Welcome to the NHK! ep.12-14

November 8, 2006 | 12 Comments

I had difficulty finding internet connection while at the beach so in the end I didn't post anything. Anyway, the trip was good but while I was there, I realise that I spend too much time blogging so I intend on cutting back a little bit. Unfortunately that means I will stop blogging some series episode by episode. I'm thinking that I will take out 2 or 3 shows out of my current schedule and put them on a 'weekly impression' entry. At the moment I'm thinking of putting Pumpkin Scissors and this series on that kind of entry mostly because I don't really enjoy these series as a whole. There are bits of each series that I like such as the characters in Pumpkin Scissors and the story in Welcome to NHK! but it's not enough to motivate me to follow them episode per episode basis. I'm sorry about this. I know it's very slack of me to do this but I also want to do other things in life and it's been hard to do so lately because there are so many good series this season.

Episode 12: Welcome to the Conspiracy

Satou is disappointed when he realises that his trip with Kashiwa senpai will also involve 3 of her acquaintances. He, however, becomes excited again when he finds out that one of these acquaintances, Minegishi, owns a private boat that will take them to his private island. At the same time, Jougasaki manages to finish his project so his colleagues encourage him to fulfil the promise that he made to Kashiwa. However, when he arrives at her house, he can't find her and he can't contact her on the mobile because she already dropped said mobile into the sea. Meanwhile, Satou is impressed upon arriving at the private island belonging to Minegishi. He realises that since there are only 3 other people apart from Kashiwa, he won't have to suffer from the embarrassment of people starring at him. Back inside Kashiwa's house, Jougasaki manages to find out that Kashiwa was planning on drinking at Satou's room prior to meeting with the off group.

Speaking of Satou, he is confused because everyone who comes to the island looks as if they'd rather be elsewhere. He tries to engage them in a conversation but fails miserably and ends up getting ignored by these people. Eventually Satou manages to have a little chat with Minegishi and decides to ask the guy the secret to his success. Minegishi, however, tells Satou that although he has wealth, he also lost a lot of things in the process such as happiness. Satou is frustrated upon hearing this because it seems as if no one is interested to talk to him. It makes him wonder why he feels lonely even though he's surrounded by many people. He then realises that this is probably how his class rep felt back then when everyone ignored what she had to say about the culture festival. It was then that Satou said out loud that the class rep looks stupid for being excited about the cultural festival even though everyone else doesn't give a damn about it.

Satou admits that back then he thought it was cool to act indifferent and to allow his pessimistic way of thinking to dismiss study, romance, and friendship. Before he knew it, one thing lead to another and he became a Hikikomori. Back in Tokyo, Misaki encounters Yamazaki and informs him that Satou left with a woman the other day but quickly figures out that the woman could be Kashiwa senpai. This conversation is overheard by Jougasaki who asks the two of them to tell him everything. In the island, Satou decides to gather woods to start a campfire. At first his attempt is ignored by everyone but upon seeing his perseverance, everyone eventually decides to help him. Satou, however, is shocked when Minegishi reveals that the reason the came to this island is to have fun on the last day of their life. True enough, in Tokyo, Misaki, Yamazaki, and Jougasaki figure out that the people from the off-line meeting are planning to commit suicide.

Episode 13: Welcome to Heaven

Yamazaki finds a letter that Satou had written for him, bidding him goodbye and wishing him luck with their game. Jougasaki thinks that the only thing that they can do is to go to the island and stop them. Since the plan won't happen until tonight, they still able to make it in time to stop them. Inside the island, Satou panics because the group decides to waste the boat's fuel to make a campfire. Although he pretends as if he's fine with it, Satou actually doesn't want to do on the island. Back inside the car, Yamazaki thinks that Satou has all the reasons for wanting to kill himself and thinks that Satou's recent knowledge about Misaki observing him is also a part of it. Because of this, Yamazaki wants to know why Misaki has been observing their apartment. Meanwhile on the island, the campfire is finally lit. This reminds the man with the glasses that he never experienced campfire before because his mother never allowed him to be near one.

