As the one who finds his Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei and Joshiraku hilarious, I was certainly looking forward to Kakushigoto. The premiere informs us that Kakushigoto is pretty much a Kouji Kumeta’s joint, it has his signature brand of gag-based humor of absurd situation comedy and extreme wordplays. Despite enjoying the first episode, I have my share of concerns towards how the show takes off from there. The premise of him trying his mightiest to keep his occupation away from his daughter ensues some hilarity but it would get pale pretty fast. The fact that it’s a gag-based show also means that the jokes can be random and most of all, I’m not too sure how Kakushigoto will handle the central relationship between Gotou and his daughter. This second episode is a step up from the premiere for me in that it gives an emotional resonant at the end that I feel lacking in the week before.
So far, Kakushigoto goes back and forth between the two timelines, the time where she is still a child and the time where she’s 18 and finds out for the first time about his secret – and so far it works quite well. Using the present timeline to reflect about the past is a neat trick for me. Especially when it comes to all the boxes of clothes he sewed throughout the years, it broke my heart. I like the fact that all the information we learned is through subtle hints rather than info-dumping, that Gotou himself doesn’t aware of these boxes of clothes (heavily implied that it was his wife who did it), and that he learns to sew because he promises her to, and that his own contribution (from 17yo to 20yo) says best about his love to Hime more than any words can convey
But what I am impressed the most in this second week is how the show conveys consistent themes to a big picture. The first set piece in this episode is a gag about how mangaka distracts themselves before the deadline. It works well as a standalone gag, but it further ties to Hime’s own attitude when dealing with her familial issues. When it comes to more sensitive subject matters like her Mother and her Dad’s job, she decides not to think much about that, in fear that it might break the happiness that she and Gotou currently have.
Other than this we have lots of standalone gags, some are pretty funny and some are just okay. The “Kamakura syndrome” is a fine joke, for example, and I enjoy the segment where the team goes on holiday and ends up drawing instead (and pros for the random Indian chef). Other two gags don’t hit me as hard, one involving him trying to all his works’ booglet’s mechs in the fair (yeah, jokes involves around him trying to conceal his job already felt one-note), and the other gag surrounds the cops mistaking them for antisocial cult group, but in reality, don’t they fit the bill perfectly?
Ps: I missed the detective agency. Bring them back pleassse
I’m pretty mixed on Kakushigoto – but I think you’re supposed to be. On the one hand, I’m mildly enjoying the humour – I think the gags mostly land (shots fired at Chinese copyright violators). Kakushigoto is really the same character setup as Usagi Drop, but trying to integrate humour like Barakamon instead of the feels. I guess it sort of works, but the fact this is all a retrospective (and seemingly a post-mortem) is really bringing down the vibe.