MMO Romance or should I say BROMANCE.
He hates working, He hates danger, Sato wants to be a chairforce ranger.
It’s an inherent contradiction that I could utterly loathe the cast and yet recommend it. Make no mistake Welcome to the NHK is a chilling cautionary tale still relevant today as it was in 2006. It’s merits lie not with making you cheer for the protagonist, it’s merits lie in giving you a chilling look into what it is like to be a hikikormori or have to deal with one. Much romanticism has surrounded High School in anime but NHK goes in the opposite direction citing how animu aloofness in reality does not get you the girls instead it retards your social development and perpetuates a kind of arrogance that makes one useless in society.
While Sato is seemingly the lowest form of life on the planet he is still capable of arrogance in believing that there is a conspiracy that is out to get him specifically. His condition is quite contemptible he was lucky to have been born in a stable country, having seen how some people are born in places that have much much less his suffering pales in comparison, and not only because it is self inflicted. There is in my family a Sato and when he grows to be fifty I have no doubt in my mind that he will live out Sato’s nightmare as some MMO addicted fat body living off the sweat of those older than himself. The similarities for me are striking and only added to my loathing and hate, and likely gave me much more vitriol as a result.
Also at the time I was watching Kuragehime which also dealt with hikikomori albeit in a lighter manner. So as a result much of the hate I felt for Sato carried over to Kuragehime where most of Nunz were living just as parasitically. I remember getting into a debate of sorts about how harmful/benign the existence and habits of NEETs and Hikikomori are, those who felt sympathetic pointed out how hikikomori do not hurt anyone. I am not of that opinion even when they are shut in their rooms growing fat off the junk food they eat while indulging in luxuries that someone else pays for they are still hurting some one else, because the people that make all their luxury items are not pulling 40,000 USD a year on a forty hour work week. No to mention that the people providing this support might as well be reciting a Dream Deferred while they dole out the tribute. Supporting a worthless hikikomori is expensive and burden to the person who dares to take in such a sorry sack of shit. People who don’t work for a living will probably have some sympathy or even empathy with Sato. After all who wouldn’t like to sit at home all day growing absurdly large in girth, destroy their teeth, and play games while their parents work themselves to death in a vain hope that it is simply a phase?
If you have had to work a day in your life you will probably despise Sato most of all. The story of Sato is a most dreadful one and serves nicely as a cautionary tale for those who are arrogant enough to think they are too good to do labor and waste their time in higher education instead of getting that degree. I find Sato to be quite galling, he was lucky to be born in to a decent family in a decent country only to waste his good fortune by hiding in a hole blaming some conspiracy for his misfortune. Having seen extreme poverty else where in the world and watching people suffer long hazardous journeys only to be turned away from my home country only hardens my attitude since those with even less try harder than most hikikomori do. Those people suffer because they were not so lucky as Sato at birth, and yet he moans of his misfortune languishes in his self pity while those less fortunate go hungry while Sato gets his fill, smokes his cigarettes, and drinks his beer. It is hardly fair and for me to have to help support our very own Sato while he wastes away his days playing free to play RPGs makes my blood boil.
NHK does not offer any real easy solutions to the Sato case, and the author who wrote the book lived that life. I like how there is no epiphany no easy answer since it was a range of factors that led Sato to be the loser that he is. I find it hard to not have any drive in life I find it strange to have no dream to aspire to or a goal to attain. I am sure every one has a childhood dream of some sort, mine was to be among other things a fighter pilot but that got shot to hell in 5th grade when I learned I was visually impaired and at the time there was no corrective surgery as there is now. The death of one dream does not mean that one should stop dreaming or aiming for something else. Moreover it takes a special kind of sucker to buy into pyramid schemes for if it is too good to be true it probably is. Maybe I grew up when hard work meant something, I have no idea what they teach now parents and teachers both but when I was young if I wanted something I had to earn it.
Another thing that irked me was this defeatist attitude that pain was something worth cowering from. Pain is important; physical pain alerts you to danger, emotional pain is proof that you still yet have a heart, and as Master Asia once asked, “What is the meaning of victory if one has not suffered?” Nothing in life is going to be easy pain is inevitable if one least aspires to make something of him/herself. Even if the rest of the cast have issues at least they all tried harder than Sato. Hitomi tried to get help, and she got it, she felt she had nothing to live for and yet found something and moved the fuck on. Moreover she did not withdraw from society despite feeling ostracized. Yamazaki despite being arrogant and a coward in love at least tried to make his dreams come true even if he was never cut out for it more over he struck out on his own and was not rely on parental handouts to survive. While birds of a feather flock together Sato by far fell the farthest, and while being overly conscious about what others say in High School is understandable by the time you are an adult you should be able to shrug off insults and give those people a one finger salute. If you are that thin skinned then truly you have lived a charmed life and to be honest if that is the worst you have ever endured then I dare say what ever you have suffered through is but a fraction of what every enlisted member goes through in basic training and minuscule when compared to those who live in poverty.
I am not too overly hung up on Misaki’s black intentions when she helps Sato out of a need to give her own flagging self-esteem a crutch. I do not feel joy at seeing those less fortunate than myself I cannot understand why having a Sato would be good for my self image but I can identify with the value Misaki places upon a written contract. Purity if intent matters little since Sato was going to be worse off without her given his lack of skills and late entry into employment. If only she devoted her efforts to someone a lot more worthy. If there is one thing I can say I liked about Welcome to the NHK is that the conspiracy theory is pretty much debunked and lampooned. The NHK Conspiracy to make Sato unhappy and hikiko is laughable at best. I hate how there seem to be so many people willing to blame their misfortune on “society” or “the man.” Plots are being hatched and executed all the time but they are not as petty as to keep one person down. I like how it Sato being Sato was because of his own ineptitude, irresponsibility, and cowardice. I literally cheered when Miya turned out to be Yamazaki using a handle during that glorious riff on MMOs.
Welcome to the NHK for me is highly recommended if only as nightmare fuel for those still in college and high school. Good times do not always last and the Sato at 50 scene should be seen by all who watch anime so that the cautionary tale can be seared into one’s memory. I like that Gonzo kept most of the GRIM DARK intact instead of over playing the comedy. There are some serious issues they touch upon but unlike the book they went for a more hopeful end. Sato’s fate is clearly one to be avoided and while there are plenty of works that glamorize how great being an otaku is Welcome to the NHK goes one day’s march over Kuragehime and gives a strong warning of where such hedonism can lead. I am glad I watched it even though I have an IRL Sato.
