Dandadan is the latest anime to make waves in the West, yet everyone who’s tuned in to watch it agrees that one episode stands head and shoulders above the rest.
If you’ve never watched the show (why are you reading this?), allow me to explain the premise briefly. Two high schoolers, Momo Ayase and Okarun, become unlikely friends after discovering that ghosts and aliens are real, and they team up to keep the world safe from paranormal threats.
Except that’s only half the story. The real driving force in Dandadan is Okarun’s quest to get his testicles back, which were stolen from him by the Yokai Turbo Granny. Yes, you read that right, Dandadan spends a lot of time focused on a teen boy’s nutsack.
As you can probably imagine then, this is a show that doesn’t take itself very seriously, and as you’d expect, it’s very funny and full of action. It’s classic shonen stuff, really. Yet every now and again, Dandadan will blindside you with an episode that’s so heartbreaking you’ll be left an emotional wreck by the time it ends.
Acrobatic Silky
In fact, one episode in particular is so good that fans have already labeled it the best in the series. I’m talking, of course, about Episode 7, titled ‘To A Kinder World’. This genuinely harrowing chapter sees Momo and Okarun battle the terrifying Acrobatic Silky, a powerful Yokai with designs on their school friend, Aira Shiratori.
Yet the episode takes a tragic turn when, during the battle, Aira dies, and Acrobatic Silky decides to sacrifice her own aura to the teenager to save her life. During the transfer, the audience gets to see a flashback to Acrobatic Silky’s human life and what drove her to become a vengeful spirit in the afterlife.
Silky, it turns out, was a poor single mom struggling to keep her head above water. To provide for her daughter, she turned to prostitution and loan sharks, which allowed her to give her child a happy life. One day, however, rather than paying the loan sharks back, she bought her daughter a pretty dress, and let’s just say the criminals who lent her the money weren’t pleased with her.
In one of the most triggering scenes I’ve ever watched, the loan sharks beat Silky half to death and kidnap her daughter. Silky gave chase, but she was so grievously wounded that she died (or took her own life, it’s a bit unclear), never finding out what happened to her beloved little girl.
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For years, she wandered Tokyo as a ghost until a fateful encounter with Aira transformed her into the fearsome Yokai we know and love.
Mummy?
As the transfer finishes, Silky starts to break apart, dying once again. This time, however, there will be no afterlife; if a ghost dies without completing its unfinished business, it simply ceases to be. However, before Silky goes into the void, Aira steps up and hugs the Yokai, thanking her and calling her mommy.
This brief act of kindness convinces Silky she is a good mother after all, and it counts as her completing her unfinished business so she can go to a kinder world. It’s heart-wrenching stuff and on a level with some of the saddest scenes ever seen on TV.
It’s hardly surprising then that fans love it, and a quick search of Episode 7 will bring up countless posts and comments lauding the episode for its gorgeous animation, beautiful storytelling, and heart-rending final moments.
This isn’t just Redditor group think either; on IMDb, it’s Dandadan’s highest-rated episode with a score of 9.7, the same score as all-time classics like The Soprano’s ‘Pine Barrens’ and ‘The One Where Everyone Finds Out’ from Friends.
If you’ve not checked out Dandadan, maybe do yourself a favor and just get up to Episode 7 – you won’t be disappointed. Love anime? Then check out our list of the best anime movies ever made, or we have guides to upcoming shows like One-Punch Man Season 3 and The Apothecary Diaries Season 2.
