The first episode of the Dandadan anime features a scene that almost made me completely lose interest in the manga.
In it, a teenage girl is kidnapped by alien perverts, who strip her of her underwear, tie her hands and feet, and promise to have sex with her using mechanized “banana organs.” terrifyingly transformed. penis, with many hairs attached and wider than one of her legs. It is said to be even more horrifying when animated in anime.
Sure enough, the girl—Momo Ayase, our cool heroine who believes that ghosts exist and not aliens—destroyed the aliens with her psychic powers before they could touch her, but I hesitated. Nearly naked teenage girls in non-consensual sexual situations are not my idea of a good time. I continued, trusting the people who recommended the manga to me, and a few things later—in an adapted scene in episode 3 of this week's anime—Dandadan clicked for me.
As a boy — Ken Takakura, our nerdy co-protagonist, who believes aliens exist, but aren't ghosts — desperately, hilariously, races to find somewhere to pee, I thought: Oh, I get it, it's about the experience of a horny teenager as approaching a scary and potentially threatening unknown.
[Ed. lưu ý: Phần này có tiết lộ một số thông tin tiết lộ về ba tập đầu tiên của Dan Da Dan.]
Image: Science Saru/Crunchyroll
Dan Da Dan, currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix, is the highly anticipated anime adaptation of the hit manga of the same name (in the style of Dandadan), produced by Science Saru (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Devilman Crybaby) is produced based on the work of mangaka Yukinobu Tatsu.
The basic premise of both series is that Momo and Ken's hostility turns to an odd-couple friendship as they face all sorts of bizarre aliens and ghostly threats. The action begins after a chance encounter, when Momo challenges Ken to a spooky hot spot and he challenges her to an alien hot spot. He is possessed by a horny ghost named “Turbo Granny”, her kidnapping unleashes her psychic powers, and those powers turn out to be the only thing that can stop Turbo Granny took over Ken's body and killed everyone he knew.
The horror elements of Dandadan stood out at my first, second, and third glances, enhanced by Tatsu's incredible drafting and layout skills. But when I give the manga time to peel back some of its layers, Dandadan reveals that it is both a high-class comedy and a light romantic comedy.
Despite Ken's social ineptitude, he is a respectable guy who doesn't try to get anything from Momo—unlike her first boyfriend, who despite looking like Her favorite actor is a jerk who just dumped her. She and Ken are both weird kids who have trouble forging real relationships with their peers—Ken has no friends, Momo's friends tease her for having a crush on the Japanese equivalent of Tom Selleck-style, she's extremely insecure about showing any signs of strangeness. Maybe they could solve some of their problems if all this ghost and alien stuff didn't get in the way.
Unraveling the consequences of Ken's possession of Turbo Granny takes up much of the first part of the manga, and at every turn, Dandadan has the two teens taking stock of each other's bodies in the most humorous and humiliating ways. Aliens and ghosts constantly appear and demand possession of one of their two “banana organs”. Turbo Granny's curse caused Ken's penis to disappear, to his horror and Momo's immediate concern—but the idea of her looking into his pants was even more horrifying than there's nothing in it.
Image: Science Saru/Crunchyroll
To avoid the curse, Momo must keep an eye on Ken, which isn't too difficult until, in a scene in this week's episode, he realizes he has to pee really bad. A wild chase scene ensues when he refuses to release the animal in front of a girl, and she refuses to let him turn into a demon in her house.
That's when it all hit me: In Dan Da Dan, the idea of having sex — or having private parts, or simply having your body being attracted to your peers you perceive your body — as horrifying and ridiculous as evil ghosts and alien probes are real. It's about the surprising age between “Ew, cooties” and an adult's comfortable (ideal) relationship with sex and the body.
The problem isn't that Momo can't see anything in Ken's pants right now, it's that guys shouldn't let girls look into their underwear! Boys should not look at girls while they are undressing. Girls shouldn't look at guys in the bathroom. Don't care or be taken seriously by the opposite sex!!!!!
Yukinobu Tatsu has never revealed the title of Dandadan, three rhythmic syllables meaning mystery. But without confirmation or context, I like to think of it as a neat onomatopoeia for a pounding heart (which is lifted directly as a percussion element in the first theme song of Creepy Nuts anime). The kind of pounding beats that come from seeing someone you love, the horror for your own life, and the awkwardness of teenagers in their own time.
Image: Science Saru/Crunchyroll
Would you rather die of being haunted, or let a cute girl see your gross body while you poop? For these two teenagers, these are equal risks and the risks that entails—sexual risks, dating, seeking validation from peers, trying to find someone with Your shared strange interests are undeniable. Sometimes the supernatural has lessons for the mundane: Whether the person you want to get rid of is a creepy alien you hate or a terrible boyfriend you like, you don't owe them anything. what. Roundhouse kicks them in the head or destroys them with your new mind powers and gets the hell out of there.
In giving Dandadan a second chance beyond the initial shocking kidnapping scene, I discovered a manga, and now an anime, that truly portrays mundane teenage body horror in ways interesting way. And overall less rapey than the first episode led me to assume.
Now, look. I'm still not a big fan of Momo being so hot and looking so youthful. But there's a lot more going on here than I thought. Maybe, finally, Dandadan will make me fight for Madame Seiko's giant anime breasts. Maybe not. But at least it kept me hooked for the rest of the arc as they fight a giant crab from on top of a train.