Written by Melly Merida
Trigger Warning: Mentions of Suicide
After the abrupt cliffhanger left in the Season 1 Finale on December 20, 2024, DanDaDan returns ‘full throttle’ with the episodic film directed by Fūga Yamashiro and Abel Gongora.
DanDaDan: Evil Eye consists of three episodes combined into a feature-length film. It begins with a quick recap of Season 1, where we are re-introduced to our protagonists: Momo Ayase, a psychic and believer of the paranormal, and Ken Takakura, (aka Okarun) a lover of all things supernatural, who became cursed by Turbo Granny thus gaining a strange power to shift into a fast yokai.
After the audience is brought back to where Season 1 left off, our protagonists travel with Jiji Enjoji (Momo’s childhood friend) to his house to take care of an evil spirit that has haunted his family and caused his parents’ hospitalization. Through a series of fights with the Kito Family, the grey-skinned people, who evoke a significant uncanny valley effect, the three protagonists stumble upon a living local legend far more dangerous than they realized, leading Jiji to face the monster that invaded his peaceful rest daily.
This episodic film is filled with twists, stellar animation, compelling characters, and a thrilling soundtrack. After the character’s journey, the plot begins to unfold in a relatively fast-paced yet intriguing style, which grants us mercy from a predictable plot line. Similar to the first season, DanDaDan: Evil Eye continues to have an excellent grasp on combining local myths/cryptids, yokai, the paranormal, and Japanese culture. Lovers of cryptids and all things supernatural or sci-fi may find an interest in this series, due to the callbacks to well-known cryptids such as “The Flatwoods Monster,” which presented itself as a giant robotic sumo wrestler, used as a weapon by the three Serpo Aliens.
Each character has their moments to shine. While making a few reckless decisions, Momo is capable of handling things on her own with her psychic abilities. Still, she has an incredible tenacity to save the friends she cares about deeply. Okarun, still as dorky as usual, his feelings for Momo shine through when he defends her from the Evil Eye in his yokai form.
The one who goes through the most significant changes throughout the episodes is Jiji, as seen in the trailers, he grapples with the trauma of his parents being hospitalized, and soon faces the evil spirit responsible. When he was first introduced in Season 1, many viewers found him annoying due to overly-enthusiastic and cocky nature. Still, many may change their opinion after this film, as the story shifts from his optimistic yet naive nature to a cold and powerful threat.
The Kito family, one of the main antagonists of this movie, aren’t the most formidable foes but more of a challenging obstacle the protagonists had to fight with before discovering the truth about Jiji’s house. They are also the most mysterious characters because of their creepy, uncanny valley nature and their inhumanly grey skin; you can tell they aren’t human. There isn’t a clear idea of what they are besides the vague nods to them being a sort of alligator yokai.
Evil Eye has an alarming design with its elongated arms and stretched out eyes and face, which gave me a bit of a chill when staring at it. The film delves deeper into Evil Eye’s backstory, which is filled with hear-twrenching scenes that may be difficult for more sensitive viewers, especially those who are sensitive towards scenes of suicide. Later on, Evil Eye takes on a new form with an incredible design and power that is showcased perfectly by the hands of the animators.
The music of DanDaDan doesn’t hold back either. Composer Kensuke Ushio creates music that complements the story’s emotional beats, pulling the audience in. This feature (along with gorgeous animation) is consistent with the DanDaDan series, including its catchy intro song, “Otonoke,” by Creepy Nuts. My brother, who watched the film with me, even said he finds himself coming back to DanDaDan because of its soundtrack.
This movie was indeed a blast, except for two issues: its pacing and the abrupt ending. While its fast-paced nature is common for DanDaDan to keep its audience engaged, this one was a bit too fast, especially during the emotional moments between Evil Eye and Jiji. After being haunted by this spirit for so long, Jiji’s confrontation felt brief, and the emotional moment could’ve been drilled in harder.
After a series of intense events, there’s an abrupt cut in the end, leaving viewers with another cliffhanger. The sudden conclusion can leave a lot of viewers unfulfilled, but when put in the perspective of it being the end of another episode, it feels purposeful.
So, fear not, fellow DanDaDan fans, the story shall continue in Season 2 on July 3rd, 2025. Catch it on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu with a subscription!
