One thing about Dandadan, it’s pretty much never met a freakshow it didn’t like. You never have to worry about things calming down too much because there’s always another loony around the corner. Jiji is a first-class oddball to say the least, and thus he fits right in. But we haven’t even seen the half of it with him yet. Hell, we haven’t seen the tenth of it. And Jiji isn’t even the weirdest thing about this episode. Dandadan will never win any prizes for subtlety (though the character dynamics are deceptively complicated), but for sheer manic energy it’s pretty hard to beat.

Jiji may be a goober of the highest order, but he’s good-looking and athletic. When you’re as insecure as Okarun that’s plenty (along with Seiko’s introduction) to convince you your prospects are doomed. He has nothing to worry about of course, but he can’t see that at all. That whole “see you tomorrow” exchange between them was as romantic as it could be, but I guess once needs a bit of experience to be able to see that. Even romance manga experience, and one gets the sense that Ken doesn’t partake in that as a rule.

So why is Jiji here, anyway? In between compliments to Grandma he explains that to Momo. His family (friends with hers) moved to a big house out in the boonies. But soon Jiji began to get the feeling something wasn’t right. And eventually some sort of strange entity started revealing itself to him. Five famous mediums failed to exorcise the house (three committed suicide) and soon his parents’ health started deteriorating. They’re in the hospital, and they turn to the one person they’re told might be able to help – Momo’s granny. Except she farms this out to Momo, promising as many school uniforms as Momo wants if she can solve it.

But first, school. And Jiji makes quite the first impression. Momo’s gyaru friends are quick to be taken in when Jiji says they live together, though they do offer a spirited defense of Okarun. In point of fact it’s Ken Momo chooses to have lunch with, though Jiji soon sweeps her off her feet with yogurt-flavored Pompy (if Pompy is a real product I can find no evidence of it). Again Okarun fails to see the forest for the trees and quickly lapses into depression, but soon enough (this is Dandadan after all) things start moving way too quickly to be concerned with such things.

Any good anime fan will know that the health class mannequin is always one of the seven school mysteries. This one (played by Sugita Tomokazu) has gotten quite the power-up (most likely due to a new piece of anatomy). He’s headed somewhere in a hurry, and Momo catches a glimpse of a glittering golden ball. A merry chase ensues, but Taro (that’s the dummy’s name) is quite the speed merchant. He has a goal in mind and he’s not going to stop. That goal is the dump, where Hana (Hirano Fumi) – the love of his life despite the gap in their manufacture dates – awaits him.

Well, this is just very silly and frantic. Not as epic in scale as some of what Dandadan does and has done, but effectively bonkers. Ken seems quite taken in by mannequin romance, but that’s his damn nut up there, and you have to think he’s going to want it back. As for Jiji, we haven’t even gotten a taste of the paranormal weirdness that brought him into the plot in the first place and he’s already pretty out there. All part of the Dandadan experience, which you can only hope comes with side airbags.