Inside the car, Yamazaki tells Misaki that Satou is not the only one who gets dragged in this because he ends up collaborating with Satou due to his desire to show the game to her. He wants to know why she didn't confront him earlier if she knew that he's lying all of these times. Back on the island, everyone starts to reveal the reason why they want to commit suicide. The man with the glasses, Nomura Hidehito, was apparently fired from his job because he took medicine home. Kashiwa, however, starts going on about her usual 'conspiracy' theory, claiming that all she wants is to live a normal life. At the same time, Jougasaki manages to hire a boat so he, Yamazaki, and Misaki decide to head out into the island themselves. Yamazaki, who's still angry at Misaki, accuses her of knowing that this would happen to Satou, Misaki, however, denies this, claiming that Satou is an important person for her. Someone that she finally found.

Inside the island, Minegishi tells the other that it's time they do it. Despite his hesitation, Satou ends up following them to the suicide area. As they walk through an old mansion, Minegishi explains that the owner of this island actually killed himself during the burst of economic bubble that caused the low point in his depression. He tells them that the guy killed himself by jumping off the very cliff where they are now and his body has surfaced. Satou's reluctance to kill himself suddenly disappear when Kashiwa tells him that as she thought, the person who will be with her in her last moment is him. He, however, becomes disappointed when she hears Kashiwa crying and mentioning her fiancée’s name before they're about to jump. Thankfully for Satou, before they can jump of the cliff, Nomura tells them that he can't do it. Originally he wanted to die because he can't become a doctor but he knows his mother will be sad if he dies.

He tries to convince Minegishi that surely he has people that will miss him too but Minegishi claims that his wife took his son away when his company went bankrupt. Nomura disagrees and tells Minegishi that any kid will be sad if one of their parents is dead. Minegishi eventually agrees that at least he should not involve young people like them, referring to the young boy, Kusano Yuu. Kusano admits that he wants to kill himself because he had stolen his parents' money and is threatened by juveniles. Upon hearing this, Minegishi promises to introduce him to a good lawyer who can advise the boy on what to do. The only one who still wants to die is Kashiwa, who feels that no one wants her in this world not even her fiancée. She blames everything on 'conspiracy' and drags Satou to die with her. Thankfully before she can do this, she hears Jougasaki's words asking her not to jump off the cliff because he needs her. In addition to this, he wants her to marry him.

Kashiwa cries upon hearing this because it's the words that she's been waiting to hear all along. Satou, on the other hand, becomes depressed when he realises that Kashiwa never likes him. He feels like a failure and wants to kill himself, thinking that he's nothing more than a small rock. Misaki who hears this tells him that he's wrong. He's a human, a failed human who's worse than her. This is why she needs him and doesn't want him to die. Not surprisingly, Satou ends up wanting to kill himself even more after hearing this. Thankfully Yamazaki ends the drama by telling Satou that no matter how sad or depressed he is, he has to return to his daily life. Even if Satou doesn't come back, he'll just end up dying in vain. When Satou about to walk away from the cliff, however, he lost his balance and almost die if others didn't catch him in time. After being saved by the others, Satou cried in horror, realising that he was close to being dead.

Episode 14: Welcome to Reality

In the aftermath of the near-suicide incident, everyone realises that due to their tunnel vision, they almost thought that there is no other way. They feel that they need to thank Satou because without his idea to start campfire, they probably would have been dead by now. Speaking of Satou, he almost loses it and strikes Misaki when she foolishly asks him if he's happy that he's not dead. Satou, however, manages to restrain himself after seeing Misaki looking scared. Once the group land into the mainland, they find out that Jougasaki has arranged so that they can rest and relax at the Inn. Because of this, the group uses the opportunity to soak in the Onsen. While doing this, a cleaner tells them that they are a bunch of fools for trying to throw away the life that their parents give them. He thinks that if they were dead, there wouldn't be any kind of salvation. In addition to this, everyone from the harbour would have been called to find their dead bodies.

