Review of Kakushigoto

It's often the unexpected things in life that we remember the most. Looking back on memories, both fond and terrible, are the cornerstones of what makes us up as people. And in those moments, we learn secrets about those around us. Secrets that if given some thought, give a second meaning to the actions to the ones we hold so dear. Story: For her eighteenth birthday, Hime Goto gets a mysterious key that lets her open the lock to an abandoned home near the ocean. In it, she finds her father's greatest secret: the fact that in order to keep her childhood as happy and memorable asit was, he worked as a mangaka who wrote a series involving lewd or perverted jokes instead of being the salaryman that he claimed he was.

While generally a comedic story that uses the show's main focal point as a gag, Kakushigoto is a story that bears a depressing undercurrent that puts in perspective the hardworking efforts of a single man raising his only daughter by himself. Each episode is split roughly into two halves, each running the idea of Hime accidentally finding out her father's work behind a different scenario with varying results. And it's here where the show's comedic notes usually come out and shine because Kakushi as a character is a rather eccentric personality to put it lightly. Personally, I found a couple of these A or B parts to be a little hard or tiring to watch due to the fact that the show relies so heavily on hiding the truth from Hime, and seeing the same joke be told over and over again can get exhausting.

That's not to say that the comedy of the show is bad by any means, far from it. Despite having a perverted manga being the reason why Kakushi is hiding his secret, the show instead has a lot of quirky, character moments to carry the show from beginning to end. Gags like the accidental harem Kakushi gets somehow by circumstance, and Kakushi's assistants going along with his antics and needs to help 'protect his daughter' so to speak are genuinely funny moments that, while recurring, never intruded on the story. And were instead naturally folded into the show either as a result of Kakushi's eccentricities, or because they were the instigators of it.

But the real meat of the show happens when the show delves into the solitary and quiet moments between Kakushi and Hime in their awkward one-story house in the middle of the city. The little conversations they have with each other almost mute the point of criticism of the 'tiring' story altogether because the fact of the matter is that "he's doing all of this for her". And because the show has itself split into 'before' and 'after' sections where Hime is 10 vs. when she's 18, these somber scenes become the true heart of the series when everything in the 'before times' as it were, are put into perspective when Hime is much older and she's given time to reflect on her memories from the past and what might've actually been happening then.

And it's because of that that Kakushigoto's story becomes one of the show's strongest points. The show's ability to have two opposing tones, lighthearted and sad, that can either occur concurrently and separate, is what got me so interested in wanting to see the next episode. Even after taking breaks to let what I had just watched process through. Because while watching the show, I always felt like there was something underneath the surface, and the somberness of the true reality behind the Goto family's lives was always hidden by all of their laughing and smiles. I do think that the ending was a lot more rushed than it should be, glossing over a lot of expository details and bearing a lot of cliches in order to get its ending, but in this instance, I can forgive it because the charm of the show lies in the relationship between this father of daughter, and from beginning to end, is something that's never let up.

Characters:

The Goto family involving both Kakushi and Hime are a pair that I don't really want to separate mostly on the basis of 'cause and effect', in a sense. While Kakushi from start to finish is always an eccentric character that goes on about the nitty gritty of being a mangaka and ropes his assistants into some very...interesting situations, the one unchanging thing is his devotion to his daughter. It's about as subtle as getting a brick to the face, especially when he's screaming her name from halfway down the street, but it's the little things like the small things he notices and the way he communicates to her that you can see the devotion. Hime by comparison is more of the 'effect' by reflecting more on what she has in her memory, comparing what she knows as an eighteen year old compared to what she knew when she was ten. Since the whole series is a lead up to what she finds inside of the locked home and her father's secret, the explosive nature of her feelings towards her father is the series's true payoff and really shines as what the relationship between these two characters is, and what the show is really about.

While the side cast doesn't really have the same kind of emotional beats that the Goto family does, most if not all of them are entertaining characters in their own right who should get a noteworthy spotlights because they all bounce off each other well. My favorite of the bunch is Kakushi's set of assistants, who all show up prominently enough to be put into work for other, random things aside from their intended employment of doing things like drawing background, erasing, or crosshatching. But that's just me. In reality, while the side cast's names are not really all that memorable, their involvement to the story are really what helps the world of the show feel much more involved and alive, and I really do like them and what they add.

