Kakushigoto | Episode 9 and 10

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Hi! Today’s blog is a “double header”. I didn’t have much to write about for the 9th episode of Kakushigoto, I didn’t want to post something I didn’t have much to write about on its own, so I decided to part it with episode 10. Hope you enjoy!

Episode 9

Contrary to the general feel the other episodes have been giving off. Episode 9 is the complete opposite of it, which to me felt a little strange because I’ve gotten so used to dramatic vibe of the past few episodes. It is now Christmas season in the kakushigoto universe.

A lot of the episode is full of the usual comedy of Gotou trying his best to hide his career from Hime while also trying to complete the various commitments he has as a manga artist. This time around, the he is invited to an event and decides to bring Hime along with him.

That’s pretty much it for the episode, it really did feel kind of out of the place, given how the general feel of the anime evolved past that of a comedy. For some reason, I didn’t really like it. Maybe that is because my expectations of the anime have evolved and I am only really focused on finding out what actually happened to Gotou and why have those “present day” scenes towards the end of the episode. I want to know why we have all those things. Maybe that’s why I am less focused on the comedy of this anime, because there is something deeper in this anime that is being explored; and all the comedy thrown in feels like it’s becoming sorta like a distraction. But again, that’s just me and how I viewed this particular episode.

Overall, episode 9 wasn’t really an enjoyable episode for me, I didn’t find it as fulfilling as the other ones.

Episode 10

What I enjoyed about this episode that it featured less of the comedic “manga artist” mode that takes up almost half the episode. This time around, Gotou and Hime get to go on a vacation just the two of them and their dog roku. A vacation to a hot spring, a trip only won by Hime because she participated in a pinball lottery Gotou asked her to give a try.

Even though we didnt have the usual manga artist comedy associated with the anime. We had something else to take it’s place, while at the hot spring, apparently being there has the effect of revealing deep down secrets of the guests who were also there with the two. Seeing everyone confess/reveal the various secrets they had to a large group of people was unusually funny and entertaining.

Also contrary to it’s previous episode, towards the end of the 23 minutes, we jump back to “present time” and we’re given even more detail on Gotou as explained by Hime. We find out that Goto had quit his job, his job of drawing for a living as explained by Hime as she read through one of his old mangas, however, the reason why he quit his job; is unknown to her.

It is later explained by one of his former helpers, Rasuna Sumita. That the primary reason why he decided to quit was because he wasn’t able to make his readers laugh anymore; and I guess to Gotou, not being able to make people who read your mangas laugh like the used to means you’ve lost touch, or you no longer possess that fire you had previously.

However, this isn’t the only thing mentioned by Rasuna. What she also mentions that “Having your tragic private life revealed to the public is a fatal blow to a gag manga artist”. What is this “tragic private life” that she is speaking of? This one is a puzzle for me because all this anime has done up until this point is reveal the double life he had and even though it was a double life, it looked to be like it was a happy one in large part because he had Hime by his side every step of the way.

Also, if he did have a “tragic private life” how did it get revealed to the public? Was it deliberately leaked by Hime’s grandfather, just to spite Gotou? Or, major plot twist, Gotou himself revealed his “tragic private life” to escape from his manga artist career he no longer enjoyed doing? ALL VERY INTERESTING QUESTIONS. Looking forward to finishing this anime and finding the truth!