I’m sure my protests that I really, REALLY do try not to drag anime into these pages too often now themselves have inspired memes among the, er, elite demographic of you people who still come by here. Believe me, though, I really do try.
However…
Every once in a while I see an episode where I instantly say to myself, “Well, that’s the best episode of anime this year.” Not nearly every year, but on occasion. Today’s subject, for what it’s worth, has such an episode. It’s really an amazing work of art, I think.
Dandadan is nerd fodder of the highest caliber. It’s gonzo in the way that only Asian stuff can get gonzo. Indeed, that level of freneticism, fully on display in the first episode, might well be the only thing that dissuades those of our ilk from enjoying the show. Rest assured, the show is often less crazy than the first episode suggests. Well, somewhat. I mean, it’s not constantly like that. The show does, wisely, allow us time to breathe on occasion.
There’s also enough fan service and lewd stuff in the first episode also that mght make one wonder if the show will eventually go full ecchi. It doesn’t, but you’ll have to take my word for it. The first episode goes about as far as such material gets, so it stays firmly, I’d say, PG-13 while never crossing over into R territory. And most episodes don’t have any such material at all. But it the end it is, I think it’s fair to say, a joyous watch.
Like everything I think is really good, I don’t want to get into details. If this piques your interest even a little, check out the (current) 12 episodes, which are on Netflix as well as Crunchyroll. Meaning even our version of Norms can access it as well. And it’s a great time to watch them–it’s about an afternoon’s worth of content all together–because season 2 or the second half of season one or whatever they are calling it is coming out next month. So if you find it addictive you won’t have to wait very long for more of the show.
Netflix is also home now to Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. All I’ll say about that is that it’s the single best thing I’ve seen entertainment-wise in years, anime or not. I can’t imagine anyone in our crowd not getting hooked on it, unless you simply loath high fantasy.
