Every week, manga readers crane their necks at anime watchers to live vicariously through their first foray into experiencing Dan Da Dan. Thus far, every episode has done a phenomenal job adapting the sheer scope, scares, and magnetism of Dan Da Dan‘s action and romance. However, the anime’s latest and most anticipated episode nails one of the core tenets of why the series has such a strong fanbase: its phenomenal backstory writing.
Whenever a flashback sequence greets a shonen anime fan, they reflexively roll their eyes in annoyance. This knee-jerk reaction is mainly due to how the expository narrative device can grind a show’s action to a halt. While contemporary shonen series like Demon Slayer also utilize flashbacks to endear their villains to audiences, repetitious flashbacks tend to be used solely to draw parallels to their heroes. A stylish action sequence follows where said heroes unalive the bad guy, and then never think about the life they took as they propel toward the next monster of the week.
While the above isn’t the most charitable read of shonen shows like Demon Slayer, it’s become the expected norm for anime fans walking into a flashback to expect: it’ll offer a tragic backstory wherein its hero will shed tears as they tie a villain’s strife to their own and hopefully carry their life lessons into their next battle. Just as how anime protagonists rarely look back on past villains as something stirring their ethos, flashbacks in shonen anime ring emotionally hollow as the show trucks on. That is, unless you’re Dan Da Dan.
Dan Da Dan‘s seventh episode, “To a Kinder World,” saw Okarun, Momo Ayase, and Turbo Granny battle Acrobatic Silky, a yokai stalking their classmate Aira Shiratori. While the gang outmaneuvered and defeated Acrobatic Silky in the first part of the episode, the latter half humanized the gangly, towering yokai.
In a primarily voiceless flashback, we learned that Acro Silky was actually Aira’s deceased mother. As a single mother, Acro Silky had lived a cruel, tragic life, taking on odd jobs as a janitor, store clerk, and sex worker to keep food on the table. While it was miserable, using her hard-earned cash to shower her daughter with gifts made it all worth it. That is, until tragedy struck, setting Acro Silky running through the rainy streets of Japan looking for her kidnapped daughter. When all hope seemed lost, Acro Silky ballet danced on the rooftop of a skyscraper before plummeting to her death.
However, not even death could undo a mother’s unconditional love. Now living as a ghost, Aira’s mother pledges to watch over and protect her—even if that meant twisting her face into a permanent grin and transforming her body into a towering Sadako-looking yokai that not even her daughter would recognize as her mother. This volley of emotional gut punches is further punctuated by Acro Silky sacrificing herself and transferring her spiritual essence to revive her daughter. She does this selfless act knowing that once she does, she’ll be forgotten forever as she exists in an infinite void. What follows is an emotional hug between Aira and her mother, where Aira promises never to forget her. Reader, as a manga reader, I knew this scene was coming and that didn’t stop me from crying.
What makes this episode of Dan Da Dan all the more remarkable is Science Saru opted not to regurgitate mangaka Yukinobu Tatu’s panels to depict Acro Silky’s backstory. Instead, the anime presented her tale through an extended sequence mostly told without voice acting in a Studio Ghibli-esque stroke of whimsy before turning to darker imagery akin to a Satoshi Kon film. All of this was accompanied by a dreamy musical score akin to something you’d hear out of a music box with a twirling ballerina spinning at its center. What’s more, the anime hammered home Acro Silky’s desperation, with a first-person sequence of her doggedly running through the rain searching for her daughter.
Dan Da Dan‘s most substantial quality is consistently providing soul-stirring backstories for heroes and villains alike. While Acro Silky served as its first momentous emotional moment between a villain and the audience, the series has already subtly suggested that it has always been focused on humanizing its antagonists as more than frightening adversaries. This is exemplified by the reveal that Turbo Granny, the show’s initial antagonist, has a history of rescuing distressed girls. This is why she emerged from Momo’s phone (via a possessed Okarun) to protect her from an assault by the Serpo aliens. This event, which unfolded in the show’s first episode, initially led fans to question whether this intense scene was perverse fanservice or genuinely compelling storytelling. Thankfully, it was the latter.
What’s more, Dan Da Dan has continued to heighten the level of its flashback writing to a level that nearly eclipses that of its page-turning scares, highly detailed action sequences, and adorable romance. Now that Acro Silky’s flashback has been expertly adapted, fans can look forward to the real Dan Da Dan beginning as the show adapts even more heart-wrenching backstories for its cryptids and aliens.
New episodes of Dan Da Dan air every Thursday on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu.
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