Kakushigoto Episode 12

Kakushigoto Episode 12

Hidden Truths

Just as Kakushi was keeping a secret from Hime, I’ve been keeping a secret from all of you. I actually knew how this anime ended ever since the third episode or so.

You see, a little problem with writing about anime that’s currently airing is that manga readers love to spoil it. And for one of my early episode reviews, someone decided it was a good idea to comment a spoiler for the end of the series. Obviously, I blocked their comment so it wouldn’t spoil all of you, but I was spoiled.

I also get people who tweet spoilers at me (follow me on Twitter by the way) because I guess they think that’s acceptable as well. To be honest, I don’t mind being spoiled myself. However, if I already know what’s going to happen, I can no longer give my honest speculation about the future of the series in these reviews.

Kakushi being crushed by Weekly Shounen Jumpo magazines from the anime series Kakushigoto
Kakushi being crushed by Weekly Shounen Jumpo magazines

Moving on to the actual episode at hand, Kakushigoto episode 12 was much more serious than anything else in the series. I think we all kind of assumed that would be the case based on the buildup over the course of the series. However, what surprised me a bit was how little the disappearance of Kakushi’s wife played a role.

We knew that she either died or went missing in some kind of boating accident, but we didn’t know more than that little bit that was hinted at. And this episode didn’t really give us anything more to go on. It simply confirmed that it happened and that the news of it getting out is why Kakushi quit drawing manga.

But the one joke this episode had that I thought was pretty good was the nature of Kakushi’s accident. The fact that he was crushed by a pile of Weekly Shounen Jumpo magazines was great — especially when Tomaruin mentioned that if it was any of their competitors he would have been fine.

Seven Years Gone

After Kakushi is crushed by the magazine pile, he ends up in a coma for one year. He goes into his coma when Hime is 17 and wakes up from it when she’s 18 — old enough to know the secret he’s been keeping from her all this time.

But when he wakes up, things aren’t all back to normal. His memory of the previous seven years before his accident has been erased (hidden, actually). So when Hime goes to visit him in the hospital, he doesn’t recognize her because in his mind she’s still 10 years old, not 18.

This is the part of the episode that I was spoiled on. I was told that Kakushi had an accident that put him in a coma, and that when he wakes up, he doesn’t recognize Hime and has no memory of anything since she was 10.

Kakushi and his underlings creating manga in the hospital from the anime series Kakushigoto
Kakushi and his underlings creating manga in the hospital

A lot has changed in the past seven years since Hime’s 11th birthday in the previous episode. We don’t know exactly when a lot of these events occurred within that 7-year span, but Tights in the Wind was officially concluded, Rasuna became a top-selling mangaka with a studio of her own (including some of Kakushi’s old assistants), and Naru became a reporter rather than an idol.

First of all, it was nice to see that Tights wasn’t abruptly ended due to Kakushi’s retirement. It actually went on for at least another 100 chapters after we last saw it and got a proper ending. What surprised me most, though, was that Rasuna became a popular mangaka. Of Kakushi’s assistants, Ami and Aogu were the two who really wanted to go down that route.

And of course, it’s disappointing to see that Naru had to give up on her idol dreams.

The Meguro River Detective Agency is on the Case!

The Meguro River Detective Agency (MRDA) is back in business after a long hiatus. But before talking about their role, I should probably mention something from when they’re first shown in this episode: The “hot guy” as Hina Toumi referred to him.

The introduction of Hime’s cousin could have been left out as far as I’m concerned. There was no real need to say that Kakushi was the product of an affair, or that he came from a kabuki family which is why Hime’s grandfather disliked him, or even that he had a half-sister with a child.

All of that could have been left out without affecting the story. The only part that it mattered for is that we’re told Kakushi’s half-sister is the one who gave Hime the key to their old home — and even this could have been solved simply by saying Rasuna did it.

Hime running from the anime series Kakushigoto
Hime running

But the MRDA doesn’t have time to look into the claims made by this “hot guy” who says that Kakushi is the product of an affair. They have bigger fish to fry! That’s right, they need to help Hime drag all of Kakushi’s old manuscripts to the hospital.

I have to say I actually liked this part of the episode. It was good seeing the MRDA back together (including the one girl who wasn’t a founding member). And the fact that their work actually brought Kakushi’s memories back was a nice, wholesome ending.

However, even the MRDA has its fair share of secrets. Founding member Hime Gotou has actually been hiding the fact that she draws shoujo manga from her father. And to make things even more scandalous, her fellow detectives are actively helping her hide this information.

Conclusion

What do you think of the final episode of Kakushigoto? I probably would have preferred it to be a little less serious — with more stuff like when Kakushi was crushed by Weekly Shounen Jumpo. But aside from that, I thought it was a good ending to the series. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of the series as a whole is available here.

4 Replies to “Kakushigoto Episode 12”

  1. Just wanted to leave this here since I didn’t have time to watch this series as it came out back then.

    As someone who hasn’t read the source material yet I felt like the anime rushed a little bit too much at the end. I won’t say there wasn’t any build-up up to that point but I would’ve appreciated if it had a little bit more.

    1. It definitely felt rushed at the end. It probably could have used one more episode just to have time to explain and build things up more.

  2. I think the part about him and his family gave it extra depth, most manga would leave out details like that. Its nice to see how this anime toed the line between hunor and seriousness in a good way and many comedy anime could learn from it

    1. I’m fine with comedy anime having serious aspects to them. But at the end of the day, I’m generally watching them for the comedy parts, not the serious parts. It’s kind of like when an action series throws in random ecchi scenes. I’m fine with ecchi, but that’s not what I’m watching an action series for.

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