Kakushigoto
Short Synopsis: The author of a dirty gag manga strives to keep his profession hidden from his daughter.
Mario: I always like Kouji Kumeta’s brand of humor. He has that sort of dry absurdist humor which often relies on heavy wordplay and Japanese culture that would easily get lost in translation. I enjoyed his previous anime adaptations, I know I like Joshiraku more than most people out there, so I approach Kakushigoto with reasonably high expectations. You could say that out of the three works (Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Joshiraku and this one), Kakushigoto has the clearest “stake” and “story development”, the father makes it clear he doesn’t want his daughter to find out about his manga career and tries his hardest to do just that. But this premiere still relies on an awful lot of standalone gags and a mountain-size of new characters, sometimes it’s overwhelming but personally I don’t mind being overwhelmed by it. The simpleness of character designs is a delight (I’m a fan of Eccentric Family’s character arts). So far, the show works best for me when it fully embraces the absurdness of its world: Gouto’s seat cushion serves as a swimming belt, and he becomes a local hero for his action? Or the running gags of random people recognize him and enjoy his works? Bring more of these please, but the central chemistry between Gouto and his daughter is still lacking, and without it, it’s hard to invest for their action at all. All in all, this premiere earns a recommendation from me.
Potential: 60%
Wooper: I’m not a fan of Kouji Kumeta’s works. In addition to not being a manga reader, I was only able to get through one season of Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, and Joshiraku’s one cour run was too Japanese for a lowly gaijin such as myself. As such, I doubt Kakushigoto will ever set my world on fire, but I found this premiere to be moderately entertaining. The show gets decent mileage out of its gags, rather than dreaming them up and discarding them after a single use. My favorite has to be Goto’s donut-shaped seat cushion, which doubles as a feline floatation device and a projectile weapon over the course of the episode. On the other hand, the last five minutes were spent mocking Starbucks-drinking hipsters – a toothless bit of humor, especially from a social satirist like Kumeta. Backgrounds were a mixed bag, as well, but the Eccentric Family-esque character designs compliment them nicely. Speaking of that series, Kakushigoto’s ED was heavily reminiscent of its style; even if you’ve got no interest in this one, I’d recommend watching its ending theme just for the art. As for the rest of the show, I’ll give it another week before deciding whether to continue.
Potential: 50%
Hachinan tte, Sora wa Nai Deshou!
Short Synopsis: A hungry salaryman boi is reincarnated as a royal broke brat.
Amun: You have to respect a show that is true to itself – even if “itself” is really rather plain. Hachinan (not to be confused with Hachiman, who I believe is here later this season) is a pureblooded isekai, through and through – a rather pedestrian lineage, but one to be proud of nonetheless. This show looks to be a mix of Wiseman’s Grandson and Ascendance of a Bookworm – neither of which were terribly well animated, but both endearing in their own ways. I don’t see anything original here, but the characters are pleasant enough, the setting rather humorous – and who doesn’t appreciate making random meals at midnight. I’ll give this a few more episodes at least.
Potential: 35%
Lenlo: Oh Isekai, Isekai, where would we be without you my dear Isekai. Long story short, it’s about what you would expect. We have an overpowered MC thrown into another world. About the only thing interesting Hachinan does is set him up as the 8th son of an impoverished noble, ostensibly setting him up for hardships ahead. Had Hachinan not immediately undercut that by making him an incredibly powerful wizard, we maybe could have had something here. And to be fair, there might still be some decent stuff on how they use the magic to benefit their family economically. But based on this introduction, and the general direction most Isekai go, I am not particularly hopeful. It looks, acts and sounds like a generic Isekai. Odds are that’s exactly what it is. Maybe that’s up your alley, but it’s not up mine.
Potential: 5%
Nami yo Kiitekure
Short Synopsis: Young girl gets super-drunk and is taken advantage of by a middle-aged man in the worst way possible: being forced to host a radio talk-show.
Armitage: I want to like this show. I really really do. I mean, it’s about a girl in her mid-20s who’s tired of getting over break-ups and wants to find her true calling. It’s also a look at the inner workings which go into producing a podcast. So, it’s basically the radio version of Shirobako. What’s not to like, right? Well… actually, quite a lot. First off, the animation. I understand that studios must be short-staffed because of COVID-19 but the sheer number of times that the animation cut corners in this episode was frankly, appalling. From the blank faces of almost every person in the backgrounds to the bare minimum of character movements and the CGI car reminiscent of early Initial D, it’s safe to say that the show did not look good. Secondly, the A-part of the show just didn’t work for me at all. I appreciate the brave decision of dropping us right in the middle of an episode of the talk-show but it felt sort of jarring and disjointed. Though the one thing this show has going for it is novelty. It’s the kind of story that is very niche but seems really intriguing on paper. And certain aspects of the presentation do pique my interest. Like the sound design guy’s exasperation on Koda making an unnecessary yelp noise in her monologue which would prove difficult to mix or the many other intricacies of the radio production. But unfortunately, the whole package just didn’t gel together like I wished for it to. Which is a pity as I had reasonably high hopes for this and the Spring season already looks pretty thin.
Potential: 40%
Mario: I guess most of us have gone through (or will go through) the phase where all your anger and frustration boil up to the point you want to let off steam and curse the world. This is, I suppose, half of the appeal of Kiitekure, as Minare provides explosive rants after rants but not without its humor and underlying truth. The inside of how the radio station works and Minare’s on air podcasting make up the other half. I had high hope for the show but overall I’m not sold on this first episode. If every session runs like Minare’s first half on-air performance, it’s not going to appeal me much as it just consists of phony, unnecessarily over-dramatized case-scenario, random listeners’ questions and Minare’s yelling her lungs out, all which get pale really fast. The second half has a fair share of issues as well, from Mato’s ethically questionable action, to the over-the-top schtick at the end in an otherwise real setting, and inconsistency in character writing. There’s a scene where Minare wakes up and finds her shoes were neatly arranged and she comments on that, but the very scene before that we see her clothes scattering around the room. In addition, the shadows in characters’ eyes are quite distracting to look at. Still, Minare is an interesting character and this show still has its unique appeal so I still will give it a 3-episode trial. Let’s hope it sticks around.
Potential: 30%
