# Kakushigoto

Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition (Japanese: かくしごと, Hepburn: Kakushigoto) is a Japanese manga series by Kōji Kumeta. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga Monthly Shōnen Magazine from December 2015 to July 2020, with its chapters collected in twelve tankōbon volumes. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Ajia-do Animation Works aired from April to June 2020. A compilation anime film premiered in July 2021.

## Plot

Kakushi Goto draws ecchi manga for a living; worried that fact would alienate his daughter Hime from him, he swears never to let it out.

## Characters
### Gotō household
#### Kakushi Gotō (後藤 可久士, Gotō Kakushi)

    Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese); Howard Wang (English)
    Kakushi is a manga artist who runs his own company, G-PRO. Being that his primary work involves ecchi, he is determined to keep his manga artist career a secret from his daughter, Hime. Kakushi is a single father, his wife having disappeared in an accident off the coast of Japan. His name is a pun on one of the Japanese words for 'secret' (かくしごと, Kakushigoto). In the present, he has been in a coma for a year after suffering from an accident at his warehouse job.

#### Hime Gotō (後藤 姫, Gotō Hime)

    Voiced by: Chika Anzai (animated PV), Rie Takahashi (anime) (Japanese); Morgan Lauré (English)
    Hime is a sprightly fourth grade elementary school student and daughter to Kakushi. She is also depicted as a third-year high school student in flash-forward segments, who knows of her father's secret, and has been waiting for him to wake up from his coma. Her name is a pun on one of the Japanese words for 'secret' (ひめゴト, himegoto).

### G-PRO
#### Aogu Shiji (志治 仰, Shiji Aogu)

    Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (Japanese); Cris George (English)
    Aogu is Kakushi's chief assistant at G-PRO. He often requires instructions from other people, and his name is a reference to this fact; shiji o aogu (指示を仰ぐ, "ask for instructions").

#### Rasuna Sumita (墨田 羅砂, Sumita Rasuna)

    Voiced by: Kiyono Yasuno (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)
    Rasuna is an assistant at G-PRO. She is named after the phrase 'don't drop ink!' (すみ たらす な！, Sumi Tarasu na!).

#### Ami Kakei (筧 亜美, Kakei Ami)

    Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese); Katelyn Barr (English)
    Ami is an assistant at G-PRO. She generally sports a flat, uninterested demeanour; she also keeps secrets of her own, such as her manga artist pen name. Her name is a reference to the kakeiami (カケアミ) style of cross-hatching.

#### Kakeru Keshi (芥子 駆, Keshi Kakeru)

    Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Japanese); Kevin Thelwell (English)
    Kakeru is the newest assistant at G-PRO; his primary duty is to erase mistakes on the manga manuscripts. His name is a reference to erasing, or literally "using an eraser" (消しゴムかける, Keshigomukakeru).

#### Satsuki Tomaruin (十丸院 五月, Tomaruin Satsuki)

    Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese); Aaron Dismuke (English)
    Tomaruin is the long-suffering editor at Weekly Shōnen Magazine responsible for liaisoning with the G-PRO firm. He repeatedly drops off manga materials at the Goto home, threatening to reveal Kakushi's secret to his daughter. He is regarded as a ditz, and once mistaken for a pervert; however, he generally means well. He has a crush on Nadila. His name is a reference to the phrase tomaru insatsuki (止まる印刷機, "Stop the presses").

### Other characters
#### Nadila (ナディラ, Nadira)

    Voiced by: Emiri Katō (Japanese); Risa Mei (English)
    Nadila is an Indonesian migrant worker who occasionally comes to clean the Goto home. She teaches Hime how to cook Indonesian food, befuddling her father. In another segment, Tomaruin mistakes her for a dukun.

#### Ichiko Rokujo (六條 一子, Rokujō Ichiko)

    Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese); Lindsay Seidel (English)
    Rokujo is Hime's elementary school teacher. She is a fan of Kakushi's work and always helping him keep his secret to Hime. She is named after the number 61 (六十一, Roku Jū Ichi).

#### Naru Senda (千田 奈留, Senda Naru)

    Voiced by: Rikako Aida (Japanese); Emi Lo (English)
    Senda is a 17-year-old high school student and aspiring idol. She is also work as a volunteer art instructor and very closed to Hime after she being a fan of her. Her name is a pun that means "I want to be the center of an idol group".

