Expectations can be a difficult thing to manage at times. I personally spent the better part of a year or so waiting for a physical release of the DAN DA DAN manga, then holding my breath for the eventual adaptation being handed to Science Saru of all things. Now, after almost a year of bated breath and contained excitement, DAN DA DAN episode 1 has arrived… and blows much of those expectations out of the water. To quote Jamiroquai, this first episode is quite literally virtual insanity from the perspective of a fan. Let me explain.
Adapted content is always a headache to try and navigate, and very few can stand proud in how they managed it. DAN DA DAN episode 1 angles to be a part of that elite group as it very impressively streamlines and shapes the manga into a very marginally different picture. To make a comparison, it’s the kind of sweeping changes that create something totally different but the exact same in the way that Heavenly Delusion did. What you see as an anime is fundamentally a totally separate experience from the manga. They are the same story, the same tone, the same characters and world- but comparing to the two is almost fruitless. Under the guidance of series director Yamashiro Fuuga, Hiroshi Seko delivers a phenomenal script that feels tailor made to express the maximum amount of absurdity possible.
Seriously, for anime onlies watching DAN DA DAN episode 1, I highly recommend checking out the first two chapters (for free) on Manga Plus. Seko’s script provides incredible awareness of the space and movement afforded to an anime, and completely grasps how dynamic and chaotic the manga is. The result is a script that stakes itself on the ability of the anime to express the missing pieces, to fill in those gaps and provide the context that allows Tatsu’s work to really thrive. Oh, and also plenty of spacing and pausing to let Saru show off with their animation. All in all, Seko’s work lays an immensely important foundation for Saru’s success- but it doesn’t stop there.
There were some… concerns voiced by fans about Naoyuki Onda’s character designs leading into the season. Thankfully, DAN DA DAN episode 1 shows off the full breadth of what they’re capable of, as the designs work wonders with the humor of the series. Though their simplification may be a complaint for some, Onda’s decision lends itself to the much more intense level of animation Saru is aiming for, and allows them to be much more malleable when in motion- a very important piece for not just Tatsu’s humor, but the humor that Saru includes in the episode like Momo’s walking sequence as she sulks in the hallways.
Continuing down the line of talent, we end up at series director. Hm. Seems a little too far, let’s rewind to art director Junichi Higashi and save Fuuga for last. Higashi is a very old hand, with art direction credits going back into the 80s. A rather free soul that might just like P.A. Works and Mappa a bit, they have a surprisingly stellar track record as of late- but that means nothing in the face of DAN DA DAN episode 1. Though I’m simplifying by combining Higashi’s work with the 3D department, they’ve certainly faced their biggest struggle here.
The sheer dynamism of DAN DA DAN forces essentially every cell in the team to approach the series in a new light. In the context of Higashi that’s not only producing environments that work well with 2 dimensional movement, but 3 dimensional environments as well. And, of course, they deliver some great work that’s almost seamlessly assimilated with animated and static environments alike by director of photography Kazuto Izumita. For them, I’ll just say that they’ve done composition for: Heike Monogatari, Ousama Ranking, Skip and Loafer, and Look Back. Yeah, they’re that good.
Alright, now to Fuuga’s involvement in the work. Being a prodigy brought up under Masaaki Yuasa and Shingo Natsume, they should have the necessary tools to succeed with DAN DA DAN episode 1- and they absolutely do. I think that their work around the theme of reflection and the duality of Occult-kun and Momo is impressively subtle as a creative force in the episode, but also speaks very loudly about how the 2 characters can overlap when looking at them from the right angle. Similarly, Fuuga has also pulled just the right amount of influence from the manga.
There’s places where panels pretty well come to life in the manga as every fan imagined them to, for example. A vast majority of the episode hinges on Fuuga’s disparate rendition of Tatsu’s manga, but Fuuga ensures that the core of the two are nearly identical. Fuuga favors higher angle shots where Tatsu does, they approach Occult-kun’s glasses in the exact same manner- they have such a solid understanding of these early chapters that rather than copying Tatsu, they end up mirroring them instead. Also, of course, just some really great ideas for hilariously fun cuts like Occult-kun’s stiffness when entering the tunnel or the explosion of love behind Momo when she finds out Occult-kun’s actual name.
So yes, expectations for DAN DA DAN episode 1 were sky high, but Fuuga and Science Saru had their hearts set on something even loftier than that. It was always going to be the type of debut episode that would rock the Fall season to its core, but the perspective of that impact feels very different after having watched. It’s not just going to be some “incredible show”, Saru’s efforts here run much deeper into territory that has less of a concrete explanation. It’s an odd comment to make, but they’ve rewired DAN DA DAN with this first episode.
The character dynamics between Momo and Takakura really expose the camaraderie beneath that sense of rivalry. The emotional beats are given more space to really hit home and linger with the viewer. Natsuki Hanae and Shio Wakayama provide incredible performances that immediately afford their characters more depth. Kensuke Ushio lays down an outright wild and weird techno soundtrack. Every bit of talent on DAN DA DAN episode 1 is working in synchronization. There is not one piece that carries the tone and appeal of the manga, but rather each taking turns and showing that off, like a massive W16 engine just teasing what it’s capable of. And well, if it wasn’t obvious, we’re just rolling off the line with this first episode. The accelerator’s hardly been touched and there’s a big, wide, empty road out in front of this production to see how ridiculous it can get.
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