Welcome to the N.H.K., Volume 2 (ISBN 1598166794)

Book Description:
Surrounded by turmoil and tragedy, Satou and Misaki are drawn closer to each other, and the timing couldn't be better. Satou's mother pays him a visit as Misaki comes over to pose as his "girlfriend." But will the façade hold up under her scrutiny? Later, Satou is upset by the fact that most of his problems involve women, and he and Yamazaki share their frustration. Misaki is worried that Satou is heading down a path of destruction. Can she save him before it is too late--or is it already too late?"Simply put, it just works. It works amazingly well... N.H.K. is something that has become very rare these days: original." -AnimeonDVD

Mom is coming to visit... you're single, desperate, and suicidal... what do you do?:
In Satou's case, you get your young missionary friend to act like your girlfriend and lie to your mother. That's what starts off volume 2 of Welcome to the NHK as Satou and Misaki try and put one over on his Mom so she doesn't worry. This comes in the midst of increasing worries over not being able to write a convincing script for his Eroge (Erotic-game) project with computer programmer neighbor Yamazaki, obsessing over his long crush on sempai Hitomi, and not knowing what to do with Misaki herself who seems way too interested in his wellbeing. With the disasterous meeting with Mommy over, the action moves to a tropical island that Satou escapes to with Hitomi, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to make her happy (and who knows, even confess his love)... but all is not well with the disconnected and depressed castaways. Once again, readers are subjected to massive drama and bombshell after cringe-worthily embarassing bombshell. With each step, Satou is taken on an emotional rollercoaster of self-doubt, depravity, and depression... but, also almost every step of the way, he still tries to overcome his faults and build a happier life, if not for him then for others. It's as we see him slowly cross these hurdles, despite all that is bringing him to his knees, that we (the readers) are still able to maintain some hope for him and his compatriots in ennui. There are some great inner monologue moments on Satou's part that are so ridiculously overdone that they make me think of J.Swift's modest proposal and the running (ha! a pun) dialogue between Misaki and Yamazaki in the later half of the book does well in exposing both their motivations (though not exactly the CAUSE of their motivations) to the reader. The art is fun and flexible with a few great panels given to Satou when he gets over-excited or extremely depressed. Another recommended read with the caveat that this is NOT a kids title and **FAIR WARNING TO PARENTS** that themes of drug abuse, suicide, and sexuality are prevalent throughout the title. C'mon folks, it's not given an advisory label and wrapped in plastic for nothing (unlike, say, Nana volume 5, which is given an advisory as well, despite its tameness and glossing over of romantic scenes). Cheers and enjoy... and welcome back to the conspiracy.