(L) Dagashi Kashi

[Shlugo]

Evil organizations steal Dagashi.

World of Dagashi is a battlefield. Of Gundams. Complete with a Colony Drop.

Left Hand of God and Devil Sword. Secret techniques passed along generations.

Kokonatsu and Hotaru become adults by doing it raw.

Drunk Hotaru is amazing.

The story of Whistle Ramune was inspirational.

Another great episode. This anime is hilarious.

[Albel VII]

The second episode wasn't as funny as the first one, —the whistle candy part was a bit too long and wasn't all that interesting— but I still had a few good laughs, especially towards the end when Saya joined the card flipping game.

[rladls2121]

That card flipping game, I also played it long time ago, using folded newspapers.

Now that i think about it, I wonder where this game originated from?

[Iron Maw]

Originally Posted by Blueknight78

time to try to explain:
This anime is a parody focused on snacks.
Houtaru is a chuunibyou of snacks
All the episodes will be focused on snacks like a merchandise of snacks each episode will be focused in talk about one type of snack
romance here is near 0, is full crush over hotaru but never able to express it since hotaru only have snacks in her head the other girl have little screen time(she not will be present on each episode or even close to it unless "fillers") for peoples which are watching only for her.

The focus is away mc and hotaru having a talk about snacks and hotaru doing crazy things while "coconotsu kun watch her weirdness.

Then for peoples which are expectating romance focus you are wasting your time, for peoples which are expectating a more "serious or complex" plot you also is wasting your time, this serie will be "the episode of the week" type with a lot of gag and crazy things on the focus.

With this in mind this serie is for peoples which are looking for "funny and weird things' and absurdity with funny characters.

This.

Hotaru and her crazy antics are pretty what most people watch/read this for. But sadly yeah, the comedy is pretty hit and miss often enough.

[SeaDoor]

I understand the general format of this show but still I thought this episode spent too much time on Hotaru's antics. It is asking a lot of a VA to have to carry the bulk of an episode especially where there are other characters available. I am concerned that mainly focusing on Hotaru will get tiresome pretty fast.

[DXMichael]

Originally Posted by SeaDoor

I understand the general format of this show but still I thought this episode spent too much time on Hotaru's antics. It is asking a lot of a VA to have to carry the bulk of an episode especially where there are other characters available. I am concerned that mainly focusing on Hotaru will get tiresome pretty fast.

I agree with this. If her antics are the main focus of the show why is she so....non entertaining. If executed better then maybe this idea would work better but for the most part a lot of her rambling is just boring or not funny overall.

Maybe it'll improve, it's probably harder to understand her since she is limited to talking about food, Japanese specific food to be precise.

[Dop]

Like the 'lucky bag' I'd get from the sweet shop in my childhood, parts of this show are pretty good, but parts of it lose their flavour on first lick and seem just tasteless filler to chew over...
...or am I overdoing the simile?

Some of the episode worked for me, and some of it was a bit tiresome. Maybe it means more if you know what Hotaru's talking about?

Hopefully each episode won't consist entirely of Hotaru geeking out over sweeties, and have some kind of story. Maybe they'll switch formats and got some of that out of the way first.

It'd kind of be a shame, as I liked the characters and there were some funny bits - the Gundam parody and even more so Gum-Whistle-Sempai - which Coconuts spotted was an allegory.

[Blueknight78]

Originally Posted by SeaDoor

I understand the general format of this show but still I thought this episode spent too much time on Hotaru's antics. It is asking a lot of a VA to have to carry the bulk of an episode especially where there are other characters available. I am concerned that mainly focusing on Hotaru will get tiresome pretty fast.

Originally Posted by Dop

Like the 'lucky bag' I'd get from the sweet shop in my childhood, parts of this show are pretty good, but parts of it lose their flavour on first lick and seem just tasteless filler to chew over...
...or am I overdoing the simile?

Some of the episode worked for me, and some of it was a bit tiresome. Maybe it means more if you know what Hotaru's talking about?

Hopefully each episode won't consist entirely of Hotaru geeking out over sweeties, and have some kind of story. Maybe they'll switch formats and got some of that out of the way first.

