There’s a definite divide in manga adaptations. Well, there are several – you get outright dogs like the Biscuit Hammer fiasco and some that are just generally subpar. But broadly speaking I’m talking about the difference between those that simply transfer the story to the screen and those that genuinely adapt it. Anime is not manga – it can do things that manga can’t. It requires a good director and a decent budget – not always both. But it’s a shame not to avail oneself of the possibilities anime offers. One can look at two very good manga adaptations by Lidenfilms – Yofakushi no Uta and Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia – to see the difference.
Admittedly, Dandadan made that decision easier because an Insomniacs-style treatment simply wouldn’t work. You could never do a literal adaptation of Dandadan even if you wanted to, but you still have to find a way to capture the infectious insanity and genial goofiness of the manga. Full credit to director Yamashiro Fuga and Science SARU, because they’re absolutely doing that. To a degree I probably would have said was close to impossible, in fact.
I don’t know whose idea it was to use “Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9” to accompany Momo and Okarun’s awkward courtship morning after at school, but it was a stroke of genius. Written by the Spanish composer and guitarist Fernando Sor based on a melody from The Magic Flute, it’s hardly the first piece of music one would associate with this sort of series of anime generally. But it perfectly suits the mood. Okarun and Momo desperately want to be together, but they literally and figuratively can’t get on the same page. When they finally do it’s in literally bumping into each other – with a hilarious clacking of teeth – that her gal friends mistake for a kiss.
By Dandadan standards this is an entirely low-key episode. But the emotional stuff is still pretty intense. There is a social gap between these two kids, make no mistake. And Momo can’t shake off her instinct to honor it, to the point where she hurts Okarun rather badly. This comes when he’s trying to tell her about a new emergency, too – to wit, his balls are gone. While Momo and Okarun are cold-shouldering each other in the aftermath of the kiss fallout he bumps into another girl, Shiratori Aira (Sakura Ayane). Aira is extremely cruel towards Okarun in the aftermath of their encounter, and Momo overhears her mocking him to her friends. This prompts Momo to go very old school in getting some payback.
Well, never a dull moment as they say – and rarely a lull moment – where Dandadan is concerned. Downtime over, it’s back into crisis mode as Seiko takes charge of the ball hunt and Momo funds the whole thing way too hilarious. Seiko immediately sees that there’s something inside Okarun that shouldn’t be there, and proceeds to whack him repeatedly with a paper fan to try to drive it out. Momo can see the change in his aura when he gets whacked, and Grandma instructs her to pull whatever’s in there out the next time it happens.
The long and short of it is Turbo Granny has possessed Okarun just at the moment she was being exorcised, and after Momo yanks her out she winds up trapped in a maneki-neko. She tries to leverage the ball situation to get Okarun to kill the other two, but that’s not going to happen. Momo tries the sweet talk approach, but – even with the reveal that Turbo Granny’s actual power remains inside Okarun – she can’t give back what she doesn’t have. Talk about an uneasy truce, but they’re stuck with each other for the moment, and thank goodness for that.
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