Welcome to the NHK should be watched by one and all who enjoy anime and want something more than what most series have to offer. Upon watching you will know the meaning of fear by seeing what you might become, you will be stirred to anger by Sato’s foolishness and lewd thoughts. You will feel like punching Yamazaki yourself and tossing Hitomi over that cliff personally. You ought to feel nothing but loathing, facepalm repeated, and a whole lot of hostility and ill will. What you will not feel is good for most of the series, you might see a bit of yourself or someone you know, and well you should. Your hatred will make you powerful, your fear is but the beginning of wisdom. Should your heart be black you might feel a bit of elation when Yamazaki reveals his MMO handle. If nothing else if you like pina coladas, if you have half a brain you will at least have the drive to not end up like Sato.
Thank you for smoking...
I give you the BIGGEST LOSER.
For the Love of Yuri even their LOGO IS A FUCKING PYRAMID.
Well at least he did not break up via text not that they were really together...
Well this was unexpected...
This punch did not result in True Love...
I hope Yamazaki uses this to blackmail Sato.
Kyon-kun denwa...
I would have given her a pass had she gone stabby on Sato.
About the only honest thing he has ever said...
No more handouts for you.
Gee you sure know how to pick'em, and what a fugly motherfucker too...
Yamazaki did indeed deserve a better end than Sato.
Probably the best thing that ever happened to Hitomi, no pain no gain right?
About time you got a job.
Indeed and you could have done so much better.
They are like roaches and they will be back...
45 Comments
I feel you.
I’ve never seen this show because I got to the book first, and I’d never want anything to do with this story again. I too do not have pity for Sato.
Here’s the thing. The author Tsukimoto did make something out of his life: he got his book to become a multi-media hit. Writing a novel isn’t easy and he wrote a competent one that became an anime. He did make something out of his wretched existence.
In the introduction to the edition of the book I read though, he says he’s reverted pretty much into his room, that overcoming being what he is, isn’t so easy.
I know the author made something of himself and good for him, only that it was not an overnight thing and having finished his novel his troubles did not disappear. Still good to know that I am not alone in having not even a shred of pity left for the guy.
Still Welcome to the NHK is something that only needs to be experienced once for the horror to stick.
It’s amazing how different a message one can get out of a work when one sees it with sympathy and pity instead of disdain and elitism. The message I got was a humanizing one: hikikomoris like Sato are people too, and though their actions may be detestable, they deserve the same respect and love that all humans do. They may be the dregs of society, they leech without contributing, but the pain they suffer is real and something to be empathized with, certainly not celebrated.
There was also the important message of hope. Through the show, we see Sato go through the depths of his society: otaku, suicide meeting, MMO addiction, pyramid scheme. But in the end, we see him learn to start anew. Indeed, there are no quick and easy solutions, and his blue collar job at a construction site attests to this. This is a very powerful message: it’s impossible to change what we’ve done in the past, but no matter how pathetic we used to be, it’s never too late to start being someone worth something.
So Welcome to the NHK was a deeply humanizing piece of work, certainly serving as a warning message as to what you should avoid, but mainly as a glimpse into the lives of people who are so commonly looked down upon in society and giving us the argument that, hey, these people’s lives are still worthwhile, and they deserve another chance.
I take exception to you calling my view elitist, disdain I’ll give you since I stated as much. So what if they ar human? Humans are more than capable of doing terrible things to each other Hikikomori or no. I tell you it is hard to feel pity when you bear witness to people who grew up and still have less than Sato. Everyone suffers from pain but why should I or any one feel pity when we all have to go through it but Sato lacks the fortitude to suck it up?
Sato is not a victim of circumstances beyond his control he had plenty of chances he went to school, he got into college, he got to home base with a girl, a girl that would have reciprocated his affections. And yet despite all these blessing he did not have the courage to follow through, he did not have the work ethic to make good use of his good fortune. I fail to understand why Sato is pitiable because he shrunk from solid opportunities and good fortune. While kids in other countries go to bed hungry Sato has cigarettes, food, and beer, if I find that Sato’s situation isn’t so bad then excuse me for being an elitist that is of the opinion that Sato does not have it that bad, that Sato has chances 365 chances a year 366 every leap year to improve his lot, that being able bodied means that Sato is not entitled to charity, that even though his pain is real that pain is intrinsic to the human condition and not grounds for pity let alone an excuse for him to live off his parent’s sweat and steal from his neighbor.
I agree that it is not too late to change but that does not exonerate Sato and to be frank when his financial life line was pulled his reaction was despicably selfish, His father may be on his last legs and all he can think of is himself. It is hard to feel pity when Sato only shows a slight hint of work ethic when he has little choice. He could have tried earlier in life but he did not, through most of the series he is running away from a hard day’s work first with his lies, then with Hitomi, next with his MMO, and finally with his get rich quick scam. I think that these poor decisions were not forced upon him, I find it hard to believe that poor decision making and laziness are grounds for pity. Sure he deserves a second chance but already by some happy accident of birth that let him grow up in Japan and have an education and be literate he has had more chances than most other people ever get in less developed nations.
Having to deal with one within my family makes me less prone to any romantic notions about hikikomori the one I have is more like Megumi’s but that is beside the point. Why should the parasite be respected? Because he’s simply human? Reality is that life is cheap, and hikikomori cheapen their own lives by making a series of poor decisions and fleeing from the consequences. As far as I can tell this is a rich or well to do kid’s disease. Had they born else where they would have had to work or die because they would not have the kind of gravy train to support their miserable existence. How is Sato’s life worthwhile when his situation is due to his unwillingness to work rather than inability to work?
Actually the phenomenon of the hikikomori has more to do with an inflated middle class in Japan and less to do with “well-to-do” children. In one sense they are well-to-do if we might compare them to a 3rd world country they would certainly be well-to-do, but in Japan they are merely middle class. It also has to do with an unstable job market, the jobs of the past generation are becoming rarer and rarer and the methods of educating are so competitive and the remaining jobs reserved for the elite tremendous social pressure is placed on the current generation to succeed. In Eden of the East there was a lot of talk about how the old ways of running things isn’t working anymore. This is a question and conversation that is occurring right now in Japan. It’s also of note that group interaction (and to an extent conformity) is seen as more acceptable than individual desires. When a child rubs up against this social integration (such as doing badly on a test or being rejected by a member of the opposite sex) it can create intense social phobias centered around the shame they feel in the presence of the more socially well-adjusted people. To me it seems that the Japanese culture to an extent creates an impossible standard for which to achieve.
So I don’t particularly hate Sato for what occurs to him and around him during the series (or you may say lack thereof). I do believe he has a serious mental issue and that he should probably have sought help. I myself was, and somewhat am, in a similar situation as Sato. I’m in school now but at the time I watched the series I was basically Sato.
