I found deciding on how to start this post to be a very challenging event by itself. I wasn’t sure exactly how to express what NHK made me feel. I was up, down, and all around during the show. It depressed me and made me laugh. If anything it was a very enlightening experience. There are very few anime that I can truly say have had the effect that this show has had on me. You see, NHK quite simply makes me want to stop blogging, box up all of my anime, delete all my subs, finish my masters as soon as possible, and get a real job.

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I’m going to tell you a story.

There was once a young boy. He was an awkward and innocent kid who really only wanted to get along with everyone he met. Obviously, many of the “friends” he had took advantage of his good nature and he ended up somewhere at the bottom of the group social chain. Still, the boy was honest and good; he simply did not understand the reasons for his social situation. But pain began to grow in his heart.

It was through this pain that he was able to feel empathy for others. It was that empathy that kept him from lashing out at people. As the years went by he withdrew into himself. His time went by and year after year past by without much incident. The world changed, the people around him changed, but his heart did not change. The pain within him stagnated his growth and the only thing that he really learned to understand was the constant hurt within him.

The emptiness of his soul was only accompanied by the song of sorrow. He knew that he wasn’t the only one that could exist like that, there had to be others. How could that be when everyone seemed to get by with so little effort? It took all he had to get up in the morning and complete the day’s tasks. This pitiful soul wallowed around in his self pity, but one day he realized what he was doing. He realized what a pitifully ignorant and pathetic character he was. It was at that moment, that day, he realized that he was all alone.

He stood and began to weep tears for himself because no one had ever cried for him. He brought his gaze toward heaven and screamed at the top of his lungs, “No, I don’t believe you are there, but if you are, do one thing for me! One simple thing! Grow this sorrow until it consumes me. Blacken and dirty anything good that is left of me until I’m gone. Then toss this useless soul away.”

Then, he waited.

Misaki.

—

It was when the characters finally revealed their hearts that this show truly became something different. It was the final piece that was needed to put all our thoughts and feelings together so that we could really understand what was going on.

NHK wasn’t about personal change. It wasn’t about making things better.

NHK was about people understanding themselves and each other.

Very good.
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