#### Kairi Imashigata (戒潟 魁吏, Imashigata Kairi)

    Voiced by: Akio Otsuka
    Imashigata is Kakushi's wealthy father-in-law, who has been at loggerheads with him seemingly ever since his daughter passed away. However, it is shown he still cares for Hime, going so far as to buying her a grand piano when she wants to practice.

## Media
### Manga

Written and illustrated by Kōji Kumeta, Kakushigoto was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine from December 4, 2015, to July 6, 2020. Kodansha collected its chapters in twelve tankōbon volumes, released from June 17, 2016, to July 17, 2020.
In March 2020, Kodansha USA announced the acquisition of the manga for an English language digital release, with the first volume being released on March 17, 2020, and the last on February 9, 2021.

### Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on the tenth volume of the manga on November 15, 2019. The series was animated by Ajia-do Animation Works and directed by Yūta Murano, with Takashi Aoshima handling series composition, Shuuhei Yamamoto designing the characters, and Yukari Hashimoto composing the series' music. It aired from April 2 to June 18, 2020, on BS-NTV, AT-X, Tokyo MX, and SUN. The opening theme song is "Chiisana Hibi" (ちいさな日々) by Flumpool, while the ending theme is Eiichi Ohtaki's 1981 song "Kimi wa Tennen Shoku" (君は天然色).
Funimation acquired the series and streamed it on their website, AnimeLab, and Wakanim, as well as producing an English dub. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.
| No. | Title | Original air date |
| 1 | "Secrets" Transliteration: "Kakushigoto" (Japanese: かくしごと) | April 2, 2020 (2020-04-02) |
| 1 | "Wishes" Transliteration: "Negaigoto" (Japanese: ねがいごと) | April 2, 2020 (2020-04-02) |
| 18-year-old Hime Gotō receives a key to a mysterious and secret building, which is revealed to be a storehouse filled with manga manuscripts written by her father, Kakushi. The current story is set 8 years ago, when Hime was 10 years old. When Hime was born, Kakushi, an ecchi manga writer, vowed never to reveal his job to his daughter for fear of being repulsed by her, going as far as to store his manuscripts faraway, revamp the office building to make it look ordinary, and leave the house in a suit. However, when a new editor Satsuki Tomaruin arrives at the house instead of the office, Kakushi redraws the character on the manga-present T-shirt he is wearing to something unrecognizable. Kakushi saves a cat from a river using his donut pillow in public. For classwork, Hime wants to write about a wish for her father. Inspired by a friend whose mother believed in men getting promotions and prestige, she hopes for her father to "become important", much to Kakushi's worry. Consulting his assistants Aogu Shiji, Ami Kakei and Kakeru Keshi, he lands into a dilemma as in society, becoming famous is similar to becoming important but it is also akin to exposing his secret. When Hime and her friends attempt to find the cat saviour, they almost find Kakushi but are scared away by a silly legend. In bed, Hime tells Kakushi that she wished for him to become important because she thought it would make him happy. Kakushi tells her that he would happy if she grew up well. |||
| 2 | "Beach Sandals and B4" Transliteration: "Bīsan to Bī-yon" (Japanese: ビーサンとＢ４) | April 9, 2020 (2020-04-09) |
| 2 | "Don't Place, Don't Draw, Don't Finish Up" Transliteration: "Okanai Kakanai Shiagenai" (Japanese: おかない かかない しあげない) | April 9, 2020 (2020-04-09) |
| 3 | "Makeshift Circus" Transliteration: "Yarikuri Sākasu" (Japanese: やりくりサーカス) | April 16, 2020 (2020-04-16) |
| 3 | "The True State of Manga and Muscles" Transliteration: "Manga no Jitsujō to Kinniku" (Japanese: 漫画の実情と筋肉) | April 16, 2020 (2020-04-16) |
| 4 | "Normale Namae" Transliteration: "Norumae Namae" (Japanese: ノルマエ・ナマエ) | April 23, 2020 (2020-04-23) |
| 4 | "Komawari Sketch" Transliteration: "Komawari Sukecchi" (Japanese: コマ割りスケッチ) | April 23, 2020 (2020-04-23) |
| 5 | "And Yet Everyone Gets Their Turn in the End" Transliteration: "Soredemo Hachi wa Mawattekuru" (Japanese: それでも鉢は廻ってくる) | April 30, 2020 (2020-04-30) |
| 5 | "You're Spending the Night!" Transliteration: "Tometane!" (Japanese: 泊めたねっ！) | April 30, 2020 (2020-04-30) |