I wonder about your own experience. I don’t mean to pry but you say that you have a Sato-like person in your family but I wonder if you have ever been in the same position. It really isn’t as easy as you think to pull yourself out of ruts like that. I myself only manage to do it by not looking before I leap. This works for me now but it can’t be too successful in the long run. Others in similar situations to me are just too damn scared. Sato’s complexes are defense mechanisms he sets up for himself so that he doesn’t have to face the truth: he’s afraid of something out there in the world. That’s the hallmark of what is going on with Sato and what goes on with thousands of College age kids around the globe: they are scared, but they can’t admit it.
My own feelings on the series is both a cautionary tale to 20 somethings but also a cautionary tale to society. Sato’s ultimate relationship with his own mental issues are similar in his ultimate relationship to Misaki. It’s hard, it won’t always be perfect, it will take some time, but eventually, somewhere down the road, it’ll be ok. Frequently my own psychologist asks me what I will see looking back on these years that I have apparently wasted. (my words not his) I honestly don’t know what to tell him, right now I’m not happy at what they were, but I’m also not sure they could have been much better. 20 years from now though I hope I’ll look back with maybe not favorable eyes but at least accepting eyes.
Can you tell NHK affected me in a big way when I watched it?
Everyone feels a little lost in their teenage years my experience was different though as I heard my class mates cheer over not having to go to school when the Twin Towers fell. I suppose you can call it trauma but for most part it bred a sneering contempt for those who have seemingly everything and yet choose to be lubriciously selfish. From that day forward they were all contemptible, bereft of duty, honor, and decency. I never had to deal with rejection simply because I never saw the need to be in a relationship when my financial future was in doubt and my school mates were petty. During those years there was a recession and while for many kids my age at the time it was no concern it was for me. I heard what a few had to say behind my back but I did not care for their opinions, they weren’t worth considering as they had no sense of duty they were too caught up in a meaningless pecking order to see the troubles that lay ahead after they graduated.
Even if I was socially cut off from my peers I had friends who were adults who also worked for a living. I still had fellow sports fans during the years, even during those hard years with no championships watching the games with others was still fun regardless of age even if most of my peers did not care for the home teams that sucked.
I never lived up to my parent’s expectations of being a doctor or lawyer, I tried but in the end I settled for the path that made me happy and provided for most of my needs. I enlisted in the reserves a year after graduating from High School at the time I had failed to get into an acceptable four year University and so I went to community college until I got into a University my parents could accept two years after I graduated from High School. The only reason there was even a year gap was because of paper work delays and other procedures. By the time I entered High School I was no stranger to failure, I was no stranger to having to make do with less as during most of my childhood my family was relatively poor as most immigrant families start out in the US. My parents were often busy trying to make ends meet than to hold my hand through life, at 14 I was sent to work odd jobs for a family friend at Fisherman’s Wharf to help ease the burden on the rest of the family. I did not have as much free time as most of my peers and perhaps I missed out then but I grew up faster and made enough good decisions to be able to have a second childhood after a day’s work.
As the eldest much more was expected of me since I was the only son within the extended family even if I had older female cousins. So I can understand the pressure they must face but unlike them I had a plan B I knew the limits of my abilities and planned accordingly to join the military when I came of age because I had little choice if I wanted to go to college. I did not have much faith in student loans and opted for an enlistment that covered most of my tuition. The money I earned from drilling paid for my books and helped with the rent. During the Summer I would volunteer for extra duty to try and make more money even if the work involved making coffee for others, taking out trash, crushing cans, and scrubbing toilets until I rose in rank. Even then it was another series of tests to pass in addition to my university studies.
I look back on those days as trying times I had to push myself to new limits during basic training. I had to stay up late to try and pass if it was a drill weekend I had to race down the interstate and catch 6 hours of sleep before work at best. It was an adversity of sorts but nothing inherently dangerous even if it was physically exhausting I never gave up. When money was tight I took a year off university as I needed to make more to cover rising costs in tuition. I never qualified for state or federal grants because by that time my parents made enough to not be considered in need of it. My grades were never so high as to get a scholarship so I didn’t luck out financially. So basically in what would have been my senior year I was working full time. I could have asked my parents to pay for everything but I preferred to try and pay as much of my expenses myself.
I never had the luxury of waiting like Sato and many of my peers to finally answer the question of what I wanted to do after High School. I knew that if I did not want to work at the wharf all my life and not smell fishy day in and day out I had to aspire to more and I had to make choices that I knew I would have to live with. I also feared not passing but I pushed on, I accepted that I would not be an A student I gladly took my Bs and Cs as that met the obligations imposed on me by Military Tuition assistance. I had to keep moving and take decisive action as I knew that I could not afford to remain in school longer than needed even if in the end it took two years later to graduate.
Even now my own future is in doubt I secured for my self more employment after ranking up to a decent pay grade. We all fear for the future, but to give in and do nothing seems to me like cowardice. To ask one’s parents to be your sole support, to me is unthinkable so long as I am physically fit to work.
I watched NHK late in life when I had the questions answered for the most part. Even growing up I may have had no idea of what a hikikomori was but I knew how crushing being poor can be I I endeavored to avoid that fate. Even if Sato has a miserable existence he had luxuries with his cigarettes and beer, that is more than what many people have and he did not have to work for it.
Reality will always have it’s revenge it’s part of being an adult, better to learn to roll with the punches than to have your ass handed to you. It’s a question of adapting to your circumstances and aspiring to something more. I confess my life led me on a different path than most, even those who shared my path many of them ended up in gangs while I avoided that fate. Perhaps it was just dumb luck, but I tell you at the time I did not feel lucky I still don’t think of those days as good days. They were valuable and I would not trade them away for another past even if I would have done many things differently. As G Gundam once put it what is the meaning of victory if one has not suffered?
To me Sato came off as a coward that was unwilling to do what was needed and tried to do what he wanted on someone else’s dime. He has suffered yes, but one can only excuse him for so long, if at all.
I am glad it made a difference in your life, but for me being Sato was never an option. It still is not an option.
The difference between our approaches is, “Look at this loser. He made decisions that I wouldn’t have made, and he’s suffering for them. Oh well, he deserves it.” vs. “Look at this loser. He made mistakes that I wouldn’t have made, but he regrets them and suffers for them. Maybe he deserves it, but maybe he also deserves a chance to turn things around.”
“Everyone suffers from pain but why should I or any one feel pity when we all have to go through it but Sato lacks the fortitude to suck it up?” (Emphasis mine)
That’s exactly right. Everyone suffers from pain. You may come from the perspective that you are the adjudicator of whose pain is worthy of sympathy and whose is not, but I come from a position that seeks to eschew such elitism. One message from Welcome to the NHK is that these dregs don’t (always) do it out of malice or selfishness. They are often keenly aware of the horrible things they are doing and wish that they could stop. The story of that class president’s MMO addicted brother – his reading of hundreds of self-help books, continually seeking a way out – was meant to show this. I refuse to make the ignorant and arrogant statement, “Hey, I did this and that and thus avoided being like them, so they could and should do it just as easily!” That is an insult not only to the uniqueness of everyone’s situation but also to the fact that if it really were that easy, if it was a simple switch they had to flip in their head, they would have done it a long time ago. They wish more than any of us that they would have done it a long time ago.
