While the end is near for Dan da dan Season 2, animation studio Science Saru isn’t repeating what it did last season with the show, ending the crushing mid-arc cliffhanger. Instead, the lovably godly raucous sci-fi-meets-yokai anime goes out with a bang, and the penultimate episode sets up a cataclysmic giant robot vs. Space Kaiju battle that anime fans will send home happy. In Dan da dan Episode 11, “Hey, It’s Kaiju,” the gang battles a Kaiju. While Momo, Okarun, and their new friend Kenta Sakata search for what they believe is Okarun’s missing golden testicle (at this point, don’t ask), they discover that the glowing bomb they’re chasing around the apartment complex actually originated from inside a human-sized Kaiju. Thinking they were clinching an easy victory, the crew quickly reckoned with an even greater threat when Kaiju grows into a full-sized menace, soaring over them and chasing them throughout the city.
Momo, Okaruna, and Kenta advance on Aira and Jiji, rounding up their strange team of superhumans, but their feeble attempts at teamwork seem to be no match for the great lizard. Okaruna, drawing on his occult knowledge, convinces them that the giant kaiju is no ordinary kaiju, but a space kaiju, because of course it is. Despite Aira taking charge with her Bayonetta-esque hair yokai powers from Acrosilky, she is overwhelmed by the space kaiju’s ability to not only shoot lightning from its horns, but also to cloak itself in an invisibility field. Thinking better of their initial giant team odds, the gang makes a tactical retreat back to Ayase’s house with the kaiju in pursuit, treating the city like a giant diorama for it to pass through.
Back at the house, the gang has a bit of a fight, with Jiji regaining the evil eye and fighting, Momo and Aira fighting over Okarun, and Okarun just pretending to be the one who’s going to deal with the giant green discount gamer seagull that’s sunning themselves in their path.
Once a wise egg, Okarun remembers the nanoskin they used to restore Ayase’s house and hatches a plan to build one big enough to fight Kaiju. The only problem is, Okarun doesn’t have a big enough imagination to come up with anything. Enter Kinta Sakata.
As well established in the previous episode, Kinta is a huge otaku for sci-fi, specifically the Mobile Suit Gundam ilk. Funnily enough, the science Saru went to great lengths to introduce Kinta as a cursed Marvel superhero, showing off his dedication to the medium by singing classic mecha anime theme songs and showing off his freshly painted Gundam Gunpla with the paint still on his fingers. Taking advantage of his moment, Kinta causes the transformation of the Ayase House, turning it into a mecha anime-referenced chimera along the way.
It’s Neon Genesis Evangelion Slavery Gurren Lagann Slavery Power Rangers and all Dan da dan With Momo, much to Kinta’s dismay, making its design look like Budai just because she was panicking about thinking of something big to fight Kaiju. With everyone happily transferred to their makeshift battle stations, they’re ready to face Kaiju. The only problem is, they don’t really know how to make it move.
One of the interesting details about the long-awaited arrival of the Space Kaiju is that the science of Saru cleverly hid this moment in plain sight. The anime’s opening theme features a quick shot of a green Space Kaiju shadow along the walls of the hallway that Okaroon and Momo are rushing through. This subtle Easter egg reference also cleverly hints at the creature’s ability to disguise its presence.
Seeing as how next week’s episode will mark the end of the season, manga fans likely have an inkling of the exact beat the story will end on, and it’s a big one that’ll probably leave anime-onlys in agony over whether or not they want to read ahead in the manga to figure out where Okarun and Momo’s shonen romance takes them next in the indescribable world of Dan da dan . Hopefully, fans won’t have to wait long to get this answer if the show is renewed as quickly as it was last time for a third season.
Dan da dan is streaming on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.
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