Review of Kakushigoto

A Kouji Kumeta work starring Hiroshi Kamiya with an MC who has one of their eyes covered? I've NEVER seen that before. I've had a strange relationship with Kouji Kumeta. I recently tried to watch Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and as much as I love season one, I simply couldn't get through season two. A similar occurrence happens when I tried to watch Joshiraku but with even worse results, I only made through three episodes before having to throw in the towel. The fact I finished this means, at least to a degree, SZS wasn't a fluke. Kakushigoto is a story about the daughter of a decentlysuccessful mangaka Kakushi Goto, discovering that her dad was the author of several ecchi gag manga. Not only that but Goto had successfully hid his occupation from his daughter for her entire life, because he thought if she were to discover his career she wouldn't respect his career anymore. one can safely assume hijinks will ensure from that premise alone and they do. Most of the story takes place in the past sometime in the 2010's while Hime was ten, Eventually cutting back to the future at the end of an episode when Hime is going through the storehouse where Goto had kept copies of his work.

Kakushigoto is the most approachable work the author has made and that isn't necessarily a good or bad thing. Good in the sense that unlike his previous works there isn't as much of a reliance on references to things only Japanese people or huge weebs would understand, meaning one can find humor every episode. Though it can be bad because for those who do like his style, this can be seen as a watered down version of such. Nevertheless Kakushigoto being about a mangaka means that the author has to take the time to establish and explain what he's making jokes about, obviously because most people aren't decently successful mangaka. Meaning you will be able to understand the vast majority of the jokes as long as you've seen an anime or two so you can laugh at the tropes he does decide to make fun of.

The comedy in Kakushigoto is sometimes genuinely hilarious, while sometimes not having any effect on the viewer at all. Much like his previous work, the comedy is extremely hit or miss depending on the person and which topic Kumeta decides to explore at the time. Kakushigoto is designed to be broadly appealing, so there won't be a teacher having a harem of high school students or anything like that. I feel like I could show this to my uncle and he would probably find it hilarious as a father in his early thirties if that says anything.

Kakushigoto also has a number of heartwarming moments that occur periodically throughout each episode, typically involving goto discovering something about himself or his daughter that he didn't before and learning to appreciate her even more. These moments help to solidify the relationship and justify why Goto cares so much about his daughter, and why he would go through insane lengths to do things for her not involving hiding his job that to most would deem asinine. But at the same time I feel as though Hime is almost too perfect. I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least one investor on the production committee who committed to this seemingly niche project on the pure basis that it was good population crisis propaganda *insert Shinzo Abe meme here*. Hime is almost saccharinely sweet, instead of showing realistic comedic scenarios a single parent would have to deal with in relation to Goto's job, Kumeta instead opts for showing the platonic ideal of a daughter, or at least what someone who doesn't have kids like himself who would want in a daughter. Because of this, there is an insane contrast in how grounded Kakushigoto would like to be.

That doesn't mean there aren't effective emotional moments, there are some meditations about making manga in the 21st century that poignantly ascertains how difficult the job can be in an environment where print media in the developed world, not just Japan, is dying.

When Kakushigoto decides to be a workplace comedy about Goto and his assistants/editor is where the show really shines in my eyes. Because this isn't a rise to glory story like Bakuman, this is a show about a moderately successful middle-aged author where the likelihood of him outright losing his job isn't necessarily in the equation. It allows for insights into how the manga industry is run and what the people who work in it are like, whilst taking jabs at the various quirks that are inexorably associated with said industry. Goto, being as eccentric and difficult to work with as a mangaka can get outside of releasing chapters with long hiatus' in between, (*cough cough* Togashi *cough cough*) receives a particularly lazy, whiny, and stupid editor named tomaruin, of which at least a good chunk of the comedy comes from. There are a number of people who seem to genuinely hate this man, you will know if you hate him from episode 1 and if you do that could potentially hinder your enjoyment with the show. Goto dunks on him in the show enough that to me his inclusion is very much worthwhile. In fact Tomaruin is often unintentionally useful to Goto and once in a blue moon a great editor. Kumeta's metatextual big picture style of writing works some of its best when this character is on screen.

Honestly, the side characters in Kakushigoto outside of Goto himself aren't fleshed out that well, his assistants are far more normal than he is so they have normal lives—seems pretty self explanatory. But Goto himself is very well characterized throughout the show, it never shies away from showing the man in situations where he is vulnerable, definitely a lot more balanced in that regard than Kumeta's previous works that I've seen.

In terms of visuals, Kakushigoto is great in dodging a lot of the problems that plague modern anime. While not having any real kind of sakuga to speak of or the directorial flair of studio Shaft, especially Akiyuki Shinbo who handled SZS; Kakushigoto features solid animation with at times, especially in the future sections, well done digital backgrounds. Kumeta's style lends itself to simplicity, further accentuating the grounded yet eccentric atmosphere the show is trying to convey.

While I'm not going to spoil anything about the ending, I will say much like his most famous work SZS Kumeta pulls off an ending that not only subverts your expectations, but also recontextualizes what the entire story was about. Not to the same degree as SZS but enough that makes you feel as though the crescendo felt natural and novel at the same time. Thankfully, as he said in a video streamed by Funimation on twitter, Kakushigoto is a self contained story that is one-cour and that's that, thank God.

Overall, Kakushigoto is a comedy that most people, especially most anime/manga fans can enjoy. Unfortunately because there were inevitably some episodes I didn't find funny, or because of the previously listed issues, I wasn't one of the individuals who the show was necessarily made for. But being so short, giving this show a chance is something I definitely wouldn't miss out.