release, Welcome to the N.H.K.: 01. This book tells the tale of Satou, a college drop-out and “hikikomori”. A hikikomori is someone who drops out of society and has little or no social contact with other people. Modern technology has made it possible for more of these people to exist in Japan (text messaging, online ordering, staffless video/DVD rental stores, etc.). Of course Satou doesn’t want to admit to himself, or the cute girl he likes, Misaki, that he is a hikikomori, but all signs point to “DEFINITELY”. All efforts to prove otherwise only force him to look worse and worse. He employs help from his kohai (younger in school) neighbor. His neighbor is an anime and loli-con addict, and thinks the two of them should make a hentai PC game together. At the same time Misaki wants Satou to join her “project” (for hikikomori and otaku). Satou wants to get to know Misaki, but can’t admit he is the weirdo that he clearly is.What follows is an odd adventure jumping from here to there deeper and more far-out into otaku heaven. From hentai shops to Akihabara maid cafes, this comedic mish-mash of misunderstandings and panty shots is vibrant, energized and very weird.
If all the above italicized terms are a mystery to you, and you don’t know where (or what) Akihabara is, then Welcome to the N.H.K. probably won’t be for you. It is essentially an otaku subculture inside joke. Japan has no shortage of otaku, and there are gigantic manga, cos-play, game shops all over the country. This is a sub-culture with many branches of sub-sub-cultures. As more and more aspects of Japanese youth culture travel west and are picked up by American fans, we are going so see more books like Welcome to the N.H.K. It would be hard to imagine just a few years ago manga translated into English which talked about doujinshi (Japanese for fan-fic and art) and manga cafés even being comprehensible to an American audience. But, thanks to the increased internet usage (on both sides of the Pacific), greater interest in Japanese language study, and just the natural progression of pop-culture evolution, these same sub-cultures are spawning from natural blondes and brunettes over here, and the American manga publishers are responding, as should be expected.
A non-manga or anime fan will probably be a little confused and shocked by the images between these covers, and it wouldn’t be fair not to mention that although the erotic images aren’t particularly titillating (nor are they meant to be), some are more extreme than American audiences might be used to. Attitudes about pornography are different between the two countries. In the US pornography viewing is a more shameful act than it is in Japan, especially some of the fetish types that show up here. The reality is that Welcome to the N.H.K. is laughing at, and laughing with, a very real slice of Japanese society.
This is what makes Welcome to the N.H.K. such an interesting cultural phenomenon. It is otaku material about otaku, which shows us the reality of the hikikomori, but at the same time is a fantasy (the love interest, Misaki), which will keep the otaku reading. One nice feature of this title is the glossary which gives explanations to all the bizarre references which appear in the book. Whether you are an American otaku looking for a story about your Japanese heritage or a curious newcomer who wants to know what the buzz is about, or simply interested in Japanese sub-cultures such as this, then Welcome to the N.H.K. may be what you are looking for. Be warned, it’s not always PC and not always pretty. Volume 2 is released in February, 2007. There is also an animated series broadcast in Japan.
posted by John T at 3:57 PM
2 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I watched the anime. And it was awesome!
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