- Mangaka : Kouji Kumeta
- Publisher : Kodansha Comics
- Genre : Comedy, Shounen, Slice of Life
- Published : December 2015- Ongoing
Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition Vol. 1 Introduction (No Spoilers)
Everybody is hiding some sort of skeleton inside their own closets. In our case, it’s a literal skeleton,--a toy of course!--we call ‘Bonez’. There’s a reason why these skeletons are hidden. It can be embarrassing, something we regret, or something that can land us straight into jail. Gotou Kashuki’s skeleton is being an erotic mangaka. Well, it has not always been that way. It’s just that things happened and he now has a daughter. Understandably, he vows to take his profession as a secret to his grave.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
Right from the get-go, Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition has already caught our attention. With such a catchy title, we can’t help but give the series a chance. That titular secret ambition sure does not disappoint. After all, just how many of us want to become an erotic mangaka, right? Fine, that may be more than what we’ve anticipated. Nonetheless, the series has already got us hooked, line, and sinker from the very beginning. In addition to that, the manga’s smooth, simple art style is both easy on the eyes and soothing to look at.
1. Funny Parental Love
Gotou Kakushi’s, the erotic mangaka, efforts to safe keep his daughter’s eyes from seeing the monstrosity that is his works are commendable. We know the drill when it comes to parental love in manga. It’s all about “I’ll do everything for you!” followed by melodramatic grand gestures. Well, that’s sweet and all, but it’s also a bit too far from reality. Gotou, however, shows his love by doing realistic small acts like altering a T-shirt so it doesn’t show a man wearing tights on his head. Okay, that may not be that realistic, but you get our point.
2. Start Anywhere
One of the Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition’s appeal is that we can basically read the synopsis, jump to a random chapter, and still understand what’s going on. It’s the kind of manga that does not have long story arcs. At least, not in the first volume. This complements its easy to read quality very well. Every chapter is its own entity. Unfortunately for Gotou, he is one unlucky man. He always gets mixed up with weird circumstances. Fortunately for us, we get to have some fun read.
1. No Pervy Stuff
By no pervy stuff, we mean no scenes that will make the peewee go stiffy. Since the entire premise revolves around an erotic mangaka father, then there are obviously multiple scenes about some perverted stuff. However, these scenes are more funny than sexy. Although we really aren’t that disappointed with the lack of fanservice, we can’t say others will really be happy with the lack of panty and boob shots. More so that the series is supposedly all about erotica.
2. Multiple Failed Attempts at Comedy
A few pages in and we’ve pretty much got the idea what the series is trying to go for. It uses erotica as the butt of the joke and tries to come up with some obscene scenarios around it. The idea is pretty rad, but the execution kinda fails at times. There are a lot of scenes where the author’s attempt at comedy is obvious, but it just doesn’t deliver. It’s kind of like that classmate we have in school who always tries hard to be funny, but just doesn’t really fit the bill. On the other hand, there are some successful moments every now and then.
Final Thoughts
Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition is something nice to read in our spare time. It’s a series that is easy to read and funny at the weirdest times. Although there are times when it fails to elicit even the smallest of chuckles, it’s still worthwhile to give it a try. For one, it’s refreshing for both the heart and mind. We really aren’t expecting anything when we’ve first got it, but it somehow blasted our nonexisting expectations after a few pages.
Author: Christian Markle
