This week’s episode of DAN DA DAN featured what’s probably the only scene that will ever get you hype at watching someone count over and over again. Season 2 Episode 3 (Episode 15 overall) marks the last of the three episodes covered by the DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye movie, meaning those who saw the movie should start tuning in next week for entirely new content. Last episode was very much the rising action portion of this season’s first three episodes; Jiji, having incredible empathy for Evil Eye, wound up surrendering his body to the yokai as a vessel and attacking both Momo and Okarun.
The episode ended with Okarun in his transformed state sweeping in to save Momo from a devastating attack from Evil Eye. Like the episode before it, it was in part an introduction, showcasing Evil Eye’s backstory and giving the audience the chance to feel the exact same empathy Jiji did before contrasting that sad backstory with the ferociousness and violence of the incarnated Evil Eye.
The fight had only gotten started in Episode 14, with most of the action coming from Evil Eye making use of Jiji’s impressive physical abilities to acrobatically attack the Death Worm with his powerful grudge ball ability, combining elements of a child at play with a monster set on defeating an adversary. Episode 15 continues the combat but no longer has any backstory it needs to deliver to the viewer. The result is a large swath of action that feels very satisfying to watch, especially since we typically see Okarun fight in short bursts and not in a prolonged setting. While the second half of the episode felt a bit slow, I still felt this was a solid entry in the season and certainly an episode with some of my favorite scenes thus far.
Momo & Okarun vs Jiji
One thing that stands out to me a lot in the first half of the episode is the excellent use of color on the screen. DAN DA DAN, as anyone who has seen prior episodes in the series will know, will often flood the screen with a certain color palette that is quasi-specific to the type of supernatural / extra-terrestrial being who is occupying the scene. For Turbo Granny (and Okarun using her powers) this is red and for Evil Eye this is purple. As Okarun runs from Jiji early in their encounter, the degree to which the screen is shaded in purple decreases, and instances where Okarun speeds up or their powers clash are accented with flashes of red. In addition to the satisfying animation of Evil Eye’s grudge ball being hurled back and forth across the underground area, I really liked those flashes of red as Okarun moved around.
The episode’s highlight though was without a doubt after Okarun launched Momo to the surface to deal with the Death Worm, staying behind to handle Evil Eye and hopefully save Jiji. In the most basic way, this was just an entertaining fight to watch. Though much of what Okarun did was evade attacks from Evil Eye, that evasion was animated quite well. I felt that the scenes equally showed off Okarun’s speed with Turbo Granny’s powers and the raw power that Evil Eye is able to produce in Jiji’s body. I was glad to see that Okarun got some hits in too; the choreography gave him opportunities to launch miniature versions of his signature headbutt or take advantage of his boosted leg strength.
Okarun’s final assault of sit-ups was incredible. It perfectly builds off of the training he was doing in secret (with protecting Momo in mind) after getting instructed to by Seiko. It’s a perfect application of his powers, translating leg strength into blows to compensate for his not-super-enhanced punches. And, at least in my opinion, it’s a sort of nerdy approach to fighting that perfect suits Okarun.
In our interview with the English cast, AJ Beckles pointed to this scene as one that was a lot of fun, and one in which he wanted to do just as well as Japanese voice actor Natsuki Hanae. I can confidently say they both did an amazing job. The stellar voice acting combined with the upbeat music, mixes of red and purple, and great animation made this scene one to remember.
Closing Thoughts
There’s not too much to say about the section following that. Momo manages to bring the worm out into the sunlight where it quickly gets baked nice and crispy. I will note that it was quite satisfying to see her use her powers to fling something as heavy as a truck. It really shows how powerful her abilities have become and is a nice way to demonstrate her improvement alongside Okarun’s.
That being said, I did find the second half of the episode ever so slow. This isn’t the fault of the anime, as I think it ended the episode at a logical point with the volcano erupting, but its hard to go from a high octane fight like Okarun vs Evil Eye to something else. Ultimately, I’m looking forward to see how the gang resolves this issue and saves the town from being doomed to prophecy. Next episode is the first fully new non-movie content.
DAN DA DAN Season 2 is streaming on Netflix, Crunchyroll and Hulu.
© Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA/DANDADAN Production Committee
Participate In Discussions