What They Say:
“Let’s Go to the Cursed House”
Momo and Okarun head to Jiji’s house in a hot springs district to investigate the case of Jiji’s family. Okarun feels gloomy looking at how close Momo and Jiji are. Arriving at Jiji’s house, there are several shadows watching them as they enter…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It’s a finale in name only. As expected, we left off with absolutely no closure, and as expected, it came with the confirmation of the next season, which we only have to wait six months for. It’s still absurd to even consider this a finale, because it doesn’t even try to create a season-ending cliffhanger, just a perfectly normal weekly episode cliffhanger. If you weren’t on top of online news, you’d be shocked to come back next week and discover no new episode. Perhaps you’d chalk it up to Christmas or New Year for a week or two, but eventually things wouldn’t add up and you’d have to go researching.
On the other hand, in the context of watching the series at any point after the next six months, this is the best solution they could’ve gone with. For the sake of maintaining ideal pace in a series that most people will watch from episode 12 to 13 with no significant break, it’s much better to just let things play out how they naturally should than try to drag or squeeze material just to fit the arbitrary constraints of a TV season. Ultimately that arbitrary constraint is the only reason this is ever an issue in the first place; if every series could run for whatever period of time made the most sense, things would be much simpler.
Having said that, this is just another standard episode, smack dab in the middle of an arc and with no particularly notable moments. Dandadan always has something going on, though, and in the absence of major plot or action developments, it’s always valuable to dig into character work. Momo and Okarun have always been co-protagonists with Momo taking the lead early on, but the current love triangle puts a lot more focus on Okarun’s inner thoughts. On its face this is just another romantic drama cliche that’s been done a million times, but the character writing here allows us to get more substance.
The relationship between these three characters (and Aira, but she’s not around for this particular trip) showcases different interpersonal dynamics with each combination. Okarun is of course threatened by Jiji, but while trying to be petty by that insecurity, he realizes how earnest and sincere Jiji is, which forces him to reflect on his own insecurities and acknowledge that this handsome rival deserves no ire just because he’s jealous. This only makes him resent himself more for vilifying someone who offers him nothing but kindness, but in the process he also finds a delightful kindred spirit. We soon learn that Jiji isn’t as oblivious as he lets on, but he’s perfectly genuine in showing interest in Okarun’s passions, to which Okarun lights up. Momo is just as sweet, herself remaining oblivious to being the subject of a romantic rivalry but eagerly encouraging their connection so Okarun can finally have a male friend who appreciates him the same way Momo does. This series has its ups and downs for sure, but if we have to end the season on such an anticlimactic episode, it might as well be one that drives home how well-developed the main characters are.
Some of the other aspects of the episode are less enjoyable. Following up on the earlier interactions, the confirmation that Jiji is fully aware of Okarun’s feelings and ready to fight him is a valuable revelation, as is Momo leaving the boys alone to bond (making their childish squabbling all the more ironic). However, the rest of Momo’s role amounts to being the target of more weird sexual violence with a comical tone. Dandadan is effective at being funny, knows how to make dangers feel scary at times, and even gets away with most of its sexual content. But when it tries to combine those three times, it’s just several minutes of gross old men attempting to assault a naked teenager played for laughs? I guess? By no means does it ruin the series, but it’s a bit of an unfortunate note to go out on for half a year.
In Summary:
Dandadan is done, if only for the moment. An almost absurdly anticlimactic non-finale begs you to pretend you just got distracted and didn’t watch the show for six months, though admittedly this is the best course of action in the long run. As “just another episode,” it’s on the lower end of the range (which we’ve seen go very high), but if nothing else, it gives us just enough Okarun analysis to get a lot more out of this little love triangle than most series would bother with. After some valuable character study across the board, the underwhelmingly arbitrary cliffhanger is preceded by some of the less favorable material the series has to offer. Again, in half a year everyone will just be able to go straight from this episode to the next one and it won’t matter that there was once a break in between them back in the mid-2020s.
Even if it “ends” with a whimper before its relatively brief break, Dandadan deserves its status as a major force in anime this year. The variety and strength of writing shows surprising brilliance more often than expected, the score is eclectic and often sensational, Science Saru’s animation style finally clicks in just the right way for me, and the direction pulls it all together with the feeling of a worthy Yuasa successor. To have this series continue in subsequent season gives me a lot of hope.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix
