Dandadan – Episode 12 Review (END)

「呪いの家へレッツゴー」 (Noroi no Ie e Rettsu Gō)
“Let’s Go to the Cursed House”

Wow, that mannequin wins award of the year for determination. Takes love to a whole new, terrifying level. It cracked me up that he put a christmas tree ornament on his balls as a courtship ritual. If only that would show up on the nature channel. The bizarre shots of this plastic science mannequin riding the train was prime visual comedy there. I think his name should be “Humpty Dumpty”, the number of times he breaks apart and gets glued together again. That’s the power of love (and the supernatural) right there. I’m glad those two have a happy ending together.

For Okarun, however, the battle is just begun. Spurred on by Taro’s example, Okarun stakes his claim and puts up a fight with Jiji over Momo. This takes on the form of a funny little song battle, each boy circling a very confused Momo while declaring his feelings through lyrics (Okarun charges with “Anata dake Mitsumeteru” by Ohguro Maki, and Jiji with “Kimi ga Sukida to Sakebitai” by D-51, both very fun tunes).

As much history as Jiji and Momo have, Okarun’s the winner here, hands down (in my personal opinion). You can see Jiji is feeling left out over Momo and Okarun’s exchanges on the train as much as Okarun feels he’s lost. One just has the higher social confidence than the other. What makes it harder for Okarun is that Jiji is a good guy, so he can’t hate Jiji or begrudge him, which just spirals him deeper into self-despair because he can only get frustrated with himself for that jealousy. I love that despite the competition, the two boys end up bonding over strange, unidentified creatures like the kappa. Momo is right, there’s something special about making that first friend who shares your niche interests. That the two boys tried to one up the other with supernatural knowledge to impress Momo was the icing on the cake.

I feel Momo and Okarun’s pain walking up those stairs. Shrines are usually at the top of steep stairs- some more so than others. It really sucks walking up what seems like hundreds of stairs on a hot summer day- that’ll leave you winded. But the view is always worth it. Man, does Jiji have energy though to bolt up to the house like it’s nothing (but I guess you get used to them, when you climb them every day). I sure wish I had his energy (Momo and Okarun probably think so too). You’d think that being near a shrine, the house would be a spiritual safe spot against any baddies, but I guess not.

The kids’ arrival is rather anticlimactic (at least as far as they can see, which in the shortsightedness of youth isn’t very far). Momo senses no spirits and it looks just like a regular house. I laughed so hard when Okarun freaked out at the TV “turning on on its own”- only for it to just be Momo. Momo plays it like it’s old hat “The spirit’s hiding because it’s weakass”. However, I think she’s being way too lax about this. She touts Turbo Granny like an easy peasy spirit to handle, but if you remember, Turbo Granny was a formidable foe, chasing them across town like that.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Which certainly isn’t helped by the creepy baa-chans and other residents grinning from shop corners and hiding in the bushes. That Okarun is the only one who senses them (briefly), makes me wonder if they could be aliens, given the special place in his heart for them. Regardless, it gives me the chills, especially seeing the boys playing nonchalantly so close to their hiding spot.

I love that Momo just ups and leaves them for the hot springs (I would too). It’s not just out of pleasure-seeking (though that too)- she considerately wants to make sure the boys have some bonding time, seeing as Okarun has now graduated to making his first guy friend

What initially is a relaxing soak in the hot springs turns into a nightmare when a bunch of naked dudes walk in (the co-ed sign was conveniently obscured) and target Momo in an underwater assault. That is one thing that always bothers me a little about this series is that assault attempts are made often on Momo in very compromising states of undress. However, she is a strong woman with the smarts and budding power to take care of the situation.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the two boys hit it off over a fight over Momo and a game of soccer, only to be interrupted by the realization that there’s an extra room in the house. It very soon turns into Dandadan Home Improvement edition with the help of a hammer. What they find is terrifying- a room covered completely in talismans. Well, that can’t be good, but we’ll have to wait until some time next year to see for sure.

And with that, we have the end of the first cour of the series. Overall an extremely good one, that really brought the zaniness of the manga to life. It does strike me as odd that they cut the first cour off where they did. Even with having a cour to follow, I do wish it hadn’t stopped right at a cliff hanger, but hey, that’s not something worth complaining about in the long run, since it is getting a continuation. The motto for Dandadan is go big or go home, and indeed, go big it did. Science Saru and the entire staff really pulled out all the stops for this, turning it into an art form, really, as much as an homage to youth and the unusual. This is a series that really needed that- with how off the wall the story is, if the team tried to play it as a run of the mill adaptation trying to follow a straight line, it would get confusing real fast without anything to immerse you in it. Whereas, the madcap magic dusted all over this adaptation really embraced the whacky, allowing it to just wash over you as an experience, the way it should be. The music was an added bonus too, with some well-crafted usage of well-known classical numbers. Thankfully, this is a see you later and not a final farewell, so tune back in for the second half next year!