‘Dandadan’ review: “It’s a Granny vs. Granny Clash!”

With a couple of weeks to settle in, Dandadan episode 3 is a bit more standard episode. That’s not a knock, especially as “It’s a Granny vs. Granny Clash!” introduces Momo’s very surprising grandmother Seiko. The episode also gives the audience the first clues at how this world’s powers work and building on the mythology. This means the animation doesn’t get to flex as much; which could end up being more noticeable than expected given other hotly anticipated anime dropping the ball.

An easy “hear me out”

Seiko Ayase (Nana Mizuki/Kari Wahlgren) steals the spotlight and doesn’t give it up. She’s very reminiscent of Bleach‘s Kisuke Urahara in her demeanor, which is all upside if you ask me. However, her fashion sense sets her apart: look hot and carry a big bat. Yukinobu Tatsu has a great eye for his character’s fashion, and Seiko’s is the head of the class. Yes, that means that Momo’s grandma is hot. Credit to Dandadan to just letting us have that as a fact and not obsessing about it.

Mizuki does a great job balancing Seiko’s mood shifts and keeping her consistent. I have not heard the dub version at this time, but given Kari Wahgren’s resume there’s no reason to not expect the same. It is a hard line to walk though. At any given moment, Seiko can go from aloof to overcompetitive. She clearly has trouble expressing her own emotions, to the point it seems not genuine. This is a tough character to introduce, but Dandadan manages to use her behavior to inform Momo’s own frustrations.

Dandadan episode 3 is less ambitious

Because “It’s a Granny vs. Granny Clash!” is focusing on introducing Seiko and clarifying details, it is a conversation heavy episode. Episode 2 is pretty dialog focused in the first half too, but gives way to an action scene. Here, that’s not the case. This does give a chance for another cute moment between Momo and Okarun. It’s one of the best parts, as Momo thinks her grandma may have killed him. Her instant shift into performative tsundere might be frustrating, but let this relationship cook.

However, these scenes are interspersed with some animation choices that I’m a bit worried are going to get read too hard into. Momo’s character model goes stiff in some reactions, which is certainly an artistic choice. There’s other things though, that appear more to be like shortcuts. A moment where Seiko’s ears are bleeding is represented by what looks like taking a red marker over her face. Okarun runs in place for a whole 2-3 minutes during a conversation. That one is a set up for a joke but the anime drags it out a bit.

Animation is pretty damn hard, and even the all time greats use shortcuts where they can to manage resources. “It’s a Granny vs. Granny Clash!” has some really great stuff in it too. Reactions on faces are comical without compromise. There’s a scene focusing on Seiko putting out a cigarette (responsibly, I might add) that is full of subtle and probably complex animation. Instead, I’m more worried about what the reaction is going to be.

Some people are really weird about animation

Everyone’s a critic, this itself is a review overall, but sometimes the community can be a bit weird about stuff. In the wake of the Dandadan trailers and OP leaks, a lot of chatter online wasn’t just about how promising this series looked. Instead, that reasonable opinion was parleyed into some kind of dick-measuring contest against other series. I’m sorry, but even if you are not a fan of MAPPA’s Chainsaw Man, it is a stretch to use it as a marker for “bad animation.”

On top of that, the community is a bit on watch and not without reason. The extremely anticipated Uzumaki adaptation has had a very noticeable and controversial drop in quality. That incident has a lot of folks talking, and if discourse is good at anything its pulling everything else into its wake. There’s a non-zero chance some fans see clips of Momo’s model stiffing up and falling or reacting strange that misses the joke and immediately changes their opinions of Dandadan. Or, at the very least, it follows in the footsteps of Tatsu’s former mentor’s work and becomes the new punching bag for hipsters.

Of course, the reality is that stories need moments of calm to justify the moments that aren’t. These moments are beneficial for animators too. In them is the chance to breathe and manage the labor and resources needed to pull off the bombastic and ensure those moments stick. Sometimes, it even gives the director and team a chance to experiment with putting extra focus on calmer things. Dandadan did that just last week, in fact.

Introductions are over, time for action

Discourse aside, we are now through the introductory period of Dandadan. All anime watchers, whether they caught the theatrical release or have been watching weekly, are now on equal footing. With the promised showdown with Turbo Granny up next week, it’ll be time for the anime to show it can keep up, literally. In order to get to that, we do need an episode like Dandadan episode 3, even if it’s a little less exciting than what’s come before.

Dandadan airs weekly on Crunchyroll and Netflix.

Featured image ©Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee