I missed reviewing the first one in a timely fashion, so I decided to review this one almost as soon as I got it. Unfortunately, even though it’s still good, volume 2 is not as good as the first one.

The stories told in the volume, with the exception of the first two chapters, are pretty serious which is mostly covered with humor. The second volume picks up where the first left off, Satou gets Misaki to go on a fake date with him in order to impress his mother. The second deals with more dating-sim making action. From there, the manga starts on a new mini-arc which takes up the rest of the graphic novel, about Satou trying to help out his old high school senpai.

I ust love the ghastly expression on his face. I can see why Misaki was so scared.

The new mini-arc is a lot more depressing than the first one, if you think about it. The book is still humorous, but it’s a lot easier to see the depressing undertones in the story. Hopefully, everyone who reads NHK actually sees these undertones and notice that NHK is not just supposed to be just another comedy. I believe that the author is going for just more than a few laughs.

One of my favorite things about this manga is that just about everyone is messed up in some way or another. Satou, is of course, a hikkamori. Not only that, but he starts to get severely influenced by the otaku culture of Japan. His “friend” from high school, Yamazaki, is a full-fledged otaku. His old high school senpai, Kashiwa, is depressed and commonly overdoses on pills. I’m sure there’s something wrong with Misaki as well, although as of the end of the second volume, her trait hasn’t been revealed yet. It’s very concerting reading about people more messed up then you are.

I simply adore the art of NHK. The artist is very good at making the characters portray extreme emotions. Yea, those pictures can get pretty creepy sometimes. Other than those exaggerated faces, the artist tends to draw more “realistic” characters, as far as manga goes. He has a nice, subtle use of shadows.

Needless to say, I can’t wait until the third volume comes out. I really don’t have any complaints about this release, besides Tokyopop’s continued use of its low-grade paper. Unfortunately for me, Tokyopop is not releasing the next volume until June. *Sigh*, I suppose until then…