Tatsuhiro Satou

Summary
Tatsuhiro Satou is the main protagonist of the series. He is a 22-year old man with strong paranoid and socially avoidant tendencies, leading to his becoming a hikikimori (a shut-in). His social agorophobia is so strong that he has deluded himself into believing the existence of an evil organization whose only goal is his social confinement, a society he names the NHK (Nihon Hikikimori Kyoukai, or the National Hikikimori Society). His attempts to uncover this organization ironically lead him to retaliate in ways which only deepen his paranoia. Due to his paranoid and yet oddly naive nature, Satou often finds himself in odd situations throughout the series.

Appearance
Satou has short, spikey, black hair and blue eyes. He is often seen with a cigarrette hanging from his mouth, and on occasions, wearing black rimmed glasses. During the few times he has left his apartment, he will usually wear a hat, either a cap or a bucket hat. He is usually clean-shaven, but during times where his social agraphobia becomes too intense, he will not shave for days.

Background
Satou's hikikimori tendencies were not present during the earlier years of his life. Satou attended high school regularly, where Megumi Kobayashi was the class representative of his class. In his first days at high school, a second year student named Hitomi Kashiwa invited him into the Literature Club. Satou spent most of his leisure time there, but he did not read, rather, he played card games with Hitomi. During his time at the Literature Club, Satou was level headed, but Kashiwa frequently brought up her wide array of conspiracy theories, which may have caused him to think and act the way he does now.



One day, shortly before Kashiwa was to graduate, they witnessed a student, Kaoru Yamazaki, getting beaten up by a trio of middle school students. Wanting to impress Kashiwa, Satou attempted to break up the fighting, but got beaten himself. Although Kashiwa wasn't impressed, Yamazaki quickly took a liking to Satou.



After graduating from high school, Satou moved to Tokyo to attend college. However, on his first day, he was overcome with insecurity, and felt as if everyone laughed and smirked at him, causing him to flee back to his apartment. This trauma caused him to live a hikikimori lifestyle. From then on, he never left the apartment for 4 years, save for Sundays, which then he goes to the park (which is apparently, the only place he feels relaxed).