I don’t have a lot to say about the musical battle itself, ’cause I mean, musical or not, it’s still a shounen battle, i.e. not not exactly my forte (pun somewhat intended). And like most battles, there’s the familiar ebb and flow: Okarun initially screws up, gets down on himself, Turbo Granny doles out some tough love, so our hero eventually finds his footing and ultimately prevails. Meanwhile, Aira does her thing as a supporting character. As usual, Science Saru still put in the work. The battle choreography is pretty fun to watch even if they did reuse some of the animation. Since I’m not an anime battle fanatic, however, I’m not too chuffed about it.

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Stray thoughts and observations:

• Musical notes that explode. Rest beats that will literally make you rest. Well, that’s certainly one way to gain a sense of rhythm. Or maybe not. I spent three years in high school band, but my sense of rhythm is still ass. But our boy will succeed where I didn’t because 1) Okarun is one of the primary protagonists, and 2) we’re sick and tired of Evil Eye terrorizing everybody. It’s time to move onto another world-ending threat.

• It doesn’t help either that I don’t really know all that much about classical composers or their songs. They’ll play something that sounds familiar, and I’ll be like, “Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard that before.” But that’s literally the extent of my musical knowledge. It’s not a topic I’ve ever been particularly interested in. I only joined band in high school to avoid P.E.

• Have I finally met someone who actually listens to even less music than me? I almost never listen to music on loop. If I’m coding, I’ll fire up a let’s play of a game or a dubbed anime series. If I’m cooking, I just cook. If I’m working out, I just work out. Having said that, I still have a list of songs that I like (mostly 2000s era alt or indie rock). I’ve simply rarely had to use said list. In contrast, Okarun only has THE song he’s heard recently: “Hunting Soul.” Kind of astonishing.

• I love seeing Turbo Grandma riding Okarun’s back like when Yoda trained Luke on Dagobah. From one nerdy interest to the next. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the inspiration. Either way, it’d be fun to see more of this master/student dynamic going forward. It’d be a shame if it ended here with just one episode.

• Seeing as how Okarun needs music in order to find his combat rhythm, will we be hearing the same rock song next week as well?

• Eventually, a whole ass choir emerges for a ghoulish performance of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9.” How did Turbo Granny even come to know about these spirits? Other than informing us that the ghastly musicians are simply thoughts given shape due to our collective fear of the portraits, I don’t think we’ll ever get an extended answer to Aira’s question.

• And seriously, have innocent people died to these thoughts given form before? According to Turbo Granny, they only come out when you play the piano at a certain time of the night. That implies the existence of at least one previous encounter, so I can’t help but wonder if there are also previous victims. But I suppose the answer to that isn’t within the scope of the series’ world-building. I appreciate the conciseness of Dandadan’s storytelling, but it does come with some cost.
  
• The way the show utilizes color has always been fun. Once Okarun decisively wins the upper hand, everything is saturated in red. Similarly, at the end of the episode, Evil Eye’s color clashes directly with Okarun’s. It’s a fun visual quirk that sets Dandadan apart from its ilk.
  
• Aira earned herself a bit of character growth. After the battle, she can’t find it in herself to pull her super cutesy schtick, which she finds confusing. But this is good! Okarun is always earnest with Aira, and he deserves that same earnestness right back. More importantly, it also means that she’s getting closer to being her true self around her new friends. Maybe one day, she’ll be able to do it around her old friends as well.
  
• I still can’t say that I’m too terribly fond of Aira overall, but I think Dandadan has handled her development pretty well for a supporting character. It makes me wonder what the story will do with Jiji going forward. His loud outbursts still grates on me, but maybe going through this whole ordeal with Evil Eye — realizing that he’s endangered his friends and put a heavy burden on their shoulders — will mellow him out a bit. Sure, you can be a nice guy who has compassion for a tortured soul filled with malice for mankind, but think twice about the consequences, yeah?

• Is Turbo Grandma happy right now? Is she pleased to live a “normal” life scarfing down good food, hanging out with the kids, not living in a dark, dank tunnel, etc.? Where does the digested food even go? Maybe I don’t want to know. But I do want an OVA centered on Turbo Grandma and her inner thoughts. She’s had a drastic shift in her circumstances, and I wonder if she’s finally found peace and contentment… even if it isn’t meant to last.

• I don’t blame Manjiro the slightest for jumping the gun and calling the hayashi performers back without getting the okay from everyone. In a different universe where Okarun doesn’t magically get stronger in a single night, another encounter with Evil Eye probably means death. Manjiro did the right thing in my eyes — the adult thing when the only other adult in the room is too scared to say anything lest she disappoint the kids. You can’t be the cool granny all the time, Seiko.

• By the way, I looked up Manjiro’s bio and he’s actually 36. Holy shit, I didn’t expect him to be that old. He looks and acts younger than his age. Then again, I know a few immature people in their 30s, so maybe it’s not that crazy.

• It’s slightly odd to have the rematch between Okarun and Evil Eye already, right? On the one hand, I don’t exactly want to sit through a whole ass training arc. Dragging the story out just to see Okarun minimally increase his strength day-by-day doesn’t sound particularly exciting. But on the other hand, he’s good to fight Evil Eye after just one night? In fact, has it been just one night? Maybe there’s an implied time skip, but I’m thinking no. After all, we see Okarun wearing the same clothes at the end of the episode.
  
