Our youth is overflowing with dreams.
Dasada is a 2020 television show, aired on Nippon TV and starring members of Hinatazaka46. Yuria Sada (Nao Kosaka) is a cutesy, happy-go-lucky high school girl who decides to start a fashion brand to save her family's tailor shop from repossession. She partners with her aspiring fashion designer classmate, Saori Shinohara (Miho Watanabe), who happens to be the daughter of the man who gave the loan.
After all, aren't these tropes so cute?
- Actor Allusion: Yuria owns a lot of dinosaur plushies and other items, and was in the volleyball club back in middle school, both known traits of her actress which have also been referenced in her idol and modeling works.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After Saori abruptly left Factory, Ochoko caught up to her and questions her decision to walk away from her chance to become the "real deal" as she'd always wanted. Saori replies that she can only be the "real deal" when she's with Yuria in Dasada.
- Beautiful All Along: After Ichigo joined the Dasada team, she gave herself a makeover and becomes more attractive in both looks and personality.
- Broken Pedestal: Saori finally meets her heroine, Ochoko of the Factory girl group, and joins Factory herself as member and costume designer, but is later disappointed since her messages of self-determination, as well as the group's choreography and lyrics, which were marketed as having been created by the members themselves, were all crafted by their agency and their entire career have been controlled by them, and she's expected to follow suit. She decides to leave the group and return to Dasada right before her debut live show (after being dragged away by Yuria, who assumed she was somehow in trouble), and later learns that her stage persona, Sakazuki the (figurehead) costume designer, had been immediately passed on to a blonde white girl who of course looks nothing like her (her face hasn't been made public yet before the show).
- Character Catchphrase: Yuria's is "kakkee", a colloquial form of kakkoii ("cool").
- Covers Always Lie: Fashion model Mahopoyo (Ayaka Takamoto) only appears a few times in the story, but was included in the poster's main visual with the Dasada team. Justified since it actually depicts them a few years after the main story, when she presumably has joined their friend group through her work relationship with Serena-de.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: "Seishun no Uma" by, of course, Hinatazaka46.
- Edible Theme Naming: Members of the girl group Factory took their stage names from types of sake cups or bottles: Ochoko (small cup with smooth texture), Guinomi (large cup with rough texture), Tokkuri (small sake bottle usually put next to the cup), and Sakazuki (maybe the most recognizable, shallow and wide cup; also used in Yakuza initiation ceremonies, and it's implied that the producer deliberately assigned her the name because her father's occupation is often associated with the Yakuza).
- Elective Mute: Tokkuri of Factory is discouraged to talk by Factory's producer, as she has a thick rural Yamaguchi accent.
- Fake Band: Factory, with their hit song "Naze". Since all three members were portrayed by Hinatazaka46 members, Factory also became a real subunit of that group, and the song was included as a coupling (additional) song on their 4th single.
- Framing Device: The story is told by the main cast who are having a reunion several years after they graduated high school, as depicted in the opening credits.
- Funny Foreigner: The deliveryman who often delivers for the Sadas, and later Tororo.
- Good Parents: Despite Saori's father's stern demeanor, he and her mother are very supportive of her aspirations, going as far as closing down his loan shark business and moving with her to London, where she's going to study fashion.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: The haughty Ichigo Okada is always annoyed by her bubbly gravure idol older sister, Tororo Okada.
- Insult Backfire: Saori Shinohara calls Yuria Sada "Dasada" from dasai (tacky) and Sada. Although she takes offense at being called tacky, Yuria decides to make it their titular fashion brand.
- It's the Journey That Counts: In the epilogue, Yuria proclaims that despite everything, she was happy to have spent part of her youth with Dasada.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Saori left Factory because the producer expected her to take credit for professional costume designs that weren't hers to falsely exaggerate her abilities, just like the other three members have been doing the whole time to "fake it until they make it". However, after examining the Factory costume she was wearing, she and the rest of the Dasada team come to the harsh realization that their design and craftsmanship were indeed not good enough to compete on a higher level yet, and agree to indefinitely suspend the operations of Dasada as they go their separate ways to improve their skills.
- Kawaiiko: Yuria believes she's extremely cute and has an equally saccharine personality, which initially puts Saori off. However, she's very professional when it comes to Dasada.
- Liar Revealed: Makoto exposes that her Childhood Friend Serena-de used to be a Shrinking Violet, and made up stories on the Internet about her absurd level of popularity in middle school in order become a School Idol in high school. She even purchased a tie similar to those worn by students of a popular boys' school to imply she has a boyfriend there. In return for Yuria and Saori keeping her secret, Serena-de offers to use her clout to promote Dasada products.
- Loan Shark: The Sadas owe money to one, who uncharacteristically gives them leeway since Yuria is classmates with his daughter, Saori.
- Neologizer: Yuria likes to create her own words in an attempt to sound hip, such as okolympic ("angry-lympics", referring to the 2020 Olympics which was a hot topic when the series aired).
- No Indoor Voice: Makoto constantly speaks with a booming voice.
- Nom de Mom: Saori uses her mother's surname to conceal her family relations with her father, who has a rather unsavory profession as a Loan Shark, although they have a loving relationship.
- The Nose Knows: Makoto is able to detect Yuria's presence by smell, which makes Yuria self-conscious about her scent.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Makoto is captain of the volleyball club and is very devoted to it, and plans to obtain an education degree after she graduates so she can later return to the school as coach.
- Saving the Orphanage: The plot starts when the Sada tailor shop is about to be repossessed by a Loan Shark.
- School Idol: Serena-de and her posse are these, and she also starts out as an Alpha Bitch who attempts to put down anyone who might threaten her popularity.
- Shout-Out: When Yuria informs Makoto that she can't do a "flying get" (receiving an item before the release date) for her clothing order, she does the iconic pose from the AKB48 song of the same title.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Dasada and Factory are on the opposing sides of the scale.
- Dasada, founded by Yuria and Saori with the belief that it's the way to pay off Yuria's parents' debt despite their inexperience. They did achieve their main goal, but come to realize the limit of their abilities and closed the brand down to focus on improving their skills.
- Factory, a group which members are willing to falsely take credit for the group's choreography, costumes, and lyrics, as they believe in faking it while they strive to actually master their craft.
- Speaks In Shoutouts: Saori often quotes her favorite singer, Ochoko of the girl group Factory.
- Those Two Guys: First-year students Sumire Gotanda and Satsuki Furuoka are almost always together and mostly only show up to admire Yuria.