Neither is it my position to tell you what the correct interpretation or message of Welcome to the NHK is. If you prefer to see it as an affirmation of your looking down on your fellow man for lacking the ability or drive that you have, so be it. Rather, I was pointing out the curiosity of just how different a message people can get from the same piece of work when they approach it in different ways. And maybe you’re right, the proper way to look at these people is down our noses, with disgust instead of sympathy. But, really, if they’re already wasting their life and hurting others due to it, is doing that going to change things? Is it constructive – not just to such people and their acquaintances, but to society in general, i.e. you and me – simply to look back at their past and berate them for it? Isn’t it better for society as a whole for such people to become constructive, contributing members, and isn’t the way to achieve that by looking with them at the hope of the bright(er) future that they could have, instead of simply looking down on them for the despair and darkness of the past that they’ve already gone through?
But isn’t sympathy what enabled Sato dig himself into such a shit hole in the first place? Isn’t sympathy what led Megumi to tolerate her brother’s bullshit and beatings? It took for Sato’s life line to be cut for him to change for the better had it been cut off earlier he probably would have been better off or at the very least not so dead set on hiding behind his Hikiko state to justify his long list of can’ts. Sato got used to having handouts to live his life, he had his mother to send him money, he then had Misaki give him charity, and he then demanded it from Yamazaki. Only when he had nothing did he finally do something. Ditto with Megumi’s brother.
I am confused as to whether you have read my response or are just seeking to be combative I never said that he made decisions I never would have made. I also find it galling that you label me ignorant and arrogant for simply letting my life experience inform my judgement. I do not see my self as having better circumstances, I grew up with less and so do a lot of people. How is it elitist to have been poorer and struggle through life? Why is a lack of sympathy elitist when much of Sato’s circumstances are the result of decisions he made and now we see the consequences fall upon him? Why is it so elitist to say that Sato really fucked himself over? Sato made bad decisions regardless of who you are there is little room to argue Sato made any good decisions during the course of the series.
Why shouldn’t Sato live with the consequences of his decisions? Why should he not be held to account for being a charity case of questionable merit when he was physically able to provide for himself? How does sympathy and hoping for the best make it better?
Even if Megumi’s brother read a bunch of self-help books does that really excuse him for being so selfish and for his repeated assaults on Megumi? To me his good intentions weren’t worth shit so long as he persisted in beating his sister. Intentions have little weight compared to actions and Megumi’s brother acted disgracefully, it does not really matter if he wishes things were different. He doesn’t have to beat his sister, he does not have to make her cook for him, he does not have to stay in that room. I have seen the results of domestic violence and Megumi is lucky not to have suffered any permanent physical damage. What good would his wishes be if Megumi were put into a coma, what good would his wishes and self help books be if he persists in beating Megumi to the point where she might never recover? It is not an issue of me being better than them the issue is that they have ceased to be decent human beings. What kind of brother beats his sister? What kind of son would put himself over his hospitalized father?
Fundamentally every Hikiko has to bring about change on their own, there isn’t enough resources to lay upon them in hope that maybe kindness and sympathy might help them get out of it. I do not see anything wrong with saying they made a string of bad decisions and ought to live with the consequences, moreover now that they have become less than decent why should we pity them for being self centered douche bags that would beat their sister, and let their own father die so that they might not have to work for once in their lives? Why should we treat domestic violence and laziness as virtues? Why shouldn’t society shun these things?
Why shouldn’t they be shunned for doing terrible things? What good are their intentions and wishes if they cause so much trouble and pain for the people who are generous enough to still care?
Just because one is unique does not exempt them from meeting standards of decent conduct. Every day is a new day, every day was a chance for Megumi’s brother to not beat his sister, and to cook for himself. Every day was a chance for Sato to fill out a job application. Every day is a new chance I am not saying they do not deserve a second chance, what I do find galling is that they are give numerous chances to improve and habitually refuse to do so. Is it really so hard for Megumi’s brother to not beat up his sister? Is it really so hard for Sato to take a bit of his free time to fill out a job application? These are hardly herculean tasks. I find your sentiment that “maybe they deserve it” to be most disagreeable, you ought to face the consequences of your actions.
Just because you were born human and are unique does not entitle you to respect, you earn it by being a decent person, you earn it by not beating up your sister.
This shows most memorable moment for me is when it makes an (attempted) suicide scene funny, even hilarious. I honestly didn’t think it was possible. During the mid-series climax when Sato is with the offline meet-up and they each decide while on the precipice to not do take their lives, he is relieved that he won’t have to kill himself/watch others kill themselves. Then when Hitomi’s boyfriend shows up and proposes to her, pretty much the sole reason he went to this meet-up flies away and he’s pushed to the edge. The absolutely hilarious (and sort of touching? I guess) is when Misaki calls him a failure of the human being and he snaps and wants to jump off for real but is held back by the people who he somewhat convinced not to jump in the first place.
The whole scene was hilarious is a twisted ass way that I will never forget.
Suicide Fail was rather funny in a morbid sort of way. Still it’s hard to fault Misaki for being honest about what Sato really is. Sato was a purple pissing coward who thought that he could run off into the sunset with Hitomi.
WOW Crusader, im suprised the rage post isnt longer. This show made me rage as well, i actually quit the show on a few occasions do to the strong hate i felt for the cast, only to be drawn back in each time a month later. I agree with you about the show it is a must watch as painful as it is. I being one who has worked since i was 14 felt utter disgust at the lazyiness of these characters, i like that the show doesnt try to gloss over how wretched they are with comedy. Glad you liked/hated it though.
I worked at a crab shack at 14, long hours, low pay, and I get to smell of rotting fish by the end of the day. I too felt no pity for one so lazy as Sato when I was busting my ass at 14 doing a harder job then he did at the end. After all Sato has a fully functional body, why should he be excused from working like the rest of us?
I hate to defend Sato, but the guy developed a serious mental problem. That’s where the series kicks off. I felt the series was telling us that this guy needed help and motivation, which is sure as hell not what he was getting from the next door NEET nor pretty helpful girl who didn’t have the greatest mental health either. It was the degrading but, like llvn said, humanising look at hikkikimori. No real solutions thought. Eden of the East made a neat stab at that though, if you haven’t watched that yet.
