There’s a definite divide in manga adaptations. Well, there are several – you get outright dogs like the Biscuit Hammer fiasco and some that are just generally subpar. But broadly speaking I’m talking about the difference between those that simply transfer the story to the screen and those that genuinely adapt it. Anime is not manga – it can do things that manga can’t. It requires a good director and a decent budget – not always both. But it’s a shame not to avail oneself of the possibilities anime offers. One can look at two very good manga adaptations by Lidenfilms – Yofakushi no Uta and Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia – to see the difference.
Admittedly, Dandadan made that decision easier because an Insomniacs-style treatment simply wouldn’t work. You could never do a literal adaptation of Dandadan even if you wanted to, but you still have to find a way to capture the infectious insanity and genial goofiness of the manga. Full credit to director Yamashiro Fuga and Science SARU, because they’re absolutely doing that. To a degree I probably would have said was close to impossible, in fact.
I don’t know whose idea it was to use “Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9” to accompany Momo and Okarun’s awkward courtship morning after at school, but it was a stroke of genius. Written by the Spanish composer and guitarist Fernando Sor based on a melody from The Magic Flute, it’s hardly the first piece of music one would associate with this sort of series of anime generally. But it perfectly suits the mood. Okarun and Momo desperately want to be together, but they literally and figuratively can’t get on the same page. When they finally do it’s in literally bumping into each other – with a hilarious clacking of teeth – that her gal friends mistake for a kiss.
By Dandadan standards this is an entirely low-key episode. But the emotional stuff is still pretty intense. There is a social gap between these two kids, make no mistake. And Momo can’t shake off her instinct to honor it, to the point where she hurts Okarun rather badly. This comes when he’s trying to tell her about a new emergency, too – to wit, his balls are gone. While Momo and Okarun are cold-shouldering each other in the aftermath of the kiss fallout he bumps into another girl, Shiratori Aira (Sakura Ayane). Aira is extremely cruel towards Okarun in the aftermath of their encounter, and Momo overhears her mocking him to her friends. This prompts Momo to go very old school in getting some payback.
Well, never a dull moment as they say – and rarely a lull moment – where Dandadan is concerned. Downtime over, it’s back into crisis mode as Seiko takes charge of the ball hunt and Momo funds the whole thing way too hilarious. Seiko immediately sees that there’s something inside Okarun that shouldn’t be there, and proceeds to whack him repeatedly with a paper fan to try to drive it out. Momo can see the change in his aura when he gets whacked, and Grandma instructs her to pull whatever’s in there out the next time it happens.
The long and short of it is Turbo Granny has possessed Okarun just at the moment she was being exorcised, and after Momo yanks her out she winds up trapped in a maneki-neko. She tries to leverage the ball situation to get Okarun to kill the other two, but that’s not going to happen. Momo tries the sweet talk approach, but – even with the reveal that Turbo Granny’s actual power remains inside Okarun – she can’t give back what she doesn’t have. Talk about an uneasy truce, but they’re stuck with each other for the moment, and thank goodness for that.
ruicarlov
November 2, 2024 at 4:23 amThis show can pull the most engaging and intense scenes and make it look easy, no mater if it’s a high octane chase scene with a classical music soundtrack or this episode’s missing each other with classical mus…. Hmm, I think I see a pattern here. Nevertheless, even before the music starts that urge of each other desperately wanting to talk to the other was so adorable and felt real. In that moment I felt the kind of connection I did in many parts of BokuYaba, which is a neat feat for a show so off the rails in many ways.
Raikou
November 2, 2024 at 5:44 pmKudos to sound director (or the soundtrack guy?) for putting that Mozart theme.
Damn, Dandadan not only good at action but Momo/Okarun scene was well done.
Nadavu
November 2, 2024 at 11:10 pmThis was a fantastic breather episode, after the non-stop action of the first four. Dandadan is chou-clicking with me
Nicc
November 4, 2024 at 11:32 amAfter battling aliens, a sumo wrestler spirit and Turbo Granny, going back to the normality of school probably feels pretty nice. Momo is now all in with aliens and cryptids and really wants to bond with Okarun. For his part, he doesn’t know how to properly approach her, the two of them being on the opposite sides of the school’s social food chain. Yep, that morning meeting is awkward. She’s waiting at the gates and Okarun decides that the best way to go is to avoid her. It’s not the right move, but at least they get to talk until classes begin. Lunchtime approaches and they really want to get together again, but they somehow keep missing each other until lunchtime is nearly over.
Yep, they literally bump into each other’s teeth, which looks like a kiss to Momo’s friends. The fallout is that they get into a fight and are now avoiding each other. Okarun is indeed hurt as it looks like Momo is pushing him away and especially when he’s got some pressing news. Apparently, his frank is there, but not his beans. I’m not sure how he somehow didn’t notice that until now (Something feels off when putting on your underwear, yeah?). Okarun then runs into Shiratori Aira. She’s in the OP so we already know that she’s going to be main characters, but she doesn’t come off as great here as she pretends to be nice to him.
Momo notices that and gets her with the old-fashioned washtub gag. They seem to be made of plastic nowadays, but they just don’t sound the same. The both of them later make amends, though Momo spares him no mercy when she learns that Okarun only has part of his package. So, it’s over the river and through the woods to grandma’s place again. Seiko figures out that there’s something in him and it has to get out. If the washtub earlier on was old-school, so is the whacking with the harisen. Yep, there’s something inside Okarun and Momo pulls it out of him. Seiko gets it to possess a nearby maneki-neko and it turns out to be Turbo Granny. Right, she managed to possess Okarun just before being exorcised and she’s got his cojones. She’ll give back the family jewels if Okarun knocks off the Ayase women, but that’s not going to happen. It also turns out that only her personality got whacked into maneki-neko, but her powers are still inside Okarun and now he can utilize them. As it were, Turbo Granny doesn’t know where his nads are and so it looks like she’s on the team. It was indeed low-key episode, but a fun one.