the shidare hotaru theory
Categories: general review
Tagged: dagashi kashi
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You know them old sugar daddy /
They be trickin’ they tell them girl
I like my anime heroines to be a little (okay a lot) crazy. Most are the murderous kind, like the Sonozakis, the Nice Boats, and Princess Kudelia Aina Bernstein. Some crazies are crazy for man flesh, like Anna Nishikinomiya, the cast of Monster Musume, and Atra Mixta. I think that is one reason why Shidare Hotaru is interesting: she is crazy for candy. That’s sweet. She is my favorite new character of the season, and it is mostly because (a) she is so batshit crazy about candy and (b) she has a lot of unresolved, basic questions surrounding her.
Back in my thin slicing post, I wondered what the fuck is going on with Hotaru? I am asking valid questions. Where is she living? She really uprooted her life for weeks just to bug a candy salesman in the middle of nowhere to work for her dad? Is this really the best use of her time? What about school or college? Doesn’t she need to go to those? Couldn’t her dad just make a godfather-like offer instead of sending his daughter out? Why is Coconut’s dad so important to warrant this attention? How does she keep her hourglass figure (not to mention get proper nutrition) by eating all this junk food? Why do all of her outfits look similar?
Then it dawned on me. The secret of Shidare Hotaru.
Shidare Hotaru is dead. The character in Dagashi Kashi is her spirit. She does not need a place to live, and she does not have anything better to do because she is dead. Being a spirit also allows her to consume copious amounts of candy while maintaining her figure.
Wait, what? If she is dead, why does she care so much about Coconut’s dad going to work for her dad?
She is hanging around Coconut’s shop because she is connected to it. Why? There’s only one possible reason: she is the spirit of Coconut’s mom. That explains why Coconuts has such an uncomfortable attraction to her. That explains why she is so friendly with his dad. That explains why she wants Coconut’s dad to work her father. Or, maybe this will help… Shidare Hotaru wants Coconut’s dad to work for her Father. See the difference? If she is Coconut’s dead mom, it does make a little more sense than she would want her husband to join her in the afterlife. It is almost like, “Hey, it’s okay, you’ve done enough, now let’s spend eternity together.”
Coconut’s dad, though, isn’t willing to go just yet. He wants to make sure Coconut’s future is at least somewhat secure (the weakest part of my theory is that it depends on an anime parent being somewhat responsible… that can be a fetch too far), and the best way to do that is for Coconut to take over the family store. It would allow the dad to move on as well and join Hotaru in the afterlife. Hotaru is also really comfortable around Coconut’s dad, and she has an almost perfert repoire with him in the dagashi as heroin addiction episode. You have to think that they are comfortable with each other because at one point they loved each other.
Also, the reason Hotaru always wears similar clothing isn’t because Feel and Manta Aisora are too lazy to come up with new outfits but because spirits don’t need to change outfits. When was the last time you saw a spirit shop at Banana Republic or Madewell? How many motherfucking outfits did Menma wear in AnoHana? How many different chastity belts did Hiyori Kotobuki wear in ImoCho?
If Hotaru is Coconut’s dead mom, it makes a lot of sense as to why she would go to the store everyday and drop dagashi knowledge bombs on Coconuts. She would know just as much about dasashi as his dad. In the fourth episode when Coconuts and Hotaru were blind guessing fugashi, Coconuts tried to win by using a rare dagashi that not many stores stocks. But his store does. Shidare was not shaken at all. She managed to guess it with the same confidence Kamina charges into battle with. She knew. She probably ordered the damn fugashi twenty years ago. Later on the the same episode, she saved her last caramel for Coconut. What kind of person does that? What kind of person selflessly saves the last piece of premium candy knowing that someone else will want it later? A mom. A motherfucking mom.
In episode five, Shidare Hotaru mentions that she has terrible luck and never wins at anything. You know what else is terrible luck? Getting married to a man who owns a candy store, giving birth to a bouncing baby, and then promptly dying afterwards. Or, as it is commonly referred to, the Nagisa. That is bad luck. In the first episode, we see Coconut’s dad reading Coconut’s manga. Who does the heroine of his manga look like? Hotaru. He hasn’t met Hotaru yet, unless Hotaru is somehow familiar to him subconsciously like, maybe what if she were there when he was younger.