In other words, the daily work around the area will be disrupted because of them. And if their bodies were found, that would spark even more commotion, turning off potential visitors to the area. He thinks what they were about to do is selfish and asks them to never contemplate it again. The group is about to have their breakfast but they realise that Kashiwa is not around. As it turns out she's been having a car ride together with Jougasaki. A few hours later, the owner of the Inn lets Nomura and Kusano that their families are here. Upon seeing her son, Nomura's mother slaps him and cries as she tells her son not to worry about becoming a doctor. Minegishi then tries to take the blame for what happened to Kusano but Kusano decides to step up to the plate and tells his father that this is all his fault because he was weak. After all of the drama, Kusano approaches Satou and gives him a free admission to online game called Ultimate Fantasy.

Kusano explains that if he enters the number written on the poster, Satou can play for a month free of charge. A friend that he made online is apparently also a Hikikomori but the guy manages to make money online by playing the game and dealing in RMT, Real Money Trading. This is where a person trades the money and gold he/she obtains in the game for an actual money. Because of this Kusano thinks Satou can earn money even if he isolates himself indoors. Satou thanks Kusano and promises to give it a try so Kusano hopes that they'll meet soon in Vina'tero, the name of this online world. Nomura then bids goodbye at Satou as well so he decides to join Minegishi, Jougasaki, and Kashiwa inside the main room. From them, Satou finds out that Yamazaki has gone to Natsucomi to sell their game while Misaki has gone home on her own. Meanwhile, Minegishi finds out that his son has been waiting for him. It appears that his wife wants to start all over again.

Once Satou returns to his apartment, he finds out that Misaki has left a letter for him. Later on that night, Yamazaki knocks on his door to tell his woe about how no one in Natsucomi willing to pay 3000 Yen (30 dollars) for the trial version of their game. As a result, he had to reduce the price to a mere 500 Yen (5 dollars). He blames Satou for trying to kill himself on Natsucomi day but Satou is too busy thinking about the letter that Misaki left for him which informs him that she'll be waiting for him at the same place and time. Satou decides to come and see Misaki, who tells him that she's going to fine him for a million yen because he didn't come for a few days but she also admits that she's been lying to him about her house so she forgives him this time. Satou is annoyed about this and but he relents upon when he realises that she's sincerely happy about him coming back. The episode ends with Satou finding out that something has happened to his mother.

Impression:

Episode 12 shows that Kashiwa-sempai is a rather selfish person who doesn't care about how other people see Satou. I know that in her mind they're all about to die anyway so it doesn't matter whether or not that he lies about Satou being the man who abused her. Having said that, it's kind of cruel of her to make these people think that Satou is the biggest scum of the universe. Anyway, despite the lousy animation featured in this episode, I thought the part where Satou talks about his ignorance to study and friendship was kind of nice to hear. I never really given it much thought before but when I think about it, I really appreciate the friends that I get to meet over the past few years. I think their existence is a nice and constant reminder that while there are many unpleasant people around, it's worth to go out there and meet real people because once in a while, you get to meet these fun and nice people.

Episode 13 is where the writing for this series was at its best. I really feel sorry for Satou and most of the characters in this series despite how negative their behaviour might seem to others. It's not easy living with dark thoughts and depression like Satou and the other characters. Satou's and Misaki's cry at the end of this episode were especially harrowing and left indelible impression on me. I thought it was extremely fitting that the producer decided to change the ending theme. The first ED theme was more energetic but the lyric features the kind of self-pity excuse that a person tends to use when he/she is depressed. The second ED, Modokashii Sekai no Ue de is melancholic in tone but the lyric is more hopeful. Another highlight here is Satou and Misaki's relationship. Misaki finally admits that the reason she's been helping Satou was so she can feel better about herself. However, I think she truly falls in love with him when she was trying to help the guy.

Episode 14 is basically the end of this 'off-line meeting' arc and I have a mixed feeling about it because after the powerful climax in episode 13, this one brings everything back to reality. It feels a bit depressing actually. -_-;; The fact is, even if a person entertains to kill him/herself, the world will still go on without the person. And if the person doesn't end up killing him/herself, this person will find that they will have to go back to how they live before whether they like it or not. For Satou, recovery is still a long while and while he's away on his self-pity party, a real tragedy has occurred to one of his family members, his mother. It was fitting to call this episode Welcome to Reality. As a side note, am I the only one who thinks that Misaki was probably abused as a child? The way she immediately cowers when Satou is angry at her kind of suggests that this is not the first time something like this happens to her.

© memento 2003