Welcome to the NHK! ep.5

August 13, 2006 | 13 Comments

This is a nice, introspective look at all of the characters from the series. It's in this episode the writers reveal that Satou is not the only character with a problem. While his problem is quite serious, other people around him also have equally disturbing issues. I have to admit though that at times this series is a bit hard to follow mostly because of its animation style. While this episode is a mark improvement from last week, in general the anime doesn't look as good as its manga counterpart. The only thing that draws me back to this is the storyline. This episode is a good example of this. While it's been a slow process, it seems thing will change a little bit for Satou from here on. It also makes me wonder if you can call someone a Hikikomori when he/she actually interacted with at least 3 people on a regular basis?

The episode begins with a flashback to the time when Kashiwa-senpai has just attended her graduation ceremony. Back then she was telling Satou that neither of them are bad people and yet painful things occur to them. She asked Satou why this is the case and Satou correctly guessed what Kashiwa wants to hear by saying "Conspiracy". Kashiwa agreed with the answer and told Satou that a giant syndicate has established an evil conspiracy on them. Satou, however, did not take Kashiwa's words seriously and was more concerned with the fact that this was Kashiwa's last day in the club. Upon hearing this Kashiwa stand up, walked over to the door, and locked the club's door so no one can get in. She then opened her jacket and walked over to Satou. She told him that Satou did accompany her playing cards for 2 years. The next scene suggests that Kashiwa kissed Satou but the actual kissing scene itself is replaced by the scene of a boiling kettle.

In the present time, Satou and Kashiwa-senpai are sitting inside a cafe in Akihabara. Kashiwa mentions how it's been 4 years ever since they last saw each other. Satou corrects her by saying that it's been 4 years and 4 months. Kashiwa smiles to hear this and tells Satou that it seems he's unhappy. She then proceeds to offer him some medicine, psychiatric drugs which she claims will make him feel rejuvenated. She also has sleep-inducing pills in case Satou can't sleep and anti-depressants if he's depressed. People in other table looks concerned upon hearing this. Satou, on the other hand, is shocked and wonders from how many hospitals she is currently seeking treatment for. Kashiwa tells him she's currently under treatment from 3 hospitals. She claims that the reason is because it's hard being in the working class. When he hears this, Satou remembers that Kashiwa once voiced similar complaint about being an entrance exam candidate.

When Satou asks her about her job, she tells him that she's working at the ward office. Satou is impressed that Kashiwa is a civil servant. Kashiwa asks Satou what he is doing now and thinks that someone who carries many luggage during weekdays is possibly a freeter, someone who's not permanently employed. Surprisingly, Satou decides to be honest to Kashiwa and tells her that the truth is he's a Hikikomori sufferer. In addition to this, the content of his bag are Galges, figurines, cards, DVDs, and other anime goods. In other words, he's a legitimate Otaku. And because of these goods, he already spent next month's rent and is not sure what he is going to do. On top of these, he's now entering his fourth year reclusion and jokingly calls himself Master Hikikomori. Satou, however, is surprised and depressed when Kashiwa tells him that she had a feeling that he was somewhere along those lines. Kashiwa laughs and tells him that it's just a joke.

Having said that, she still recalls her underclassman from high school. The same underclassman who always talked about his friends and yet when she came to the club room, she never saw any of his friends. She then told Satou outright that they should have dated each other back then because they wouldn't have to play cards the whole day. In addition to this, if they had built a healthy relationship back then, Satou may not become a Hikikomori now. Kashiwa is about to say something but Satou guesses her words and says that this is all due to conspiracy. Their conversation, however, is interrupted by the sound of Satou's cellphone. Satou picks it up and is shocked upon hearing Yamazaki yelling at him. Yamazaki tells Satou that unless Satou returns to where he was last seen, he will leave Satou. Satou returns to the table and asks Kashiwa if she remembers the middle-schooler that he saved a few days before her graduation.

