Dagashi Kashi: Season One

This loose anime series focuses on Kokonotsu Shikada, an aspiring manga artist nicknamed "Coconuts." His career goals do not coincide with the plans of his father Yō, who insists that Kokonotsu inherit the family’s dagashi shop (dagashi being the Japanese equivalent of cheap candies and snack foods marketed to small children). Kokonotsu’s life is happily disrupted by Hotaru, a beautiful but somewhat strange young lady who arrives at the shop and tries to recruit Yō to work at her own family’s candy company. But Yō will not leave the shop until Kokonotsu agrees to accept his inheritance, so Hotaru decides to stick around and influence Kokonotsu. Hotaru brings a heavy-handed degree of sexual innuendo to her business dealings, often embarrassing Kokonotsu with her shenanigans. Dagashi Kashi works best as a satire of Japanese food obsessions (think of it as an anime riff on Juzo Itami’s 1985 classic Tampopo) and will work best for viewers somewhat familiar with the culinary aspects of Japanese culture. On the narrative side, the series is silly without being laugh-out-loud funny, with zany Hotaru dominating the mayhem while poor Kokonotsu is often an unwitting victim. Compiling all 12 episodes from 2016 in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, rated TV-14, extras include episode commentaries. A strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)