I swear to goddess that if this ends up big sad, I’m gonna be pissed.
Welcome back to Otaku Thursday! Today I’m here with another First Impressions for this season’s anime…which is slowly receding like a boat in the ocean that had nearly reached shore before being dragged back and sunk into the depths of despair. AKA, a lot of spring anime is getting delayed. Despite that, there are still quite a few good anime currently airing, and one of them that I have been enjoying is Kakushigoto. So let me tell you why.
Kakushigoto is a slice-of-life comedy about a single father who is raising his daughter…and subsequently hiding the manga he draws from her because he thinks it’s too shameful for her to see. Because of this, he goes to great lengths to keep his job and his comic under wraps–so much so that he leaves the house in a suit in the morning. It is undeniably a cute comedy that is supposed to do nothing more than bring a smile to your face. Well, it at least puts a smile on my face. The main character, Goto treasures his daughter Hime so much (some would say too much). Because he dotes on her, he will literally do anything to keep his somewhat vulgar manga away from her. Which means, again, extreme (some would say insane) lengths. While I haven’t quite figure out what’s so bad about the manga he draws yet (okay…well it is ecchi…but I mean his drawings so far look harmless), Goto really sees it as a life or death thing. He keeps all his drawings and work at an entirely different location than his home. And he clearly plans to take the secret to his grave. Meanwhile Hime is…just kind of perfect. Okay, that’s too much but she is so adorable and definitely makes you want to protect her. She’s very air-headed, even for a child, but she has really great moments where she says something that sounds so much more mature than what you’d expect. I think it’s clear she really cares about her dad just as much as he cares about her. And it’s this reciprocal sweetness that I think I’m very drawn to about them, and it really accounts for the slice-of-life portion of the anime.
But of course, before being a slice-of-life, Kakushigoto is a comedy. The majority of episodes feature conflated mini-plots that are often absolutely ridiculous. For instance, a plot in which Goto follows Hime on her class field trip and works behind the scenes to hire a professional curry chef to ensure the curry she makes tastes good, or having to run away into a coffee shop from Hime and her friends so they don’t see him dressed in mangaka clothes. There’s even a time where he takes Hime to a festival and sees bootlegged merch from his manga everywhere so goes out of his way to purchase and win it all so that Hime will never see it. These scenarios certainly do bring laughs, and peppered within episodes are cute stories where Hime wishes for her father to be happy or Goto worrying Hime will feel sad that at her sports festival she’ll only have one parent to cheer her on. Both of these examples, while touching, also kind of reflect the fact that there is no kind of mutual understanding between Hime and Goto. They care about each other deeply, but they don’t truly understand each other. Which perhaps makes sense for a father and his daughter…but it can come off as bittersweet. Especially when I think about the way the anime opened.
The first episode begins with an 18 year old Hime going up to the house where Goto kept all his drawings for the first time. She’s about to discover his secret it seems, and it feels somber. The thought very much crossed my mind that the melancholic feel was almost as if Goto was no longer with Hime. The opening song itself also leads me to believe this, as it cuts between Goto and the grown Hime–often contrasting against each other but never in the same place. It really didn’t set well with me the drama it opened on, only to divulge into such a cute and funny slice-of-life. And the more you watch it, the more you get drawn into being able to enjoy the good times, until you only remember an inkling in the back of your mind of that first melancholic scene.
I don’t really know where Kakushigoto is going. In terms of plot, it seems it’ll mostly be this episodic comedy about father and daughter and I’ll be okay with that. It’s a nice break from other anime and a good way to put a smile on my face. On the other hand…I’ve come to the conclusion that it feels like Kakushigoto doesn’t have much substance, though I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing. It’s thoroughly enjoyable. It’s great. It’s probably not going to be best of season but I’d so far rate it pretty high. But also…because I really like this father/daughter dynamic…so I’m going to be PISSED if this does end up real sad and with the revelation Goto has died in the future. Like I’m going to be big sad. Might cry ugly tears. Don’t do that to me Kakushigoto.
Anyway, that’s all for now. On the First Impression rating I’d give it a 7 out of 10! What about any of ya’ll? Have you seen it? Have you not? Let me know what you thought! Til next time!
Stay weebtastic
xoxo
Luna
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