Secrets. Every family has them, some worse and more harmful than others.  Oftentimes, parents are the ones to keep secrets from their kids, whether it be better or for worse, it is usually based in good intentions. While possibly harmless, secrets, with time, will eventually come to light.

Kakushigoto, a play on the name of the main character Gotou Kakushi, revolves around his life as mangaka. For those less informed, a mangaka is the term used to refer to the creators or authors of manga. However, in Gotou’s case, there is a catch: his daughter doesn’t know about his job.

Gotou is raising his daughter, Hime, as a single father. Every day, he pretends to go to work as a typical Japanese salaryman, where in actuality he is the writer for a hit ‘dirty’ manga, filled with inappropriate jokes and gags. This is where the cleverness of the title comes into play. While Kakushigoto refers to the protagonist’s name, it is also a Japanese pun. Kakushigoto itself can translate to ‘secret’, however, kaku shigoto roughly translates to drawing job, refering to Gotou’s secret, his job as an mangaka.

For the sake of avoiding spoiler, I will neglect to give too much context with regards to the ‘secrets’ depicted in the series, but rather the reasoning and symbolism associated with them.

Kakushigoto depicts the daily struggles of a single father in his endeavor to raise daughter in what he sees as a normal and healthy environment, all the while having his own personal issues on top of that. The dichotomy of Gotou’s life exists because of his decision to keep the secret from his daughter. He is limiting himself as a mangaka, because if he becomes too popular, he risks his daughter finding out, which would end up ruining her normal life.

Gotou himself sacrifices everything for his daughter, whether it be his career or his time, he tries his best to support her. Hime, like many children, is oddly receptive to this and makes an effort to help her dad as well, despite not completely understanding the situation. She, in her own childish naivety, makes decisions and comes to conclusions with the intention of making life easier for her dad.

The series itself is a comedic slice of life which properly concludes like many other slice of life, in a final arc in the last few episodes. However, despite the largely light and comedic tone, each episode as a sense of melancholy attached, all of which catches up to the audience at the conclusion.

Gotou’s seemingly harmless, well-intentioned secrets, eventually catch up to him, but at the same time are the roots for much of the humor and misunderstanding present in the show. For better or for worse, secrets will always have a place in our world. Kakushigoto represents a life of will intentioned secrets, all for the sake of family.

Tl;dr: title is funny pun, show is funny, maybe a little sad. would recommend for some light content. solid 7.5/10