I went into this anime completely blind. No spoilers, no character knowledge, no idea what kind of story it actually was. I just saw high ratings everywhere and assumed, yeah, this must be one of those heavy psychological thrillers. I expected something serious, tense, maybe mind-game heavy like Death Note or Monster, that kind of vibe.
That is not what I got.
There are mind games here, but not in a clever chess-match way. This anime plays mind games in a much uglier, more uncomfortable way by forcing you to sit with people you don't like, watch them spiral, and decide for yourself how much empathy they deserve (at least that was my experience).
Because of that, my first reaction was disappointment. Not because it was bad, but because it was nothing like what I expected. And that initial mismatch between expectation and reality shaped my entire viewing experience.
Satou, the "Star" of the Show
My very first thought was
"Great. A pervert as our main character."
Satou rubbed me the wrong way instantly and not in a fun, flawed-protagonist way. He came off as creepy, paranoid, socially inept, and honestly just unpleasant to watch. And before anyone says "that's the point" yes, I know. That doesn't make it enjoyable.
At first, I saw him as:
a burden
a weirdo
a shut-in who blamed the world for his own failures
someone who took without giving anything back
And as the anime progressed, that impression didn't disappear. If anything, it intensified.
This scene in particular made everything worse for me: SPOILER-ISH alert
That moment made me stop and seriously question the anime, the writers, and what they were trying to accomplish. I started wondering: Is this just here to show how low he is? Is this shock value? Commentary? Or just unnecessary?
Even after finishing the show, I still think that theme was unnecessary and poorly handled. It's the single biggest flaw of the entire anime for me.
I'm very critical when it comes to fiction, sometimes to my own detriment. Once I start disliking a main character, I usually drop the show entirely. And Satou pushed me right to that edge. He was hard to watch. I felt no sympathy for him early on. In fact, I felt he deserved his paranoia and anxiety.
At one point, I wondered why I kept watching. The answer: I couldn't stop. The potential the show threw at me was huge, and I needed to see it through.
He'll confront how pathetic he's become.
He'll actually change (the character development would be crazy).
But that kind of realization never fully happened. Instead, Satou didn't have a dramatic moral awakening, he fell into acceptance.
And that's where things get complicated.
On one hand, this was refreshing. It avoided the cheap "anime redemption arc" where everything suddenly clicks and the character becomes respectable. Satou's growth is subtle, messy, and incomplete.
On the other hand, the show refused to judge him.
And that bothered me.
The anime presents Satou's worst traits: his perversion, selfishness, avoidance, and emotional negligence and then kind of shrugs. There's no real condemnation. No one seriously calls him out in a way that sticks. People accommodate him, which I found unrealistic.
He's the embodiment of otaku bitterness: a self-proclaimed pervert who hates women because his childhood crush rejected him. He's loud, crude, insecure, and stagnant.
And unlike Satou, he barely grows at all.
Even when the anime shows his struggles, I never warmed up to him. He remains a loser throughout and not in a tragic way, but in a frustrating, self-inflicted way.
What made Yamazaki interesting (and infuriating) is his role in Satou's life. He is both:
a genuinely good friend and a terrible influence.
He gives Satou companionship, structure, and a social outlet. He literally pulls him back from total isolation. And yet, he also drags Satou deeper into the same mindset, reinforcing hopelessness, misogyny, and resignation.
Yamazaki has this unspoken philosophy:
"I'm pathetic and don't deserve better, so you don't either."
And that mindset bleeds into Satou.
He doesn't prioritize Satou's mental health. He doesn't challenge him to improve. He normalizes stagnation. He keeps Satou comfortable in his dysfunction.
That duality is really well-written (another reason I loved the show despite not liking the characters).
She felt like she was supposed to be deep but her actions often contradicted her supposed internal struggles. Her emotional turning point felt rushed. Something that serious shouldn't have been resolved so easily.
Spoiler, click to view
I'm talking about her changing her mind about suicide just because her boyfriend decided to propose to her. It felt shockingly shallow and reduced something serious into a rushed emotional pivot that completely broke my immersion..And even after her "breakthrough," she was still willing to betray the person who saved her.
Spoiler, click to view
When she asked Satou if they could have an affair. SHE WAS ENGAGED AND PREGNANT! WHAT DOES SHE WANT?!Her character felt hollow in a way that didn't feel intentional. I couldn't fully understand her motivations, and because of that, her arc never landed for me.
She was the one character whose actions genuinely felt out of place in an otherwise tightly woven narrative.
I disliked Satou.
I disliked Yamazaki.
I disliked Hitomi.
And yet I couldn't stop watching.
This anime pulled me in.
Despite all my complaints, the pacing was incredible. Episodes flowed into each other effortlessly. Nothing felt random or pointless. Even when I disagreed with the choices, I understood why they happened.
I hated Satou and Yamazaki individually but I loved their friendship.
I couldn't predict where the story was going.
I worried about characters I didn't even like.
Somehow, Welcome to the N.H.K. made me emotionally invested against my will.
I absolutely loved her.
And it's not because she was "pure" she definitely wasn't.
Misaki never felt like a saint to me. She had her own selfish reasons for being kind.
Spoiler, click to view
She wanted someone lower than herself. Someone she could save. Someone who made her feel needed.And yet she genuinely cared.
She looked after Satou in ways no one else did. She worried about him. Fed him. Checked on him. Stayed. Even when it hurt/scared her. Even when he gave her almost nothing in return.
Spoiler, click to view
Satou never truly appreciated her.Spoiler, click to view
He never prioritized her.Spoiler, click to view
He never acknowledged how much she did for him.Spoiler, click to view
He constantly put everyone else before herThat hurt to watch. Her dynamic with Satou had me agitated, especially towards the end. I just knew I wouldn't get the ending I initially expected but regardless, I wouldn't change it. There wasn't even a spark of dissatisfaction when I got to the end. I appreciated how things turned out.
I have no clue how the writers managed to win me over with these awful characters >.<
At its core, I think this anime is saying
Everyone is pathetic but connection is still worth it.
It's about appreciating the people who show up for you. Recognizing the influence they have on your life. Understanding that even flawed, selfish, broken connections can still matter.
The anime does criticize otaku culture, especially through Satou and Yamazaki but it also indulges in it. It doesn't distance itself. It observes without always condemning.
The show refuses to moralize too hard. It presents people as they are and lets you decide how you feel about them.
I hated that.
And I respected it.
At the end, I was so satisfied.
Satou grew. Not dramatically. Not cleanly. But enough.
And while I still think the anime was unrealistically forgiving toward him, I can't deny that the ending felt earned in its own weird way.
It didn't betray its themes. It stayed true to its characters... flaws and all.
Welcome to the N.H.K. pissed me off.
It challenged my patience. It made me uncomfortable. It forced me to empathize with people I didn't like. It explored themes I think it handled poorly and others it handled brilliantly.
It's not perfect. It's not even always tasteful.
And somehow, against my better judgment, I loved it. There wasn't a single boring episode.