I do agree on the ‘painful to watch but still good’ note. NHK made me uncomfortable and is the main reason I’ve never touched online gaming since
I would argue the Yamazaki is merely and Otaku, not a NEET as he did go to school and work to support his pipe dream of being a game creator. As for motivation Yamazaki did try to motivate Sato, albeit with little success. It is also hard to save a man who is so unwilling to save himself, believe me I have tried motivating my family Sato into doing something and most of my family has written him off already. Once dear old Granny is gone I doubt any of us would be willing to continue tributary payments given how he has snapped back at us and how he just lazes at grandma’s apartment playing his free to play RPGs. Perhaps it is as they said Hikikomori only exist so long as some one is willing to pay to support them, it might come to having to throw my Sato to the wolves and I confess at this point after this long since his high school graduation I would throw him to the wolves without compunction.
I disagree that motivation can be given Sato had to find it himself and as long as he could spend other people’s money he never had the inclination to find it.
I still play games but I know I can continue because I have the discipline to save my game and get up and go to work.
Throwing someone to the wolves is dangerous. As is implied it is sink or swim in that situation. Even if they manage to swim in that situation it is highly likely that relapse will occur somewhere down the road or perhaps another problem will arise. Being forced to make a decision out of necessity might seem like an easy solution in the short run but in the long run it can impact several things among them career and especially family interaction/raising a child. A person forced into a change has just as much pressure/ if not more to get things done right the first time; a tendency that can lead to extreme stubbornness to the extent of damaging relationships.
I suggest you try to get your Sato to seek help. Group therapy among other things would most likely assist in some kind of recovery. If he won’t go you have to find some lever and pull. A well-trained therapist is a good middle ground for someone in such a situation, and it is also a strong foundation that can hopefully lead to your Sato eventually pulling himself out of his rut.
At this point we are running out of options every one is feeling the pinch and no one can afford to give him coverage because he is too old to be claimed as a dependent for any of the health plans we get from our jobs. We tried to get him help before but it never went well, and now professional help is something we can’t afford. A day will come when he will have to sink or swim as he can’t be mooching off of Grandma’s social security check for as long as he lives. He’s been out of school for a while now and has no motivation to so much as take a placement test, even if we were willing to pay for his schooling we can’t take tests for him.
We can barely get him out of the apartment for family functions when we so much as succeed and none of us have the time to make the effort to get him help as we all have to work. A lot of love has been lost during this time more will be lost as time drags on. I doubt we can help him if he remains so set on not changing his ways. His father already had to move to greener pastures further afield to and they barely got along when he was still a kid and an under performing one at that. His mother remarried and desperately tries to talk to the boy but he simply hangs up on her when she calls from Hong Kong.
It’s not like the rest of the family has time and money to support him indefinitely right now we give what we can (for now it is enough) but every one is feeling the hurt. He is not the only one causing a drain as part of the family is facing hard times because they are trying to appeal a sentence for a felony for another cousin. Even if we don’t want to we might have to things simply cannot continue as they are for the rest of his life.
Wow. I feel weird for actually liking this anime. Sure the ending was kinda stupid and I didn’t really care for the main chick using him as an experiment. But I actually liked all the other stuff around it. Maybe I just don’t look too deeply when I watch stuff.
To each his own I guess It was good and I like that it is a cautionary tale, but otherwise the cast was generally despicable and to a man they were all broken and dysfunctional.
Two words: Well Said.
Thanks for reading
I remember watching this series (wonky GONZO production aside), and while I wasn’t overcome by the need to strangle the characters, I came pretty damned close to. On top of being messed up in one way or another, they were incredibly unsympathetic–and this is coming from someone who, for about two-odd years pretty much descended into NEET-dom due to depression–especially Sato. It’s no longer an issue of the perceived consequences of the ills of modern society, it was a *willful* choice to simply run away from reality.
I mean, the real world isn’t all hearts and roses, but you don’t run away from it, you live IN it. It’s one of those things that I’ve come to learn and accept after I clawed my way out of that hole I dug myself into… and something that people like Sato (at least from what I’ve heard of in the novels; the anime gives a much more sunnier possibility) can’t seem to understand.
Indeed it boils down to the Decision with regards of digging yourself out. It will not be easy and certainly because Sato wanted an easy way out he dabbled in RMT and got suckered into to a pyramid scheme..
Shakes fist angrily. As a working man i have no respect for those lowlives. Get a job!
Empathy, a bridge too far.
YEAH and get off my lawn!
HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
(Kefka)
Unlike you, Crusader, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show.
After all, there are no moral rules that prohibit malice against animated characters.
Hate on comrade hate on.
Nice take on the show. I can see your point of view, and since Sato did function somewhat normally within his shallow spheres of interest, he could definitely come across as a lazy spoiled POS.
I think I had more compassion for him because I saw (or maybe I just wanted to see) symptoms of depression and agoraphobia, that I deal with myself. I’ve gotten stuck on a plateau at a very low ebb, where inertia becomes paralysis, right above the very bottom at the base of the ladder back to life and across from the exit door to death, everything is bleak and pointless and somehow the levels of effort required to do anything increase by a factor of a thousand. And it’s really hard to wind yourself back up on your own when you get into that kind of rut, slaps or kicks or a helping hand or just talking can be good medicine.
Anyways, add Sato’s moments of frenzied interest and activity which could be viewed as manic depression, and consider his paranoid delusions possible schizophrenia, and he could be viewed with sympathy. I’m not going so far myself as to like him though, he was generally not a nice person, he was willfully ignorant and ill mannered and he treated everyone around him quite badly.
I hope you get the help you need and are able to find happiness and contentment. Remember at the every day is a new day a new chance to do something different, you can do just about anything if you want to do do it. Even if you are not passionate about something now I hope you find something to be passionate about.
Wow so much Satou hate. I had the completely opposite reaction when I watched NHK. I thought, and still think, that Satou is someone to be pitied and not hated. Because how I interpreted the situation of the hikkikomoris depicted in the series, their problem didn’t stem from any sort of pampering from parents or siblings. It’s a real mental state that these people enter, and it’s a very, very devastating trap. It’s a state akin to depression, and it has all of the classic elements. You feel alone, trapped, and hopeless. That’s the state Satou found himself in, and it’s near impossible to escape. You want to improve your life, but you just… can’t. Often times you feel as if it’s hopeless to even try, because no matter what you do, you just feel that you can’t escape, so you end up relying on others. This dependence is a symptom, not a cause.
I just can’t bring myself to hate Satou, not because he’s just a pitiable person, but because the story of all hikkikomoris like him is one of a person being rejected by society and peers. It’s a lonely experience, and not even taking a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror is enough to change yourself. And the only way to escape this condition is for something incredibly dramatic to happen in your life. And we’re talking really, really dramatic.
