Comments on: Anime Review: Welcome to the NHK ep. 1

By: AniCulture » Around the World: July 10

AniCulture » Around the World: July 10 — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 07:10:56 +0000

[...] A Stone and a Small Ripple – On Photoshop and the creation of Ouran and My-HiME cards. Gunota – F91 and Stargazer Updates Heisei Democracy – Welcome to the NHK attempts to fulfill an impossible mission Kono Sono – Honey and Clover II Episode 2 has been linked to hiccups and FDA study has found. Kurogane’s Anime Blog – Hiccups are moé, end of discussion. memento – Summarizing one episode of School Rumble is just too easy, so why not go for two? Sea Slugs! Anime Blog – A Review of the first episode of Zero no Tsukaima which changes the bar for greatness. [...]

By: NHK ni Youkoso Animated at Burrowowl

NHK ni Youkoso Animated at Burrowowl — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 19:16:12 +0000

[...] Two years ago I picked up a fan-translated comic called NHK ni Youkoso. I liked it enough that I ended up volunteering my skills, poor as they are, at editing it for the translator. Since then, that person has stopped translating comics, and the title has been sporadically released in English to the tune of some 24 issues. Now it has been transformed into a made-for-television animation by Studio Gonzo, and is being met with some rather positive reviews. [...]

By: Shingo

Shingo — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:50:49 +0000

>>Fabien
Thanks for cluing me in on the omake, I didn’t start picking Ace up until after the first volume of NHK was released. I’m sorry to have missed out on that omake… (or was it included in one of the earlier volumes? I don’t remember seeing it, at any rate). I guess that means Gonzo is being less inventive than I gave them credit for.

Agreed on the Evangelion parallel; I could see a similar style of direction being employed here to great effect. In fact Gainax (even in its present watered-down incarnation) would be a fine studio to handle NHK, I think; if anyone has the historical cred to treat the post-Eva moe dystopia it’s them.

I too mourn the loss of the Nadia reference (not to mention Doremi, though I think Pururin was an adequate replacement) but I guess it’s an issue of copyright. I don’t know why they would shy away from a censored or slightly altered version, though; guess it fell to the axe of general cleansing that did away with the drugs use and lolikon.

By: Fabien

Fabien — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:51:20 +0000

The Film-noiresque introduction is inspired by Omake manga published in Shônen Ace years back, describing the fight of Satô-kun (tuxedo-ed and armed) versus the N.H.K.

Overall, I enjoyed the directing of the first episode, the pacing is good even if, as you mentioned, the voice of Satô is a bit out of character. The Gonzo factor is my main concern, there is so many examples of shows from the studio with a good first bunch of episodes that sunk completely afterward. The good thing is that NHK ni Yôkoso is fit to a frame limited, Evangelion style directing if the staff has enough balls to do it.

Oh, and minus 10 points for deleting the Fushigi no Umi no Nadia reference during the explanation of N.H.K.’s meaning, which was what got me into the manga version.

By: omo

omo — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:47:14 +0000

well said. the haruhi connection is stretching but true; it probably extend beyond just the two of them if you look hard enough.

By: Shingo

Shingo — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:43:36 +0000

>>Sydney2K
The fifth volume came out a couple of weeks ago as well, actually. I’m sure you’ll be able to track it down should you find the first four appealing. I hope I didn’t just set you back 2,000 yen for no good reason… but I am confident that Misaki will convince you of the worthiness of the NHK cause. :3

By: Sydney2K

Sydney2K — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:31:05 +0000

OK, I’m in Tokyo now… I just went to Mandarake and purchased the four available volumes ON YOUR RECOMMENDATION. You had better be right about NHK… ^o^

By: a reader

a reader — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:22:23 +0000

Hear, hear. I like your insightful review on the first episode unlike the oh-so-many others out there who immediately dive into how Misaki looks off or how it isn’t moe enough and so on.

I think NHK being right after Haruhi was intentional. And I hope it makes more people think!

By: loplop

loplop — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 14:19:57 +0000

So there is something to take the place of Suzumiya Haruhi . . . . All is right in the world . . . .

By: SS

SS — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:05:36 +0000

There is no NHK without the cool Suicidal Satou…. I just hope that the voice actor and gonzo can properly convey it in the latter episodes as much if not all like in the manga…!!!??? It would definetly be a +.

By: Hung

Hung — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 06:06:11 +0000

I was so happy when I read that the manga had been licensed! But I just looked it up and it’s being released in Oct… Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait (or try reading the Japanese version…).