Satou explains that the same middle-schooler actually lives next door to his room. He's actually the one who dragged Satou all the way here otherwise a Hikikomori like him wouldn't have gone out. Kashiwa then suggests that the two of them exchange phone numbers. It is through this that she reveals that her full name is Kashiwa Hitomi. She thinks life suddenly becomes more comfortable. She mentions how if one goes to a combini (convenient store), they usually sell mobile phone as well but not human relationship. Kashiwa then asks Satou if they should meet again. A few hours later, Satou is seen back with Yamazaki inside a train. Satou goes on and on about how he managed to find some rare Pururin items when he was looking around for Satou but Satou seems to be concerned about something else. Once the two are back at Yamazaki's room, Satou remembers how he had refused Kashiwa's offer to meet again because he's a Hikikomori.

At the last minute, however, he stand up and asked Kashiwa if they can meet again. Kashiwa simply smiled and asked Satou if he really is a Hikikomori sufferer. In the present time, Yamazaki is sketching a female character with freckles because he thinks freckles will be the next popular thing. This reminds Satou that the deadline is in 10 days. He realises that a game made within 10 days won't be in good condition but if he hands it to Misaki, she won't follow him anymore. Having said that, this means he will return to become a Hikikomori. Satou is disturbed with this thought and feels relieved when he realises that he still has Misaki's contract in his right shirt pocket. At the same time, Yamazaki is seen adding more 'freckles' the face of a girl he draws to the point that she now looks as if she has stubbles. Satou decides to excuse himself from Yamazaki's room and after thinking about it some more, decides to go the park on his own.

He knows it's still 10 more days before he gets to meet Misaki but he thinks that if she's really supposed to be the Goddess who's going to help him, she will appear now. Satou is surprised to see a falling star in the sky after saying this and hears Misaki's voice calling for him. Satou can't believe that she really has come but Misaki is actually surprised that Satou is here although it's 10 days before they supposed to meet. She wonders if Satou has bring with him the game he was talking about. Satou tells Misaki that the Galge production will probably will be cancelled. Misaki is confused about this because she thought he'll bring a game he has created. In addition to this, she doesn't know what Satou meant when he said Galge. Satou immediately pretends that it's some kind of abbreviation for a made up words that he's come up with. He, however, stops his long-winded immediately when Misaki wonders if that sort of game will sell.

Misaki then guesses that this was all just elaborate lies from the game to Satou being a creator. When Misaki points out that the truth is Satou is just an unemployed Hikikomori, Satou can't stand it anymore and pulls out the contract that he has signed. Misaki immediately takes the contract and tells Satou that he'll be okay from now on. Satou, however, wants to know who Misaki really is but she simply tells him that she's just a nice girl who wants to help a young man like him. She then tells him that counselling will start tomorrow and if he breaks the promise, there will be a fine of 1 million Yen. Satou then returns home and admires his figurine before realising that he has to tell Yamazaki about this. He thinks Yamazaki will be angry and is shocked when he hears Yamazaki yelling at someone on the phone while punching the wall. Yamazaki reminds the person on the phone that he's living here on his own income so he's not obliged to follow the person's order.

Satou realises that Yamazaki is probably talking to his parents. Through enough, Yamazaki can be heard yelling to the person on the phone that he will not take over the farming business. Upon hearing this Satou realises that everyone has their own problem. The next day, Satou begins his Hikikomori recovery lesson and waits for Misaki in the park. He, however, becomes curious when he notices that Misaki has a 'secret note' with her. She, however, refuses to let him see the note. Instead, she reads the note outloud and tells Satou about how a Hikikomori is a person who is incompatible with the outside world. This is why it's important for a Hikikomori sufferer to become accustomed to the world. This could be achieved through several means such as by worshipping and having faith in deities. This allows people to unleash their frustration at the world and allows them to control their emotion. This is why there are different kind of Gods.

Misaki then sees in her note that in Japan, it is believed that Polytheism has over eight million divinities. She is shocked to read this because that's quite a lot of numbers. Satou, however, tells her that he thinks the kanji, which is 「八百万」, should be read as yaoyorozu (myriad/many) instead of happyaku man (eight million). Misaki pretends that she's just made a honest mistake and goes on to read the rest of her notes. According to the notes, when religion does not work for some people, they will use other means such as philosophy. Misaki then tells him that they'll conduct a surprise psychoanalysis test using Freud's method. She thinks Satou probably won't understand anything about Freud's theories so she asks him to tell her his dream and she'll try to interpret it. Satou is aghast to hear this and wonders if Misaki thinks he doesn't even know who is Freud. He decides to play with Misaki and have her analyse his dream thoroughly.