Ultimately I love the show as both a little bit of a reflection of myself, and also demonstrating just how fragile humans are. It was so easy for Satou to slide into his condition, but it’s near impossible to pull him out. Instead, everything that would knock a well-adjusted person out of this state only served to reinforce Satou’s state of mind. It’s at once terrible, beautiful, and melancholic.
I think that Pampering does come into play since it enables Sato and Megumi’s douche of a Bro to live the way they do. The longer their Hikikomori state the seemingly worse they become. I also don’t feel that he is being rejected most of the Rejection is happening in his head or he’s making an ass of himself, he’s overly self conscious and his enemies are seemingly everywhere. As for dramatic occurring, Megumi’s dad died, and Sato’s might have been knocking on heaven’s door, if that is not dramatic then this dramatic event is going to have to be beyond the pale for any change then. If that is the case then it brings into question whether or not it is even worth it for society to pay the price, they did not reject Sato he withdrew from them he made them his enemies his personal monster when it is pretty clear they really don’t care.
I agree that it is damn near impossible to pull Sato out, but mostly because Sato did not want to improve his lot in life the hard way he wanted an easy out and paid for his laziness accordingly. It’s hard to pity someone who repeatedly errs on the side of laziness, just because something is hard does not mean it is not worth doing.
Loved the review. Agreed with everything but the Sato-hate.
I didn’t feel sorry for Sato, but neither was I angry at him. Not all people are the same, and Sato has his own way of dealing with things. This way clearly doesn’t work, so he tries something else and comes out a changed man. Pretty inspiring, imo, even if Sato’s problems aren’t the worst you could possibly find.
I think that he did not try to find a way out of being a Hikikomori rather he was looking for ways to keep living as he did. Hence he stole from Yamazaki, entered a pyramid scheme, and dabbled in RMT. He wasn’t trying to face his problems he tried for most of the series to runaway from them just like how he was going to run off with Hitomi without making any personality changes.
Judging from your comments I will make the guess that you will tend to vote Republican.
You state that you tried to become a doctor or lawyer because of your parents expectations. From this statement i sense that you hate people who choose the alternative and do not listen to their parents. My guess is that you feel resentment towards those who chose the alternative because your parents treated you strictly (like shit in my eyes) and forced you to study to become a doctor or lawyer and you went along with it. You feel that because you went along with it other people should man up and also let their parents treat them like shit e.g in the case of your family member. The path your family member chose on the otherhand differed to yours and instead of taking shit from his parents and going along with trying to be a doctor or lawyer he just decided to do nothing. (I hope you don’t have children, having this much hatred of ppl who don’t conform to society will probably mean you have a chance of making your childrens lives miserable and they may choose to do the opposite of what you tell them to.)
When faced with the situation of strict parents and/or parents who treat you like shit there are many possible paths:
1. The one you took the conformist path.
2. The hikkomori path.
3. The path where you just up and leave and live on the streets.
4. The path where you become independent and move out at 18 and work a shit low paying job.
Being from path 1. you particularly hate those in path 2.
I love making up bullshit about people I don’t even know.
Since you gave some of your life story I will also give some of my life story. Just to be clear you can say I took path 2. The hikkomori path.
Early childhood years: Whenever school holidays for primary school was in I would be left at home to do nothing, was told not to leave the house. Basically nothing to do but watch TV all day and was told to study.
Early teenage years, high school (years 7-8): I basically did what my parents told me to, studied did homework e.t.c. A event that occured during those years was my dad forcing me to stop watching pokemon which was on everyday before school. Despite the fact that I would still get to school on time, he just didn’t like me watching it.
Late teenage years, high school (years 9-12): The years when i got introduced to video games from friends at school. I stopped listening to my parents and started doing my own thing. When my dad told me to stay at home saturday and sunday and study I would go to a friends house and watch my friend play video games (It was boring but it beat staying at home doing nothing and having to deal with my dad). Eventually as the years went by i started playing video games at home, from games that my friends lent me. A event that happened during those years was a family friend talking to my dad about what subjects to take e.t.c. My dad started saying something along the lines that you don’t have to be good at sport or art they are useless, you just have to be good at the other subjects. The family friend on the otherhand said that I should pursue what i liked in a weak way so as not to offend my dad. The thing is, it just happens that my goals aligned with that of my parents, I wanted to get into uni and become an engineer. I wanted to work at the forefront of technology e.g. fighter aircraft. Despite the aligning goals i still pissed my parents off by playing computer games and not studying.
Long break between highschool and first day of uni + first year of uni: Yes I managed to get in even with all that bludging and playing computer games. My parents start telling me to stop being a hikkomori (not exact words) and to get a job. You can sense the maliciousness of their hate, words such as “fucking useless son, having a disabled kid would be more valuable than you” are thrown about. It just so happens I also wanted a job, unfortunately got very few replies to resumes i sent online through online job sites and for those that i actually got to the interview stage, never heard back after. A event that occured during this time was a interview for a job involving using the phone and data entry. The day of the interview was a day that my mum happened to see me dressed for the interview and asked me where i was going, I said to an interview. As expected no good luck, no helping me get ready, nothing.
Break after first year of uni: Finally land a crappy below minimum wage job at a carwash getting paid $6 an hour for the first (training) month and $8 an hour after that. What the owner was doing was pretty much against the law but you gotta take what you can. From the never ending amount of cars coming in to this carwash especially on weekends I would say the owner was raking it in. As soon as uni started I stopped working 5 days a wk to just 1 day a wk. Eventually I quit altogether since I felt I needed to concentrate on uni (wasn’t doing too good 2nd year) and I felt the acid sprayed to clean the wheels without protection was dangerous to my health.
Due to not doing well at uni I took a year off and decided to work full time. It was much easier to find a full time job than a part time or casual one and ended up in customer service. My experience from customer service is that people are shit. Unfortunately the store I work at has a bad return policy so if a customer decides to return a item and made the wrong decision didn’t do enough research before buying the item, its rejected. Store policy is we don’t do recommendations. Needless to say we get a lot of angry customers who think its their god given right to get a refund and start raising their voices e.t.c. Then there are others who buy items without the competent knowledge of assembling them properly and/or physically damage the items. When asked for a testing fee or rejecting physically damaged items they get angry. You also get customers who are just bad e..g. (In a angry/loud/demanding voice) “I started ringing at 9:00am till now and no one answered the phone”, “Now you tell me there is no stock?”. Hint: The store doesn’t open until 10:30am. From my inaccurate guess as much if not more than 50% of people are shit.
