Tonkatsu, Shibuya, Akitarou and now Seki Tomokazu?  This just gets better and better.

Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou is one of those short anime that just about define why the form works – and why it’s the underrated and unseen gems that sometimes bring the most enjoyment.  From the BGM to the fabulous ED, this show is simply fun.  And this episode was no exception, featuring as it did the introduction of Seki-san as Fuji Raita.  He’s another memorable, outsized character in this cast of eccentrics, a local writer who does a local magazine article about Agetarou-kun after seeing his debut performance.

One can only imagine the thrill it must be for a tonkatsu-ya kid to see his name in print, and Akitarou and Yamashita Daiki really do a great job bringing that thrill to life.  Fuji-san is a font of information, not least about himself.  He provides an endless list of the topics he writes about (listing “ero” twice), but clearly the club scene is a special passion.  He’s also possessed of deep reserves of charm, as he steadily wins over the likes of Saddam-san and the rest of Agetarou’s family with his encyclopedic knowledge and dexterity with bad puns like “Parse that” (my goodness, do the Japanese love puns).

Fuji provides another mentor for Agetarou on this journey, complimenting him on his old-school taste in records and even providing him a book (he wrote it, natch) on all the tracks a DJ needs to know, even taking him to a grown-up bar (where Agetarou dutifully order a ginger ale – “good for what ales ya”).  I have no idea whether what Fuji says about this generation of young millennials being a font of DJ talent is actually true, but it’s obvious that the one Fuji dubs as the best of the lot, Yashiki Kuraudo, is destined to be a part of the story going forward.  What guy wouldn’t want to have been Agetarou, heading off into the night with his head buzzing with amazing new facts and ideas, dreaming of his future and being a star?  It’s a pretty cool vibe this show has going for itself, that’s for sure.