Dandadan – Episode 02 Review

「それって宇宙人じゃね」 (Sorette Uchūbito ja ne)
“That’s a Space Alien, Ain’t It?!”

From henceforth, you shall be Okarun. Momo is clearly taken by the cool factor of meeting her dream guy in the flesh, but of course, can’t admit that he takes the form of the awkward boy in front of her. So much so, she hilariously has to nick name him rather than “profane” the name of her idol.

Great balls of fire- poor Okarun just doesn’t catch a break- between being possessed by a schlong-obsessed granny ghost, getting smashed by aliens, and now set on fire by a protective charm. Taking off the protective charm lets Okarun in but in typical teenage fashion, is pretty short-sighted. If Okarun and Turbo Granny can get in that easily who knows what else…. That’s not the end of his troubles either, Turbo Granny has already helped herself to his banana.

Okarun is painted as a pretty lonely sad character. Believing in aliens in the hopes they will be his friends, then desperately chasing Momo, out of the fear he would miss out on making a (human) friend. It makes no difference if you live in another world. When it comes to friendship, what matters is the bridge between those worlds. Which, with these two, is a bridge made of aliens and old ghost ladies with banana cravings.

While they’ve literally only just met, the two are already comfortable with each other in a way that only kindred spirits can be. Momo stabs Okarun with the pointed remark that he has no friends because he shoves them away. While he is an earnest, kind-hearted boy, but that in itself can be a form of selfishness, holding onto a version of yourself and forcing your own insecurities onto others rather than letting them accept you for who you are. Of course, Okarun doesn’t take this all lying done, making a comeback with an “ugly” that sends the two into a headlock.

Nothing serious lasts for long in this story- a creepy doorbell breaking up the fight. The doorbell is one reserved for ghosts, but apparently works for aliens too, a Flatwoods Monster to be precise. I had actually never heard of such a creature before, but apparently it’s an alien creature claimed to have been seen after a meteor passed through, in West Virginia. Which begs the interesting question, will protective charms even work against aliens?

In a zany twist, the Flatwoods creature takes on Japanese form, as a sumo wrestler. Lucky for the kids, Momo cleverly realizes they can use that against it by knocking its hand to the ground, sumo style. Except- aliens don’t play by the rules, and I guess why would you, if you don’t belong to the universe that made them.

As out of this universe as this series gets, it still gives a nod to some reasonable physical limitations. Turbo Granny gives Okarun a cool power up (which impresses Momo like her beloved actor, even if she won’t admit it), but it doesn’t come without a price- the otherworldly speed being too much for Okarun’s puny human body to handle for an extended period of time. I find it interesting that in a series that defies the imagination the way it does, it still chooses to acknowledge some limitations when it could so easily ignore that and not have it be out of place.

In the end, it is Momo who deals the finishing blow, getting the sumo Flatwoods alien to pummel her outside of the torii boundary, where she applies the charm, eradicating the monster. Which answers the question of whether charms work on them or not. They’re not out of the woods yet, as Momo losing consciousness also means Okarun loses the restraints on his curse and Turbo Granny comes out in all her full glory. Contrary to what Momo naively assumed about daylight hours being a no-go for ghosts, this spirit doesn’t work only the night shift.

In the course of the breakneck speeding energy of this episode, we get tossed a few nuggets of intel on the nature of paranormals in this universe. One- daylight doesn’t mean safety. Two- aliens and spirits share some common link that allows spiritual powers to act on both- like the doorbell and amulet.

Something also appears to be up with Okarun’s hand, Momo restraining the power everywhere except the hand- though it remains to be seen whether that’s a caveat of the curse or just the strain placed on Momo’s capacity in multitasking her powers against Granny and the sumo alien.

Okarun and Momo once again make a fine team- Okarun pulling punches while Momo controls the flow and the strategy of the battle. I think their dynamic works well- awkward counterparts to each other. I think because they have a lot of similarities (niche habits, brazen determination), that’s why they fight so much but get along so well.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode a ton. A sumo wrestling giant alien- what will they come up with next? The whacky way in which disparate legends and motifs are gattai’d in this series is nothing less than awe-ing. As are the visuals. The black and white visuals were pretty sleek- kudos to the art team. I am worried about whether the art will continue to be on this level, as was the case with Nigejouzu no Wakagimi which petered out towards the end. Dandadan is a production that really needs the art to carry it’s weight if the story is going to work, so I just hope it continues to do jut that.

Preview