DAN DA DAN

Episode 4

An episode with a title like “Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass” has a lot riding on it. The stakes are immeasurably high. You can't simply throw around a legendary, once-in-a-generation promise like that and not follow through. If you're going to give us a show as absurdly good as DAN DA DAN, and then you toss down the gauntlet of naming an episode “Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass” only four weeks in, that doesn't just demand excellence. It demands perfection. For the audience to be given anything less…well, it would be like if we were sitting there in the stands of Wrigley Field on that fateful October day in 1932, moments after Babe Ruth called his shot, only to watch the Bambino get beaned in the face so hard by that curveball that he fucking died. Even after basking in the glory of DAN DA DAN's incredible first three episodes, I was still nervous when I sat down this week to join Momo and Okarun in their climactic confrontation with the knob-gobbling nana. I mean, the episode's title is “Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass.” If it didn't turn out to be at least one of the single greatest twenty-three minutes of anime I've ever witnessed, then what would the point of the medium of animation be? What would be the point of art?

I have good news for all of my fellow Dan-Da-Danimals™ out there. For one, that's what we're called now: Dan-Da-Danimals™. It's the official term for every DAN DA DAN fan out there, and there's no taking it back. I even stuck the little trademark thing on it. This review is now also a legally binding document, and everyone who has read this far into the review is hereby giving their implicit consent to be signed up as a lifelong member of the Dan-Da-Danimals™ Brigade. Membership fees are to be sent as cash payments to one of my many P.O. Boxes, and they're due on Monday.

The second bit of good news is that this episode slaps so motherfucking hard, you guys. I mean, truly, Science SARU took off their Velcro sneakers and strapped on their Big Ass Adult Boots for this one, and in the name of Holy Jesus Jumping Christmas Shit, does it positively own bones. I can't even properly recap all of the gorgeous animation and exquisite direction on display throughout “Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass” because I would end up writing about all of it. The whole thing. Every last frame. The same goes for Shion Wakayama and Natsuki Hanae's performances as Momo and Okarun. How am I supposed to single out their best and funniest lines when I have to choose between every stupid word from these characters' idiot mouths!?

All I can think to do is break down the titular ass-kicking into its various “stages,” as each phase of the fight has something fresh to bring to the table. The opening bout in the tunnel is equal parts atmospheric and ridiculous, with the show using the warped perspective of the camera and the absurdly over-saturated red color filter to great effect. This is an episode that starts with Okarun gaining the upper hand on Turbo Granny by taking a big ol' bite out of one of her floppy ghost boobs, and it only escalates from there.

After that, we bust out of the tunnel and get wrapped up in an extended Giant Crab Chase that is surprisingly intense, what with how much weight and destructive power the thing can toss around as he hunts Okarun and Momo down. The beat where Momo improvises a hot springs crab boil to lock the creature's tender muscle meat is also a great example of how well DAN DA DAN balances the absurd action spectacle with the kind of meaningful quick-thinking that gives its heroes more to do than rely on cheap powerups and nonsensical magic systems that care more about breaking reality than establishing the clear boundaries you need for a fun fight. Yes, I am still mad about how badly Jujutsu Kaisen fell off after the flashback arc. Why do you ask?

The episode starts to cook — pun very much intended — when Turbo Granny enlists an army of possessed pedestrians to help run Momo and Okarun off the road. Scoring this entire trippy sequence to a boppy remix of the William Tell Overture is the kind of galaxy-brained decision that is so stupid that it circles back around to being genius. I came so close to having an actual criticism of the episode around this part, too, because the harsh red filter started to become a genuine strain on my eyes. Still, I ended up loving how the show used the color to demark the threshold of Turbo Granny's power as the characters careened down the train tracks, so screw it, I guess. I have no notes. This is just one of those infuriatingly perfect TV episodes mocking my inability to find anything about it to criticize for the rest of my miserable life.

If all of that weren't enough, the episode has some fuel left in the tank after the battle to squeeze pathos into the mix, too. The fact that Turbo Granny was a kind of guardian spirit to the poor lost souls of women who fell victim to assault and violence is just so heavy, and it recontextualizes everything we know about the character. Was she gobbling weenies as a way to prevent more victims from being claimed in those dark tunnels? Did she crash through Momo's phone to fight those aliens out of protective instinct? This attention to detail makes it impossible to write off DAN DA DAN as cheap, trashy shlock. It is, rather, incredibly well-crafted and endearing trashy schlock.

Also, that one stupid joke where Momo is just sitting there and gorging herself on a lump of crab meat like a rabid little goblin? I laughed so hard that I almost shot spicy guacamole out of my nose. I don't even have anything meaningful or constructive to add to that; I'm just pissed that I could have choked to death on a mushy mix of boogers and jalapeños because of this damned cartoon.

Rating:

DAN DA DAN is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.