| Chapter 9 - "Welcome to the Offline Meeting!" | |
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Volume |
2 |
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Episode |
9 |
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English Name |
"Welcome to the Offline Meeting!" |
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Japanese Name |
"Ofu-kai ni yōkoso!" (オフ会にようこそ！) |
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Published (Japanese) |
November 26, 2004 |
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Published (English) |
February 2007 |
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Pages |
111-148 (38 pg) |
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Welcome to the Offline Meeting! ("Ofu-kai ni yōkoso!", オフ会にようこそ！) is the ninth chapter of the Welcome to the N.H.K. manga.
Summary[]
Tatsuhiro Satou vows to protect Hitomi Kashiwa's smile and become revolutionary over the summer, to completely turn his life around. Hitomi leads Tatsuhiro to a marina in which she's meeting her "online friends". Tatsuhiro didn't read the flyer that Hitomi left for him in the room, so he has no idea what is going on. He shrugs it off and accepts it as part of making Senpai happy. One of her friends, Makoto Minegishi, brings them on board on a departure to his private island. Once the group arrives, Tatsuhiro is overwhelmed with joy.
The scene cuts away to the Mita House where Misaki pulls up on her bicycle. As Yamazaki prepares to present his game at Comiket, he condemns Misaki for.toying with Tatsuhiro in a condescending manner. He guilts Misaki into believing that her "manipulation" of his fragile state causes him to become unstable. She becomes defensive, claiming that she is like an angel who devotes her time to save a pitiful hikikomori such as him, and insists they search for him. Yamazaki becomes distracted however, as he is struck with a wonderful hentai storyline based off of Misaki's explanation of herself. He gives her the keys to his room, but absconds.
The scene switches back to the island where Tatsuhiro tries to connect with everyone. Unfortunately for him, everyone reacts in a distant and even hostile manner. Yuu Kusano ignores him and simply returns to playing video games. Hideto Nomura rudely dismisses Tatsuhiro when he ignorantly requests some "happy pills". Makoto Minegishi reminisces about the unfortunate turn of events in his life, which scares Tatsuhiro away. Even his Senpai is just downing her pills by herself. He has a memory of that time in high school when the chairman of his class tried getting everyone together to have fun, but everyone, including Tatsuhiro, laughed at her and pushed her away. At this point, he strongly empathizes with how she felt. Tatsuhiro gathers some wood to create a bonfire. Surprisingly, everyone begins to help him out. Tatsuhiro discovers that the offline meeting is one of suicide. Misaki realizes shortly after reading the flyer in Tatsuhiro's room.
“Let's free ourselves from this filthy world. Now everyone, suicide is our only refuge to tranquility. Join in and end your lives with us.” |