- No really, it has.
- We’ve reached this stage of the show, and we see that it’s a one-laugh-per-scene show. It’s something that’s not new, but somehow the fact that the good majority of these characters are unremarkable in a lot of ways makes it even worse. And yet I still can’t understand why people still like it. Or perhaps I am simply looking this at face value…with my level of patience (and I do have a lot of patience, by the way), all I can see is a dull guy infatuated with a sugar-mad girl who fans somehow seem to find attractive only because she has a big chest, meanwhile across on the other side of town is a very ordinary yet rather pretty girl and her pervy brother. Not to mention the crazy father. To a lot of people, all of this combined would make a good show, right? So is there something other people can see in this show and I can’t?
- A lot of people on Reddit have called it dull as well, so I’m not alone in my opinion. They merely say that the only reason they really watch the show is because they seem to find Hotaru’s random acts entertaining, and that that alone is the glue that holds the show together. The setting is always summer in rural Japan (and thus incredibly hot), Coconuts always moans, Saya always gets jealous (or merely laughs nervously), and so it’s only Hotaru’s actions that vary from episode to episode that make us want to come back the next week, otherwise it would just be 12 or 13 episodes of exactly the same thing…even though it’s already kind of reached that position as it is.
- However one thing we can see is that it is a very informative show. And not just that; it brings a lot of nostalgia in people who originally went to traditional candy stores. The show’s target audience is clearly not teenagers or even older teens; it’s for the over 25s who can sit back, enjoy the show and think back to when the candy they enjoyed as a child wasn’t all chocolate. This week, our chosen candy is fugashi (baked batter smothered with brown sugar) and Glico (I’d be surprised if any weeaboo hasn’t heard of that!). The scenarios of blind taste tests and a race to the coffee shop so Saya doesn’t see a drawing of here with a flat chest are the things that make this episode, alongside Hotaru’s madness. In each and every episode, two things cross my mind: one is that I wish that the show incorporated so much more, and the other just does not care anymore. And each week those two opinions change, depending on what happens when Hotaru pushes Coconuts’ buttons, Saya shows her fang, and we see Coconuts moan again and again about how hot it is.
- This isn’t the first time I’ve lost patience with a show I’ve reviewed for OASG. While Glasslip actually had something that resembled a story and Denki-Gai had some very cute pairings, the fact that Dagashi Kashi brings too much of the same thing in every episode is slowly tipping me over the edge. And even the fact that people love it is making me less sane. I think a show like this has shown me that only a show that contains an actual ongoing story instead of actual slice-of-life can keep my faith in anime intact. I keep saying to myself, and in this column, that I mean to quit slice-of-life altogether. I can be too much of a hypocrite, as many other slice-of-life shows I’ve seen have great back-story and great character design. In my eyes, this has neither, pretty much.
- But I accept it if you totally disagree with me, and you reckon that there is much more I am missing in this show.
