#DAN DA DAN Episode 10

Storyboard artist: Heo Jong

Episode director: Kayona Yamada

Scriptwriter: Hiroshi Seko

Even at this juncture, I still find the rapid pace of DAN DA DAN surprising. By the end of Episode 10, we’ve experienced Dover Demon’s backstory and transformation into an ally, more development in the teenage trio’s relationship, and the introduction of a couple of new human characters, including a romantic rival for Okarun. Between all the developments and the multitude of comical scenes, it’s a bit tricky to decide which part of the episode is my favourite.

Broadly speaking, what I enjoyed most this week is the comedy. Whether it’s the form of the characters beating each other up over food, Seiko complaining about the noise Dover Demon’s spaceship is making at night (while refusing to believe that he’s an alien), or the Hiroshi Abe face that Momo is forced to do in order to hopefully get a new school uniform, there are a lot of unexpected laughs to be had.

The scene where Momo’s friends theorize about the reasons for Momo, Okarun, and Aira being unclothed isn’t the most laugh-out-funny of all these, but it has some fun direction as Miko struts about like an investigator providing their deduction onstage white Miku operates the lamplight-turned-spotlight. When Miko mentions the existence of a love triangle, the light becomes a passionate red, which is immediately revealed to be the effect of Miku’s previously shown colored plastic sheet covering the room’s lamplight. 

The use of the lamplight to provide a diegetic reason for the scene’s stylings also feels like a nice extension of the opener where Momo, Okarun, and Aira are grilled by Queen-sensei, their school’s tough and staunchly anti-bullying nurse, with the sharp but limited illumination of the lamp serving to enhance her dramatic aura. I don’t expect Queen-sensei to become a core cast member, but I sure hope we get to see more of her down the line.

As for more serious matters, there’s no doubt that Aira’s character development is at the top of my list of standouts. Despite initially coming up with the idea of blaming their post-battle nakedness on Momo for convenience, not only does Aira not actually go through with it, she also reveals to her classmates the truth about the rumor of Momo sleeping around and requests that they no longer badmouth the gal. 

In contrast to the way Nozomi Fukui‘s Episode 6 illuminated Aira at the apex of her self-absorbed monologue, Episode 10 casts a shadow over her as, while seated outside under the shade of a tree, she gripes about the damage she’s done to her reputation. Momo, whose image has been cleansed by Aira’s confession, remains under the sun when she joins Aira for a brief chat. They’re not buddies yet — Aira refuses to acknowledge what she’s done for Momo despite the latter deducing the actual events — but it’s a positive step forward for their relationship. 

Okarun and Momo shippers will probably delight at Momo’s cute teasing of the boy, as well as the amount of blushing that goes on after his admission of his training and desire to be seen as cool. The appearance of Jiji, Momo’s childhood friend and — according to Seiko — first love at the end of the episode, feels like the natural counterpart to this early moment. Okarun wants to be perceived as cool (or at least, dependable) by Momo, and right before him now is a guy who not only has that sort of outward image, but is more than a mere acquaintance to Momo. How Okarun deals with this turn of events ought to be interesting to see.

The other big story development is the transition of Dover Demon from foe to friend. After the humans treat him kindly— we’ll ignore Seiko beating the crap out of him for lacking the dietary habits of a kappa, which is what she believes him to be — to the point where Seiko helps to procure a cow for his son’s blood transfusion (their species bleeds milk), Dover Demon avowedly becomes the gang’s first alien ally. Dover Demon’s motivations and backstory don’t have the surprise punch that Turbo Granny and Acrobatic Silky’s did, but they’re still solid at worst and provide a bit of worldbuilding on the alien side of DAN DA DAN’s universe.

I wish that we could’ve gotten a bit more of Momo and Aira conversing, as that was one of the most compelling parts of the episode, but the laughs I got more or less make up for it. DAN DA DAN Episode 10 is a sufficiently entertaining episode, and its cliffhanger marks the first time I’ve taken an interest in the romantic side of Momo and Okarun’s relationship.

Previous DAN DA DAN episode reviews:

• Episode 1-3
• Episode 4
• Episode 5
• Episode 6
• Episode 7
• Episode 8
• Episode 9