10 Second Anime - Dagashi Kashi S2 - Episode 3

The kids play with Japanese tops and Hotaru reminisces on her childhood visits to another old fashioned snack shop.

Episode 3 - "Beigoma, Reminiscence, and..."

Heh.

The short form structure of the episodes for this season really stresses that there are always two vignettes. I had concerns that all we would get were Hotaru's crazy gags, but the second half showed we could also get the relaxing slice-of-life flow from the first season. This is primarily a gag comedy, so having a nostalgic character study should be seen as a treat, a snack if you will, instead of the usual meal. The half episode format shows that we can have these little deeper moments mixed in with the comedy.

And So.

Let's talk about this episode!

Kokonotsu's Poor Foot.

As soon as I saw Tou and Kokonotsu trying to play with old-fashioned Japanese fighting tops, beigoma, I knew we were going to get a reprise from the marble game from the previous season. That meant Hotaru would show up with her big special thing, but Saya would come along and win at everything.

And that's exactly what happened!

Hotaru's got a bucket.

What a versatile skirt, Hotaru has... Why is she blushing? She usually doesn't even register the usual embarrassing moments that girls have.

Mochi no ron!

I don't remember if they've played that card game already, but I do remember the marble game where Big Glass got destroyed. Hotaru Moses has low decolletage...

Yes, spinning brides are exactly how beigoma work...

Kokonotsu's foot already got slammed by Tou and now Hotaru totally missed her target and slammed his foot in the same place. There's going to be a third time to make the joke work.

Oho. Hotaru has to make a punishment game out of this to make the stakes interesting. It's the first time this season she mentioned to the audience that she wants Kokonotsu to take over the snack store. She didn't say it was because she wants the elder Shigada to work for her family's company.

And here comes Saya. She's totally going to win because she's great at these manual dexterity games.

And Saya wins, knocking the Hotaru Special out of whack.

Kokonotsu got a good view of that amazing skirt.

Saya didn't like that and bam! Three times on Kokonotsu's poor foot.

Hotaru Reminisces.

The second half shows that Hotaru has been busting into candy stores for a long time.

No slamming of doors to make an entrance, but the hallmarks are there.

Young Hotaru's fashion sense hasn't changed all that much in the intervening years.

Oh cute. She's still trying to remember all her candy facts and the old guy is picking up the slack.

Strike that pose, chibi Hotaru!

She's still a kid at this point, telling the old candy store owner to smile and he's not having it.

Aw. The old man already knows kids' tastes are changing. Hotaru wants to hold onto the old ways.

That's sad. The snack store got torn down. This means Hotaru didn't keep her promise to keep visiting the store everyday and she came back too late, probably because she grew up, or moved away. There's that bittersweet nostalgia that slice-of-life anime does so well.

It does give us a clue on what Hotaru does when she's not hanging around Kokonotsu's town.

Aw. She just had to call Kokonotsu to tell him how much she loved... his candy store. This makes me extra curious to the flash-forward in the first episode about how beat-up the store got only a few months after Summer vacation ended.

See? This short format can handle that slow healing anime stuff like it did two years ago. Just don't do it too much. We like crazy, sexy Hotaru around here.