NHK Volume 3 ramps up the non-stop hikikomori action by having Satou play MMORPGS! And by action, I mean virtual action.
Story:
Ah, MMORPGs. I had started up a 10 day trial to WoW and luckily ended it before I had a chance to really get addicted. Satou isn’t as lucky. He’s addicted to a FFXI clone (in the land of Vina’Tiel), working about 20 hours per day. Just think how productive he could be if he at a real job for that long!
Of course, Misaki gets worried and tries pulling Satou away from the game by dressing as a cat girl and saying “nya!” It doesn’t phase him! Instead he slaps her away and tells her to stop interrupting! Oh no he di’int! It’s time to call Tyra!
Anyway, Satou is finally “convinced” to stop playing the game, and instead works on becoming less dependent on his parents, who have stopped sending him checks. This, of course, means getting wrapped up in a MLM Pyramid Scheme by his former iincho! Stop defiling the pure name of Iincho, you bitch! Satou, when will you learn…
Analysis:
NHK just seems to jump from one hikikomori obsession to the next. It’s like they want to tackle the otaku obession of the week, use up the jokes, then move to the next. This has worked pretty well in the past, but when they started the pyramid scheme stuff, I got bored pretty quickly. It’s not too terribly interesting. Also, a lot of it was a bit repetitive and predictable. Hopefully the next volume gets back to more interesting source material.
One good thing about the volume was that we finally see a bit of Misaki’s dark side. She locks Satou up in his room for a week and doesn’t even feel sorry about it! I guess she’s sort of the domineering type, wanting Satou to depend on her for everything. It’s not really clear if she actually wants him to get better, or is just using him to feel a sense of superiority over him. Ah well, either way, she’s still cute!
Conclusion:
The first half was pure hikikomori-action. The second half slowed down a lot. Here’s hoping that the next volume jumps out of the doldrums and stays true to its tagline: “This is an ultimate non-stop hikikomori Action Comic!”
Many thanks to Tokyopop for sending me a review copy of Welcome to the NHK Volume 3!