Dagashi Kashi

Dagashi Kashi
By Kokonotsu Yen (9 Yen, 50 Cent's Japanese half cousin)

I'll take you to the Dagashi shop
I'll let you lick the watapachi-pop
Go 'head girl don't you stop
Keep going 'til you hit the Toppo, whoa

I'll take you to the Dagashi shop (yeah)
Hotaru, one taste of what I got
I'll have you spending all you got (come on)
Keep going 'til you hit the Hi-Chew, whoa

You could have it your way, how do you want it?
You gon' sip that Ramune, or should I put some Pocky on it?
Temperature rising, okay, let's go to the next level
Shikada-dashi jam-packed, hot as a tea kettle

Yeaaah, so, Dagashi Kashi: a show that serves basically as a 4.5 hour commercial for various Japanese candy manufacturers under the pretense of a slice of life comedy. This show started off as a curiosity to me- it was charming in its simplistic, unassuming stance- as nonthreatening as an anime can possibly be. Yet at the same time, the early episodes had some really strange happenings that I can only describe as "Japan". This novelty was endearing for a while, and with the backdrop of the candy store- I though this show could be a fun little niche thing for a while, but the novelty soon wore thin. The beginning was amusing, but then quickly fell into a plodding middle- especially given that Dagashi Kashi shows its hand very quickly, and then continues to play the same cards, in a sense. It picked up again around the ending, promising a little more in the way of romantic subplots, but like most shows of one cour in length- ends up going absolutely nowhere.

This show features one of, if not THE smallest cast I've ever seen in an anime. 5 characters- and one of them appears in maybe two episodes. There are RARELY even unnamed passers by in this show- it focuses solely on the main 4: Kokonotsu, Hotaru, Saya, and To.
Kokonotsu is our put upon protagonist- charged with running his absentee dad's candy shop (which apparently is famous, yet has no other customers besides mostly Hotaru, but also Saya and To). He flip flops between being white dwarf-level dense and a go-getter, but ultimately settles for being another trope-guy.
Hotaru is a rich heir to a prominent candy manufacturing family, whose airheaded-ness is surpassed by only her obsession with eating candy. So much so, that she even frequently hallucinates that she is talking to, making out with, or otherwise in 'actual' love with candy. She a freak, though.
Saya and To are twins, and the best friends (and possibly only other people in town?) of Kokonotsu. To is the typical good natured perv friend, and Saya happens to be a master of everything she attempts (our perfect human being character), except the ways of love.

One last thing of note is the artwork. The overall design is very minimalistic, but one specific part of the character designs will stick with me- the eyes. The characters in this show have some of the strangest eyes I've ever seen. Hotaru has spirals instead of pupils, and most of the other characters have extremely beady eyes or look incredibly sleep deprived. It adds another odd element to an oddity of a show.

Overall, this show is about as interesting as vanilla ice cream- but if learning the names of a bunch of Japanese candy and getting a sales pitch in animated form is exciting to you- by all means, give it a spin. read more

Tl;dr 4.4 out of 10. no oppai, no plot, lots of talking about snacks.

This show starts completely different than it actually is. We start with a young aspiring manga artist who works in his dad's rural snack shop. It's a boring little shop with few customers. One day a pretty girl walks in and announces she's someone important and then goes on to challenge the main character in some snack themed contest and then does it again and again and again and so on.

The story pretty much derails after the first two episodes and falls into a formulaic feedback loop:
Start of episode: boring snack shop.
part 1: introduce some mundane problem that a character acts like it's the end of the world (think first world problems).
part 2: somehow this has to do with a snack (no, really it doesn't).
part 3: the history and other random useless facts on said treat (boring).
part 4: some sort of bet is made (which they never actually do, no matter who wins).
part 5: a contest that usually doesn't make sense takes place (only part where something happens).
part 6: win or lose or don't complete the contest. nothing ever comes out of this.
part 7: the episode ends.

That's pretty much it. This is especially odd since the first ep looks like this might have a bit of ecchi theme to it which is followed by some semblance of a plot and a promise of some high jinks, however that is the only episode that offers any of those things.

In the background there's an interesting slow developing love triangle with the two female characters and the main character. I really wish the story would have focused on that more as it is kind of interesting. The two pretty girls have good traits and the main character is likable but the show all but abandons them to play out a history lesson on snacks that you never knew existed, assuming you're not from Japan. I'd still wager that even if you are from Japan and/or you do know all of these snacks, you'll care just as little.

Story: 2
Art: 6
Sound: 6
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 2
Overall 4.4/10 read more

So Kokonotsu... do you wanna try becoming adults?

Say yes you beta bastard, say yes!

Anyways, Dagashi Kashi! This series was the one I was most interested in before it aired. Why? Because of that busty babe on the picture! And now, after watching it, I can confidently say that Dagashi Kashi was actually the complete opposite of what I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be a story about young Kokonotsu, an aspiring mangaka, and his struggles of dealing with Hotaru, that sweet sexy thang, who wants Kokonotsu to take over his dad's candy shop instead! Well, sure... that's kind of what the show is about. But is it really?