I know you are in shock. Wait, how does any of this make sense? Why would the story be this way? Look, I am not Manta Aisora. I’m only interpreting his work. It’s not uncommon to feature a child’s mom as a child’s spirit (or Evangelion) in anime. But having Shidare Hotaru be Coconut’s mom would be an incredibly satisfying twist to the story. It would change the dynamics of the show from being a dagashi knowledge dump into something more thoughtful. The questions would then change from why is Hotaru doing this? Is she skipping school? Where is she living? To questions more like what didn’t Hotaru accomplish that she is still hanging around the family candy store? What regrets did she have in her life? Does Coconut’s remember his mom? There are different questions to ask.
I don’t think another interpretation is unprecedented either. You can look at the X-Files. There are some fan theories that Mulder and Scully have been in a secret relationship since day one, and Scully only puts up with Mulder’s bullshit because he’s motherfucking Hank Moody in bed. There are theories that Bert and Ernie are gay. There are theories that David Stern froze an envelope to make sure the Knicks got Patrick Ewing. There are theories that Pokemon exists in a world ravaged by war. There are theories that actually Kyon is the almighty one. There are theories that Toei’s version of Clannad is a made up fantasy and doesn’t really exist. These theories may or may not be true. Who knows? (Except Bert and Ernie are clearly not voting for Donald Trump.) They add spice and intrigue to a show’s mythology. Just like if it turned out that Shidare Hotaru is Coconut’s mom’s spirit. Just like how a dagashi seems like a simple cheap treat, there are actually many layers and myths to dagashi. Maybe there is a layer of that mythology to Dagashi Kashi and Shidare Hotaru as well.
9 Responses to “the shidare hotaru theory”
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oh gawd. were you smoking dagashi earlier Jason? :P
Well, I’m sold!
Not bad. As good as SDB’s deduction that the crow in Haibane Renmei was Rakka’s dog.
Hmmmm…..I wish I’d thought of this first.
It actually makes sense and is good value. It’s takes a bit of the slightly disturbing weirdness out of the opening to Episode 5.
If this is the actual truth, then I can see as happy an ending as if Leicester City actually wins the English Premier League. And I wont have to cry myself to sleep over episodes like I (and you…be honest now) had to do with episodes of MARMALADE BOY.
But wait!! I just thought of something else!!
That makes Hotaru a MILF, then….!! Yikes!
Man,that’s a good deduction,but the question about why she is not studying anywhere is already answered, are summer vacation, no one is studying,and she is rich,she could stay in a Hotel. My theory is that Hotaru grew up in the same town as Kokonotsu (where he lives now) she visited the candy store when was a child,but kokonotsu does not remember (this is quite common in animes),she visited because the fathers of Hotaru and Kokonotsu were friends but life led them to separate ways and Hotaru’s father became the owner of a candy empire and Kokonotsu’s father it’s only the owner of a small candy store. But then one day Hotaru’s father felt a nostalgic feeling remembering his youth and his best friend,but he was too busy to go see his friend,so he had the idea of ask for his daughter if she wanted to go there again visit the store, have a little fun and ask for Kokonotsu’s father if he wants to come work with him.That was the most possible theory that I found,but there are hundreds of theories, as you said, there is much mystery surrounding the girl’s origin.Oh and sorry about my english.
I’m not flooding or anything, it’s just because I had written a comment here and it just disappeared, I had not written anything offensive, so I got doubts if I had accidentally deleted myself or have not clicked in submit, so I’m putting here again just in case, because it took me a long time thinking about this theory.
The comment:Man,that’s a good deduction,but the question about why she is not studying anywhere is already answered, are summer vacation, no one is studying,and she is rich,she could stay in a Hotel. My theory is that Hotaru grew up in the same town as Kokonotsu (where he lives now) she visited the candy store when was a child,but kokonotsu does not remember (this is quite common in animes),she visited because the fathers of Hotaru and Kokonotsu were friends but life led them to separate ways and Hotaru’s father became the owner of a candy empire and Kokonotsu’s father it’s only the owner of a small candy store. But then one day Hotaru’s father felt a nostalgic feeling remembering his youth and his best friend,but he was too busy to go see his friend,so he had the idea of ask for his daughter if she wanted to go there again visit the store, have a little fun and ask for Kokonotsu’s father if he wants to come work with him.That was the most possible theory that I found,but there are hundreds of theories, as you said, there is much mystery surrounding the girl’s origin.Oh and sorry about my english.
Oh shit he was here all the time,sorry :(