| Following Satsuki's suggestion and Hime's opinion about fulfill the duty, even though he does not want to, Kakushi becomes a judge in a manga contest for aspiring artists and practices by judging Kakeru's work. While at home, Hime receives a stack of boxes containing applicants' manga work, prompting Kakushi to call Satsuki and question the situation before telling him to send the work to the office. After receiving Kakushi's feedback on the applicants' manga work, Satsuki decides to add a smiley face to each one, thinking the feedback was too serious. This causes readers to criticize Kakushi for not taking the contest seriously. Back at home, Hime asks Kakushi if he has ever fulfilled a duty he did not want to, and he replies that his current duty is raising her well and that she will eventually have similar duties as she grows up. This makes Hime eager to take on a duty of her own, so she asks for a puppy. After a long day of manga work, Satsuki informs Kakushi that G-PRO's work has failed a quality test and they must fix the last eight pages before 5 AM. To help Kakushi focus, Satsuki books him an overnight stay at a hotel, and help Kakushi look out for Hime for the night only because Nadila will also be there. Kakushi is later shocked to find that G-PRO has also arrived to help, mistakenly thinking they are having a bathrobe party. Meanwhile, at home, Hime invites Naru to stay overnight after a family argument, and Nadila joins them later after a canceled appointment. While Ichiko captures Satsuki multiple times, mistaking him for a stalker, and both of them later join the group. The next day, Hime gives Kakushi a handmade gold medal for being everything to her. Flashing forward to the future, 18-year-old Hime realizes that Kakushi has been creating these present-age boxes for her and hugs one. |||
| 6 | "School Rucksack" Transliteration: "Sukūru Randoseru" (Japanese: スクールランドセル) | May 7, 2020 (2020-05-07) |
| 7 | "Inuhoshiki: Dog Wanted" Transliteration: "Inu Hoshiki" (Japanese: いぬほしき) | May 14, 2020 (2020-05-14) |
| 7 | "The One Who Connects Mother and Child" Transliteration: "Boshi o Tsugu Mono" (Japanese: 母子を継ぐ者) | May 14, 2020 (2020-05-14) |
| 8 | "Our Rough Draft" Transliteration: "Oretachi no Shitagaki" (Japanese: おれたちの下描き) | May 21, 2020 (2020-05-21) |
| 8 | "Unfortunate Memories Club" Transliteration: "Zan'nen Kinen-Gumi" (Japanese: 残念記念組) | May 21, 2020 (2020-05-21) |
| 9 | "Your Lie in December" Transliteration: "Shiwasu wa Kimi no Uso" (Japanese: 師走は君の嘘) | May 28, 2020 (2020-05-28) |
| 10 | "I"S（Izu）" Transliteration: "I"S（Izu）" (Japanese: I"S（伊豆）) | June 4, 2020 (2020-06-04) |
| The end of the year approaches; at G-PRO, Kakushi tasks his team with finishing the proofs for both issues six and seven of their manga ahead of schedule, so as to be able to take time off until January 8. However, Kakushi himself has no motivation to go through with it. Whilst shopping, Hime wins a hot springs trip to Izu for herself, Kakushi, and Roku, valid from January 6–31; with this newfound motivation, Kakushi manages to finish issue seven. Unfortunately, he catches a cold immediately after, confining him to his futon. All of his friends (including those who think he is romantically interested in them) come to check up on him; in the morning, he feels better and gets up, only to find his room covered in marriage proposals. They leave for Izu shortly after. At the inn in Izu, Kakushi worries about not being able to keep an eye on Hime in the gender-segregated onsen; he gets Rasuna and Aogu (who he'd bribed with a free trip) to watch her. However, Hime finishes in the onsen before the two even get a chance to enter. Walking back to their room, Kakushi asks an inn attendant about a sealed-off room; she replies that it is being remodelled into a showroom, as it was where a literary classic was written. In the dining room, people spontaneously start telling others about their secrets; Kakushi almost reveals his manga artist career when a scream is heard. Rasuna says she saw a shadow in the room, and the inn attendant admits it is actually haunted by the ghost of the book's author. Later at night, Roku runs into the room, prompting Kakushi to chase him; he discovers that the shadow was actually that of a civet's. Marvelling at the room's history and quietude, he decides to work on his manuscripts, and is mistaken for the ghost by a group of young boys peering in through the window. In the present, Hime reflects on how Kakushi had told her that he'd taken up a new calling in life. Meanwhile, Rasuna and Satsuki talk about why Kakushi quit his job; a newspaper reporting on a group of people lost off the coast of Japan is shown. |||
