Oh. It’s deciding to have a plot now. Cool.

Dagashi Kashi 2
Studio: Tezuka Productions
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy

EvilBob: Hey, look! She finally won something!

CVoyage: In other news, hell froze over and the sky has fallen. All jokes aside, though, these episodes were surprisingly light on the normal riotous humor I’d come to expect. There was actually some plot in here. And character stuff too! Seriously. That just came outta nowhere. But in a good way.

EvilBob: He finally got that date he wanted!

CVoyage: Uh… maybe if we’re really stretching the limits of what constitutes a “date.”

EvilBob: Can you allow no joy?

CVoyage: Lo, I am darkness. I am sorrow. I am the end of all happiness. Look upon me an despair.

EvilBob: …So is all that on your business card or…?

CVoyage: …Maybe. Anyway, there was a bit of the usual, of course. Hotaru shows up and she’s her usual erratic self. When Kokonotsu arranges to meet with the others for a fireworks show, he winds up asking Hotaru to attend. But they miss the bus, which leads to a pretty amusing bit of him trying to get them there by bike.

EvilBob: Did you see her ninja reflexes on that dismount? That perfect landing she made?

CVoyage: …

EvilBob: I’m tellin’ ya, dude. She’s totally a ni–

CVoyage: It was interesting getting to see the two of them playing off of one another alone in this context.

EvilBob: Oh. Being ignored again.

CVoyage: It also showed that Hotaru isn’t entirely as oblivious as we might’ve originally thought. After all, she saw right through Kokonotsu’s fib about it being just the two of them. It was also kind of nice that she wanted to just spend a little time with him, one-on-one. Poor Kokonotsu, though. Having to bike all the way there.

EvilBob: Wait… isn’t she loaded? Why didn’t she just call him a cab or a personal driver or something?

CVoyage: …Holy crud, he’s right.

EvilBob: Wait, I am? So… wait… but hell already froze over, so… what does this mean?

CVoyage: *checks the papers* Well, the Eagles won the Superbowl. So there’s that.

EvilBob: Oh. Poor Philadelphia.

CVoyage: Poor? I said they won.

EvilBob: I know.

CVoyage: Oh… point. Anyway, I liked that scene. Though it also was kinda sad in retrospect.

EvilBob: Yeah, that 3 month time skip was rough. Poor Kokonotsu was so depressed. They even rehashed that opening from the first episode. Or maybe this was just revisiting it. Like everything in between was just showing what happened, leading up to it. And now here we are.

CVoyage: Yeah. 3 months without Hotaru showing up has left Kokonotsu in a really bad way. Ya feel bad for the dude. But it was actually a pretty interesting way to show a bit of character progression for him. Having him actually take the reins in typical Shonen determinator fashion to fix up the shop and all that was actually nice to see. Even if it was just his subconsciously trying to get Hotaru to come back, it showed his expertise and all the stuff he’d learned from her, etc. He even started thinking like someone in charge of the place.

EvilBob: That’s… a good point. Wait. Isn’t that exactly what Yo and Hotaru wanted, from jump?

CVoyage: …Sort of.

EvilBob: So. This could all be a part of their plan!

CVoyage: ….You just can’t help it, can you?

EvilBob: I’ll shut up.

CVoyage: I also liked that little moment between Kokonotsu and Saya, when she was helping him with the shop.

EvilBob: Yeah, that was cute. Almost seemed like there might actually be a little progression there. Of course, then To showed up to ruin it. Because of course he did.

CVoyage: As much as the cynic in me is certain that whole thing is never going to conclude, I would be absolutely floored if they actually let the childhood friend “win.” That legitimately never happens. Ever. I’d be content with either route, but surprises are nice and all.

EvilBob: And that’s basically everything. We get a little tease of what’s to come with the introduction of a new convenience store across the street. One that I assume is where we’re gonna get to meet those new characters we’ve heard so much about. And it’ll probably be where the rest of the show’s sudden interest in having a plot comes in.

CVoyage: Both episodes manage to do a pretty good job at what they’re doing – setting up for an actual narrative, progressing the characters down their natural paths, and not totally sacrificing the fun that’s carried the show so far, despite it being on the backburner, this time. I wasn’t expecting it, but I really enjoyed it. It might not be the ridiculously over-the-top Junk Food romp it was before, but it’s definitely a nice Easy Viewing session.

EvilBob: Talk about not getting what I expected. But, like we said before, in a good way. I’d say this pair of episodes is about as evil as a Super Villain (10). It’s really interesting how the show just suddenly pulled this hard turn towards drama when it had such a heavy emphasis on comedy. I liked the humor, but this was a welcome addition. But if you’re aiming for something a little weightier, check out his latest review of Beatless.

CVoyage: Or just stay tuned into Dagashi Kashi 2, which is Simulcast on Crunchyroll, Fridays at 10:30pm EST. Something tells me it’s really about to start getting good.

EvilBob: That’s pretty much all we’ve got for you today. Thanks for letting us waste your time, people.

CVoyage: As always, thanks for reading, folks. Remember to keep up the awesome.

EvilBob: And keep it classy.

CVoyage: Take care.