Spoiler Alert !!!
This article contains spoilers for Dandadan episode 4.
The demand grows steadily for anime adaptations to follow the source material without straying away and the same was the case for Dandadan. It isn’t a surprise for fans to want their favorite works getting adapted faithfully with past instances having proven just how bad things can get if the path lies astray.
From Seven Deadly Sins to Tokyo Ghoul, disappointment has followed the wake of anime just as dedicatedly as acknowledgment has. While the need to follow original source materials is not something too out of pocket to ask, it would be unfair to expect a full adaptation. Adaptation comes with the understanding of different mediums and the various teams that collaborate to work on a project.
Dandadan Understands the Importance of Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone
When writing a manga, the process involves the mangaka, the editors, and the publishers with a few others in between. However, for anime adaptations, the amount of people increases exponentially. Making an adaptation that would be exactly the same is perhaps completely impossible. Science Saru understood that perfectly when going into Dandadan and there are two particular instances that highlight that.
The first is the ability to enhance the adaptation. Not every scene can be straight out of the manga and it doesn’t have to be. What the series did with the fourth episode was show that it doesn’t need to rely on Yukinobu Tatsu’s art style blindly to make his work stand out. The chase sequence where Momo and Okarun run from the giant crab as Pirate Fight plays in their wake was something straight out of the original anime’s pocket and it added so much to the series.
The series is continuing its streak of using humor as the driving force for scenes that are set to become incredibly intense. However, what I liked most about this episode was how well it showcased the abilities of the two protagonists. They do not bring each other down, they help each other function as a team.
They both contribute to each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The episode showcases how they make up for each other’s weaknesses and are more than willing to push forward for the sake of the other. The episode is as beautiful as it gets, using the color red to navigate the story as it did in episode two with the monochrome.
An Artist’s Reach
The art of adaptation comes with understanding the work of the artist. Yukinobu Tatsu is a skilled mangaka whose illustrations are filled with layers upon layers of depth. For still images, the perspective is different and for motion projects, the perspective is different. As such, the sequence where Momo and Granny Ayase finally defeat Turbo Granny and her army of the undead becomes lackluster.
The mangaka’s art has always been on another level and the inability to capture that to its full extent would be both understandable and unfortunate at the same time. While it lacks the eerie depth of that artwork, the anime makes up for it in the otherwise captivating sequences. The episode highlighted an important theme of how death is what gives life meaning.
It showed that there are always two sides to a coin and more to a story than just the primary perspective. Turbo Granny was a villain to most but she was a messiah to the lost souls of girls who fell to death due to unfair means. At the end of the day, villains are born of perspectives and Turbo Granny was but an outcome of the same.
Rating: 9/10
Dandadan is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
