NEET



Are you just hanging around your sister's house, watching the kids, doing the laundry, or maybe even just playing video games, with no prospects, and contributing nothing to society?

Then you might be a NEET. Not currently engaged in Employment, Education or Training.

The NEET is usually a college-age male, though it is occasionally used in regards to females. A NEET is either between jobs and down on his luck, an idiot who has failed the entrance exams for college, or a Lazy Bum with no goals in life, freeloading off whoever is around. Occasionally the NEET might also be a shut-in, and unable to enter into society because of some debilitating agorophobia or peer pressure. Either way, he will probably have something like "Shut up, you stupid NEET!" or "Get a job!" yelled in his face at least once. Probably more than once.

In most stories featuring this Trope, the NEET is the world's Butt Monkey, or at least perceives himself as such. The Deadpan Snarker will take every opportunity to remind him that he's useless, while more sentimental characters may try to motivate him to get a life with a Rousing Speech. In fact, if he isn't the Plucky Comic Relief, set there as an Acceptable Target for mockery, than he is more than likely The Hero, and this is the premise behind his story. Hopefully by the end, he is a fully functional member of society, who got into that college after that cram session with The Smart Guy, or now has a promising career after hard work job-searching, and he might even get together with the crazy girl who kicked his ass into gear.

Compare This Loser Is You, Hikikomori and The Slacker. Related to, but generally not overlapping with, Pretty Freeloaders, despite the fact that that they might not contribute money to the household. This is mostly on account of Double Standards, as it's more socially acceptable for a female to be without an income than it is for a male, though this is changing. Only a female in these circumstances who is actively being hassled for not having a job or being in school can be considered a NEET.

There's also a Mexican version of this trope, called Ni Ni "neither works, nor studies" and compared with the Japanese NEET, the Mexican ones are even more socially rejected, due to the Unfortunate Implications they represent (since, even if they can't help their status, they bring to mind the "lazy Mexican" stereotype).

Not to be confused with Keet, though a 'keet NEET could exist.

Anime and Manga

 * The main character in Welcome to The NHK.
 * Jiji, Banba, Mayaya, Chieko, and Tsukimi from Kuragehime are NEETs.
 * Onizuka from Great Teacher Onizuka, until deciding he wanted to be a teacher, was a Yankee and a NEET.
 * Yuuya in the two-shot manga Itsuka No Himitsu by Naono Bohra, is a NEET who is fired from his job and evicted, and has to move back in with his parents. Of course, this is written by Naono Bohra, so this sets up a romance with his male neighbor he's known since childhood.
 * Eden of the East: Some of the characters are NEETs portrayed fairly sympathetically. The 20,000 missing NEETs are a plot point.
 * In several instances, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei has depicted a NEET as a middle-aged guy being taken care of by his mother while he plays video games all day. They also discussed the difference between a NEET and a Hikikomori (according to the hikikomori character, it's that she "would like to get a job"). Incidentally, after a while, the English translation of the manga just uses the term Slacker whenever NEET would be used in the original.
 * Nagi from Hayate the Combat Butler aspires to be a NEET.
 * The Mobile Suit Gundam prequel manga Garma Of The Space Island reveals that Big Bad Gihren Zabi used to be one before he got involved in political activism with Zeon Zum Deikun.
 * Most of the characters from Kamisama no Memochou.
 * Another BL example is the main character of Konbini-kun, Endou Hiroshi, by JUNKO. He takes up a job as a convenience store worker, but breaks down when helping customers. He does get better after interacting with his co-worker, Yamai Kouhei.
 * In K-On!, when asked about what she wants to become, Yui says she wants to become one of these.
 * Keima Katsuragi heads into this direction at relativistic speeds. Does nothing all day but playing dating sims. At home? Dating sims. In school during period? Dating sims on the roof. In school during class? Dating sims at his desk. In school during PE? Dating sims. Take away his handheld game console and he pulls out another. And another. And another. His mother doesn't really see a reason to change this and he offered the faculty to ace all tests and exams if they let him play during class as they can't technically punish him for seemingly not paying attention in class if said tests and exams prove the contrary. He does exactly that.
 * Near the end of Girl Friends, Kuno-chin mentions that she may not be able to see her boyfriend often now that he's graduated from university because he said that he's become the Housing Security Officer of his own home... which is just a really fancy way of calling himself a NEET, so Taguchi assures her that she'll be able to see him everyday.

Comics

 * Scott Pilgrim freeloads off his friend Wallace, for most of the comic doesn't have a job, isn't in school and is frequently told to get a life.

Film

 * In Big Daddy, Adam Sandler's character starts as one, but by the end he has law studies and becomes a lawyer.

Video Games

 * Kaguya from Touhou is often depicted as a NEET in Fanon. In Canon... it depends on whether you consider being technically in charge of a household to be a job. As a princess, it's arguably her job to not have a job.
 * Speaking of fanon, there's a widespread joke/meme in Japanese Raidou Kuzunoha fandom that Narumi is a NEET (in canon he runs a detective agency, but it doesn't seem to be very successful).

Web Comics

 * For a while after quitting his job as a journalist, Matt from Mac Hall is unemployed and hanging around their house just playing video games, until he is randomly called on the phone and offered a job managing a comic book store.

Web Original

 * The lyrics to the famous Astroemeria remix of Bad Apple!! are about NEET/Hikikomori depression.

Western Animation

 * The two main characters in Megas XLR, Coop and his best friend Jamie, pretty much hang out in Coop's parents' basement playing video games all day everyday and do not appear to have jobs, at least not for long. Kiva is horrified by their Lazy Bum lifestyles.