English Dub Season Review: Dagashi Kashi Season Two

Does season two of this snack food rom-com compare to the first?

Dagashi Kashi was a show full of surprises for me, and its second season has continued those surprises pretty well, though with some unfortunate failings along the way. To those of you uninitiated, Dagashi Kashi follows a peculiar premise: a young man named Kokonotsu is the sole heir of his father’s snack food store. Despite his protestations, he’s expected to learn to run the store, and in the process, meets a beautiful young snack food mogul named Hotaru, who takes Koko under his wing. Together, and with Koko’s friends, the two have somewhat hilarious shenanigans complete with a ton of obscure Japanese snack food trivia.

If that sounds absurd to you, it’s because it is, but the absurdity of Dagashi Kashi is one of the main things that makes it work. Season one of the show was fabulously silly, with over-the-top characters and Hotaru chewing on the scenery whenever she’s on screen. The first season of Dagashi Kashi was pretty solid, in my eyes, providing a fun little show that was worth twenty minutes to have a few laughs.

However, that season was not solid enough, apparently, because as a way to get the second season of this show made, the studio had to cut the episode time in half. This meant that this season only got half the total screen time of the first season, and unfortunately it really shows. The comedy is still on point, with funny quips and characters that delight and amuse, but the problem is they can’t seem to find time for the plot.

The burgeoning romance between Koko and Hotaru, along with the additions of a couple new characters are two major plot points that absolutely needed more time to develop. One can tell the studio tried their best to get in those lovely little moments of connection between the characters, but they are few and far between. This leaves about half the episodes feeling really sparse despite a few chuckles, and others being stuffed with major plot revelations. Not to mention, at least half of the season does not have Hotaru present at all, which removes a major part of the show’s dynamic.

It’s inconsistent, sadly, and that inconsistency plagues this season the whole way through, and it disrupts what is otherwise quite a lovely little show.

If you enjoyed the first season of Dagashi Kashi, with its cute, over-the-top humor and snack food silliness, then you’ll still find a lot to love here. I encourage you to take the time to give it a look if you want something fun to spend a little time with. However, this season of Dagashi Kashi will always live in the shadow of the first, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t get to see a season three of this show either.