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.
ruicarlov
November 23, 2024 at 12:41 amAs usual the insanity never gives up. Dinosaur’s firing lasers? Boxing shrimp singing ABBA? That’s all par for the course. And I should have seen it coming, but the Aire transformation caught me by surprise. With the “mask” on, she reminds me a bit of the Female Titan’s face, somehow.
sonicsenryaku
November 23, 2024 at 12:44 amAaaaaannd we’ve arrived at the episode that has just full-blown unmasked Dandadan’s production schedule struggles. Despite the series wrapping up abut 3 to 4 months before airing, some serious crunch time had to be done to make this happen and now we’re kind of seeing the results of this. There were the minor in-betweening or character model error in an episode or two during the show’s first 6 episodes, but that was fairly decent compromise for the level of visual ambition the show was reaching for. Ep 8 is the first outing where the cracks in the production have unraveled themselves as full-on holes: just so many off-model drawings, weaker-can normal compositing, and a lack of strong sequences of animation. Kind of reminds me of JJK season 2 in that despite it being an astounding achievement in action spectacle, it ended up suffering from similar problems.
It really is a shame the anime industry is in such a shitty state that even super high profile shows like Dandadan will suffer from production woes on their way to the finish line. It’s a miracle that something like Mob Psycho 100 stayed as visually immaculate as it did (even with its rare lower profile ep) for 3 whole seasons; even with the breaks between each outing, that’s still a unicorn of a happenstance in this industry climate. Stuff like Mob and Heavenly Delusion are extreme outliers in this day and age; it’s unfortunate then that Dandadan, like JJK season 2, despite both being visually-awesome shows, couldn’t join that club due to each show’s respective studio practices and the crappy industry norms animators have no choice but to accept……..sigh
Simone
November 23, 2024 at 1:28 amMostly I had the impression that there was a strange lack of mouth flaps during the initial Aira-Momo argument. I didn’t know about production woes but that does make sense (shame, too, as I thought Science Saru fared better than most?).
Guardian Enzo
November 23, 2024 at 9:17 amOh, Saru already has a mini-MAPPA reputation as a black company for animators. Even on Yuasa’s work – “Japan Sinks” could hardly have been more aptly named.
Nadavu
November 23, 2024 at 6:32 pmSo glad to see the Serpoians return – they’re my favorite villains thus far. Interestingly, the “banana” they so desperately want seems to be invariant with respect of gender.
Orion Taylor
November 26, 2024 at 10:36 amSomebody else had to point this out for me, but Nessie’s laser scene is a reference to atomic breath scene from Shin Godzilla. They even both do the nictitating membrane thing over the eye as their breath turns into a concentrated beam.
Nicc
November 28, 2024 at 9:17 amOkay, so we get a “Shin Godzilla” reference in this episode. Cool, that would have been enough. Or, we get an “ABBA” reference. That itself also would’ve been enough. But to get both into single episode? I’ll have to ask an AI program later to render up Godzilla wearing platform boots. After defeating the Giant Enemy Crab, the Ayase clan decides to eat some crab. After prevailing over Acrobatic Silky, now it’s noodles. Of course. This time Aira joins them in slurping noodles. Going through that experience didn’t seem to relieve her of her delusions. If anything, she’s even more chuuni now. Along with Momo, there’s also Okarun, which makes it two demons she’ll have to deal with. Oh yeah, and she’s catching feelings for Okarun, even if he is a “demon. I was wondering how they were going to put the golden ball back into the proper position. Perhaps he may have to eat it? Nah, the best approach is to throw it as a heater right at his groin area. Of course. It’s a swing-and-a-miss for Reiko, but Okarun gets one of his jewels back (Was it the left or the right?).
We head back to school again as Momo and Okarun now try to find clues on where the other one is. Right, somebody get those kids a laptop or something. I’m old-school and so I still prefer having a desktop at home (A 5K display beats any smartphone). Okarun has got some homework to do for lunch and so he has to skip the usual lunch date. Momo senses something a bit off about it. It’s true that Okarun isn’t doing any homework and is instead doing a workout routine prescribed by Reiko. He’s got shape up if he’s to get used to using TG’s powers. It’s Aira who catches him first and tries some moves that she learned from her dad’s porno mags and videos. It would have been better to just stick with shoujo manga… Momo catches them in the act and assumes the worst. Yep, they get into another lover’s spat.
However, that becomes the least of their problems as it looks like everybody has disappeared from the school. Momo is on her own while Aira is teamed up with Okarun. Momo encounters some kind of Nessie Godzilla as it recreates the night attack scene from “Shin Godzilla”. I was lucky enough to get to watch it in the cinema. Everybody gasped when it happened. Yes, we’re used to watching acts of mass destruction at the hands of Big-G, but that was really something else. Aira and Okarun have a different encounter as the Serpoians return as they want Okarun’s banana and with a boxing shrimp singing to ABBA’s “Chiquitita”. Okarun’s powers are suppressed as the Serpoians start their work and that’s when Aira awakens her powers, whose form looks just like Okarun’s, indeed. Let’s see, the upcoming battle should be set to the song, “Waterloo”. It’s perfect for any battle scene, really.