Jiji

DEATH TO THE GIANT WORMS!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

DanDaDan S2 Ep 3 Review

Well, this is certainly a pickle! It was already bad enough that Okarun, Momo, Jiji and Turbo Granny were trapped underground with a giant worm cryptid. Then they had to contend with a yokai borne from the hatred of the Kito family’s sacrifices. And to top it off, that yokai has now possessed Jiji and turned him into a force of nature bent on killing them all! Fortunately for Momo, Ken is capable of fighting the Evil Eye while Momo works to find a way to take down the giant worm.

Having managed to possess Jiji, the Evil Eye wastes no time in showing just how powerful it truly is, putting Okarun on the defensive and forcing him to flee with Momo in tow. However, it’s not because he can’t win, as the next round proves. It’s because he prioritizes Momo’s safety over his own like a gentleman. Thanks to him, Momo is able to escape the pit to find a way to get them all out before the Tsuchinoko kills them.

With Momo out of the way, Okarun and the Evil Eye can fight for real. Admitedly, though, their fight isn’t as visually impressive as the other fights we’ve seen in the series thus far. Though, to be fair, it might be because it’s not as long as other fights are. Both of them run out of steam due to the poison in the area, meaning they can’t fight to the fullest. It makes up for it, though, by doing two things. Firstly, the Evil Eye lets Aleks Le flex his Jin-woo muscles. Secondly, the way that Ken Takakura rallies would make Jotaro Kujo proud.

Too bad Okarun’s cool moment doesn’t last long. When he tries to save Turbo Granny, he winds up getting stuck in whatever gunk the Worm spews out of itself. Now they’re both trapped. Luckily, Momo has a foolproof plan to get rid of the worm: burning down the cursed house!

Burnin’ Down the House!

While Okarun and Jiji are doing battle, Momo finds out that it’s all but impossible to get them a means to climb out of the pit. Thus, she changes tactics to killing the Tsuchinoko. It can’t take the Sun’s UV rays, so by luring it above ground before sunset, it’ll kill itself. So she burns down the house.

It turns out that worms breathe through their skin, which is why they crawl up to the surface when it rains; otherwise, they’ll drown. And by calling the fire department, she’s able to have the ground soaked in enough water. And thanks to her quick thinking, the monster is forced to the surface, where it shrivels up and dies, just like nature intended. It may not be the most climactic way to finish things, but there was no way Momo could beat the Death Worm in a straight-up fight.

Sadly, after the worm dies, it expels the last things that it ate: the very-much alive Kito Family, who aren’t happy about what Momo did. And to top it off, the part about it being connected to the volcano was true. Now the mountain’s blowing up and threatening to destroy the village.

How do we stop a volcano?

This was a good episode, overall. I wish that we had gotten more time to see Okarun and the Evil Eye fight, but something tells me that more of that coming in future episodes. For now, though, how is Momo going to stop the volcano and save her friends? And, yes, that includes Turbo Granny. That look on her face when Ken tries to save her is enough to qualify her as such.

I Give “You Won’t Get Away With This!” a 3.5/5

Jiji just Went from Zenitsu to Sung Jin-woo!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

DanDaDan S2 Ep 2 Review

Do you guys remember that one episode of DanDaDan last year about Acrobatic Silky’s backstory? The one that garnered critical acclaim and broke the Internet from its sheer sadness? If you thought that the tragic story of Silky’s life and death was sad, then brace yourselves. It’s gotten a sequel. As Ken, Momo, Turbo Granny, and Jiji are at the mercy of a giant worm, an even bigger threat appears: a yokai with a backstory as sad as Silky’s. Maybe even sadder, because the Yokai in question…was just a little kid.

The Evil Eye is scary…

At the end of the last episode, the group was in a bad spot. They were already being cornered by the Mongolian Death Worm. But then, Okarun starts going ghost and tweaking out and trying to kill himself, with Momo soon following suit! As Turbo Granny explains, the Worm emits psychic waves that compel people to off themselves. It’s the ultimate predatory skill, and for some reason, only Jiji is immune to it. All he can do is run for his life while keeping his friends from killing themselves/realizing that this might be what made his parents try to kill themselves.

Except that it wasn’t just the Worm that was the threat. Believe it or not, it wasn’t the only creature haunting the house. There was another being; one far more terrifying than the Worm. A yokai that makes even the likes of Turbo Granny freak out: the Evil Eye.

…But his backstory is SO SAD!!

The Evil Eye is, quite possibly, one of the most powerful yokai in the entire series and a nightmare to deal with. Like the Worm, the Evil Eye also has the power to make people want to off themselves just by looking at them. The upside that its waves cancel out the Worm’s waves, bringing Momo and Ken back to their senses. The bad news? Now they have to run from both while making their way through the Uzumaki-like labyrinth. And when Jiji looks right into its eyes, he sees its whole backstory, and it is a tragedy.

The short version: the Evil Eye was once one of the sacrifices the Kito family gave to the Worm. They had locked him up underground until he was an emaciated husk before burning him alive. But instead of moving on, he somehow became a cursed spirit. And whenever anyone other than kids saw him, they would be compelled to off themselves! And then the Kito Family just buried the son alive in the house as another sacrifice, leaving him to starve of die of asphyxiation, while the spirit couldn’t do anything to help him. And this just kept repeating victim after victim, until that sweet little spirit finally crashed out and decided to kill all humanity. Everyone would die as penance for the cruelty those people were shown.

I thought that Acrobatic Silky’s backstory was sad, but this? This happened to a little boy. A child! And they were doing this to countless people for years to a monster that didn’t care about them and just ate them the first chance they got. No wonder the Evil Eye crashed out. A lot of people would wind up doing the same thing if it happened to them!

Jiji Goes from Zenitsu to Sung Jin-woo

And this just tugs at poor Jiji’s heart, and he goes into “righteous Shonen protagonist” mode. He makes it all the way to the spot where E.E.’s body lies and promises to be his friend and play with him as much as he wants. In other words, he’s offering up his body to be used as a vessel for the yokai, like Ken and Aira.

Big. Mistake. It turns Jiji from a goofy Zenitsu…into Yokai Sung Jin-woo. And I’m not just saying that because all three share the same voice actor. I’m saying that because E.E. Jiji is him! In fact, its revealed that Jiji has a ridiculous amount of dormant spiritual power. Combine that with the Evil Eye’s collected malice, and he turns into an apex predator. And he wields that football like it’s a cannonball. If Okarun hadn’t shown up when he did, Jiji would’ve killed Momo and Turbo Granny.

There’s a reason why DanDaDan fans consider this and the proceeding arc to be among the series best thus far, and its for moments such as this. Now, Okarun has to protect Momo and Turbo Granny from Jiji and the Death Worm! This is going to be a tough fight, but one that fans are going to be enjoying to the fullest extent. And I cannot wait!

I Give “Evil Eye” a 4/5