It'd kind of be a shame, as I liked the characters and there were some funny bits - the Gundam parody and even more so Gum-Whistle-Sempai - which Coconuts spotted was an allegory.

Unfortunatelly that is pretty much the focus on this show unless they change it and don't follow the source (manga) and a original story otherwise will be:
1 coconuts on his family shop
2 something weird start to happen
3 hotaru appear
4 a talk about a "japanese snack" start
5 more weird things happen
6 then a last joke and the episode ending.

the original source is a manga who is almost a 4koma with something like 8 to 12 pages per chapter the anime is adapting like 3 chapters per episode, the manga is pretty short and is focused on gags over japaneses snacks, the anime is really for a "specific target" peoples which could be expectating something more then is better drop now which again unless the anime team goes a "original" route the 2 episodes are pretty much the standart of what will be the anime for the full season.

The focus is really hotaro antics and snacks, just for peoples know about japanese snacks and some gags with her crazyness.

[Tenzen12]

Originally Posted by SeaDoor

I understand the general format of this show but still I thought this episode spent too much time on Hotaru's antics. It is asking a lot of a VA to have to carry the bulk of an episode especially where there are other characters available. I am concerned that mainly focusing on Hotaru will get tiresome pretty fast.

Yeah, pretty much this, actually It's two episodes and I already am tired of Hotaru and her antics. How should I put it... It's not like I don't find gundam references funny and suff, but shows lack direction. Well, Saya make a difference and that's good enough, I guess.

[SuitUp]

So Saya is/will be filler? Well damn, color me dissapointed

[Blueknight78]

Originally Posted by SuitUp

So Saya is/will be filler? Well damn, color me dissapointed

no she is part of the cast, it's just she don't appear too much, the focus is more hotaru and coconuts, well since the anime is adaptating like 3 to maybe 4 chapters per episode then we have a big chance of her appear more in anime but overal she have really little role/screentime in the manga like appear once every 3 to 5 chapters.

[erneiz_hyde]

Originally Posted by Blueknight78

no she is part of the cast, it's just she don't appear too much, the focus is more hotaru and coconuts, well since the anime is adaptating like 3 to maybe 4 chapters per episode then we have a big chance of her appear more in anime but overal she have really little role/screentime in the manga like appear once every 3 to 5 chapters.

And since you say each episode is about 3-4 chapters, we can expect her to appear every episode or another!

I'm more Hotaru fan myself though so it isn't bothering me as much.

[Blueknight78]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

And since you say each episode is about 3-4 chapters, we can expect her to appear every episode or another!

I'm more Hotaru fan myself though so it isn't bothering me as much.

yeah pretty much she gonna appear more in anime than in manga based on the anime pace.

[Hakuro]

The thing about Dagashi is mainly the lenght of each episode, 24 mins per episode is too much for this, 5-10 mins max it should be the best way to adapt this.

The manga is average, doesn't shine on any aspect and how people started to like this more was thanks to the doujins - ironically some of them are even better - so I'm not surprised viewers can't get into Dagashi.

[Blueknight78]

Originally Posted by Hakuro

The thing about Dagashi is mainly the lenght of each episode, 24 mins per episode is too much for this, 5-10 mins max it should be the best way to adapt this.

The manga is average, doesn't shine on any aspect and how people started to like this more was thanks to the doujins - ironically some of them are even better - so I'm not surprised viewers can't get into Dagashi.

not my case i really love the manga and the comedy, hotaru doing antics really hit me in a good spot i never read any doushijin, then really is more about "taste".

yeah about the lenght i also feel which 5 minutes was the best because really the source don't have too much material to be a 24 episodes since each chapter is really short, but they choose to give 24 minutes and use many mangas as they can well, this can make we see a lot of chapters adaptated which is good but again this show is not for peoples which are expectating "plot".

[Marcus H.]

To me, the problem (or is it?) is that the story is about Japanese sweets in a Japanese neighborhood delivered in a completely Japanese way. Gintama had the same problem with its comedic aspect where those who aren't used to being battered with this kind of humor will end up finding it distasteful at the very worst.

Personally, I found myself pausing every once in a while during the episode because I can't relate to the stuff featured, all except the intro of the Whistle Candy, which reminded me of Polo Candies, "The Mint with the Hole". (I don't think anybody can whistle out using Polo Mints, though.)