Nah.........

Dagashi Kashi is a textbook example of a "nothing happens" show. However, it isn't by any means boring! It isn't like Glasslip tier of nothing happens, it's more of like the things that do happen are borderline irrelevant to any sort of "plot" this show tries to tell.

Did I mention "plot?" Well, I take it back, for there is none. Dagashi Kashi purely consists of skits and character interactions. As entertaining as some of these skits are, they really don't add up to become some amazing story. Quite the opposite, actually, for they don't add up at all! They are all their own little equations.

And now most of you guys reading this review must wonder why I still give it a 7, and that is because Dagashi Kashi is by no means a bad show! In fact, it was one of the more enjoyable ones this season! Sure, since a lot of the jokes are about Japanese candy, and not a lot of you people are Japanese, you might think the jokes are incredibly hit or miss. But the extremely colorful and dynamic characters more than makes up for it! Dagashi Kashi is definitely an enjoyment > quality type of anime.

Pros:
- Great characters! They are all really characteristic and fun, and none of them are hateable.
- Very catchy OP and ED!
- I really like the character designs!
- Character interactions are very humorous.
- Surprisingly good use of flashbacks!
- There's romantic tension? What....

Cons:
- Less story than Musaigen.
- While the character interactions are spot on, the jokes themselves are very hit or miss. For most caucasians, you won't find most, if any of the jokes funny. I'm Chinese, and Chinese candies are close enough. (Not really.)
- No memorable OST.

Story: 5
But Yuni, there is no story? Why not a 1? Well, that's because the events that actually do happen within this "story" are actually pretty entertaining! Each skit is usually about a type of candy or some event based around candy. It's a story that focuses A LOT on first world problems. And these first world problems are like ridiculous ones. Whatever happens depends on the candy. Sometimes it's a history lesson about why that candy exists. Sometimes it's some competition that connects to the candy. Sometimes it's a flash back of a memory that was triggered by the candy. These events range from boring, to educational, to entertaining. But at the end of the day, the characters are the same, the plot hasn't progressed whatsoever, and yeah. NOTHING HAPPENS!!!!

Art: 8
The art is great, although nothing noteworthy or overly impressive. I do like the character designs though! This show does have a pretty unique and interesting character design, and I think it fits the characters well, especially Hotaru, who's character design makes her look both mature (BOOBIES) and childish.

Sound: 7
OP and ED are incredibly catchy! Other than that, sound is average. OST is there but you won't remember it, and the seiyuus do a good job expressing their characters!

Character: 9
Arguably the best aspect of this series, the characters of Dagashi Kashi are just so enjoyable! Their characteristics aren't the most unique, but they are just so colorful and hilarious! Hotaru's little antics and habits are really funny and you can just see the innocence just seep out of her. Saya is your typical flat tsundere, but she still has so much character to the point that she became my favorite character of the series. Also, the interactions between kid Saya and kid Kokonotsu during flashbacks were just adorable. Tou also has a lot of personality, and of course, Kokonotsu's dad is just hilarious! Kokonotsu himself is pretty generic, but he has his moments as well.

Enjoyment: 8
Dagashi Kashi was actually really fun to watch for the most part! Whenever it got entertaining, it got REALLY entertaining. However, there were parts where it got pretty boring, but the entertaining parts completely overshadow the boring ones!

Overall: 7
Dagashi Kashi is actually a pretty good show! It's light hearted and has no serious moments in it whatsoever, and is pretty much there just for fun. If you go in, don't expect any plot. But you may get some nice "plot" if you know what I mean ;)

TL;DR: Boob ice cream? Take my money. read more

At the time of writing this review, I have dropped this anime, with no plans to ever return and finish the remaining five episodes. This anime is boring. It is basically a Japanese candy commercial in anime form. Each episode is typically divided into two parts, with each part focusing on a different candy. There is also a weird crazy girl that knows too much about candy, and she is usually the one that introduces the candy of the episode.
The plot of this anime is relatively simple: Kokonotsu wants to be a manga artist, but his father wants him to take over the family business: a candy store. Hotaru wants Kokonotsu's father to work for her family's candy company, and he agrees as long as she is able to convince Kokonotsu to take over the store. This makes Hotaru begin to harass Kokonotsu about candy all the time and allows the anime to become a Japanese candy commercial. Honestly, I had forgotten about the premise of the series because they hardly ever mention it again in favor of talking about candy all the time (can you tell how annoyed I am that I was roped into watching an anime that is literally just about candy?).
The one redeeming quality of this anime is Saya. The episodes, or parts of episodes, that focus on her really stand out for me, but sadly weird crazy girl (Hotaru) gets most if the focus of the anime. I suppose if you want to learn more about Japanese candy you might find some enjoyment in this show. Being a foreigner with absolutely no previous knowledge of any of these candies led me to being either confused or bored at most of the content, and I couldn't justify finishing the series if I was just forcing myself to sit through it. 3/10
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