Welcome to the National Hetare Konspiracy

Gonzo is a great studio, in my book.

They know how to take care of business. But it seems that the road they walk is not unlike many other studios like ufotable or even KyoAni and Gainax. TNK, J.C. Staff, and even venerable ones like DEEN, Madhouse, Pierrot or Sunrise don’t escape this fate, as they flutter from one project to another, from one generation of its core creative team to another. It is a conspiracy that no one crosses the lines they have drawn for themselves. No, it has nothing to do with Haruhi from Ouran.

I have a Bone to pick with Welcome to the NHK.

The funny thing about Gonzo is that they actually are well-funded and they pander to a wide variety of international markets including more than just North America and its English-language market segment. Their works are generally fairly solid from a technical perspective. A lot of people don’t feel their work justify the attention they get otherwise because their works are rather unconventional as far as anime goes. They also tend not to pander to the crowd who likes Prince of Tennis or Full Metal Alchemist. I don’t blame them.

Because as anime hits closer and closer to the mainstream, fans of the exploitational anime such as the likes of Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Wicked City, Guyver, and even things like Fist of the North Star will get left out. However because they’re really a factor that has been with the fanbase since its conception, well, in Japan, people periodically goes back and try to nod to them, for better or worse. In as much as we have a TV series for Ninja Scroll, or things like Basilisk, we have things like Gantz and TOKKO.

Welcome to the NHK is like none of those shows. However it carries a flavor, the same snuffy psychedelic flavor that works extremely well with the material it adopts from. If we can say that Welcome to the NHK is categorically dark humor, then we may be in for a real treat…

But that’s the meaty part on the bone. I still dislike how the manga treats its subject matter. Maybe the new delivery will be much more soothing (in other words, appropriately funny, or funnier) to consume about a grim subject matter. Will the anime adaptation offer enough variety of psychedelica in that we can all laugh at our sad selves? So far it has passed the first hurdle–believability. I have high hopes.

The flavor of gonzo is finally appropriate.