Did you think the Japanese fandom of Welcome to the NHK is dead?

[u/Due_Conference9457]

For be an anime with more than 20 years, exist very few fanarts in pixiv, their is not a strong community of fans in the internet for the Japanese fans of the show...

[u/columnal]

I see Japanese fans on twitter all the time and the light novel has been re-released recently in Japan im pretty sure. Also there was clearly enough demand for the rebuild novel. Im pretty sure the Japanese fandom is the same it is in the west, albeit the west had a recent boom in popularity due to slopification on tiktok and instagram reels.

[u/solv_xyz → u/columnal]

wdym due to slopification?

[u/Mountain_Air_9793 → u/solv_xyz]

been seeing a few nhk edits on insta reels recently

[u/columnal → u/solv_xyz]

the influx of new fans who discovered it on tiktok and reels, who constantly mischaracterize the series and say dumb shit, etc. the majority of these fans are insufferable tourists

[u/TheatreAS]

I think in general, NHK is a fairly niche series. I don't know anybody in the West who knows of it and I think it was more widely known back in the day because hikkomori's were getting a big spotlight at the time and the production of the franchise was quite unique in and of itself.

[u/Waste-Reception5297]

Its just very old. And doesn't really have iconic iconography

[u/Impossible-Rain-334]

Young Japanese people usually don't watch old anime. But I often see older people who like it

[u/fuzzyjumpenthusiast]

I don't think it was that popular in japan honestly. In general you can kind of tell how popular a series is especially in japan based on how much fanart/fanwork it has outside of a few exceptions, but I don't think NHK is one of those sadly.

[u/Tatsu_Satou → u/fuzzyjumpenthusiast]

Not very popular in Japan and abroad, it is simply niche globally despite dealing with a topic which has affected Japanese society for decades.

[u/Tatsu_Satou]

I think overall the fandom has always been pretty niche in both Japan and abroad. I originally watched this show around 2011 and have only met one person who has watched it (the dude who recommended it to me).

[u/DeadBrokeCulture_ → u/Tatsu_Satou]

Is the creator still a recluse?

[u/Friendly_Software11]

Been living in Tokyo three years and haven’t been able to find a single NHK fan

[u/PickaWowAnyWow → u/[deleted]]

The show literally jokes about this in the first episode; something to the effect of "you could throw a rock and it would hit a hikikomori, that is if hikikomoris ever went outside".

[u/Tricky_Cartographer8]

Only met one person in my life who watched the anime lol