Whether you’re a manga reader or an anime-only, it should be pretty obvious by now that this is not a typical mood for Dandadan. It’s most certainly a series that trades on irreverence and manic energy. Frankly, it doesn’t go for the heartstrings very often. That’s not to say it doesn’t make you care about the characters, because it certainly does. But it doesn’t embrace the heart of darkness like this. I wouldn’t want it to be the norm, but as a curveball it was certainly highly effective.
For a while at least, it’s usual service on the line. Acrobatic Silky is pissed, and she’s proving to be a very challenging foe. Momo has a bright idea (she gets a lot of those in combat, some a higher wattage than others). Have Okarun go into Granny mode and lead Silky a merry chase, in the process causing her singed hair to become entangled in the countless detritus in the abandoned factory. That puts a spanner in the works of Silky’s plan to be together with Aira by devouring her.
At this point Momo entreats Okarun to just “blow her away”. Mind you that’s a problem for him, as he’s never calmly and rationally blown anyone away. How exactly does one go about that? It seems that the key for Ken, even in turbo mode, is motivation. When things go ass over teakettle and the pressure is on, he just reacts. And Okarun going all out is enough to take Acrobatic Silky down any number of pegs. Turbo Granny is rather dismissive of the effort, but even she has to admit that it’s going to be a while before Silky can cause any more trouble.
Turbo Granny takes the opportunity to retrieve Ken’s golden ball. She also delivers the news that Aira is, in fact, dead. This is normal, she says, when a regular human gets eaten by a youkai. Alas, poor Aira, though Momo isn’t willing to give up on her. She dispatches Okarun to the breathing half of CPR while she uses her powers to massage Aira’s heart. Granny is convinced this will be ineffective, and she seems to be right. But Acrobatic Silky intervenes, offering her own aura to give the flickering Aira’s a jump. Momo doesn’t trust her a bit, but Turbo Granny asserts that she’s right – and that this is probably the only way to save Aira.
This is where the episode takes a real left turn. In the process of connecting Silky’s aura to Aira’s, Momo gets a first-person viewpoint of how the spirit came to her current state – and so do we. This is an extremely effective bit of direction, another example of the anime using the means at its disposal to elevate the Dandadan experience. And it’s part of a recurring theme, where supposedly evil beings are revealed to have a more nuanced story than it initially appears. Acrobatic Silky’s is certainly tragic – and it’s no wonder at all that she became so fixated on Aira after their brief encounter. The fact that Aira had just lost her own mother just makes it that much more heartbreaking.
This is really good stuff – both in terms of the original writing and the way it was brought to the screen. Silky’s ending was tragic, but also redemptive – and it changes our perspective on Aira’s character, too. It’s no surprise to me that Dandadanime and Ao no Hako are proving probably the biggest hits of the season. They’re both really good manga with a very distinctive air, and both are getting excellent adaptations (this one certainly even better, with no disrespect to Blue Box). Tonal versatility is not something I would have listed as one of this series’ outstanding qualities, but it’s impressive that it can pull something like this off just the same.
Simone
November 15, 2024 at 8:57 pmSmall detail, but I loved that they had Okarun give CPR to a girl without even a hint of a joke/reaction about him being embarrassed or anything. She’s straight up dying, no time for that shit.
The flashback was definitely wonderfully adapted and directed. That rotating shot of the woman’s life with her daughter was beautiful, and now I wait for the soundtrack to be released because the music was absolutely gorgeous too.
sonicsenryaku
November 16, 2024 at 1:58 am*****Small detail, but I loved that they had Okarun give CPR to a girl without even a hint of a joke/reaction about him being embarrassed or anything. She’s straight up dying, no time for that shit.****
Same here; it’s a shame that anime tropes have made anything regarding CPR turn teenages (and even adults) into neurotic, cringe-induced children so seeing a show handle it normally is seriously a breath of fresh air (pun might be intended)
sonicsenryaku
November 16, 2024 at 1:53 amI’ve been quite surprised with the way people have been using episode 7 (and to similar although lesser extent, episode 5 and 6) to describe this phase of the series as the point where the character writing starts feeling grounded in reality when I don’t think that’s true at all; the character writing has been grounded since ep 1. Sometimes I wonder if the people watching Dandadan become too distracted or overwhelmed by the chaotic exoskeleton/blueprint of the show that they have a harder time parsing out the logical and purposeful storytelling that’s so evidently at the helm of it all. Like, isn’t Momo appreciating her relationship with Okarun within episode because of how it allowed her to tap into her appreciation for the spiritual, and more importantly how that ties into her wanting to rekindle her bond with her grandma not grounded writing? That would sort of be like saying that the original FLCL is superficial in its character writing because it’s manic and always on full throttle; come to think of it, some people only remember FLCL as being the CUH-RAAAAAAZY gainax anime. But getting off that cart real quick, that’s the other thing: Even with Dandadan, being this generally fast-paced, quirky IP, the series gives itself the necessary character moments required to put its characters first; that’s what the real hook is supposed to be: it’s a romcom parading around as an occult action-adventure. Yukinobu Tatsu’s modus operandi when writing Dandadan is to tell a story that captures various shades and experiences of the human condition; and yet despite it all, this doesn’t seem to shine through to people right away even with there being plenty of it on display through the writing’s technical merits. Seeing these, “the cast feels like characters now” reactions has certainly been an interesting meditation on how audience me
On a side note, I was lucky to watch a behind the scenes reel of the creative process going into the anime adaptation of Dandadan, and I found it so funny how much the director, Fuga Yamashiro (who sees himself as a story technician rather than a storyteller) glazed Shion Wakayama’s wide emotional prowess as a seiyuu. He described her as being “an exceptional naturalistic voice actor capable of moving between a variety of emotional and tonal ranges effortlessly” and was often times amazed at just how much versatility her acting range had. It looks like Shion’s role as Momo is beginning to put her on the map with the average anime watcher whereas prior to this, barely anyone cared about her; their hype more pointed towards names like Hanae Natsuki, Kazuya Nakai, and of course, Mayumi Tanaka.
