Welcome to the N.H.K.: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"In truth, I still can’t read this story objectively. Each time I reread it, I start to have light hallucinations. I break into a cold sweat. Each time I approach one of a few specific places in the plot, I start wanting to throw the computer out the window. At other particular points, I start wanting to run away from home to live deep in secrecy in the mountains of India."''|'''Tatsuhiko Takimoto''', author of ''Welcome To The NHK''}}

 

 

The [[Light Novel|book]], [[Manga]] and [[Anime]] are each rather different in both story and themes, although the anime and manga follow essentially the same plot until the manga's divergence from the novel, leading to its own, separate conclusion. The novel tends to be somewhat darker, focusing more on the characters' issues and less on the love story which is essentially the focus of the anime, with the manga somewhere in between. There are significant differences in the specific way some events happen in the anime and manga, even when they're otherwise almost identical, which tends to bring out the change in tone when watching one version after having finished another. Of course, many events of the novel (the fight scene, the visit to the church) never occur in the anime or manga, and vice versa (the "summer vacation", the entire second half of the manga).

* [[Between My Legs]]: Misaki in episode 3.

* [[The Beard]]

** Satou has a poster on his wall for a movie called ''Bakayaro 6'' that is a clear ripoff of the American indie flick ''[[Buffalo Sixty Six (Film)|Buffalo Sixty Six]]''. In [[Homage]] to ''Buffalo '66'', {{spoiler|Satou has Misaki pretend to be his significant other when he meets his parents.}}

** We also see a minor character sporting a Lerox wristwatch.

* [[Deep-Immersion Gaming]]: The [[MMORPG]] Vina Teelo.

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: In the anime version, {{spoiler|Misaki goes past it after Satou refuses to be in a relationship with Misaki through a contract.}}

* [[Dropped a Bridget On Him]]: {{spoiler|Elena does this to Yamazaki in the manga.}}

* [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]: {{spoiler|Elena in the manga.}}

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Satou thinks he is doing one of these {{spoiler|in the ending of both the novel and anime, and also during the midpoint of the manga.}}

* [[Hikikomori]]: The fulcrum upon which the plot revolves.

* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: ''Welcome to the _____''.

* [[Inelegant Blubbering]]: Sato at the end of episode 13. Misaki's crying, too, although hers is a little closer to [[Cry Cute]].

* [[Mental Story]]: It's mostly about the main character's inner strife, and no decisions are reached even in the end.

* [[Moe]]: Parodied, see [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]].

* [[Naughty Nuns]]: Sato fantasizes about Misaki being one of these when he first meets her.

* [[Nightmare Sequence]] / [[Imagine Spot]] - Satou has a lot of these. In fact, the anime starts with him having one. In the novel and manga, it's implied to be from drug abuse while in the anime, it's schizophrenia.

* [[Scare'Em Straight]]: {{spoiler|Yamazaki does this to Satou in order to cure his MMORPG addiction. It works, for the audience as well.}}

* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]: Yamazaki has these sometimes.

** Also, the preview for the second episode consists entirely of the cast quoting ''Eva''.

** Another Shout out is to ''[[True Tears]]'' the anime the "Moe Game" Sato worked on is based off of. Why would I say this? Well the game was name "True Words" and the main character on the cover looked almost identical to [[True Tears|Noe.]]

* [[Trash of the Titans]]: Satou's apartment. He manages to keep it a bit tidier in the latter part of the story (Misaki also comes often to help him clean).

* [[Tsundere]]: Yamazaki uses the term to dismiss Satou and his girlfriend when they're inexplicably aggressive to him.

* [[Weakness Turns Her On]]: Misaki selects Satou for her project because {{spoiler|she wanted to find someone even more "worthless" than she believes she is}}.

** Hitomi also had this for Satou, seeing and liking the pathetic loser he is.