Last month, I read a mother-themed manga for Mother's Day that ended up being really fucking weird. I might be repeating history here with Father's Day coming up. BACKGROUND:
Again, I haven't heard of this one, but I did read the synopsis and thought it was hilarious. SUMMARY: Kakushi Goto is a single dad raising his only daughter Hime in Tokyo. Every morning, the two walk to opposite sides of town for work and school respectively. Seems normal enough, until it's quickly revealed that Kakushi's been keeping his career a secret from his daughter. As it turns out, he's the artist for various raunchy manga series, and he's determined to keep that a secret so Hime doesn't disown him or be judged by other people because of it. While his intentions are understandable, the lengths he goes to in order to maintain the lie (and the shenanigans that ensue) are hilariously absurd. A lot of the volume details some of these situations, which include (but are not limited to): putting on a suit in the morning to make himself look professional in front of his own daughter (then changing out of it once he's close to his workplace), having a whole emergency drill for his office in case Hime stumbles into their studio, buying out merch of his own manga so Hime doesn't see, and forcing coworkers to lie in Hime's presence. Kakushi's own work situation is weird in itself, as his coworkers (who are only slightly less weird than him) have to deal with his eccentricities on a regular basis. Most of these involve whatever strange thing he feels he needs to do in order to make Hime happy, but there are also chapters like the team dealing with crunch, the cops investigating their studio (and getting increasingly suspicious), or a short vacation where everyone goes stir-crazy in a cabin. Despite his utterly bizarre behavior, it is established that Kakushi is nonetheless a loving father who would do anything for Hime. He overthinks absolutely every aspect of Hime's life, from how she might get bullied by others for things he thinks might happen, to what he thinks she meant about certain things she says. He's prone to extremes when catering to Hime's needs as well, exerting excessive effort just to make sure she's happy. Say what you want about the guy, but it's clear that he cares about his kid dearly. There are interstitials between each chapter that's framed like a tell-all column of the manga industry from the lens of the actual writer, and it's quite funny. The casual narrative style, the writer's self-deprecating tone, and the parallels and differences between the writer's personal experiences and Kakushi's (who he points out is not him) all come together for an entertaining read. Hime's side of the story is interesting, since it's through her that it's revealed that most of the manga is a flashback. At the very beginning, it's shown that she's already discovered her father's secret years later. Now, there's a whole mystery surrounding how and when she found out, especially considering that she's completely oblivious in the flashbacks and is more or less a normal kid who doesn't suspect a thing. Nevertheless, she thinks the world of her dad, and she wants him to be happy, too. I think the part that gets me about Hime's story is how her dad and her teacher are incredibly conscious of the fact that her mother is absent in her life. Nothing about her mother's whereabouts is established in this volume (of if the fact that she isn't here is even going to be a major plot point), but there was something really bittersweet about the adults in Hime's life going out of their way to make sure Hime doesn't feel alienated by not having a mother and Hime herself seeming to be at peace with the fact. We also meet a few other characters in this volume (mostly Kakushi's coworkers), though you only really get to see their quirks and not much else. The most prominent of this subset of characters to me is Hime's teacher Ichiko Rokujo, who knows about Kakushi's line of work and appears to be set up as a potential love interest for Kakushi (though he makes no effort to find a new partner, a fact that is used to comedic effect in one of my favorite chapters). I'm no stranger to manga with relatively simple art styles, but this one took me aback with how it really keeps things simple. There's hardly any variation in shading or linework (a lot of the panels feel super flat and homogenous as a result), and I'd go as far as to say that most of the manga is devoid of any fine detail barring rare exceptions (even details you'd expect, like noses for characters' faces, are sometimes missing entirely). I don't dislike the style by any means, but there's something about it that makes me feel a bit odd every time I take a long look at it. VERDICT: The premise of Kakushigoto is obviously weird, and the book leans hard into that by putting the titular character in ridiculous situations just to keep his big secret. All that is entertaining, but what really hooked me was the genuine love and care Kakushi has for his Hime, and the mystery of how Hime's life turns out leading up to the big reveal. I was a little worried after the demon lord isekai book I read last month (this one) that this would be another uncomfortably weird manga, but I actually see myself reading more of this. Give this one a shot if you find the premise amusing, though I would consider some of the situations Kakushi finds himself in to be a bit cringeworthy at times. I feel like Kakushi and Hime's relationship is the true core of the story, so if that's the element that you're more interested in, you might also like this manga. - end -
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Derryck
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