Dandadan (2021)
[ダンダダン]
Volume 2
Author/Artist: Yokinobu Tatsu
Publisher: Jump Comics+
Synopsis:
Momo and Okarun must flee from a monstrous crab as their plan to turn the tables on Turbo Granny got turned on them.
Story/Characters:
The game of tag with Turbo Granny takes a lot of twists and turns with Momo showing an impressive knack for thinking on her feet and Okarun getting increasingly proficient at making use of Turbo Granny's powers. When we learn the true nature of the Earthbound Spirit Crab and Turbo Granny's involvement, it perfectly encapsulates the sort of tragedy that characterizes most of these ghost stories. Turbo Granny is definitely malevolent, but she's not wholly evil and that plays into the new dynamics that come into play in the aftermath of the big showdown.
Before the next battle, we get to see Momo and Okarun awkwardly trying to find the right balance in their relationship. You can tell the attraction is there, but right now Momo is in denial and Okarun with his lack of social experience doesn't have the frame of reference to process his feelings. This would be fine if we weren't in the social hellscape that is high school, where the pushing and pulling from the various members of the student body make all this a lot more difficult than it needs to be. I do like that while Momo's friends do enjoy teasing her, they really don't have a problem with her going out with Okarun. (I actually kinda wish they got a little more characterization, but gyaru friends don't usually have a whole lot of depth to them.) We then get introduced to a new character who starts out as a bit of a dirtbag. Aira is a pretty girl and she knows it, and she thinks that because she's so pretty, that gives her the right to flaunt her charms for her own amusement, but when she decides to make a target of Okarun, she herself makes herself a target for a certain psychic totally-not-his-girlfriend with violent tendencies. Normally, a comedic wash basin to the head would be the end of it, but you see, it's not only looks that Aira's been blessed with. She has powers, powers bestowed on her by God that allows her to see the wicked ways of the devil woman who humiliated her.
I forgot to mention that while Okarun got his banana back from Turbo Granny, she managed to swipe his family jewels and toss them out into the wilds. If you're just reading these reviews and haven't gone to the source or its adaptation yet, you have no idea what I'm talking about because last time I didn't get into the sexual element of the story. This being an adolescent-centered story, it should be no surprise that sex is a factor. The Serpos abducted Momo because they want to study human reproduction as a way to increase the genetic diversity of their clone-only species and Turbo Granny's curse of Okarun involved her supernaturally taking possession of his wedding tackle. (Getting it back was the primary goal of the Turbo Granny fight, but she gave with one hand and took with the other.) Now the overarching quest in the series is to collect the Dragon Balls Okarun's balls, which have taken the form of literal golden balls (the Japanese word for testicle literally translates as "golden ball" in case you were unaware). Anyway, this lengthy digression gets us to the point where Aira happened to pick up one of Okarun's balls and it's given her supernatural powers and the first task in her holy mission is to vanquish the devil woman Momo Ayase.
With the help of her cronies, Aira gets the drop on Momo, and because Momo focuses her powers through her hands, the fact that they zip-tied her hands behind her back prevents her from just wiping the floor with them right off the bat. There's another problem, though. You see, the ball has all this spiritual energy packed in it and that draws the attention of things that go bump in the night, and that's what shows up at Aira's little makeshift exorcism. Enter Acrobatic Silky, a spirit drawn to Aira wanting to claim her as her daughter, one that doesn't appreciate the interference by Momo and Okarun. One think interesting about Silky is that her speech pattern mixes both the very polite and the very vulgar, which reflects how she herself is both elegant and monstrous at the same time. She's rather powerful, but being as monomaniacal as she is, she's not all that smart, which makes for an interesting contrast to someone who had power and smarts hobbled by hubris like Turbo Granny. (By the way, I like how a depowered Granny still acts like the big kid on the block around other spooky critters.)
Art:
The Granny fight has some really amazing sequences. There are certain things you can do with sequential art to build suspense that you can't do in other media and it particularly shows up in the appearance of the zombie runners. Contrast the big battle sequence with all the adorable attention to expressions in the school sequence. Tatsu's work on facial expressions is a real treat to see. The design of Silky is interesting as is the way her action sequences are depicted. Like I said before, there's a mix of elegant and monstrous that really sticks with you.
Other:
We get a color illustration of Momo and then another one of Momo and a transformed Okarun. Under the dust cover are profiles of the Flatwoods Monster and the Earthbound Spirit Crab. We also get a bonus 4-koma of Granny practicing for her revenge (which gets featured in the S1 ED of the anime).
Conclusion:
We get the end of one fine battle sequence and the start of another with a really nice interlude for character development in the middle. As I said in my first review, this series is all about Momo and Okarun and watching their fumbling steps toward building a relationship is excellent stuff. I'm of course pleased at punch with the way things are going and happily recommend this for your collection.
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