My thoughts on Welcome to the N.H.K

I don't think I'm a huge anime fan. I used

to be a huge anime fan back when I was 18.

I used to be completely addicted to it. I

used to watch it every single day. But

then I went to Japan when I was about 20,

and I just kind of lost interest in it

completely, and I just stopped watching

it. I don't watch anime anymore, but

there's one anime that I keep going back

to. I keep watching it every single year

at least once, and that anime is Welcome

to the NHK. Now I think most of you

already know what this anime's about, but

just in case you don't, it's basically

about this 22-year-old Japanese guy called

Sato, and he drops out of university and

he lives in this tiny apartment and he

gets money from his parents so he can pay

for rent and food. He doesn't have a job,

he doesn't work, he doesn't study. He is a

hikikomori, which is a Japanese word for

someone who is a shut-in, who doesn't

work, who doesn't study, who doesn't

really leave the apartment. Apartment or

their house. And then one day he

encounters this mysterious girl called

Misaki who wants to help him break out of

this kind of lifestyle. He also has a

friend who lives next door to him called

Yamazaki, and all of these things happen

to him. For example, he tries making a

video game with Yamazaki to impress the

girl, and he nearly commits suicide by

going to this island with other suicidal

people. And then he tries making money off

this internet game which is kind of like

World of Warcraft, and then he gets

addicted to online gaming, and then he

gets tricked into joining a pyramid

scheme. Sato is a complete loser. He has

terrible social skills. He hardly has any

motivation to do anything. He doesn't know

what to do with his life. He's not really

good at doing anything. He's really

weak-willed and he's easily manipulated.

And I felt like I could relate to this

character so much. It was kind of scary.

It was a bit like watching a slightly more

exaggerated, extreme Japanese version of

my own life and myself. As I watched the

series, I felt really motivated to try

harder with my Japanese studies, to try

harder to find a job so I could save up

money to go to Japan. I really didn't want

my life to turn out to be like Sato's. I

didn't want to become Sato. There's one

scene later in the anime during the video

game addiction story arc where Sato sees

himself as this 40-year-old, really

overweight, balding guy who's still living

with his parents and he's still playing

the same video game. And that scene It,

it really scared me and made me feel kind

of sad at the same time. That scene really

helped me stop playing World of Warcraft

because I really didn't want to become

like that. There's something strangely

satisfying about watching a complete loser

destroy his life. I think that's one of

the main reasons a lot of people enjoy

watching my videos is because they feel

better about themselves and their own

lives after watching me and my life.

And I think a lot of people see me as this

loser and they think to themselves, hey,

Daniel's a complete loser and he can still

get girlfriends. Maybe there's hope for me

as well. And I'm really sorry to tell you

this, but no, there's no hope for you.

The only reason why I can get so many

girlfriends is because— it's because I'm

fabulous. Even though I thought Sato was a

complete loser and I didn't want to become

like him, there were aspects of his life

that I really envied. For example, he had

a really nice close friend called

Yamazaki. I really wanted that as well.

He had a nice cute girl who was interested

in him, and I wanted that as well. He

lived in a cool little apartment that I

thought looked really nice and cozy.

Sometimes I feel fed up with living in the

middle of nowhere countryside in a giant

mansion where there's no people.

Sometimes I fantasize about living in a

bustling, exciting city full of life with

my own little apartment like Sato does. I

think Welcome to the NHK was one of the

main reasons why I wanted to go to Japan

so much. I wanted my own Yamazaki. I

wanted my own Misaki-chan. I wanted my own

cozy apartment in Tokyo. I wanted Misaki

to come up to my apartment. We could talk

about psychology, then eat ramen noodles

together, then have sexual intercourse for

the rest of the day. One of my main

criticisms of Sato was he never took

advantage of that. Why? What's wrong with

him? Doesn't he have a sex drive? Every

time I went to Japan, I couldn't find my

Yamazaki or Misaki-chan. All I got was

twisted, warped versions of them.

Disappointing relationship after

disappointing relationship. Where are

they? They were supposed to be there to

save me from this unfulfilling existence.

I thought that if I went to Japan, all my

problems would be solved. I thought

everything would be okay, but life isn't

like that. Real life isn't like anime.

Even if you go to Japan, your problems are

still gonna be with you. They'll follow

you everywhere you go because they're all

in your head. I think a lot of people are

like this. They watch anime and then they

think that Japan is some kind of amazing,

wonderful, perfect country, and then they

actually go there and then they realize

that anime Japan and real-life Japan are

completely different things. Sometimes I

feel like I was brainwashed by anime into

thinking that Japan was this perfect,

amazing country, and Japanese women were

these angels sent down from heaven. But

after 6 trips to Japan, I don't see Japan

like that anymore. I see it for what it

is. I see Japan as just a country, just

like any other country. It has its ups and

downs. But since I've been there so many

times, I've grown accustomed to it. It

feels like it's my second home. I feel

comfortable there, and I still enjoy going

there. I'm still looking for my Yamazaki

and Misaki. I'm not giving up on that. On

that quest. Maybe someday I'll find them.

Every time I watch this anime, I become so

emotional towards the end of the episode,

especially when that guitar starts

playing. The tears just start welling up

and it becomes really difficult to hold

them back. I don't think a normal person

could watch this anime and feel the same

way that I do when I watch it because they

just don't have those experiences of

living life as a shut-in. They won't be

able to relate to the main character or

the stories or the themes of the anime.

And that's why I love it so much. That's

why it's my favorite anime, because it's

just so damn relatable. It's not some

flashy, over-the-top story about dragons

or ninjas and magic. It's just a

slice-of-life story about a guy, about a

loser who sucks at life. I'm 28 now, and

I'm more of a shut-in than I've ever been

before. I was unable to escape from my

destiny of becoming Satou. Even after so

many trips to Japan and Korea, I, I still

ended up becoming what I was so scared of

becoming. Maybe I should stop trying so

hard to escape from this lifestyle. Maybe

I should start trying to embrace it.

Hmm,

that's not

Oh look, he's just filming random rubbish

now to make his videos 10 minutes long.

No, that's not what I'm doing. No, of

course not. I would never do that. Maybe I

can do a room tour. So this is the second

living room. This is where I sit. My cat

also likes to sit on the same chair for

some reason. I can't get him to sit over

on that chair even though it's the exact

same chair. He keeps coming back to this

chair. So this is the big TV that no one

ever watches. There's a fireplace.

There's a rocking chair just there for

absolutely no reason. And there's a sofa

and a piano and there's

guitars. Electric guitars. My sister

plays them, not me. Oh look, there's

Naruto. Oh wait,

I remember this Naruto. I think my

ex-girlfriend bought it for me. Remember

Sayaka, the internet girlfriend that I

never met? And this— these are

really old speakers from the '70s that my

And, um, yeah, I guess I'll show you a

different room every video. That would be

a nice way to make the video 10 minutes

long. Hahaha. Something's burning.