Dagashi Kashi

By all means, this is not a serious manga, and I can certainly expect some people to just scoff it off. However, this has honestly been one of my favorite mangas I've read recently.

I was first hooked by the design of the female lead-Hotaru. In essence, she is a Yandere, only directed towards sweets and not anyone in particular. Smart, charming, enthusiastic, ditsy, funny, all packed in an infinitely sexy body, with a great closet of clothes that still manages to retain her signature look. Oh, did I mention the JoJo poses?

I also found myself intrigued by the explanation of sweets each chapter. It's practically useless, and I'll probably never eat 90% of the foods introduced, but it's fun dammit. Of course Hotaru's antics probably plays a large role in it being enjoyable as well.

As time went on, I found myself rooting for romance development between our male protagonist Kokonotsu and Hotaru. Although honestly, the childhood friend Saya makes a very compelling case for support as well.

Speaking of which, all the characters are lovable in their own way, and the side character story arcs are fun as well

The little shakeup in the middle of the series was interesting to say the least..although personally I'm thankful for picking up this manga after it had already ended. Otherwise I would probably by extremely fustrated by the turn of events.

As for cons....since the manga is done in bite-sized formats, each chapter is only half length of what you can normally expect. This means that the pace is very quick, and each "gag" comes and goes fast. Some people might like this kind of pace more, but I wish the story had a bit more multi-chapter arcs.

The ending also feels just a tad rushed.


At the end of the day, this is a manga that has 8~10 pages a chapter, that's focused on a very specific subset of sweets. Don't expect major development, or an epic story arc, as that's just not what this is. However, rating it for what it is, a casual comedy that teaches some knowledge, I think you can't get much better than this.

Overall 9/10

P.S. The anime takes some generous liberties with the story, changing around the character interactions, and also condenses an already condensed format, leaving it even more rushed. I don't particualrly like the adaption, but I guess it is the only way to see my favorite characters in action.

I found this Manga after watching the first episode of the anime and thinking to myself "this just feels like a director lazily adapting another mediocre slice of life gag manga with A WACKY TWIST". But my baseless assumptions turned out to be mostly incorrect (except for the lazy directing part) and instead I found a pretty fantastic manga.

Art 5/10

I'm not one to simply read a manga for its art or to disregard it because of the art, but if you are one of those people then im afraid this manga will no be for you, although the style and expressions of the characters grow throughout its serialization it by no means can compete to the raw talent of other mangaka. With that being said personally, I find the art style to be filled with a sense of style that brings something unique feeling to the story and separates from similar titles (like Yotsuba). One thing worth mentioning about the art is that the cover panels of each chapter display some talent the author rarely showcases in the manga and shows that if he had more time then the art could have been truly fantastic, but time constraints are often the reason behind inconsistent quality in manga. This isnt making excuses simply explaining the reason for the inconsistent art.


Characters 9/10
Being a slice of life comedy series the story is overall very character driven with the jokes often playing on the established personalities of the characters and their reactions to situations, while also simultaneously devolving and defining their personalities. It is not a new concept to the genre but is a great addition to the story allowing for short and long term pay-offs. As in each chapter is able to tell mini stories that serve as the comedy, but also the long term gradual character development. Re-reading the first couple chapters after finishing the story you really see how much the main cast changes. I wont go into details but it is refreshing to see an author treat their characters like real people, who see gradual development in their personality and relationships over the course of the story than single events dramatically changing the characters.


Enjoyment 10/10
If you couldn't tell so far i found reading this manga a treat, ive always loved gag manga that can utilize manga as a medium to its advantage, and Dagashi Kashi does this perfectly with each chapter reading at the pace at which the author intends. While being perfectly spaced for the comedy to not be spoiled through the nature of being able to see the entire page. Reading this manga was a perfect experience because of its chapter layouts with the setup and delivery of the jokes often being contained in less than 20 pages making it perfect for picking up reading a chapter or two when you have some time to kill.

Overall I highly recommend this manga to anyone who enjoys gag manga with a cute ensemble of girls with short chapters and gradual character development

~thanks for reading my review feel free to message me to discuss other shows and such

As if Japan didn't have everything already, they also pride themselves on having a HUGE selection of candy and sweets at your nearest convenience stores, and this manga is almost like a throwback to most of the popular sweets in our childhood.

Dagashi Kashi (rough translation) "Cheap Sweets", is an episodic manga about Shikada Kokonotsu, a wannabe-mangaka that is against his father's wishes of managing the town's sweet shop, and Shidare Hotaru, a fan of her father's store and his reputation who also has an (insane)fascination for sweets.

Filled with puns and sweets, each chapter works with a single popular candy to tell the story. From sweet drinks, to gum, to cellphone's filled with candy, to yogurts, Hotaru uses each sweet as an excuse to explain the greatness of candy's existence in the world and to convince Kokonotsu of taking over his father's store. This can bring back many memories if you ever experienced having some of the candy that are brought up in this manga(or lookalikes) and it's a fine way to keep the readers engaged with the story.

The comedy fits the art-style, even if it does feel too rough in some parts, but the characters' eccentricities and quirkiness are well portrayed through the comical expressions and faces the often show.

Dagashi Kashi does not depend on the character development but rather on the ridiculousness of how the candy involved affects the daily lives of our characters, and the shortness of each chapter works as a way to not bore the reader, even if sometimes the story feels lacking.

Very enjoyable and very short, but with tons of sweets, candy, and jokes. This manga is worth following if you have a strong appetite for sugar, sugar, and sugar. (kids don't forget to eat your broccoli!)