People fail to take responsibility for their own actions e.g buying something without doing proper research. Or in the case of some parents pushing their kids to do something because they themselves are failures in life. Those parents fail to realize that the only life you have control over is your own, if your life sucks then do something to change it yourself. You live in a first world country (assumed) if you want to get a better job then do those distance education things and study after work. In the case of Australia, save up some money then study full time, the govt will support you (with a small allowance) through it assuming you have enough saved up. It’s not going to be easy, but if you want something you need to grab it with your own hands not someone elses. The most notable function of capitalism is upward mobility. Regardless the only life you have control over is ultimately your own.
Anyway back to my hikkomorism. I choose to be a hikkomori, currently i’m studying part time and working part time while freeloading off my parents (not quite freeloading, paying a very small amount a week). I also have some money saved up from the year of full time work. But I am not leaving this house until I see my stuff thrown out on the streets. Despite disliking my parents i did not choose option 4. The path where you become independent and move out at 18 and work a shit low paying job.
Instead I chose option 2. hikkomorism. I am a dick and to be honest I am gonna freeload off my parents for all they are worth. I could have chose option 4. and tried hard to study while working a shit low paying job but I have no desire to go through life the hard way, I prefer going through life the easy way even if it means putting up with parents who dislike me. Obviously my life would change if I get thrown out (money saved is to prepare for this possibility), but until then i’m happy being a hikkomori.
There you have it the life of a hikkomori.
As a registered Democrat who’s only voted Democratic thus far I find it borderline insulting that you’d insinuate that Democrats would be cool with the way the worst hikkikomori like Satou live. As if Republicans are the only ones who would find disgust at the way he shamelessly leeched off his parents and endeavored to do nothing until forced. But I’ll leave it to Crusader to properly respond since this is his post.
Also I think you’re doing a disservice to yourself calling yourself a hikkikomori. You’re still working and attending classes, and while you could be doing more at least you’re making some money to support yourself and advancing your education.
I vote Libertarian I have conservative views regarding some things but you speak of it as a bad thing.
If you are happy with your life good for you, still if we are calling bullshit here then it is bullshit for you to feel that your parents hate you because obviously they love you enough to put up with you and pay to support you. You were able to live the way you because there were people who loved you enough to not come down on you hard. You had friends that were willing to lend you their stuff, so you could enjoy life, but make no mistake had those people not done all that i find it doubtful you could have lived as you did.
As a customer service worker you will have to deal with angry people and knowing your own product what exactly were expecting? You were going to get yelled at and you were in for a rough ride no matter what. As for people being shitty so long as your parents are willing to give you money and let you in the house they still love you. If they had no use for you then you’d be out on your own, and strangers would probably careless, even without malice at that point would you be happy?
You made your choice in life and you can make many more like them, just be aware that if you think you have it hard now it will harder once you parents are gone.
Is it love? Or more like they feel obligation to support you because they brought you into this world and the fact that you share the same genes.
As for not come down on me hard, I guess your right since I still haven’t been kicked out of the house yet. But make no mistake i was beaten on the legs with a stick as is the norm with asian parents.
As for give me money, on the whole you can pretty much say I have never recieved a cent from my parents in the form of direct cash. True they supported me fully in the form of food and shelter but I have never recieved a money allowance. Never got any presents either but thats irrelevant.
If I was kicked out of the house and out on my own, then life would pretty much be completely different, I guess i would never know whether that life would be happier or not. I may have died on the streets, but being dead i wouldn’t care. I may have went to an orphanage but you can never know whether its a good or bad thing.
As for being kicked out of the house now, as I said I’m prepared for that possibility. Doubtless i may give up on education and just work full time, the easy route or I may try hard and do both the hard route. Currently i chose the easy route which also allows me to continue with education. The amount i pay to my parents is half that of rent. If I am kicked out I will have to pay full rent + food and it will no longer be easy to pursue education so therefore it will become the hard route.
I never directly said I had it hard, as I said i’m happy being a hikkomori, I am just recounting the events that led up to my hikkikomorism. Note: the early childhood years illustrate how i was left at home whenever school was off. Hikkikomori’s generally stay at home and never leave the house.
I am fully aware that I have a good life, being born in Australia the best first world country. The difference between us is you believe that life has to be hard to be meaningful whereas I believe life should be easy and that there is no point living if your not having fun.
I mention my experience in customer service because it opened my eyes to the nature of humanity. In fact I think if I worked in customer service in another company e.g. best buy/ walmart where returns are easy or nonexistent e.t.c. I would never have had my eyes opened.
I am no stranger to the feather duster either and as for an allowance as much as you railed against people feeling entitled to refunds, why should you have been entitled to an allowance? I am not sure if not having direct cash for personal use is all that rare again I got a job early in life partly to have some disposable income where I had none before. You can call it obligation but it is certainly not looking like hate, if it were there would have been no room for obligation. You are an adult and they aren’t obligated to do anything for you anymore, and given general lack of a charitable feeling within East Asian families you are considerably blessed.
You can try and take the easy path as long as you want but at some point it will end and when it does will you be able to live on your own? I remind you that dying is easy and quite painful I imagine in most cases, and that living is hard. In the larger scheme of things why not make the most of what luck you had in being born in Australia? .
Feather duster? I was hit with a full blown broom handle, one of those long thick ones, irrelevant as it is.
You are the one who mentioned them giving me cash, i am merely correcting that.
I don’t understand what you mean by will i be able to live alone. Simply put I lived alone for 3 months fine when my parents went overseas. The only difference it will be compared to being kicked out is that once I get kicked out I will have to take care of the financial burden of rent which means that life would be hard if i chose to continue studying rather than working full time.
In the end you are a conformist who will probably end up growing up to be exactly like your parents whereas I am a hikkikomori.
Conformists hate hikkikomori’s and hence we are on opposite sides.
By the way you should watch “Freeter, Ie wo Kau” as Freeter probably better describes what I am compared to hikkikomori. Granted I didn’t have a doting mom like the guy in the show.
Either way my punishments left no marks while your parents basically dare child services supposing they hit you as hard as they say. My mother was more inventive with meting out punishment since bruises were too obvious.
Living alone for three months is not the same as 6 months let alone years on end. Moreover unless your parents did not pay for anything while overseas then you weren’t really independent since some or most of it was already taken care of. Since you are a fan of easy paths why haven’t you shacked up with a friend for a roommate? Surely if your family is as bad as you say why not lie with friend instead? Also you mentioned you received not a cent in cash but does it really matter if you get supported?
I also think that you are decidedly mistaken if you assume that I will grow up to be like my parents my chosen profession dictates an altogether different path in life.
Well in my veiw what Republican means is that you think that the rich deserve to be rich because they worked hard through life and that there should be no handouts to the poor. No public healthcare, no unemployment handouts, no public support of education above high school e.t.c. The poor are poor by choice and its not the rich or middle classes job to support them.
Then there are also the people in the bible belt who vote for people like Sarah Palin who basically don’t have a clue.
