[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Welcome to the NHK episode 10: Welcome to the Dark Side!
Two posts in a day I know, but I have one hell of a backlog going on here…anyway, in Welcome to the NHK! it’s all going a bit wrong for everyone. In the same way that the op theme is bright and breezy and the end song is a bit messed up, ep #10 starts bright and breezy and ends, well, messed up.
Welcome to the Dark Side neatly sums up an episode in which the cheery lightness of ep #9 is undone as Satou’s mental state deteriorates. It begins perfectly fine as he and Yamazaki are working hard on their game, albeit a little distracted with their memories from the events of the festival. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worse for Yamazaki and it has a knock-on effect on Satou. It’s a conspiracy!
Satou is saying what we were all thinking when it comes to the mysteries surrounding Misaki. I don’t exactly condone following someone around and spying on them but his curiosity in this case is a least understandable: what he finds only adds to the myriad of questions though. The fact that she knows all of his personal details can probably be explained by the fact that he gave her his CV at the beginning of the series; as for knowing his movements and activities from day to day, Yamazaki’s conclusion is a sinister one that could explain a lot. It’s a real shame since things were going so well between Satou and Misaki but he has a pretty good reason to be worried.
The upshot of all this is Satou’s descent back into paranoia and isolation, with a possible end to the counselling sessions. His lack of rationality is clear and the prospects are bleak: quite what episode #11 has in store I don’t know, but it may herald a more permanent change in atmosphere and direction for the whole series. I’m also not sure how this can be stretched to 24 episodes, but since I still haven’t read any of the manga I can’t even hazard a guess.
It may have begun as a fun rom-com but this instalment of Welcome to the NHK! has some unpleasant developments from the point of view of Satou and his friends. That may hinder my enjoyment of the show in future but at least there are some details that will keep me watching: we don’t yet know precisely why Yamazaki’s upset and Misaki’s reaction towards the end hinted at how close she and Satou have become, whether he is willing to admit it or not. Things are not looking good for any of them now - I really hope it all turns out alright in the end!
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