Dandadan's finale will leave you hanging

Summary

• The development of the relationship between Okarun and Jiji was a highlight, making Jiji more lovable and balancing his personality.
• The season finale felt anti-climactic, lacking the excitement one would expect.
• Despite the underwhelming finale, Dandadan's strong storytelling and character development shined throughout the season.

Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Dandadan Episode 12, “Let's Go To The Cursed House,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.

It's weird when an episode is – by all metrics – pretty good, but has the unfortunate curse of being a season finale at a point in the story that isn't all that exciting (at least not yet). That's exactly what the latest episode has Dandadan feel more than a little underwhelming, which is certainly not ideal, especially after a fairly impressive first season.

Last week was a busy one for the gang, between Jiji's bold and stormy debut, Okarun's subsequent despair at the thought of losing Momo's heart, and the screaming mannequin sprinting around. After witnessing the emotional mannequin's devotion to his beloved (also a mannequin), Okarun decides to be more direct with Momo and stop letting fear get the best of him.

Mandatory team building of Okarun and Jiji

One thing this season needed to accomplish before it came to an end was to make Jiji feel like a real part of the team and not just an intruder in the cast to give Okarun anxiety. For some, his antics might be amusing enough to make him endearing, but for others—and I admit, I mean myself—he was just a little too much. So I'm happy to say that this finale sold me.

Honestly, the execution – how it unfolded on an emotional level, at least for me – was pretty spectacular. In Okarun's eyes, Jiji is this antagonistic third wheel and nothing else, and the viewer is forced to see him in a similar light. So the moment Okarun realized how much he was talking about the paranormal with Jiji, it was like the wool was pulled from his eyes. Suddenly, Jiji is kind of okay because they finally talked like normal people (who could have guessed?).

This episode changed the way I see Jiji

What's better is the pair does address the elephant in the room about his feelings for Momo, but it's a lot friendlier and a lot more fun. With the gang finding no signs of spiritual activity in Jiji's house, Momo flees to the local hot spring, leaving them behind. This turns out to be a conscious choice on her part in hopes that Okarun will find a new boyfriend, which seems super sweet and once again shows how awesome Momo is.

To be perfectly honest, the biggest achievement of this episode was making me realize how childishly I wished Jiji wasn't so much like Okarun. In a way, it speaks volumes for how magnetic and charming the central romance is, and once again shows how effective drama can be once the key is thrown in the gears, so to speak.

A very anti-climactic ending

As mentioned at the beginning, this episode is okay, it just doesn't feel like a season finale. It ends on a cliffhanger, but it's not the kind you'd expect from the last episode before a hiatus, especially from a show with a penchant for gripping storytelling. To its credit, this is a weakness of many manga adaptations. The ending suffers when the episode count ends at a point that doesn't lead very well to the grand finale. It didn't need much, it wanted more.

Now that the episode has been released, of course they've announced a season 2 for July. Posterity will see this as a minor bug, mitigated by the existence of any episode that autoplays after it. But like the creative ensemble, it's a lackluster finale. Okarun and Jiji uncover the first clue to the disturbing truth behind the house's mysteries, while Momo is harassed by the creepy guys at the hot spring… the latter of which strangely brings it full circle, to say the least.

Looking at the big picture

However, there is no need to dwell too much on this point. Jiji and Okarun set the stage for a fun bond, and the depth of Jiji's supernatural situation is quite interesting. It's sad that the midseason is going to hang on Momo being the target of implied sexual violence again, but… there's really not much of a bright side to it, it's just unfortunate.

The past few months have been an emotional rollercoaster that should make Director Yamashiro and the Science Saru team very proud.

DandadanThe finale was disappointing only in how it closed the book on this season, but it shouldn't reflect too harshly on the rest of it. The past few months have been an emotional rollercoaster that should make Director Yamashiro and the Science Saru team very proud. Just don't be surprised if the first words out of your mouth at the end are “That's it!?”