Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou is an interesting series to watch for me, because of the worlds it depicts is one I know quite well – Shibuya.  But the other world, the DJ and club scene, is one I know very little about.  So I see things that make me laugh because of their familiarity while at the same time learning bits and pieces about a subject that I never before found all that interesting.

One thing I know for sure – the club scene is huge in Tokyo, and Shibuya is one of its hotbeds.  All of the street scenes depicted in this episode – the four guys in crazy costumes running around advertising something, the guy at the drugstore shouting about discounted shampoo, et al – were my daily backdrop as I walked from Shibuya Eki to my school, and wandered the streets and alleys of Shibuya afterwards.  But I never wandered into one of those clubs, or even the smoky record stores filled with diggers.  Even as foreign as it is Shibuya feels like home, but those places are truly another country.

One of the things I’m especially enjoying about Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou is the process of watching a young artist find his voice.  Be it DJ-ing or anything else, all of us who want to express ourselves creatively go through a process of self-discovery (hopefully with a little help, as Agetarou is getting), where we find out what speaks to us.  For Agetarou it’s fast mixes, and scratches – and old-school records without too much flash.  It’ll be very interesting to see how his first gig turns out, but thanks to his posse it seems very likely he at least won’t be playing to an empty house.

Of course, Agetarou is a tonkatsu DJ, so applying what he’s learned at the restaurant is a given.  It reminds me of Shou from Ginga e Kickoff applying his restaurant expertise to being a table-setting playmaker in soccer.  Is there a more classic moment in shounen then the first time the young hero is allowed to touch the meat?  Of course, I don’t think Saddam-san thought his son was going to (Usain) bolt with it – but he’s taking Agetarou more seriously than ever before.  Ironic that finally finding an outside interest is what prompted Agetarou to appreciate the magic of what was happening under his own roof – or was that the whole point?