The first episode reveals everything Dandadan has to offer, both at its best and at its worst. The characters are extremely charismatic, the humor is very good, the animation is wonderful and, along with all of this, it is permeated by what is probably the most divisive theme of this work: the way the script deals (or fails to deal) with the characters being constantly targets of attempted sexual violence.
Starting with the compliments: I loved the protagonists Momo and Okarun from the beginning. They have clear personalities, charismatic characteristics and their interactions are excellent and each new character adds a bit of chaos and leaves their mark on the narrative.
The animation itself is incredible and, although many may get attached to the action moments, I was impressed by certain movements and camera angles that are very inventive. An example of this is a certain scene in episode 2 that involves a mirror in Momo's room. And Dandadan is full of moments like this that show that whoever thought of these scenes is very good at what they do.
And finally, the giant elephant in the room arrives: I won't give spoilers, but I think it's good for anyone who wants to watch Dandadan to know that this anime has some very uncomfortable scenes involving attempted sexual abuse. One character is technically abused off-screen while another character is almost abused at least twice. My problem isn't even having this kind of theme, the problem is how the script seems to give no weight to the subject. Like, in one episode a certain character is tied up half-naked and almost abused and in the other episode it seems like nothing happened to this same character or, worse, you're left wondering if the creatures that almost forced the sexual intercourse wear underwear...
Dandadan has everything to make me love this story, but there's this point that's like a kick pushing me away... I still think I liked this anime even with this cliffhanger at the end of the season that appeals to what I hated the most: a character is about to be sexually abused again. Dandadan is certainly a good exercise in discovering the line between how much a story can have something that makes you uncomfortable and yet you can still love it.
