 The series has a real web-site, which further suggests this.For example, although it appears to be a children's style of series, the schedule on the website suggests that it is shown almost daily in the small hours of the morning, when children would not be awake, but "hikikomori" frequently are.Although the website lists the names of several real-world broadcast channels which supposedly carry the show, none of them are operated by the real-world NHK, again suggesting that in the anime's version of Japan, the N.H.K.