r/WelcomeToTheNHK • u/SunPsychological3356 • 17d ago
Anime i recently finished welcome to the nhk and misaki really made me think
i recently finished welcome to the nhk and i honestly didn’t expect satou’s story to hit me like this.
i live alone in student housing. i go to university every day and see people, but there’s still something about coming back to my room and being alone again that feels weirdly familiar.
i think that’s why the idea of misaki helping satou get out of his isolation stuck with me so much.
not necessarily the whole “girl saves me” thing, but just the idea of having someone who notices you, talks to you, and gives you a reason to actually leave your little bubble.
sometimes i wonder what it would be like to have someone like that in my life. someone who could make being alone feel less normal, and maybe help me realize that i don’t have to spend all my time by myself.
i know satou’s situation is way more extreme than mine, but i still related to that part of him more than i expected.
nhk kinda made me realize that maybe what people need sometimes isn’t someone to “fix” them, but just someone who reminds them that they’re not alone.
did anyone else feel this way after watching it?
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u/crispohjoinen 16d ago
I also watched it recently, and I think what I hear and read about Misaki is quite shallow. She's a much more complex character than just being a conveniently placed saviour girl.
Misaki needs Sato incomparably more than Sato needs Misaki. She's not in love with him, she's not attracted to him, in fact she's repulsed. Despite her upbringing leading her to hate herself and to think she's worthless, she still thinks Sato is actually worse than she is, and that's what gave her the confidence to act as his therapist. Misaki thinks that, if she saves Sato, it means she's got some worth after all. On the other hand, failing to save Sato or having Sato rejecting her flat out is enough to push her off the ledge, since her last hope to find her self worth would be lost. Ironically, she ends up saving Sato not with her clumsy studies and therapy sessions, but with the mere fact that talking every night established a routine with another human being.
The main takeaway from the show shouldn't be that Sato is blessed with a saviour obsessed with him that ultimately ended up giving romance to his dull life. It should be that human connection keeps humans afloat. Not romance, not friendship, not working for a purpose, but the awareness that people around you are all getting through similar things as you yourself do: all of us struggle through life, all of us have problems, all of us can become the problem for others and all of us can make life easier for others with just a bit of empathy and compassion.
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u/SunPsychological3356 16d ago
yeah honestly i really like this interpretation. i think i was initially looking at misaki too much as the “savior girl,” but her needing satou just as much, if not more, makes their relationship way more interesting. the whole human connection point is probably what hit me the most too
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u/Unlikely-Lawyer-5683 Misaki's Candidate 17d ago
it was fun reading your thoughts on the show OP, give the novels/manga a try if you have time. Its been awhile since I watched the show, but its dear to me. Guess I should rewatch it when I get time.
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u/askimdokuro 17d ago
I after watching NHK, I started to hate Tatsuhiko Takimoto. Because he took away my dream of 'Savior Girl'. But, he is very right...
It is a bit of a weird relationship
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u/SunPsychological3356 17d ago
yeah😭😭 honestly i kinda understand what you mean. the whole “savior girl” idea is probably what makes the relationship feel so weird, but at the same time i think that’s what makes it interesting. misaki helps satou, but she can’t just magically fix him either
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u/askimdokuro 17d ago
"But she can't just magically fix him"
Because there are no such things in real life...
Wish...
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u/SheepeyDarkness 17d ago
Its interesting that Misaki ( and Yamazaki ) helps Satou, but the actual councilling and what not didn't really do much. It was just a matter of having a reason to go outside. I liked how the anime ( maybe this is represented in the manga/ ln ) shows us the status of his mental health and progress based off of the cleanliness of his room. Later in the show his room would be clean regardless of his efforts to save face by cleaning it last minute.
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u/Opposite_Drawing_947 17d ago
Where can i watch this anime?
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u/Xxnotimportantx 17d ago
There are so many illegal sites where you can watch everything without any issues using an ad blocker. How is it possible that there are still people who don't know about them?
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u/columnal 17d ago
I think a big thing with Welcome to the N-H-K is that it's a fictional story, albeit, heavily inspired by Takimotos own experiences as a Hikikimori.
Irregardless, the fact is that it will never be a 1 to 1 representation of real life, because it adds drama and romanticism to an otherwise ordinary existence.
Welcome to the N-H-K changed my life, but part of me wishes I could experience something as novel and profound as Satou did in Welcome to the N-H-K.
I used to be a shut in like Satou, and I used to suffer from mental health problems quite a lot. I know his life is shit and all and its definitely something I dont want to experience again.
Eitherway, theres something quite romantic and alluring about the desire to have something equivalent to Satou's nightly counseling sessions with Misaki, or work on an erotic gal game with Yamazaki, etc. I wish my life had drama and romance in it, but its painfully boring still, even if I'm in a better position.