Welcome to the NHK! Volume 1 DVD Review

By sothis Published: September 23, 2007

PACKAGING AND MENU

7 / 10

Welcome to the NHK V1 has bright and vibrant covers. The front has a shocking lime green background, with neon orange-shadowed title text, and a generic nipple-poking and scantily-clad woman (she might be Sato’s ex-friend, but it’s hard to tell). Now, although I understand this cover will appeal to the male masses, I’m not sure how it’s appropriate to the show itself. I guess it’s a reference to the H games that are the central focus of these episodes, but I think a more appropriate shot would have been of Sato and Misaki (possibly with Sato looking horrified), with various weird creatures and hallucinations of Sato scattered about.

The back cover is busy, but effective. Still on the lime green background is a scattering of little screenshots and text, all of which are enclosed in a series of dashes. The text is pretty hard to read, but otherwise the design is good.

The menu has a shot of Sato's apartment, with decently easy to read text and cute cursor images.

FEATURES

3 / 10

Besides a clean opening/closing, the only extra is a sparse set of descriptions of certain terms in the anime.

VIDEO

10 / 10

I could find literally no problems with the video. Colors are vibrant and crisp, there is no noticeable artifacting and no grainy scenes, even in dark patches of color.

AUDIO

9 / 10

I watched the English 5.1 track, which sounded great the entire time. Though most of the sound comes out of the center channel, the back channels are used for sound effects and the occasional bit of background music. The best element of the 5.1 by far was in episode 3, when dialogue from a character who was walking away came out of the back speaker.

Though I haven’t had the chance to see him in any other anime titles, Greg Ayres is officially one of my favorite anime voice actors. His role as Yamazaki is pretty much perfect – he sounds completely natural, uses appropriate slang, and overall is 100% convincing. Special mention should also be given to Stephanie Wittels who stars as Misaki. Interestingly enough, her role in Xenosaga as Shion left a little to be desired; her role this time, however, is much better! With the exception of committing one of the cardinal sins of anime voice acting (pronouncing the word “manga” as “mayngah”), she made a perfect Misaki. In general, the entire cast of Welcome to the NHK is simply sublime. I’d say this is one of my top 3 dubs from ADV by far. There’s plenty of swearing and slang, and in general the dub was a treat to watch.

CONTENT

8 / 10

My primary exposure to Welcome to the NHK has been in form of the site’s recommendations – I keep seeing it referenced with Lucky Star. Since I didn’t like Lucky Star, this has kept me from becoming terribly excited about watching Welcome to the NHK – but I’m glad I did! The beginning episode was incredibly strange and reminded me of the bizarre and ecchi Colorful, but most of that falls away by the second and third episodes. In general, the plot is related to a reclusive otaku known as Sato, who is approached by a lovely young woman who wants to help him become a normal member of society. Sato is in denial about his ways, and tries to do anything possible to prove to her that he’s a “normal” guy. To do this he enlists the help of his neighbor, and together they set out to make an H game.

Though this doesn’t seem like the type of plot that would appeal to me, I found Welcome to the NHK to be hilarious so far. For some reason the way the story is told amuses me; a prime example being the inclusion of the “pururin” anime song in various places. It resonates in a muffled sense through the walls of his apartment, and is present in the stores he visits. Though not a central point of the plot by any means, it’s these random things that make the series worth watching.

Welcome to the NHK should also appeal to fans of Japanese culture, as the series is chock full of references to the more... strange side of it. Sato’s exploration of H games is hilarious, and in general the content just feels, well, real (as well as creepy).

Instead of trying to rehash more about the plot, I’ll just say that so far I’m really liking this series, and hope that the other episodes follow suit with the perfect blend of humor and slice-of-life scenarios. You’ve got me hooked, Welcome to the NHK!