Story: Just because everyone on the show calls him that, we're going to refer to our main character as Coconuts. Now, Coconuts lives in a very small town out in the countryside. He dreams of becoming a mangaka and works tirelessly every day to make good manga. His father, You, on the other hand, has other plans. He wants his son to take over the family business, a dynasty that has spanned several generations. Owning...a candy store. It is here where Coconuts meets someone new to the village who embarks on a journey of candy and other penny food products.
Dagashi Kashi is, as I've stated before, one gigantic advertisement for Japanese candy and shop goods. The basic story line has our 4-5 characters split the screentime of a single episode into two parts. The A part has them talk about a candy or store good. The B part also has them talk about a candy or store good. A different candy or store good. And that is our whole plot. No seriously, that is our whole plot. As such, Dagashi is one of those shows that is more or less a one-trick pony. They spend each half episode talking about a specific type of candy only to go more in-depth with each origin, gimmick, and the shit you can do with each individual candy, before ending off the episode.
The show uses a form of comedy that bounces off of a straight man/funny man setup where we have the characters split off into one role or the other, and create this mix of exaggerated notes and whatnot to keep the show interesting. The overall atmosphere is rather calm as there really is nothing tension-wise in this series. Overall, story is basically nonexistent in Dagashi, as there is no real sense of progression or urgency to create something interesting. The show itself is like candy, where you can just start it, watch an episode, before putting it to the side so you can watch another episode a different day if you want, like a pack of M&Ms. It's very laid-back and can get kind of boring sometimes as a result of that.
Overview:
+ Educational? (I mean, if you're not from Japan, you're being educated on Japanese candy.)
- There's...really nothing going on. It's literally just candy.
Characters: Dagashi Kashi has 5 characters. 5. That's it. All of these characters are one-dimensional characters that really have nothing of real importance to them. There's no development, and you more or less have to go off of their innate traits in order to even relate and/or like any of them. As mentioned before, the show plays off of a straight man/funny man routine with the characters more or less evenly split amongst the two roles.
Coconuts. Main Protagonist. Wants to be a Mangaka, doesn't want to take over the candy shop business, but ironically knows far too much about candy and or snack foods than he really should. (More or less designated straight man.)
Hotaru. Main female Protagonist. Obsessed about candy and snacks. (That is an understatement might I add.) Eats Dagashi. Eats more Dagashi. Basically doesn't do anything else but eat Dagashi this entire runtime. Also kind of crazy. (More or less the designated funny woman.)
Tou. Coconuts's friend. The token pervert of the series. (Really, that's all we know about him. More or less a designated funny man more than anything else.)
Saya. Tou's twin sister who also has a crush on Coconuts. Not really a big fan of candy but deals with it on a constant basis nonetheless. Secret boss for a lot of things and a generally likable character. At least to me. (The designated straight woman in this case.)
You. Coconuts's dad. Doesn't act his age and appears the least in the whole series. Is also quite obsessed with candy himself.
As you can see, there really isn't much to say about any of these characters. The fact that there's not really much to talk about either of them, nor is there any possible way for me to really analyze them more than I already have really just drives home the fact that you can watch an episode of this stuff like...once a month, and you can go back to it really knowing what happens since there really isn't much to remember.
Overview:
+ Small cast. (Like...REALLY small cast.)
- Each member is...rather one dimensional.
Art: The art of Dagashi is drawn in a way that really doesn't have much in the way of memorabilia. It's drawn with a relatively unique style with the unique eye choice of being tiny dot pupils rather than big moe eyes, but on the flipside, there really isn't much to say about the artwork.
One thing to note is that they go a Shokugeki route with the art, making some scenes very...risque. Well, not risque, but the show sometimes insinuates things with its characters during some scenes and that gives off a bit of an ecchi feeling for the show.
Overview:
+/- Decent art
+/- Some ecchi/ecchi related moments
Sound: The OP is an energetic song to relate to the overall feel of the show in comparison to the fact that a lot of what the show does involves somewhat energetic sequences in order to keep itself interesting and entertaining. It's a decent OP, but it's not the best.
The ED on the other hand features an Alice in Wonderland inspired visuals with a sort of generic ED song. There really isn't much to say here. Point being, the OST isn't really all that memorable.
Overview
+/- Meh OST
Personal Enjoyment: Dagashi Kashi is...well it's a show. I don't really harbor many ill or positive feelings towards this show simply because of the fact that it stylized itself the way it did. The original manga for this series more or less is structured the same way, and concerning myself with the fact that they more or less did a faithful adaptation to the more or less one-note comedy gag manga featuring sweets and adverts doesn't seem fair.
Did I like this anime?
Out of everything about this anime, the one thing I liked most was Saya. Saya is by far my favorite character in this series and I don't know why. Maybe it's because she's not overly tsun and she's a tsundere type character I grew to like, but aside from that, I really have no explanation.
What didn't I like about this anime?
Honestly....really nothing. As mentioned before, this anime doesn't really evoke much hatred for me cause it more or less does its own thing, and there's just not much to say.
Would I recommend this anime?
If you want to learn about Japanese candy or just have some time to kill and you don't want to watch a 3 minute short, then here's Dagashi Kashi for you. There really isn't much to say about this show. It's a show devoted to telling its viewers what and how Japanese candy works, roughly tackling about 24 or so different snack foods that exist in the Japanese market today. As such, Dagashi merits more as a time waster than an actual series anime to get into. Just be mindful to bring a snack when watching, cause this show has been known to evoke in some...hunger, on occasion.
Final Note: Also, since this anime is basically a huge advertisement, I'mma put my own here because why not. Ahem. "Come down to PyraXadon's anime page! We got reviews, LOTS OF THEM. And I'm always active, so if you got any questions, I'll always be around! I also give out advice for reviewing. If...you want that, that is. Come on down!"
