Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Ahahahaha…. ‘Dan Da Dan’ continues to surprise fans in the wackiest ways. when granny Seiko said they needed something called the ‘Hayashi’ performers for the excorcism of Jiji, I thought she meant some traditional musicians dabbling in the supernatural arts. But instead, we’re served a headbanging rock-show exorcism!
Quick recap of ‘Dan Da Dan’ Episode 5: After failing to exorcise Jiji by herself, Seiko starts looking at other alternatives. Meanwhile, they realize that throwing warm water on Jiji subdues the ‘Evil Eye’ Yokai, but if he comes in contact with cold water, he quickly changes into the menacingly muscle-y destructive demon. So Seiko instructs all the teens to always carry a hot thermos with them, as a precautionary measure. Unfortunately the episode ends with Jiji turning into the Yokai, going berserk and destroying Seiko’s house!
Titled ‘We Became A Family’, episode 6 of ‘Dan Da Dan‘ sees the Hayashi musicians arrive at Seiko’s house for the exorcism performance aimed at driving the ‘Evil Eye’ out of Jiji. While Granny Seiko leads the intense ritual; Momo, Okarun, and Aira hilariously watch and cheer the Hayashi performers, who electrify the scene with their “kick the devil out” music. The performance is hilariously entertaining! But Jiji makes a surprising request that complicates everything.
Both the animation style and music are in top form in this edition of ‘Dan Da Dan’. The character designs of the ‘Hayashi’ is amusing to say the least. They looks like a slightly tame Japanese version of ‘Kiss’, you know, the American Rock band.
The creators offer a mix of both worlds: while the first half tackles the exorcism tension, the second half shifts gear to focus on some school fun. Momo decides to get a part-time job to help rebuild the house, while everybody else also sticks around to help out with the ‘Evil Eye’ mess: hence the title ‘We Became A Family’.
The ridiculous sparring between Momo and Aira, set against the heartwarming friendship developing between Okarun and Jiji, are easily some of Dan Da Dan’s strongest threads right now. The last few minutes may have been pure filler, but I loved every second of it.
Stream Dan Da Dan on Netflix or Crunchyroll.
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