My personal view as a hikkikomori is that the rich don’t work harder than anyone else and that most of them didn’t get rich through hard work. There are those who do deserve it e.g. those who start a business and make it big. They deserve it because they made a risk, they put a large amount of money and if their business failed they would have lost all of it. Not necessarily because they work harder than others. But by and large they are few and far between. In my veiw its easier to make money if you already have money, e.g. investment properties, shares, inherited businesses e.t.c. One can argue that the rich risk more e.g. they lose more money if their shares drop or businesses fail. The other side of the coin is that they have more to begin with.
Whether you voted Democrat (Obama) or Republican the last election the end result would have most likely been the same. Major companies got bailed out and the heads of those companies walked away with million dollar pay checks regardless whether they did a good job or not. Despite the fact that Republicans don’t like giving handouts to the poor, I’m pretty sure they would have did the same thing as the Democrats and likewise gave handouts to the wealthy.
The US is pretty much going downill no matter which party is in power. With the large foreign debt that the US holds, the continued borrowing despite this debt and the continued printing of money. You can’t print your way out of debt.
My view is that a equalisation is starting to take place with capitalism. Whereas in the past the middle class in first world countries lived off the backs of the poor in third world countries. Buying/using resources from third world countries below their true value and a source of cheap labor. At least in the US the middle class will have a lowered class of living by becoming poorer whereas the poor in third world countries will become slightly richer but never reach true middle class. So you end up with a overall poorer middle class. The only class that remains unchanged in the US is the rich.
You know this really has little bearing on the whole thing, and a bit of advice regardless of what you think of the Tea Party and Palin they made shit happen, they got shit done. You can look down on them and discount them if you want to but you aren’t doing anything tangible in doing so. You’re not stopping them or slowing them down. They are disgruntled and so are you but they made a change so what does that say about you and others who have simply blow your noses at them?
I mentioned bible belt not Tea Party. Which means I scoff at people who still believe humans all descended from Adam and Eve.
As I posted before no matter which party gets into power the US is going downhill. So the tea party is changing nothing.
I am glad I live in Australia. With increasing unemployment in the US and next to no safety net due to the prominence of the Republicans, the majority there will experience it tough. In fact many probably already are. Say good bye to the middle class with good pay/ holiday leave and sunday holiday. Say hello to China style 7 day work weeks and 12 hour days. An example of that condition is the Foxconn plants: http://micgadget.com/3793/the-real-truth-behind-foxconns-suicide-cluster/
At this moment I am waiting for the double dip so that I can make alot of cash buying shares when everyone is selling. Granted there is a chance this may not happen.
Now you are putting too much import on second hand reports, there is still a safety net in the US depends on where you live and to be frank different regions have different circumstances. As for the prominence of Republicans that is a more a matter of your perception than reality. Also I think you severely underestimate the slow pace of government in the US. Moreover culturally there are significant differences between the US and China, also there is the issue of people in the US having Guns so the government here is not immune to civil unrest and can’t solve problems like the PRC does.
As for your double dip I hope it never happens, though you aren’t the only person out there that is speculating in that manner. But hey have fun playing with investments, I just hope you know what your doing.
You are reading too much in it. I said broom handle because that is what I was hit with, I said that because feather duster sounds relatively benign. The feather dusters I know of are fairly thin compared to a broom handle. I don’t doubt that getting hit with a feather duster would still hurt, but what is more scary seeing someone point a pistol at you or a shotgun at you.
Well they only hit the legs so when you go to school your pretty much covered by long pants and they probably didn’t hit me as hard when i was younger and increased force as I grew older. This pretty much didn’t stop until i was in year ten when my dad tried to hit me and i took hold of the broom handle which ended up in a short scuffle, in which failing to get the broom out of my hands he started explaining why he thought it was ok to hit me and he started to cry which led to me crying.
Regardless, being educated in a western country I do not agree with hitting as a form of punishment or a way of making someone do what you want. I remember being hit as a little kid because i didn’t want to eat pig legs because they looked digusting. Analysing this you can say that my dad wanted me to be able to eat anything since food is valuable particularly if you are poor but to me the matter was trivial, living in a first world country where food is plentiful. If a time comes when food becomes scarce and only disgusting food is left I will decide then whether to eat and survive or starve to death. It is my own decision not his.
Some people may say that if you don’t punish someone how do you parent. I believe that everyone has to make their own mistakes in life and learn from them. E.g. rather than hitting me with a stick they could have said I provide for you and if you don’t appreciate that your not having dinner for tonight. No matter what the parenting style i think the contribution a parent has to a kid’s upbringing is minimal. Who you are is a product of your genes and environment and primarily your environment is going to be school and who you are friends with. In fact using violence as a form of punishment may result in a violent adult who goes in and out of jail.
True when i was living alone because my parents own the house I didn’t have to pay rent. I still had to pay for any electricity/water and phone bills that got sent during that period, and for food.
I am very aware of money and how it affects life despite not being independant. If I shacked up with a friend I would have to pay rent. and that would already be double what i pay my parents currently. Which means I would have to work more which means life becomes hard compared to the current me who is freeloading off his parents.
True since I still live with my parents they must not be that bad. My post on my experiences was not because I wanted to say I have bad parents. The main point was to outline why people may become hikkikomori and the environment that causes their existence. Which has probably been glossed over in the anime. Since I watched this anime ages ago when it first came out, I don’t really remember the specifics of the anime. I replied after seeing your post due to your strong hate of satou. Yet do you display as vehement hate towards gangsters/drug lords/crime bosses? they can also be said to be a drain on society. Given a choice between the two would you rather your family member be involved in criminal activities?
Confronting your family member directly about how you think he is a dick who is leeching off his grandmother is not gonna do any good. Have you tried speaking with his grandmother and explaining to her that the best thing that she can do for her grandson is to cut off support? Because that is probably the only thing that can be done. Cut off his support and let him sink or swim so to speak. People need to learn from their own mistakes. In fact better to do it now when you can still help him if he really gets into trouble than later. I’m pretty sure a night living on the streets will change someones view on life. If one night doesn’t do it then i’m pretty sure a month living on the streets will definately change someones priorities. Of course you shouldn’t follow the advice of a anonymous stranger on the internet without pondering it as there is the chance he may die on the streets and since i’m just some stranger I wouldn’t care.
Have you watched the movie “step brothers”? The non related brothers in the movie didn’t change their way of life until their support was cut off.
You are correct that not recieving a cent of cash doesn’t matter since I was still fully supported with food and shelter throughout my childhood years.
On a different note:
Being the selfish dick that I am and since I want to make more money, if it happens I hope it happens sooner rather than later.
Anyway, peace.
Necromancy!
(Is THAT anime blog dead? Then bring it back as the UNDEAD!)