Welcome to the N.H.K.

中原岬

Misaki is an eccentric and mysterious high school girl who offers to help Satou escape his hikikomori lifestyle. Living in a mansion overlooking his apartment, she initiates nightly counseling sessions. Though she presents herself as a guide, Misaki struggles with her own distorted worldview and social isolation, creating a complex, interdependent bond. Claiming to be a volunteer from a "charity project," she convinces Satou to sign a contract as part of her "big project," with the goal of making him a normal person. Though she sees through his actions, she tries reading beginner psychology books in an attempt to connect with his feelings and "save" him. She often lies or hides facts such as her dropping out of high school, but not out of malice—rather, to keep Satou's attention and reassure herself that she is needed.

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佐藤達広

Satou is a somewhat tall, disheveled man with stubble, messy hair, and pronounced eye bags. He often wears a jacket, cap, and glasses when outside, giving him a stereotypical otaku or stalker look. In moments of desperation, he appears thin and malnourished. He is frequently seen smoking Marlboro cigarettes.

Bio from Fandom, licensed CC BY-SA

山崎薫

Kaoru Yamazaki is a major character in the series who is an acquaintance of Satou. The first time they met was during Yamazaki's junior high school days, when Satou attempted to rescue him from some bullies, but ultimately failed and got himself beaten up as well. Yamazaki is an otaku obsessed with bishoujo, hentai, dojin, and galge. He spent most of his life on his family's farm but rebelliously moved to Tokyo when he learned of what his family had planned for him. He enrolled to study game programming and design. He and Satou meet again after Satou barged into his room to complain about the loud music, and from then on they formed a friendship.

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柏瞳

After asking Satou to join the literature club, Satou did so. However, since they were both shy, they were only seen debating conspiracies and playing cards. In the manga and Light Novel, it is made blatantly obvious that she and Satou had sexual relations, with her taking his virginity in high school and giving him goodbye sex when she graduated ahead of him and left him alone. However, in the anime, it is a relatively debated subject as to whether she had sexual relations with him, as they had only hinted at the fact that they might have during flashback scenes.

Bio from Fandom, licensed CC BY-SA