He then mentions how a huge, strong serpent appeared and dove into the sea and stabbed an apple with its broad sword. It then fired rounds from its shiny, black, and imposing handgun. Satou then display a satisfaction smirk as Misaki is busy looking for the answer on the book. She becomes embarassed upon seeing the answer and thinks that they're done with Freud for today. Satou, however, tells her that he's more interested in the analysis of his dream. Misaki ignores Satou and tells him that Jung disagrees with Freud's theory. Satou, however, is relentless and forces Misaki to tell him what the serpent, the apple, the sword, and the gun actually mean. Misaki is angry about this and tells Satou that if he's not going to be serious then this will be the end of today's lesson. She then heads home after telling Satou that the lesson will continue tomorrow. Despite his disappointment at the session, Satou decides that he'll play along with Misaki for a while.

Having said that, there is something that Satou is grateful about in regards to his session with Misaki. He turns on the computer and begins typing a scenario. Satou believes that even if you seclude yourself in a room, you're not a Hikikomori if you strive to accomplish something. He then goes to Yamazaki's room and tells him that he met Misaki and told her that he's a Hikikomori. When Satou tells him that it's not possible to create game in 10 days, Yamazaki snaps and tells Satou that is because Satou never came up with a scenario. Despite this, he refuses to give up because he has found some license-free music and the programming is coming soon. Yamazaki, however, is surprised when Satou tells him that he doesn't intend to quit either. Now that he has signed a contract with Misaki, they can make a good game without a deadline. Satou then hands in a scenario he just typed. Yamazaki is glad to see this but their happy moment is interrupted when Satou accidentally steps on Yamazaki's Pururin figurine and breaks it.

Impression:

There was a small discussion on the previous episode's entry about the nature of Yamazaki's influence on Satou. I personally think that he brings both good and bad influence on Satou. Since Yamazaki is an anime fan, he introduces Satou to the world of anime and eroge, things that he probably won't be interested in until he met Yamazaki again. On its own, anime and eroge are harmless but when a person becomes obsessed with them like Yamazaki, these things tend to not only swallow a person's time but also money. And at this point, Satou is not in any condition to waste money since he relies on his parents and has to use the money he receives from them to pay his bills and living expenses. It was a dumb decision on Satou's part to waste his money on figurines and DVDs when he could barely afford to live on his own. Yamazaki was partly responsible because he was the one who introduced that "buy now, worry later" philosophy to Satou.

Yamazaki's offer to make eroge with Satou also brings Satou's perversion to a new level. Everyone has their own level of sexual deviation but in Satou's case, his perversity has gone to the point where it made him even more reclusive. Having said that, Yamazaki also lead Satou to interact more with the outside world. If it wasn't for him, Satou would not have been motivated to create anything. He also successfully took Satou out of his room and out into the daylight. Even though that trip to Akihabara had its own negative side effect, at least Satou actually interacted with other people and was out of his house. When you're out of the house, the chances of meeting other people will obviously increase than staying inside the house. If Satou hadn't gone out, he wouldn't have the chance to meet Kashiwa-senpai again. In fact, every character in this series including Misaki and Kashiwa-senpai are responsible for drawing Satou out of his comfort zone.

Interestingly enough, just as Satou intends to live a positive life, the show reveals that those around him actually have problems of their own. Kashiwa seems to be relying heavily on drugs and blames everything that is wrong in her life on 'conspiracy'. Misaki, despite her claims, doesn't seem to know much about the things that she talks about. Her inability to understand the kanji also implies that she may not be as educated as she appears to be. And come to think of it, she came with her aunt during daytime when she first met Satou. A time when a student is normally at school. Last but least I have to say that those were some awesome Freudian symbolisms Satou dished out on Misaki. Although I highly doubt that he's actually that repressed and saw snakes, apple, sword, drills, and bullets all at the same time in his dream. After all, this is a character who is often shown grabbing some tissues after looking at a porn. And it's not for his nosebleed either.

© memento 2003