Welcome to the NHK! - Recommendations

Alt title: NHK ni Youkoso!

Welcome to the NHK!

If you're looking for manga similar to Welcome to the NHK!, you might like these titles.

Bitter Virgin

Bitter Virgin

Daisuke is popular with all of the ladies at school, including his childhood friend Yuzu and flirty Kazuki. However, there's one girl who not only doesn't like Daisuke, but also seems to be afraid of him – timid, guarded Hinako Aikawa. After proclaiming that she's the only girl he has no interest in, Daisuke accidentally discovers the truth about Hinako and the terrible, horrifying secret that she hasn't told a soul. Though she isn't aware that he knows, Daisuke makes a decision then and there to protect her, slowly realizing that the girl he had no interest in, is suddenly the most important thing to him...

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Omurqi Omurqi says...

Looking for something that treats very heavy themes where most manga shy away from? Then both Welcome to the NHK! and Bitter Virgin fit the bill. The atmosphere in both is quite similar, even though NHK has some awkward and effective comedy, where Virgin has more angst and romance. If you want to experience that uneasy chest-feeling one of these gave off again, give the other a shot.

Watching TV All The Time Makes You Stupid

Watching TV All The Time Makes You Stupid

One day a young hikikomori receives a visit from a man that has been sent by her mother. He works for a company that tries to provide support to those who have withdrawn from society, but the girl isn’t interested and immediately tries to get him to leave. During his time with the young girl, the support worker begins to catch a glimpse of the solitary and occasionally seedy life she leads, but can he convince her to leave the house and make it in time to get to a job interview?

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cassiesheepgirl cassiesheepgirl says...

OK, so Welcome to the NHK is an 8-volume series and Watching TV is a oneshot, but hear me out. Both of these stories deal with someone attempting to help re-introduce a hikikomori into society. Both can also be quite depressing at times, so if you like one, then you might find the other to be your kind of thing.

Onani Master Kurosawa

Onani Master Kurosawa

Every day after school, the quiet and introverted student Kurosawa goes into the empty girls bathroom and "relieves himself". Besides this extremely odd ritual, Kurosawa also has a thirst for justice and a judgmental attitude towards his classmates. Upon seeing the bullying of an awkward girl in his class by two of the "popular" girls, he decides to bring justice to the bullies the only way he knows how. His plan for revenge goes "just as planned" until met by an unsuspected accomplice.

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Likeablefella Likeablefella says...

Both contain a similiar comedic tone (With N.H.K possibly edging more on the comedic side) with damaged and confused characters. Both series also contain a very similiar message and the same descent into dark territory. If you like one; you should definately try the other.

Planetes

Planetes

In the 2070s, increased interplanetary travel has led to crisis-level amounts of dangerous space debris, and someone has to clean it up. Planetes follows the space-garbage crew of aspiring explorer Hachimaki, mourning Yuri and secretive Fee.

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Lews Lews says...

Both focus on the psychological and philosophical development of the main characters. We get to see them deal with their problems, ambitions and develop a deeper understanding for life.

Flowers and Bees

Flowers and Bees

Why shouldn't young men get the same chance that girls have of ruining their lives in the pursuit of unattainable standards of beauty? Though mocked by classmates and subject to stares in the streets, Masao vows to remain faithful to his makeovers — determined to become the man hairdressers, estheticians, and fashion magazine editors only dream that women dream of!

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AirCommodore AirCommodore says...

Another seinen manga about a huge loser/hikikomori trying (extremely unsuccessfully) to crawl out of the pit he's dug himself into and become cool/popular/normal, with the help of some women who are far from perfect themselves. Both are extremely cynical and a bit depressing, but offset this with tons of black comedy.

Ressentiment

Ressentiment

Takuro, the main character, is a stereotyped, low self esteem, adult male in a dead end job. Because he feels he has nothing to live for, he let himself go, becoming fat, miserable, and lonely. The only shining thing he lives for is the occasional visit to a brothel where his savings will allow him to atleast not be completely sexless. This is when, through a real life friend of his, he is introduced to the virtual reality world of "The Unreal". Where, after spending $6000+ on equipment, you can purchase a virtual girlfriend who only thinks of you. Only the girl, Tsukiko, that Takuro purchases, seems to have come with a few defects.

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AirCommodore AirCommodore says...

Another seinen manga about otaku/hikikomori with a similarly cynical approach. Both are pretty bleak, but while Welcome to the NHK! covers a huge array of awful things that can happen, Ressentiment is more focused- people who liked the eroge and MMORPG story arcs in the beginning of NHK! the best are the most likely to also enjoy Ressentiment.

Shut-In Shoutarou Kominami Takes on the World

Shut-In Shoutarou Kominami Takes on the World

In an attempt to rally against his "no longer human" nature, shut-in Shoutarou Kominami manages to rouse himself out of his house to secure gainful employment. In a stroke of good fortune, he ends up getting hired by a psychologist who's promised to help him cast off the shackles of his shlocken personality! If it sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. Shoutarou's new "psychologist" employer is actually just a gag manga artist content to exploit this pathetic soul for story ideas!

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Watashi no Musuko ga Isekai Tenseishita-ppoi

Watashi no Musuko ga Isekai Tenseishita-ppoi

About a mother who has lost her child and her former classmate. Going through her son's bookshelf, she has convinced herself that her son has reincarnated in another world and wishes to find a method to meet him, enlisting the help of her otaku classmate.

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No Longer Human

No Longer Human

Set in modern day Tokyo, Dazai's tale details the life of a young man originally from a well-off family from Japan's far north. Yozo Oba is a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others. A weak constitution and the lingering trauma from some abuse administered by a relative forces him to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity since high school.

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Jisatsu Houjo

Jisatsu Houjo

The manga centers on a string of suicides by hanging that have been plaguing the town of Kongō for the past two years, with an urban legend that a girl supposedly appears before the victims to sign a suicide contract with them, pursuing them until the victims commit suicide. Saotome, a college student of folklore studies in Kongō, has been having recurring dreams for months of himself hung by a rope in a graveyard. He begins to see a woman named Koyomi Hirasaka, a therapist who specializes in suicidal thoughts, but unbeknownst to him, he is misled into signing a suicide contract with her, and she begins to shadow him everywhere.

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