Except you, Tomaruin. Fuck you.

Aesthetics:

Ajia-Do isn't really a company I'm familiar with. But if there's anything that can be said about Kakushigoto, the artwork and style of the show is something really unique. For some reason, the show gives me a Uchoten Kazoku/Katanagatari vibe with how the characters are drawn, and that's not a bad thing at all. Character designs are very simple, going so far to have blank faces on characters if the shots are wide enough. The color palette for the show is also fairly light, going more for a pastel look that adds to the child-like wonder aspect that the show's going for given how young Hime usually is. Contrasted by some comedic 'dark' moments, duller eyes on some characters, and crosshatching used in scenes instead of normal shading, Kakushigoto stands out to me as being a show with a standout style that aids the show in both function and form to its story. As well as little details as things like Kakushi's desk being filled with images drawn by Hime show up many times over the course of the show.

Animation isn't a department that the show is abundantly big on despite the simple style. True it does show up in certain moments, but there isn't really any standout 'Sakuga' moments. Instead, the show utilizes a lot of snappy frames to emphasize the eccentric nature of its cast and main character, which is only helped my Hiroshi Kamiya's voicework, which adds yet another layer to hilarity to the show because the entire time, Kakushi reminded me so much of Koyomi Araragi if he became a dad somehow. Which is just...a thought. It is a thought.

"Chiisana Hibi" by flumpool is a bright and cheery song with the kind of upbeat tone that evokes a sort of childhood wonder or happiness. It's a pleasant song that kind of ebbs and flows with the positives and negatives of life. And it's such a fitting piece for the show that I find it to be sort of the encapsulating piece that expresses what this show is about in song form. And for that reason, I find it memorable and worth more than just a couple listens. Eiichi Ootaki's "Kimi wa Tenneniro" by comparison is a forty year old japanese soft rock piece that really only makes sense as being a good song for the ED slot if you know its history.

All of this for me gives me an...interesting conundrum because while I typically only find pieces memorable on their own merit due to how they sound or if they resonate with me, the history and tonal aspects of these songs resonate with the show for reasons I didn't think I would ever really I would expect. Which honestly makes them better if I'm going to be honest, and makes the piece as a whole a lot more interesting as a watch.

Final Thoughts:

Love, loss, ambition, regret, confidence, and peace. I've long held the opinion that stories capable of showing off what being 'human' is have the highest potential at being what I consider to be some of the best pieces in any given medium. Sure the synopsis for Kakushigoto was a silly little thing that involved a perverted manga for some reason, but the potential for showing what kind of heart it could have was always there. And while I didn't end up watching or continuing too many of my planned series for the Winter 2020 season (for...some rather obvious reasons), Kakushigoto was one of those shows that I wanted to watch no matter what, even if I had to reduce the docket to a small handful of shows for the season.

The best way I can describe this show is that there always seemed to be something genuine about it. The Goto family in particular felt like a real family: one that was hurt by some unknown event to the audience, but persevered despite the obvious hole in their lives. This aspect gave the show the three-dimensionality that it needed to be more than just a comedic series and gave the show a payoff that far exceeded what I initially expected from the show. The little touches like characters losing luster in their eyes to the small visual cues on-screen when certain topics were talked about, to the intentional hiding of certain characters gave the show a kind of visual storytelling that I didn't expect, but very much appreciated because it provided that somber kick in the gut to contrast the normally happy and rowdy lives of Kakushi and his daughter.

And because the show coincides with my own morals as a person, my bias for this kind of show really shined, and I couldn't help but shed a tear, especially since it's rare that I find a show as emotionally satisfying as this one in a landscape where so many different kinds of shows and genres are showcased ad nauseam per season.

As such, I think that everyone should give Kakushigoto a shot. It's definitely got its faults, what with some faltering story beats and a little bit of an anti-climatic end, but I think the payoff and the journey to get to the final episode are worthwhile enough that the show stands on its own merits despite all of that. Besides, Araragi being a dad is just funny as shit. Like he literally acts like how Araragi would be like as a doting father.