On hikikomori recovery

[tsukikage]

Reading this review of the Welcome to the N.H.K. novel, I found this section to be particularly interesting:

In a paper presented at the American Sociological Association, Michael J. Dziesinski II, who has spent time observing hikikomori rehab clinics, says that the process of getting young men away from the hikikomori lifestyle is generally an attempt to make them become more masculine. There are a number of programs that are designed to help such people transition away from the life of a hikikomori, and at one such program, their “rehabilitation process is gender socialization, namely the adoption of working class masculinities by male ‘graduates’ of the rehabilitation center.” It's worth noting the use of “working class” here, since most of the hikikomori are from middle class families. However, in Japan once you have been outside of the school and employment system for a period of time it's nearly impossible to reenter. Although one can learn a trade and made a decent living, it would be very difficult to become a white collar worker in such cases.

I guess I had always assumed that the whole entrance exam/rounin system allowed for fairly easy re-entry into school, at least, but I suppose it makes sense that re-entry into the employment system is a whole 'nother ballgame.

Although I want to buy the book, it sounds like the anime adapted it pretty faithfully (with removal of the mentioned hallucinogens?), so I'm not sure how much value I'd get out of it.

No work tomorrow! Yay!!

Comments

[belindabird.livejournal.com]

As someone who has both read the book and watched the TV anime, let me say that I found the book about ten times more satisfying and the anime really isn't faithful to it, both in content and in core emotional meaningfulness. It's not really that it's shorter or more concise, but that it paints a much more accurate picture of Satou's crippling social anxiety than the anime ever did.

One of the major problems I had with the anime (and which ultimately caused me to dislike it quite a bit) is that Satou is a hikkikomori when it's convenient for the show; the best parts of the anime are those which reflect the Satou of the novel, who is truly socially crippled and doesn't leave his apartment all the freaking time like in the show. The anime adds all sorts unnecessary things which turn it from a portrait of someone dealing with terrible anxiety, to a re-hash of Genshiken complete with Akihabara hijinks (not in the book), video gaming woes (not in the book either!) and other episodes which simply stomp all over what made the book an interesting (and, speaking personally, very close-to-home) read. Misaki is fleshed-out much better in the novel as well; in the TV show, her own tale of abuse is pasted on near the end with very little thought, which didn't in my case make up for the fact that the show had spent about 20 episodes making her out to be a silly, misguided moron. Did I mention that the book doesn't try to shoehorn in a crummy romantic plotline either?

Anyway, YMMV of course, but I'd say that the book is worth reading in the sense that it tells the proper story without any of the TV series' embellishments that drag it down and cause it to lose most of its meaning. The only parts of the show that I though were really effective were the ones that drew most directly from the novel; the part right at the beginning where Satou is planning what to say at his potential job interview at the manga cafe is just so heartbreaking and so true for those of us who get nervous at the mere thought of going outside our comfort zones, and Satou's "date" with Misaki at the end (where she makes him ride the train into town with her as a test of his being cured or whatever) is downright awkward and therefore retains a lot of its truth.

Sorry, I don't mean to rage but having watched the show in MAS finally and been really underwhelmed (and at times, very insulted) by it, I've become very passionate about outlining why I liked the book and not the show. It's an issue that's very close to me.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad you made this comment. Despite having not read the original work, a lot of the elements you mentioned did seem to detract a bit from the story. In any case, I think I'm going to go ahead and buy it then. BTW, what did you make of the actual prose in the translation?

[belindabird.livejournal.com]

The book seemed to have been translated well. As serious as I may have made it sound, there were quite a few humorous bits to it and those came across really well (though in the case of the book, it's more a matter of laughing *with* Satou rather than *at* him which I think makes a world of difference).

On that note, one of the strengths of the translation is how well it retains the truthfulness of the first-person narrative. One thing that really stood out for me was the part of the story where Satou begins sifting through Yamazaki's donated porn. In the book, the stuff is hardcore lolicon imagery, which I'm sure we agree is really gross and wrong. I consider it a strength of the story itself as well as the great nuance in the translation, that, despite this type of stuff being gross/illegal/immoral, it becomes very clear how someone could get pulled into the downward spiral of consistently seeking imagery that's more hardcore and shocking (especially when coupled with Satou's already unsteady mental state).

Anyway, the language used it relatively simple but it's effective.

[darkjing.livejournal.com]

I'll backup belindabird completely on this. Tho I still enjoyed the anime, nothing beats the manga. But that's what I say for pretty much any story thats had a show made for it.

Holy **** im on LJ!! Is the world ending?!?! >_>
Thought id just update you on the icon status. What happened to those easy days when all u wanted was some text or something?? =P

Cut about 9 frames out and it still looks ok but size was 78k. Personally I think getting rid of anymore frames is going to start making it look rly choppy and so far ive only managed it to hit 40k after adding a 45%loss, which makes it pretty grainy...
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/kage_musha/my%20Icons/Edward-test45lossy.gif

Soooo, im going to tinker with it a bit. If u don't mind I'll try to just edit the backround or remove it entirely so the rest of it can display well.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Have you read the novel, though? That's what we were comparing the anime to. (I may go ahead and check out the manga, though.)

It may be grainy, but I still think it looks really good. Honestly, you can really only notice the grain in the background, and that almost looks like a stylistic decision. In any case, if you want to putz around a bit more I certainly wouldn't mind, but if you want to stop there I'm quite happy with what you've done with it so far.

[darkjing.livejournal.com]

Then I guess while I play around with it a bit more ill ask this. Does the one I linked work?

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Yerp. :)

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

You could also try cutting more off the beginning.

[darkjing.livejournal.com]

u don't want the whole dance?

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, I want the whole dance, but perhaps less dance would be preferable to more graininess?

[darkjing.livejournal.com]

Well see if you like this then. I cut it down to 11 frames and reduced to only 18lossy.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/kage_musha/my%20Icons/Edward-testc18lossy.gif

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Very nice! Alright, I'm just going to mull for a bit over which one to keep. Thanks so much for your help!! <3

[darkjing.livejournal.com]

anytime~ tho if there's a place to get that vid in good quality i might be able to make a better one. making a icon from a gif icon isn't usually ideal unless just doing a minor change.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Did I link you to the YouTube video?