DAN DA DAN is back with its second season and making its way through the three episodes covered during the DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye movie. Last week’s episode was an immediate follow up to the end of DAN DA DAN Season 1, which ended with Okarun and Jiji breaking a hole into the wall and discovering a hidden ceremonial room covered in talismans within the rental house where Jiji and his parents were staying.
That episode was very much an introduction — the disgusting lecherous men of the Kito family were introduced alongside their abnormally physically strong matriarch. The legend behind the town, its hot springs, and its relative safety from an otherwise dangerous volcano were revealed. Those two pieces then came together as it was revealed that the Kito family has been offering sacrifices to an Unidentified Mysterious Animal known as a Death Worm, worshipping it as a Serpent God.
Season 2 Episode 2 (Episode 14 overall) follows up on the disturbing end of Episode 13 as Momo, Okarun, and Jiji find themselves thrust deep beneath the cursed house along with the Kito family and the Death Worm, with Momo and Okarun undergoing a shocking change. In short, I liked this episode a lot. I think it did something that DAN DA DAN is really good at doing: switching on a beat between heartbreaking expository detail and well choreographed action. Additionally, I think the voice acting in it was superb; I watched the Evil Eye movie in both sub and dub and was impressed with how both versions handled a lot of the more emotional deliveries in this week’s episode.
Spoilers ahead for DAN DA DAN Episode 14 – The Evil Eye
A Worm’s Curse
The first portion of DAN DA DAN Episode 14 primarily centers on Jiji trying to save Momo and Okarun from the effects of the Death Worm’s psychic waves, which drive affected persons into a deranged state where they compulsively try to end their own lives. This was the first moment where I felt like voice acting did a lot for the scene.
Alongside the disconcerting music and the bizarre sounds coming from the worm, Momo and Okarun’s collective voice actors did a really fantastic job communicating an almost uncanny sort of sound via their voices, nailing an overlap between sounding like they were suffering but also not quite themselves.
Additionally, lighting was done quite well in these scenes; during our interview with Director Abel Góngora, he recalled that there were concerns with how dark some of these scenes underground were. I think the darkness contributed to the creepy feeling of the scene and was contrasted nicely with the lighting effects on the Death Worm. For example, it was easier to see the visual fluctuations of the psychic waves in the air because of how dark the rest of the scene was and the worm itself really popped on screen.
For Jiji’s part, his vocal performance this episode showed the range of styles a voice actor needed to hit in order to properly play his character. His earnest, desperate tones communicated a desire to save those around him this episode and contrasted nicely with his silly side. This was especially the case as he began to empathize with Evil Eye and understand that its power was not only not responsible for his parents trying to end their lives, but in fact responsible for protecting his own from the power of the worm.
Evil Eye Takes Over
The middle portion of the episode was dedicated to the memories Evil Eye shared with Jiji in an attempt to strengthen his empathy and take over his body. From a storytelling standpoint, I really like the natural tension that these scenes caused. We get introduced to a seemingly evil entity — Turbo Granny doing work to characterize it as such — but then are immediately given reason to feel sorry for it via its past as a child sacrifice who just desperately wanted to play with other children.
Evil Eye’s identity as a child (of sorts) is an essential part of understanding his character, making one understand that even his fighting style is just a bastardized version of a child playing with a ball. It makes the viewer think differently about the meaning of “evil” in the same way that Episode 7 did back in Season 1.
When someone’s motivations become clear and understanding paves way to empathy, it’s a lot harder to consider them evil. Despite immediately understanding Evil Eyes’s intent to take over Jiji’s body, I still felt myself cheering for Jiji to head to the deepest part of the underground and free the Yokai’s original body. This moment wasn’t quite the tearjerker that Episode 7 was, but it certainly imbued Evil Eye with a lot of humanity.
For the last portion of the episode, after Evil Eye takes over, I was impressed with the combat and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was also glad that the staff opted to have Evil Eye use a modified version of Jiji’s voice as opposed to keeping his child voice — that would have just felt weird in my opinion.
While I personally enjoyed the fight choreography of Episode 13 more (and who wouldn’t be amused by a Jennifer Lopez name drop in the middle of a fight), I like Evil Eye’s powers and “grude” face effect quite a bit. Fighting by kicking a ball, like I mentioned before, feels appropriate for a juiced up spirit kid, and the unconventional yet acrobatic nature of the fighting style felt appropriate for Jiji’s physicality.
Without question though, Okarun’s arrival was the best part of this final segment. The sound, the flash of red to indicate the Turbo Granny Power crashing with the purple Evil Eye power, and Okarun’s lines all were delivered perfectly. It makes me look forward quite a bit to the obvious fight to come.
If you enjoyed Episode 14, you can vote for DAN DA DAN in our weekly Summer 2025 polls.
DAN DA DAN Season 2 is streaming on Netflix, Crunchyroll and Hulu.
© Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA/DANDADAN Production Committee
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