sonicsenryaku
November 16, 2024 at 6:32 am****reposting my comment from earlier because a section of it got cut off for some reason (also touching it up)****
I’ve been quite surprised with the way people have been using episode 7 (and to similar although lesser extent, episode 5 and 6) to describe this phase of the series as the point where the character writing starts feeling grounded in reality when I don’t think that’s true at all; the character writing has been grounded since ep 1. Sometimes I wonder if the people watching Dandadan become too distracted or overwhelmed by the chaotic exoskeleton/blueprint of the show that they have a harder time parsing out the logical and purposeful storytelling that’s so evidently at the helm of it all. Like, isn’t Momo appreciating her relationship with Okarun within episode 1 because of how it allowed her to tap into her appreciation for the spiritual, and more importantly how that ties into her wanting to rekindle her bond with her grandma not grounded writing? That would sort of be like saying that the original FLCL is superficial in its character writing because it’s manic and always on full throttle; well, come to think of it, some people only remember and appreciate FLCL as being the CUH-RAAAAAAZY gainax anime rather than everything else about it that matters, so there’s that.
But getting off that cart real quick, that’s the other thing: Even with Dandadan, being this generally fast-paced, quirky IP, the series gives itself the necessary character moments required to put their humanity first; that’s what the real hook is supposed to be: it’s a romcom parading around as an occult action-adventure. Yukinobu Tatsu’s modus operandi when writing Dandadan is to tell a story that captures various shades and experiences of the human condition; and yet despite it all, this doesn’t seem to shine through to people right away even with there being plenty of it on display through the writing’s technical merits. Seeing these, “the cast feels like characters now” reactions has certainly been an interesting meditation on what goes into closing the engagement circuit for audience members
On a side note, I was lucky to watch a behind the scenes reel of the creative process going into the anime adaptation of Dandadan, and I found it so funny how much the director, Fuga Yamashiro (who sees himself as a story technician rather than a storyteller) glazed Shion Wakayama’s wide emotional prowess as a seiyuu. He described her as being “an exceptional naturalistic voice actor capable of moving between a variety of emotional and tonal ranges effortlessly” and was often times amazed at just how much versatility her acting range had. It looks like Shion’s role as Momo is beginning to put her on the map with the average anime watcher whereas prior to this, barely anyone cared about her; their hype more pointed towards names like Hanae Natsuki, Kazuya Nakai, and of course, Mayumi Tanaka
ruicarlov
November 16, 2024 at 3:45 amThe second half of this episode destroyed me. It was such a tonal shift to something so terribly sad and cruel that even when reading this review tears welled up in my eyes again. This was probably every mother’s worst nightmare, so it’s hardly surprising so much anguish would turn a lost soul into a dangerous existence.
Orion Taylor
November 16, 2024 at 12:05 pmJust binged the manga over the course of last week and am currently caught up. It’s pretty good!
Honestly, I kind of feel that the second half of the episode was kind of over-done. It’s not that I dislike it when my anime/manga get emotional: I do appreciate these kinds of moments. However, this did feel a bit too much like “let’s optimize for the saddest possible backstory”. That being said, this was still much better than any Demon Slayer Demon backstory that they would shoehorn at the end of the first few fights, and I do appreciate how these sad-stories end up being One Piece style character intros.
I’m also in agreement with Sonic’s comment about the writing being pretty grounded from the first episode. Okarun and Momo have a lot of chemistry and interesting motivations. Definitely better than most shonen, but I’m not quite yet ready to rate it as highly as HxH or MP100 (a bit of an unfair comparison, since those are complete series).
Guardian Enzo
November 16, 2024 at 12:22 pmIt wasn’t subtle, I agree. But I would say very effective.