| 11 | "Saishukai: The Last Chapter Doesn't Bother Her" Transliteration: "Saishūkai Heiki Kanojo" (Japanese: 最終回平気彼女) | June 11, 2020 (2020-06-11) |
| 12 | "Hidden Truths" Transliteration: "Himegoto" (Japanese: ひめごと) | June 18, 2020 (2020-06-18) |
| In the present, Hime is sitting on the porch of the home-turned-warehouse when a boy her age greets her, and calls her "Sis". He reveals that Kakushi is the love child of a kabuki actor and his mistress. Somewhere else, Satsuki and Rasuna discuss this revelation, and speculate that Hime's maternal grandfather resented Kakushi not because he was a manga artist, but because he was born into a family of kabuki actors. Meanwhile, Naru Senda, now a reporter for the Weekly Bunshio, interviews a worker at the company Kakushi went to work for after he gave up being a manga artist. He reveals that Goto was crushed beneath a stack of mangazines he was moving, because its structural integrity had been damaged - someone had taken out a copy to read. As a result, he has been hospitalized for over a year by the time the series started. Satsuki and Rasuna further discuss how Kakushi's finances had spiralled, not the least because he was searching for his wife. When Hime entered lower secondary school, a tabloid picked up that story, causing him to quit his career. However, Hime managed to get through upper secondary school just fine, having inherited her art skills from her grandfather. It comes out that the boy's mother, Kakushi's half-sister, was the one who'd sent Hime the key; Kakushi had requested she sell everything inside in order to help Hime survive should anything happen to him. At Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, Kakushi suddenly regains consciousness, and Hime and everyone else rush to his side. However, Kakushi does not recognize Hime, asking who she is. It turns out that he does retain most of his memories, only losing the past seven years of his life. To him, Hime is still a 10-year-old girl. Kakushi wishes to get back into drawing Tights, not knowing the series had ended years ago, and his former assistants oblige him. Hime sees his father work for the first time. Kakushi asks the now 18-year-old Hime if she is a new assistant, and asks her to keep an eye on herself. On the hospital's rooftop, Hime and Ichiko discuss how, if Kakushi should ever regain his memories, he would stop drawing manga again. Hime states it is for the best that he does not. Hime returns home and greets the now-grizzled Roku, breaking down and crying. At the hospital, Kakushi's assistants discuss how the best form of therapy for him is to continue drawing manga; this draws Satsuki's ire, given that Rasuna is one of their company's top creators au courant. Hime talks to Kakushi alone, and posits that drawing manga is what makes him the happiest; Kakushi rebuts her by saying that he would like to see a happy, healthy, and grown-up Hime instead. Tearful, Hime runs out of the hospital room and rushes to join up with her friends, retrieving old manuscripts that Kakushi does not remember drawing to show him. Kakushi begins to remember, and finally recognizes Hime as his daughter, and promptly attempts to hide the manuscripts from her. Later, it is shown that Hime's keeping a secret too: she is drawing her own manga. The G-PRO staff are reunited as "New G-PRO" as Kakushi proposes a new series to Satsuki. |||

### Film

On December 12, 2020, it was announced that the series would receive a theatrical compilation film. The film premiered on July 9, 2021. Funimation streamed the film.

## Reception

In 2017, the series was ranked 18th at the third Next Manga Awards in the print category.