Instructions on how to socialize and overcome the fear of meeting new people.
In anime, you may come across the term hikikomori. It refers to people who have difficulty communicating, avoid others, and sometimes even lock themselves in their homes.
This list of anime series features characters who try to overcome their fears to socialize and find friends.
1. Bocchi the Rock!, 2022
Can a hobby change a person's life? Hitori Goto is afraid to look people in the eye and spends her days alone in her closet.
Since childhood, she has dreamed of making friends with whom she can have fun and perform on stage. She has played the guitar for three years, yet she has neither formed her own band nor achieved fame. Hitori's only friend is her guitar, and instead of a stage, she has her bedroom.
But miracles do happen. Suddenly, a girl comes up to Hitori and asks her to play in a band.
2. Komi Can't Communicate, 2021-2022
Komi doesn't play games or watch anime, she doesn't sit at home all the time. However, she has a hard time interacting with people. Socializing, talking to friends, and exchanging morning greetings are not her strong suits.
She freezes when someone talks to her, trembles with fear, and can't think of anything to say. Still, she looks incredibly cool. Her classmate, Hitohito Tadano, notices Komi's hidden worries and offers to help her make friends.
Komi thinks that the people around her hate her. Every day, she tries to talk to someone, but her voice fails her. But now she has one friend: Tadano. He will help her find more friends and teach her to communicate.
3. Welcome to the N.H.K., 2006
Tatsuhiro Sato doesn't work or study, and he doesn't communicate with anyone. He's afraid to leave his house. He imagines a mysterious conspiracy in which someone is deliberately forcing him and thousands of others to become hikikomori.
He believes that the N.H.K. organization is responsible for all this. But how can he fight it? How can he stop being a recluse?
Tatsuhiro accidentally meets a mysterious girl. She invites him to participate in a special project whose goal is to cure hikikomori and help them socialize.
4. Handa-kun, 2016
Handa is the son of a renowned calligrapher. The young man is also known for his talent in this art form. Although Handa is creative, he is terrible at communicating with people and understanding their feelings and emotions.
He mistakes fan letters for death threats and sees only anger and malice in the admiring glances of his classmates. Handa believes that everyone around him hates him, but he couldn't be more wrong.
He has already become a local celebrity and an object of universal adoration. But Handa himself does not know this. His classmates do not give up trying to befriend him.