English Dub Review: Kakushigoto “Our Rough Draft / Unfortunate Memories Club”

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Overview (Spoilers Below):

After adopting a new dog last week, it still doesn’t have a name. Goto finally forces Hime to settle on a name when he takes her to register the animal. She ends up calling it Roku Goto due to misreading what the clerk said and liking it.

Later on, Goto celebrates his 100 chapter of his latest manga with his coworkers, even though only one of them remembered it. Then Hime invites a girl over to the house who tells Goto a dramatic story about being saved by his daughter. Finally, Goto gets suspicious about a note Hime received only to find out she was nervous about being invited to a birthday party.

Our Take:

The eighth episode of Kakushigoto deals with the power of first impressions and the lasting lineage of celebratory milestones. Hime finally gets around to naming her new dog and Goto passes the 100 chapter mark of his current manga. It’s a nice couple segments, but the flash forward scene at the end felt a little off this time, which doesn’t bode well.

The first half the this week’s episode is based around first impressions and how they define a person. They’re easy to make but difficult to redo, and Goto finally insists that Hime register her dog’s new name. She ends up calling it Roku Goto off a passing remark from a desk worker which doesn’t quite work as well in English as it does in the original Japanese version. That’s one of the reasons why this segment didn’t end up being one of my favorites; while the dog is cute and all, a fair number of jokes in this half revolved around wordplay and language that isn’t quite translatable.

The second half remedies this, but winds up being a little more reflective than comedic. There’s a lot of talk about milestones around the office, and how big (or small) a deal they are to some people. Goto didn’t even tell his editor about the big anniversary, but ends up getting mad at him for missing it. Later, Got misunderstands a note left for Hime and thinks someone has asked her on a date. He tails her and finds out it’s only a birthday party celebration, but the whole thing was just awkward.

And this week’s flash forward, rather than being thought provoking, just left me a bit confused. Whereas in past episodes, the tidbit tacked on to the end has been more atmospheric, last week’s was a big reveal where Hime’s teacher was about to reveal some bad news. Instead of picking up from that, we just spend a few moments in an abandoned house with an older Hime, which doesn’t feel like it adds anything worthwhile when compared with the reveal we could’ve gotten. I know the show is giving the information to us on its own schedule, but it’s beginning to feel like these flash forwards are running out of their usefulness.

Still though, Kakushigoto is an enjoyable watch filled with fun details and silly jokes. Hime’s wondering if two parties will make her grow older faster was sweet, and really, sometimes that’s all an episode needs to be.

About Caleb

graphic designer, writer, and animation addict. when i'm not writing words about my favorite shows, you can usually find me skulking about on Twitter. if you want, leave a comment or send me a tweet; i'd love to chat!