Poor Okarun. Is there any more plaintive lament than “why is everything after my junk!?”. Not to mention being caught between two women (four, if you can’t the grannies who love tormenting him). Caught in a lie by the one he actually cares about, to boot. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to do it. We’re eight episodes in and unless you count aliens, Ken is actually the only male character who’s had any dialogue to speak of so far, so it’s kind of him against the world.

All this is made immeasurably more complicated by Aira’s savant-level ability to get the wrong end of the stick. She remains utterly convinced that Ken and Momo are demons, and in fact that Momo is planning world domination. The two of them have a preposterously amusing argument while slurping somen noodles, and Seiko winds up taking Aira’s side after she complains that Seiko looks too young and beautiful to be Momo’s grandma. Ken’s attitude of only slightly-suppressed terror as all this plays out may be the most amusing part of the whole sequence.

Once Aira and her misconceptions finally clear out, the others can turn to the matter of returning Okarun’s golden ball. This being Dandadan of course this can’t be done in a matter-of-fact way – the three women are enjoying it way too much for that. It is successfully reunited with its owner (thanks to Turbo Granny’s heater, even in maneki-neko form). That still leaves Okarun one short of a full set of course, but baby steps and all that. It’s a first baby step on a journey. Momo suggests he research local occult boards online looking for clues, but he reveals he doesn’t have a PC (neither does she, or even a smartphone) – a shockingly common thing in this supposedly technologically advanced country.

That lie involves Ken telling Momo that he has to skip their roof lunch date because he’s working on a report. The truth is he’s doing Seiko’s prescribed exercise routine but too embarrassed to admit it. That’s understandable, but unfortunately Aira has convinced herself she’s in love with Ken (despite his being a demon). And she’s learned from her father’s romance books that a confession must be sealed with a kiss, which she unleashes some wrestling moves on Okarun trying to consummate. Momo taking the wrong idea from this is certainly also understandable.

It’s Dandadan – peace (if you can call the above that) never reigns for long. The three of them (though Momo is elsewhere) soon find themselves inside a familiar barrier as water seeps into the school halls. Momo is confronted with what seems like a dinosaur, then what looks like a giant mantis shrimp shadow boxing and mangling ABBA lyrics (sang the original ones in the manga, but the licensing was clearly too expensive here) shows up. And before long the Serpoians make their (re-)appearance, and immediately start rhapsodizing about the desirability of Okarun’s banana organ. Why indeed…

I think most series would probably stop there – or if we’re not kidding ourselves, three or four stages further back. But that’s just not how Dandadan rolls. Just as the Serpoians (with the mantis in the background) make ready to relieve Ken of his only recently retrieved banana organs, an unexpected guest arrives at the party. Is that Acrobatic Silky mode for Aira – looking very much like Okarun in Granny state? This time the aura was given voluntarily but by first evidence, the result looks eerily similar.