Seriously – I don’t know what’s more amazing, that being an entire episode or the fact that it was so brilliant.
I admit it, I’m in love with Dagashi Kashi. I’ve fallen hard for this series’ utter lunacy, triviality and blend of sweetness and naughtiness. And the incredibly loveable cast of characters. And too the fact that this is one of the most Japanese shows I remember – not just in its obsession with the minutiae of Japanese daily life, but in its bulldog obsession with minutiae generally (which, I find, is an important quirk of the Japanese national character).
This episode was definitely a showcase for Hotaru in all her glorious bakayarocity. Saya has tended to overshadow her at times (much to the chagrin of manga readers) but I find Hotaru to be an equally winning character for totally different reasons. In the first chapter the McGuffin is Hotaru’s mouth ulcer, which effectively allows Dagashi Kashi the opportunity to show us Hotaru mercilessly battering the sensible Saya with her relentless idiocy until poor Saya finally cracks under the pressure (as any of us would).
The dagashi introduced here are an interesting bunch (is there no end to them?). First we have “Watapachi”, which seems to be a sort of Japanese version of Pop Rocks, except they start out as a fluffy, sugary mass. Naturally this is the worst possible candy to eat when you have a canker sore – another shot across Saya’s bow – but that doesn’t stop Hotaru. Then we have “Unchoco” – literally “Poop Chocolate” – which has understandably become a sensation among elementary school boys but rather offends Saya’s delicate girlyness. Natch, Saya seems to have no idea (that’s a big recurring theme) of the implication of this candy’s name and design.
Things get even more hilarious when Kokonotsu is swapped out for Saya in Hotaru’s firing line. First, she puts on a ridiculous charade about actually being from Osaka and occasionally letting her Osaka-ben slip out (Kokonotsu correctly guesses she’s faking). All of this is (somehow) in the service of teaching Kokonotsu a lesson about how not all dagashi is just candy, sometimes it can be eaten with meals – which she chooses to illustrate with an Eastern-Japanese delicacy called Sakura Daikon (daikon with vinegar, another terrible thing to eat with a mouth sore). The rimshot here is when Hotaru “leaves”, then re-appears a moment later with a “Maido! Mokkari-makka?” greeting for Kokonotsu.
The capstone of the episode is a truly hilarious series of the double entendres Dagashi Kashi does so brilliantly, starting with Hotaru asking poor Coconuts “Do you like boobs?” Well, of course he does – but this is Hotaru we’re talking about, so Coconuts’ mature act in answering falls flat (pun intended). The snack at the center of this story is “Oppai Aisu” – boob ice-cream, though Coconuts insists that it should be called “bomb ice cream“. Truthfully, I can see why either name would fit.
I don’t think much needs to be said about what the mere existence of this snack says about the delicious weirdness of the Japanese (who pretty much only use the “oppai” label for it), but in Dagashi Kashi terms it’s one of the funniest moments of the series. “Breasts are for sucking” indeed – and I love the fact that what Coconuts remembers in this moment is eating the ice cream with Saya when he was a kid and her saying “You look just like a baby!”. What really sells this is that even as Hotaru blurts out the punchline, she has absolutely no idea why it’s the punchline – or why Coconuts looks so uncomfortable after one of the dagashi explodes all over her face and chest…
sivilyslare
March 11, 2016 at 8:28 pmThis is quite possibly the best true slice of life episode I’ve ever seen, since I don’t count Barakamon’s episode 8 since I regard that as more of a coming-of-age story.
infohack
March 11, 2016 at 8:50 pmI’ve been reading this blog for a while now, and my taste in anime aligns with your quite a bit, Seirei no Moribito is in my top five. You are free to enjoy a series like Dagashi Kashi, which I dropped about four episodes in, but to describe it as “brilliant” really undermines your credibility. That looks to me like cheap fan service. It’s not hard to see the symbolism here.
I don’t necessarily dislike fan service-heavy series, but they are what they are, and that is rarely something worthy of being called “brilliant.”
Guardian Enzo
March 11, 2016 at 9:22 pmThank you for giving your permission…
infohack
March 12, 2016 at 5:42 amThat’s fair, I suppose that came off as condescending, my apologies. I’m not trying to be overly critical, I really enjoy your analysis and insight, that’s why I keep coming back to this blog. To each their own. but Dagashi Kashi isn’t something I would consider worthy of deeper analysis. I don’t see much difference between it and Kono Subarashii. They are entertaining and fill a niche, but aren’t necessarily interesting enough to read about. I’d rather hear your thoughts on a re-watch of a classic series or a discussion of Japanese culture.
The thing that set me off was the header image, which is clearly an allusion to a certain sub genre of porn. I have issues with gratuitous fan-service, I think it’s holding anime back and turns off a lot of people who would otherwise enjoy anime.
* Please ignore/delete my comment below Gerard Jerry’s, I’m not used to the new format and clicked the wrong reply button.
Gerard Jerry
March 11, 2016 at 11:03 pmI am with you this was Hotaru at her best Zany way of looking at things. Saya vs. Hotaru was like the Shodown at the OK corral sit back and enjoy.
There was so much innuendo. The hesitation by Saya to eat The Candy out of the box because of how it was dispensed even mpre so after Hotaru declared a ” Poop Party”:
I was laughing throughout the episode, The Pop candy segment . And the Random WTH I am from Osaka declaration that turned out not to be. The Tamago Ice cream just left you like wow !
You have to think was Hotaru in so much pain and being over Zany was her way of feeling better. We are not teven close to how Hotaru truly thinks. We think we do but she keeps amazing us.
But the anime is so much like Non-Non Biyori simple slice of life except very mature material. In a way Hotaru is like a grown up Renge always going the distance.
Gigaknight21
March 12, 2016 at 6:54 amThis is a blog where someone’s writing about things he thinks are entertaining…not a literature department graduate thesis.
If you don’t think boob and poop jokes are funny, then don’t read the reviews for this particular series. Plenty of people do, and appreciate reading well-written takes on them.
Eers
March 13, 2016 at 7:33 amman anime’s like dagashi kashi and konosuba are so great they put me in the mood for more serious works. There’s something to be said bout watching chilled anime to get in the mood for more serious works but this is pretty great in its own right. I do feel that the ecchi factor was lower than what i was expecting though im not complaining.