Dagashi Kashi

Episode 5

Dagashi Kashi pulled off another solid episode this week, and at this point seems to have largely figured out its own comic rhythm. This episode didn't have the extended formal gags or joke density of last week's episode, and so wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny or propulsive as a result - but it was still consistently endearing, and struck a more even mix of immediate jokes and laid-back slice of life sequences. Dagashi Kashi isn't thrilling, but it's turning out to be very consistently watchable.

The first half of this episode was far more focused on outright jokes, and opened with an extended, in-your-face riff on dagashi as a metaphor for drugs that I was frankly surprised to see in an anime. It opened with a dagashi handoff framed like a covert drug deal, complete with grizzled alternate-art shots of Kokonotsu's dad, before Kokonotsu turned the lights on and we saw his dad was actually wearing a ridiculous headlamp, and trading off bottle ramune with Hotaru. The show continued to buy in to that silly metaphor all through this scene, as Yo-san was framed as being addicted to bottle ramune to the point of eating all of his own shipments (doesn't he know not to get high on your own supply?!).

The jokes actually got more ridiculously on-the-nose as the scene continued, jumping from “the effect is wearing off” to “yeah, you choke on it the first time” and “your body will get accustomed to it as you continue to use it,” ending with Yo-san and Hotaru wandering off to bottle ramune detox. It was an absurd idea for a sequence, but just like how Kokonotsu's participation in last week's gags made them funnier, the chemistry between Yo-san and Hotaru sold this scene as well.

That scene led directly into a great bit where Kokonotsu found himself critiquing his father's crappy dagashi-sampling youtube channel. A large part of the humor here came from how well Yo-san imitated a very bad youtube reviewer - from his forgotten script to his awkward enthusiasm and weird personal gags, he really struck that perfect combination of lacking any professionalism while also trying way too hard. And Kokonotsu's actions also did some solid work here, as he actually got passionately into critiquing his dad's style, and in the process demonstrated his own inescapable passion for dagashi. Dagashi Kashi is a bit too gag-oriented of a show to really have much character development, and so seeing Kokonotsu express multiple sides of himself like this is a nice gift.

The episode's second half was much more low-key, and mainly involved Kokonotsu, To, and Hotaru hanging out and sampling a variety of “gambling-oriented” dagashi. There were some great Hotaru faces here, but not too many outright jokes - instead, this segment felt a bit more naturalistic and slice of life, where the appeal came from the simple camaraderie of the show's endearing cast. Hearing Kokonotsu and Hotaru swap rumors of how to tell which candy packet holds a winner felt like a classic adolescent moment, adding human texture to the characters without any outright drama.

Overall, this episode had a couple more dud jokes than the last one, and some of its more extended gags dragged a little, but it was still a fine episode overall. Dagashi Kashi is shaping up to be an unassuming but reliably enjoyable ride.

Overall: B+

Dagashi Kashi is currently streaming on Funimation.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.