Hikikomori: Difference between revisions

[[File:hikikomori japan 8773.jpg|link=Axis Powers Hetalia|frame|[[Moe Anthropomorphism|Japan]], taking the art of being a hikikomori to the ''extreme''.]]

 

 

A psychological cultural disease, mainly present in Japanese culture, where a young person snaps [[Education Mama|under pressure]] and becomes socially and physically withdrawn into their household, often for years. Because of the social stigma and the assumption that [[There Are No Therapists|the person's family are the right people to handle the situation]], how many cases actually exist is uncertain.

Some anime as a rule seems reluctant to reference it except as an implied trait of otaku lest it offend the audience, and most 'mainstream' non-otaku series have a decidedly negative portrayal. For this condition played for laughs (as it often is in Western media), see [[Basement Dweller]]. When the hikki in question is a famous poet, writer, painter, or whatever, see [[Reclusive Artist]]. Unless the Hikikomori can find a source of income which doesn't require he leave his fortress of solitude, then he's probably also a [[NEET]].

 

 

* Pictured above: Japan from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' refers to himself as a hikikomori in the strip alluding to Comodore Perry's arrival to Japan. Meeting the Americans after 200 years of isolation terrifies him so much that he almost has an [[Heroic BSOD]] at the mere idea of speaking to them.

** The strips with isolationist!Japan and Netherlands confirm this, as Japan locks himself in his room constantly and when Netherlands steps in he panicks and screams that he doesn't even want the sunlight to touch him. He even automatically curls up in a ball on the floor whenever he hears the word "open".

* A serious example, taken to extremes, is Takumi, the protagonist of ''[[Chaos;Head]]''. He lives in a shipping crate surrounded by anime figures, is deluded enough to see anime girls talking to him, and is paranoid to the extreme. The effects of his personality and lifestyle on the characters and situations he (reluctantly) encounters are the major part of the story.

* In the first ''[[Hell Girl]]'' anime series, there's a female hikikomori whose school teacher tries to reach out to her. At the same time she is communicating with what appears to be another student online. That person is actually her teacher (who isn't aware that the person he's talking to online and the student he's trying to help are the same person). [[Hilarity Ensues|He encourages her to send her teacher to Hell.]]

* In the soccer manga ''Meister'', one of the [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] in the school's soccer team is Koori Taira, an admitted hikikomori who seems dually based on L from ''[[Death Note]]'' and Gosunkugi from ''[[Ranma ½]]''. He's antisocial, confrontational, self-centered, and seems to think he has hypnotic powers. But he's also the core of the team's defense and a generally unstoppable engine on the field.

* Yuu Matsuura in ''[[Marmalade Boy]]'' was this close to become a hikikomori at age 12, {{spoiler|when he found a letter written by his grandmother, which hinted that the man he knew as his dad wasn't his biological father.}}

** {{spoiler|Watanuki}} also becomes one; not being able to leave {{spoiler|the shop}} except under very specific conditions is the price {{spoiler|he}} has to pay for {{spoiler|continued existence}}.

* Chiba Seiya from ''[[Flunk Punk Rumble]]'' became one three days into the school year because of a bunch of delinquents looking for him. The main characters managed to get him out of his room though, by beating the crap out of the said delinquents.

* ''[[Eden of the East]]'' has Itazu Yutaka. Called Panties, not only because the kanji in his name can be read that way but also because he became a recluse after losing his only pair of pants. {{spoiler|In the movies, he is no longer one.}}

* Leopard of ''[[Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo]]'' has the distinction of being anime's first hikikomori AI.

* Chrona from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' seems to display symptoms of this, as [[Ambiguous Gender|he/she]] has a distinct trouble interacting with people due to an abusive upbringing. Prefers to stay in his/her room in [[Fan Nickname|Mister Corner]], often for several days at a time.

* Tomohiko Yamada of ''[[Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai]]'' hasn't left his house in three years, and rarely leaves the comfort of his statue, book, and video filled room. Even his mother recognizes that he fits this trope: ''"Tomohiko has that rather popular condition, right? What is it? Hi... hi... hiki-..."''

* At her introduction, Shiemi Moriyama from ''[[Blue Exorcist|Ao No Exorcist]]'' is one of these, but she overcomes it by the end of her introductory chapter.

* Chisame in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' apparently becomes one after high school for a few years, but later joins Negi's {{spoiler|Mars terraformation project}} as an adivsor. She already had something of the personality in the series, but wasn't as much of a recluse as these types usually are.

 

== Film ==

* [[Nerd Core]] artist Ultraklystron has [http://ultraklystron.bandcamp.com/track/hikikomori a single devoted to this].

* [[Entertainment for the Braindead]] portrays herself this way in some of her song lyrics. In "Resolution" she has to resolve to "leave the house at least once a day", and in "Relapse" she says, "I don't plan on leaving the house this year / If by then you still remember me, you'll find me here".

* "Isolated" by Chiasm is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].

* Alison Moyet - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t9wWgDOmek "Invisible"], [[Reclusive Artist|which reflected her real life situation for many years]].

* The video to Kim Wilde's ''Kids in America'' is about an agoraphobe, despite the song's lyrics.

 

== Theatre ==

* Marigold from ''[[Questionable Content]]'' started out as one (or very close to one. She obsessed over anime (especially hentai), works on a family company website from home and almost never leaves her apartment. Once she's introduced to the other characters, she begins to leave the apartment more.

** Hannelore used to qualify too, before we saw her. She suffers from some very severe OCD, and before the comic, she was a nervous wreck, incapable of surviving without assistance. When she is finally able to hug her father without freaking out from human contact, everyone present who knew her only as a child is shocked. By the time she appeared in the comic, while she wasn't exactly outgoing, she had advanced beyond this trope, as was much happier for it.

 

== Web Original ==

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]

[[Category:Introversion Tropes]]