EDIT: Oh, and Pogs. I remember having those when I was a kid, but I've played more running around and shit than slamming paper on the ground.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

To me, the problem (or is it?) is that the story is about Japanese sweets in a Japanese neighborhood delivered in a completely Japanese way.

IMO it's not really the series' problem. It's more like our problem as a foreign audience since we're not the target audience of the show and not really familiar with the material for its comedy. It's like if we aren't familiar with Typemoon works going into Carnival Phantasm, the whole series will just be one big "WTF?!" (in a bad way). Do we blame the show for our lack of familiarity with its joke material? Well, if we are wise people, we should not. We should just admit that the comedy is not for us and it didn't hit us effectively.

[Master_Yoma]

Hotaru going on about some weird candy that messy and really know how to play drunk with was awesome

[Flower]

Originally Posted by Hakuro

The thing about Dagashi is mainly the lenght of each episode, 24 mins per episode is too much for this, 5-10 mins max it should be the best way to adapt this.

The manga is average, doesn't shine on any aspect and how people started to like this more was thanks to the doujins - ironically some of them are even better - so I'm not surprised viewers can't get into Dagashi.

Actually I have been having a different experience with the series and find myself of a different opinion on almost every point....

I am glad that it is a full length ep treatment and not a short - I enjoy the opportunity to become more and more immersed in the slow pace and wacky off-the-wall humor of both the characters (especially Hotaru, of course) and the subject matter. I feel that if it were adapted as a short series it might be even more difficult to experience the immersion factor of the material.

To be fair I would say that only SOME viewers cannot get into the series.

Also, for me the manga is not average either. It is quite good; I have been following it since very early on and have always found it able to deliver on the comedic front for myself.

****

On a more general aspect of things though....

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

IMO it's not really the series' problem. It's more like our problem as a foreign audience since we're not the target audience of the show and not really familiar with the material for its comedy. It's like if we aren't familiar with Typemoon works going into Carnival Phantasm, the whole series will just be one big "WTF?!" (in a bad way). Do we blame the show for our lack of familiarity with its joke material? Well, if we are wise people, we should not. We should just admit that the comedy is not for us and it didn't hit us effectively.

I agree with an aspect of the caveat Obelisk brought up though ... I don't think it is right to criticize a series because the viewer is unfamiliar with the subject matter. If that is the case we are a bit more of the issue ... though to a degree.

One way the series can begin to bridge the gap is by ... well ... slow and patient immersion. Getting people slowly used to the whole realm the humor revolves around and the characters find themselves in.

Also, a point that has been brought up - the two eps that we have seen have been pretty faithful to the manga source. As far as I am concerned that is something that should be appreciated.

On the one hand comedy is almost always hit or miss to begin with, and that factor gets even moreso if the subject matter of the comedy is outside of the experience or knowledge of the subject matter of the viewer.

With that in mind, then, I like the approach the series has been taking, which is letting the material speak for itself without trying to re-tell it, or "dumb it down" or even reinterpret it for the audience in a way that would be "more accessible". If it clicks for you then it clicks, if not, it doesn't.

Well ... this is just my take on the source manga and the adaptation, though. Others may have different experiences or feel it should have been gone about in a different way.

For myself this is the most effective comedy based series of this season. Each ep has had me constantly giggling or chuckling to myself. Without my knowing barely anything about the subject matter. And being part of the Western audience. And I know I am not alone in that - I have come across many of similar backgrounds who have had a similar experience in relation to the manga. (Though again, to be fair, there are also those who do not click with or lose interest with the source manga as well.)

Why not just see it as not clicking for oneself and moving on to other things? To be sure there are plenty of other offerings this season....

[Yamada II]

Episode 2
Lol this is just so stupid. "Left Hand of God" lol. Hotaru didn't know about this secret move. The comedy hit all the right points. Hotaru is damn crazy (and sekushi) and makes every situation hilarious. She had some pretty cool stories.

Coconuts just got another enemy as Saya wants him to takeover the shop otherwise he will then eventually go away to another place for his manga leaving her as she would still have to tend to her coffee shop.

This stuff is just too funny, man. Brilliant stuff.