Review of Kakushigoto

*spoilers ahead* I'll start with that i was somewhat disappointed by this title, and personally wouldn't really suggest people to watch it, although most seem to have enjoyed it regardless. As it is in such cases, let's start with the good... The art and sound are ok. No, not good, just ok. ... And that's it. So, what's the rest? Well, imagine a show that's 4/5 parts Zetsubou sensei, and 1/5 parts usagi drop. Now imagine that both of those are much less good anime, not 7.5-9/10 (depending which of these shows we're talking about, who you are and how you liked them), but 5-7/10... And youget Kakushigoto. Let's start with the first part - Zetsubou sensei. A small part of Zetsubou's charm is that you can't really take it seriously, nor should you. That's already crossed out because despite trying to be a comedy, it keeps bringing up a looming promise of something bad in the future with flash forwards at the end of every episode. Next up is the comedy itself. While Zetsubou didn't ALWAYS hit, it made you at least chuckle a lot, and when it did (which is rather often), you'd be rolling on the floor.

Here? There's much less of that, and barely a handful of truly funny moments... Next is the overall topic. Zetsubou sensei is all over the place, laughing at anything and everything, from Japanese politics and celebs to space and sex... Its also a SOMEWHAT tricky thing as you need to understand the subject to get the joke, hence a lot of dry moments and screen fulls of data Zetsubou is famous for... Here? The only topic most times is manga and manga artists. And not only do i barely care about the topic and find it boring (or at least the anime made it super dry), but even if you DO love it, it really isn't a topic that can last you a whole series (or at least it doesn't here)... So, as a comedy its honestly rather mediocre.

What about the 'Usagi drop elements'? Well, guess you get some moments of touching, awkward, funny father and daughter interactions... But they're rarely THAT touching and nice. Then there's the drama element... And this one fails almost entirely because most of it is 1-3 minute segments after every episode... So, you get a lighthearted comedy show, a tiny glimpse of somewhat gloomy feeling foreshadowing and future exploration of the daughter into her father's past and family history, and then... ANOTHER lighthearted comedy before another glimpse! Can you take it seriously? Do you even fully remember those little bits after an episode or two to piece it all together? And in the end you get a slightly dramatic conclusion that resolves in a really boring and stress free fashion, into a happily ever after kind of ending... So it fails as a drama and father-daughter slice of life too.

So yeah, final verdict - i wouldn't recommend this to anyone, aside maybe huge manga industry fans... I give it about 6/10, if that, because most the points come out of it being decently made, but i HAVE to take away a lot more for it not really working at anything it sets to do, and being kind of a pain to watch on top.