I chanced upon Welcome to the NHK! (the anime series that is since there's a manga and a light novel) in a very unusual manner. I happened to be looking at some anime terms and japanese jargon (since I'm learning Nihongo) in Wikipedia when I found the term "Hikikomori". Basically it means a "shut-in" kind of person with some social issues. Upon reading further it references to some anime characters as examples. Nakahara Sunako from "The Wallflower" (its Shoujo. Personally I'm not into Shoujo) and Tatsuhiro Satou of this anime. I'd admit this touches a personal side of me thus, my curiosity in taking a peek at Satou-kun's life. Truth be told, It was way better than I expected and I was in for some reality shock.
  

Welcome to the NHK! is a dark albeit comic series about the unchanging and miserable life of a certain hikikomori, Tatsuhiro Satou and his struggle to escape the clutches of what he believes is the reason for him becoming a hikikomori, the NHK which stands for "Nihon Hikikomori Kyoukai". (Japanese Hikikomori Association, not the japanese cable TV channel) He meets Misaki Nakahara, a young girl who happened to be doing religious rounds of solicitation in his apartment building. Misaki assured Satou that he can escape his miserable hikokomori life through her help and wanted Satou to become the subject of her "project" of hikikomori recovery support. Misaki hands Satou a contract regarding their daily counseling sessions and other things in relation to his hikikomori recovery and also indicates the fine of 1 million yen in case of a breach in the contract. With some trouble though Satou did sign afterwards in hopes of its success in relieving him from the clutches of the NHK.



Satou also meets people from his high school. His former high school junior Yamazaki happened to have been living next door to his apartment room and quite similar to Satou is living as a hardcore otaku. He also happened to come across his former senpai (senior) Hitomi who is responsible for introducing him to the thought of conspiracies. Like Satou, Hitomi has been emotionally troubled. She admitted to Satou she had been relying on some drugs to inhibit her depression and anxiety and even recommended some to him. Satou, still in his right mind, promptly declined.




As the story progresses, Satou discovers many life lessons and insights as he deals with the sad realities of life, not only in his personal problems as a first-class hikikomori, but also the intense emotions and different problems of the characters and other people which eventually lead to bigger ones and drastic measures of escape.



One of the most highly-rated and acclaimed anime series out there, I couldn't agree more. Like many critics say, this is fitting enough to become than just a TV series and is on par with J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" with Tatsuhiro Satou comparable to Holden Caulfield of the said novel. Without a doubt, it perfectly touches the events surrounding the life and thoughts of a hikikomori. (from me who experienced the same stuff firsthand) This definitely deserves my praise (for giving me extreme emotional highs and lows, cries and laughs) and being my number one and most favorite anime series of all time.
  
Oh yeah, the opening theme "Puzzle" by Round Table ft. Nino is cool too!