Just saw the latest episode tonight.

Spoiler

I haven’t cried like that from a television show in a while. And it made me kind of mad, because a lot of the emotions she was feeling, I’ve felt too about my own daughter. Granted, the end result she experienced hasn’t happened, but like all parents, I’ve feared that something like it could every day since she was born. It was completely unexpected to get hit by that tonight, so it sort of made me mad in addition to making me cry like a baby. Just had to get that out.

I love this show.

  • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    While I totally get while you feel that way, that scene is looking to be very calculated. So far, Dandadan is shaping up to be cleverly disguised anti-manosphere propaganda.

    spoiler

    Its overarching story is ticking all the boxes for an ecchi nice guy story and a budding romance with a manic pixy girl, but there’s a couple of interesting things happening. For one, every woman character is initially presented as negative stereotype in some way, and then being transformed in the viewer’s mind by the progress of the story. For example, Momo is initially presented as a weak, violent, prude-ish girl who refuses to put out and dates creeps, but then she sees Okarun being picked on and steps up. But then they take her rehabilitation even further and completely flip the scenario in the midst of that SA scene when there’s a momentary flashback to that initial opening scene that links the behavior of the creepy aliens (which are 100% presented as villainous) and the boyfriend’s attitude. Her power literally comes as a payoff to the viewer sympathizing with her previous abuse. And that’s becoming a theme, the grandmother is initially introduced as a charlatan who we find out is incredibly powerful, there’s another girl who has been introduced as a stuck up caricature of an incel’s idea of a woman, who it looks like is being reborn in episode 7.

    Then there’s the battles; In victorious moments, the viewer is being presented with examples of crimes against women with increasing detail and emotional commitment. And the payoff for the viewer experiencing these emotions? The nice guy is earning back bits of his manhood each time!

    It is dastardly, really. data-laughing chefs-kiss

    We’re only on episode 7, but if the story continues on this trajectory, I would say it’s making for a great rehabilitation program for incels.

    • CriticalOtaku [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      I’m going to gently push back a little on Okarun being a Nice Guy- he’s not Kirito or a generic isekai protagonist where he’s a generic not-asshole that inexplicably makes women fall for him, to act as a vehicle for audiences to self-insert into. He’s a socially isolated kid with low self-esteem who retreated into a niche hobby as a coping mechanism, his sole motivation at the start of the show was to make even one friend and he’s only now grappling with the fact that his first genuine friend is someone of the opposite sex and that he might be attracted to her (<---- Episode 5, for those keeping score at home).

      Also he has to deal with the absurdist situation that a ghost ate his balls.

      Neat little thing about his character: the meta joke that Okarun’s real name is the same as Momo’s celebrity crush, Takakura Ken (think of the real life celebrity as Japanese John Wayne) is that his catch phrase “I’m an awkward fellow, after all” came from a commercial for family insurance, where the father figure played by the actor keeps failing to express his true emotions but it’s obvious to the audience that he cares about his family (because he bought insurance). That’s more his character’s deal (rather straightforwardly being bad at expressing himself), rather than some Chainsaw Man style bait-and-switch Shonen character deconstruction.

      Edit: But also also the general levity of the show seems to be at odds with some of the topics it handles (like SA) and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to proselytize to anyone who watched ep 1 and decided it’s not for them because people are definitely going to have strong reactions that are entirely justified, I just feel like doing so can come off as insensitive

      • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        m going to gently push back a little on Okarun being a Nice Guy-

        Yeah, that’s totally fair, I was just reusing a phrase others were using but he’s a reasonably innocent character that’s probably easy for a lot of folks to project on.

        Edit: But also also the general levity of the show seems to be at odds with some of the topics it handles (like SA) and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to proselytize to anyone who watched ep 1 and decided it’s not for them because people are definitely going to have strong reactions that are entirely justified, I just feel like doing so can come off as insensitive

        Oh yeah, if it’s not for you, it’s not for you, @Yor@hexbear.net or anyone else. I’m just finding what it’s doing to be fascinating. Using storytelling like this is my jam.