Welcome to the NHK! ep.4

August 6, 2006 | 14 Comments

The animation in this episode is unbelievably crappy. Everything from character design to proportions are inconsistent. They are not as bad as xxxHOLiC 14/15 but it's still bad nonetheless. Some of the drawings actually look really messed up that I actually wondered if it's intentonal. Either way, I hope this is just a one-off irregularity but since Gonzo produced this, I can't help but being worried about how the rest of the series will look now. Thankfully the story is good enough to sustain my attention throughout the episode. It's a shame that they changed the 'ultimate moe' drawing to something less scary in here. In the original manga, the drawing is quite repulsive to see and illustrate the ridiculousness some of those character archetypes featured in anime/manga/games.

The episode begins with a narration saying that Misaki may look like an ordinary girl but the truth is she's an angel that has been sent to help the protagonist. As it turns out, the entire thing is just a scenario typed in by Satou, who immediately deletes what he just wrote. Later on Satou tells Yamazaki that he admires people who make galges. Unlike them, he knows nothing about real girls. Yamazaki, however, thinks Satou is wrong about this. What gamers are looking for is an escape from reality since reality on its own is full of hardship. Yamazaki then tells Satou that in reality, girls look down, degrade, and cheat on them. This is why girls in galge should fulfill their every desire. In other words, they must be attracted to the protagonist for no apparent reason, approach him with pure intentions, and will never betray him. Upon hearing this, Satou tells Yamazaki that he now knows what kind of character he should create for their galge.

He proceeds to write the description on a piece of paper. Yamazaki is pissed off upon reading it because Satou's description is simply a copy of what he just said beforehand. Because of this, Yamazaki gives Satou a lesson in the kind of girls that normally exist in galges. Type no.1 is Childhood friend. With this type, there is a strong bond which is developed from being close to one another since early age. Type no.2 is Maid. However, unlike the old maid in Satou's imagination, the maid in question here is young and busty. With this archetype, a master-servant relationship is established. Type no.3 is Robot. Not the huge bulky types but the humanoid types who swear to stay by the protagonist side all the time. Satou thinks how the archetype reminds him of Misaki but he finds it hard to believe. Meanwhile, Misaki herself is in the middle of counting the days to the 'appointment date', which is 10 days later. She tells herself that it's coming soon.

Back to Satou, he's in the middle of playing galge which features a senpai (upperclass woman). This reminds Satou of the time when Kashiwa senpai asked him if he thinks are okay the way they are now. Back then Satou thought that Kashiwa was talking about playing cards but she's actually talking about the people on the other side of the ocean, atoms that block sunlight, the composition of mold in food, about veridian disappearing from the map. In other words, complex questions that most people don't bother to think about. Satou wasn't impressed to hear this but Kashiwa told him that this is also about them and proceeded to ask him if he knows that in there is conspiracy in this world. Back in the present time, Satou complains about the fact that he can't play those memories over and over again just like he can with galges. The next day, Yamazaki is unhappy when he finds out that Satou still has not made a progress with the scenario writing.

Satou tries to weasel his way out of the responsibility by saying that he doesn't know any childhood friend or has any maid or robot. Yamazaki throttles him and tells Satou that he doesn't need a real life model. Satou tells Yamazaki that he thinks he'll be able to write easily if he has a model to follow. In response to this Yamazaki decides to drag Satou out of his house but Satou refuses on the ground that he's Hikikomori. Yamazaki reminds him that he did go out on his own a few days ago but Satou lamely tells Yamazaki that he wasn't himself that day. A frustrated Yamazaki decides to threaten Satou by saying that maybe he should call the police since he's been missing some foods lately especially a pack of Okinawan instant noodle he received from a friend. Eventually Yamazaki manages to drag Satou out of his room after putting some disguise on the lazy bastard. He then takes him to Akihabara or more specifically a Maid Cafe in Akihabara.

They are immediately greeted by a bunch of maids saying "Welcome back, Master". Yamazaki explains that Maid Cafe is the pride of Japan. Hiring a maid for one's house could be expensive but in a Maid Cafe, everyone can experience what it's like to be served by a Maid. After the cafe, in the name of 'research', Yamazaki decides to take Satou to a Doujinshi shop. Satou notices one which features a character from TV so Yamazaki mentions how awesome it is to see a character from TV doing something like this. Yamazaki quickly geeks himself out upon seeing a Pururin limited edition doujinshi and ugh, a character pillow. On the other hand, Satou gets nostalgic upon looking at some robotic plastic model. It doesn't take long before Satou stumbles upon a miniature figure of Misao-tan, his favourite character from the galge. He tries to take a peek at her 'good' by crouching on the ground but his view is obscured by Yamazaki's presence.

Yamazaki points out that this particular model is very detailed to the point that even the skirt is removable. Satou pretends that he's not interested but after Yamazaki tells him that the important part in creating galge is to understand the need of their target audience, Satou decides to buy the figurine. As they exit the store, Satou comments how the figurine was the last one in the store so Yamazaki tells him that when they make a pilgrimage to the sacred land, they must grab what they like at once. After doing some more spending spree, the two eventually stop at another maid cafe and Yamazaki points out to Satou that he wants to ensure that their galge don't appear like any other galge in the market. Satou suddenly gets an idea for the heroine of their game: a childhood friend who's also a classmate and a next-door neighbour. She's also a maid and a robot. Yamazaki is excited to hear this and draws the character.

Satou then continues by saying that the character and the male character are lovers on previous life, on top of this, she's feeble and dependent on the protagonist. To top it off, she sacrificed herself for the protagonist, sustaining injuries that will take years to heal. She's also a ghost, an alien, and a reincarnation of a fox who comes from the future. Yamazaki finally comes up with a drawing of what is supposed to be the ultimate Moe but Satou is horrified upon seeing the result and refuses to write scenario for it. Later on, Yamazaki decides to return to the cafe because he left something at the place. Because of this, Satou waits for him inside a special smoking area. He remembers what Kashiwa-senpai said when she asked him if he thinks it's okay for things to continue like this. Satou's thought, however, is interrupted when he hears a knock on the glass door. Upon looking up, he realises that the person is none other than Kashiwa-senpai herself.

Impressions:

I never get the appeal of Doujinshi especially those that feature characters from original anime/manga series. I simply don't like seeing my favourite characters featured in an out-of-character situations. Anyway, animation aside, this episode did a good job of highlighting the consumerism aspect of being an anime fan. I admit that I'm also one of those fans who like a limited edition items. But thankfully my collecting hobby is limited to DVD, manga, and small items like pencil boards and sountrack. Sometimes I'd contemplate on buying figurine or PVC but the cost and the fact that I don't have a permanent house always stop me from doing so. One merchandise I'd like to stay away from, however, is character pillow. I always find myself creeped out when I see a fictional character like Yamazaki buying it. Speaking of purchases, how on Earth did Satou manage to buy those anime goods when his own life is still supported by his parents?

Moving on to other topic, the discussion about the 'ultimate moe' was hilarious. It was also an eye-opener because when I like a character, I usually like them simply based on how nicely they are designed and their personality. I actually don't care much about character archetypes such as the childhood friends, maid, or humanoid robots. Having said that, the drawing of the 'ultimate moe' was quite good. One of the reason why I like this series is because it manages to show the ridiculousness of several anime concept. In this case, the episode shows the danger of going overboard while using character archetypes to elicit 'moe' reaction from potential customers. Of course the reason anime/game producers did it to begin with is because there is a market for it so the consumers are partly to blame as well. Character-wise, Yamazaki has to be commmended for drawing Satou out of his shell this week. Although his view about real life women is quite disturbing to know.

© memento 2003