Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye

OK, caveat right off the bat: Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye is not a dedicated feature film. Instead it is a compilation of the first 3 episodes of the upcoming second season of the show, that (actually pretty decently) also recaps the major beats of season one, along with an interview portion with the two directors (Fūga Yamashiro & Abel Góngora - the former being the director on the first season whilst the latter having previously been responsible for the intro sequence for the first season). Now, what this means is that, narratively, Evil Eye cuts off on one hell of a cliffhanger. One that will no doubt be resolved in the Hot Springs arc of the anime proper when it airs in a month or so’s time (at time of writing). This is not necessarily a bad thing per se, as up to this point the film has done a lot right. It’s been a cracking reminder that Okarun and Momo are an incredibly compelling pair of characters, with Momo’s childhood friend Jiji proving a fun addition to their dynamic (and further reinforcing that this series is real good at teenagers who come across as, well, teenagers). 

I don’t want to spoil things too much, but the film quickly resolves the cliffhangers Momo, Okarun & Jiji were left in at the end of season one - Momo trapped in a hot spring with some lechers whilst the boys have just uncovered a mysterious hidden room in the house Jiji’s family have been living in. I hope that this does not become a recurring habit for how Momo ends up endangered as we are now two for two on situations where she has been put in situations of sexual threat, and it feels a tad lazy, even if it does make us aware that these men (part of the larger Kito family that we meet during this film) are a bunch of wrong’uns, who we learn wield outsized control over this seemingly sleepy hot spring town.

Jiji, Momo and Okarun

The real meat of the episode though comes from our introduction to the yokai Evil Eye, who, much like Turbo Granny and  Acrobatic Silky, is a far more tragic figure than we might initially think. And this is where Dan Da Dan deploys what I’ve come to think of as it’s greatest strength - yes, it loves to go hog-wild on slightly bonkers action sequences with on point music, but the empathy the kids show for the damaged spirits they encounter who are just lashing out from the pain they endured in life brings real heart to the show. Evil Eye is especially tragic as it become readily apparent that the so-called curse the spirit is associated with is, as always with this show, not what it appears. I eagerly look forward to seeing how all this gets resolved in the second season proper.

This brings us to my biggest gripe however, a certain lack of polish to the theatrical presentation.

So the film begins with a brief message from the directors, which is nice, and a message that there will be an interview with them at the end of the feature. The animation however ends on a whopper of a reveal, but rather than cutting to a card saying “to be continued in Dan Da Dan Season Two”, the film instead hard cuts to the interview portion, and it is incredibly jarring. It's a shame becuase honestly it’s an interesting piece, for all the directors are somewhat stilted in their presentation (to be fair I'm not sure how I’d do it in their shoes). I know that in the screening I was in there was no small amount of confusion and consternation amongst the audience when the switchover occurred. 

That aside, it was an enjoyable experience overall leaving much to look forward to when series two proper lands on Netflix.