Overview (Spoilers Below):
Putting his training to the test, Okarun goes all-out and holds his own against Evil Eye, but the effort causes him to revert to his human form.
Our Take:
Dandadan sure has a way of kickstarting its episodes immediately with a high-octane fight, which I still don’t mind at the slightest. This week’s episode is no different, as Okarun is determined to tame Evil Eye for good with his recent training. As usual, Science Saru never lost a single edge in the stylization, as Okarun’s rematch with Evil Eye matched the enticing thrills and impeccable color palettes of their previous encounters, though it was surprisingly short. However, the surprising aspect of the plot was the aftermath, in which Okarun made a deal with Evil Eye to only fight him instead of everybody else as a response to the latter’s childlike behavior.
Despite having an urge to kill humanity, Evil Eye possesses the brain of a child yearning to play with others, prompting Okarun to become his playmate to protect his friends. It’s another clear example of him using both brains and brawn to outsmart an opponent, transcending beyond his nerdy appearance. Although all is said and done, that still doesn’t make our problems with Evil Eye less excruciating. Following the reconstruction of Seiko’s house, Momo is forced to watch over Evil Eye during school hours. Unsurprisingly, having to train a dog new tricks isn’t as easy as it appears, given Evil Eye’s fish-out-of-water personality, but the moments involving him retain the dynamic comedy we’ve come to expect from the previous episodes, mainly regarding Anne Yatco’s vocal performance as the raging yokai.
As for the house reconstruction sequence, there’s no doubt it will remind viewers of Minecraft, notably Peeny-Weeny’s assistant, which resembles the character design from the game. I’m pretty sure the manga’s author, Yukinobu Tatsu, took inspiration from the popular franchise to create that character and even the nano skin the characters use to rebuild Seiko’s house in their own image. If Minecraft were to include the nano skins in its next update, then maybe I would be interested in trying it out, with an emphasis on the “maybe”. Regarding that sequence and Okaurn’s recent yet short showdown with Evil Eye, “I Want to Rebuild the House” bypasses the plot’s fish-out-of-water tropes to provide a consistently enjoyable bridge between the Evil Eye arc and the season’s final arc.