As I said, the series is good at making you feel connected to the characters. Ken and Momo have a very charming and believable connection. HxH or MP100? Nowhere near that level of character writing for me. But certainly very good, especially in a series that’s mainly about the lunacy.
sonicsenryaku
November 17, 2024 at 12:12 amI get what you mean by the “let’s optimize for the saddest possible backstory;” criticism; there’s this feeling that the episode (in the famous words of Peter Griffin) “insists upon itself” on how sad all of the transpiring events are courtesy of the sad melodic piano keys reverberating through every scene and the way each artistic animation choice seems to go out of its way to make sure you know how somber and unfortunate Acro-silky’s short-lived moments with her daughter were. This is the kind of criticism you often see thrown at Visual Novels written by “Key* where their whole selling point is to try to make you cry; and typically, I agree with this sentiment at some of their more overwrought works.
However, with this episode of Dandadan, all of what’s happening here is inherently tragic and raw in a way that’s unavoidable. Like Enzo said, the intent of the storytelling is not subtle at all; it’s going for the emotional gutpunch; and given the fact that the anime only has 6 to 7 minutes to sell you on the expanse of Acro-silky’s ill-fated life, they NEED to communicate such sentiment with the appropriate force that the suddenness of learning all this information would have on a person; there are just times were not being subtle is the necessary approach. That’s not to excuse something from the criticism of being overwrought, but in the case of how Dandadan handles Acro-silky’s backstory, I think it balances the directness of its emotional intent by at the very least ensuring that said emotions and actions on display where absolutely grounded in reality and conveyed with dramatic substance befitting its cause and effect logic. For me, it’s such balancing act which prevents what could have been overwrought/over-done from crossing that line and that’s why it’s still effective in a way that comes off genuine; this is what some of the visual novels by Key fail to do.
It’s also nice to see that the back story leaves some subtle details for the viewer to chew on like the implications for why Aira became as deluded as she did in her teenage years; did Acro-silky actually find peace? (The unclearness in the anime adaptation is a change that I think makes the storytelling more potent); what fate befell Acro-silky’s daughter? (the implication is that she eventually died, but leaving that in the air adds an extra bit of tragic grit to her abduction). So yea, I can totally see why someone would feel like the backstory was a bit overdone (and would even lend that as being somewhat valid); that being said, I think it’s less about trying to optimize the saddest possible backstory to get you to cry, and more about optimizing sentimentality for a woman whose inherently painful life and inevitable suicide drove her to madness after death; a woman whose unfortunate circumstances would have never been made privy to the populous/forgotten about even though stuff like this happens almost every day; that ultimately, we shouldn’t never forget about the lives of those the world wrongs on a daily basis
Stephen
November 17, 2024 at 9:23 pmGreat write up! I didnt expect DDD had another gear. was it over-dramatic and is the materials less good than Mob100, definitely! but being so confidently shifting between these polars shows how good the directors/team are. I agree with you that this is giving me vibes of Heavenly delusion of turning some pretty good materials into something that is quite special and novel. Its not so often that this happens!
Nicc
November 19, 2024 at 8:36 amIndeed, the tone was very different from the episodes we’ve seen so far. The music from “William Tell” would not have been appropriate here. The start of the episode seems like the usual business as Round 2 against Turbo Granny begins. All three of them have been spat out and with Aira out of commission. I was thinking that she might wake up sometime during the fracas and along with new abilities, but she remains out even as the other two were running around all over the place.
Momo’s hands are still tied up and so she’s still limited by that. Okarun as TG cannot take full advantage of her speed in an enclosed space that’s full of obstacles. However, there’s a reason why they’re running all over the place as Acrobatic Silky’s hair gets entangled from doing that. That’s enough to stop her movement, though she decides to solve the problem by ripping her hair out. Yep, Okarun doesn’t remember that “blow away” move and so he uses his head, which works out and Acrobat Silky seems down for the count.
Okarun’s golden ball is retrieved and now they turn their attention to Aira. Turbo Granny tells them that Aira is not just unconscious, she’s actually dead. That’s what normally happens when a human is eaten like that. Momo and Okarun have powers and so they’re OK. The both of them start doing CPR to bring her back, but it’s not working. TG tells them that Aira’s aura is too weak. That’s when Acrobatic Silky gets back up, but she’s not going to start a 3rd round of battling. She offers her aura to give to Aira. Momo tells Okarun to stay alert if Silky starts to have ideas as Momo uses her powers to initiate the transfer of aura.
That’s when we get the flashback to who Silky was as a human. She was a mom trying to raise her daughter and to give her everything she wants. It all goes wrong as she loses everything, including her daughter. She then meets up with a younger Aira, who also lost her mom and young enough that she doesn’t understand the concept of death yet. It’s a brief encounter of mistaken identity and Acrobatic Silky was born there. We don’t know what happened to Acrobatic Silky in the years leading up to this. Momo sees these memories along with Aira. Perhaps that one hug from Aira is enough for Silky to rest in peace. It was quite a swerve in direction for an episode that was still about recovering one of Okarun’s profiteroles and it worked well.
Yann
November 25, 2024 at 12:21 pmNot subtle? I don’t think we use this word the same way… There was so much in this scene. And it was gorgeously animated… The best sequence in any anime episode this season for sure, probably the year, as far as I’m concerned.
You probably already know about this channel, but if you don’t, this might be your cup of tea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-MgRJiVZ-Q