• Even if Okarun manages to learn how to pull off five moves (“switches” according to Turbo Granny) in one beat, he’s only done it once (or maybe twice since Turbo Granny retriggered the musicians). This sort of thing requires repetition; according to athletes, you train until it becomes second nature. But then again, we can’t drag this out without adversely affecting the storytelling, so I guess doing it once (or twice) is all Okarun really needs.

• Even though he confirms it himself, I assume Okarun isn’t just going to beat Evil Eye up. He’s gotta have a plan to calm the kid down. Otherwise, this solution would be just too normal and thus boring for Dandadan.
  
• I also like how this struggle with Evil Eye also parallels his own relationship with Jiji. C’mon, admit it. Even though Jiji is his newfound friend, Okarun has to be at least a little bit pissed that Momo’s former crush suddenly showed up out of nowhere and stole some of her attention. We know that Jiji isn’t a real threat, but Okarun doesn’t. And even if the kid will never admit it, I bet a small part of him wants to beat Jiji up too. Something like “settle down, Momo’s mine.” This sort of caveman mentality is too embarrassing to consciously voice. After all, it’s not like we ever want to actually hurt our friends. But at the same time, intrusive thoughts do creep in every now and then.
  
• How many of Jiji’s outfits have Evil Eye destroyed by now?

• You expect Okarun to win the rematch, because what’s the point of all that training if he’s just going to lose again? But still, the previews for next week’s episode basically guarantees a neat and tidy outcome for everyone involved. You even see Evil Eye in a school setting. I think people can get a bit too overzealous in protecting themselves from spoilers, i.e. “OMG, don’t even watch the Stormblood trailer UNTIL you reach Kugane,” but I think it’s somewhat warranted in this case. And if you haven’t seen the previews, then I guess I spoiled it for you. Sorry.

• I’ve been stewing over some of last week’s events, so if you still want an essay…

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Something I failed to touch on regarding last week’s episode is the dissonance Okarun must feel. When he offered to walk Momo home, he ultimately just wanted to spend time with her. But his excuse was chivalry. You can’t let a lady walk home alone at this hour of the night! It’s dangerous out there! On the surface, this was a cute, adorable gesture. At the same time, however, it was realistically speaking kinda silly. Not only is Momo tough, she’s arguably tougher than him! Yes, yes, it’s a team and you need everyone to contribute to every fight. I’m not denying that. But she’s kind of the finisher, isn’t she? She’s the team’s closer. Usually, Momo not only cooks up the winning strategy, she also executes it. Okarun’s yokai abilities gets her out of tight spots from time to time, but she has been the series’ MVP on a pretty consistent basis. So sure, it might be unsafe for the average lady to be out there alone at night, but not Momo.

So what am I getting at? Well, when Evil Eye had Momo trapped, Okarun couldn’t do a damn thing. He could scream. He could yell. Hell, he even transformed right then and there! And it did nothing. He can say all he wants about how he wants to protect her, but against a spirit as strong as Evil Eye, he actually can’t. And for a guy who wants to look cool in front of his crush, not living up to your own words is just so uncool. It’s the opposite of badass. Even earlier in the arc, when he told her he would handle Evil Eye down in the sandworm pit, he arguably failed. He slowed Evil Eye down, and that’s laudable on its own considering how Okarun has no actual training (other than some push-ups, squats, and fending off Aira’s delusional advances). But he ultimately fell short of his proclaimed goal of actually handling Evil Eye. Fast forward five episodes, and he’s even less capable than he was back then! Evil Eye is somehow getting smarter, and Okarun still can’t throw a punch. I mean, at least put the manga down so you can practice good form.

Normally, when a shounen protagonist balls up one of their fists, their motivations are clear and simple: they want to get stronger, they want to protect their friends, yadda yadda yadda. And said motivations are mostly the same for Okarun. But it’s the dissonance between his words and his actions that I find interesting. He feels dissonance in his inability to protect Momo, but he also feels dissonance in failing to help Jiji like he promised. Literally just a day ago, he had boldly proclaimed in front of everyone that he would get stronger in order to hold Evil Eye back. This is all for his friend too. And look at them now. They can’t even look at each other. Jiji feels guilty, and Okarun is ashamed of his hollow words.

Whenever Okarun spirals mentally with Momo, she’s the one to reach out and pull him back from the brink. Jiji can’t do the same for obvious reasons. Despite being the biggest extrovert in the story (to annoying levels), Jiji is also stewing in his own self-hate. Even if he was in the right mental state, I still doubt that he could help pull Okarun out of this malaise. I mean, he’s not the one with a crush on Okarun (presumably). After last week’s episode, some viewers walked away with the conclusion that Okarun resents Jiji for inadvertently endangering Momo, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think he’s the same good bean that he’s always been, but like I’ve said above, he’s relied on Momo so much not just in fights but social situations as well. He doesn’t have the tools to bridge the awkward gap between him and Jiji. As such, his complicated feelings surface instead as anger towards Evil Eye, and while that anger is pretty justified, perhaps there is some unintended truth to Peeny-Weeny’s words.

At first, it seems so silly for the Mantisian to suddenly take a moral stand against violence. Like what do you mean “violence is bad”? My girl almost died and you want me to talk it out instead? Well, look, is punching Evil Eye in the face really going to solve anything? Evil Eye is likely to take it as a challenge: “Well, I gotta get stronger too!” So Turbo Grandma’s question actually cuts to the heart of the matter even if, again, it’s unintended. In order to protect Momo, Okarun absolutely needs to get stronger. The goal, however, isn’t to win a single fist fight or any given fist fight. You can’t honestly expect the bully to turn tail and run just because they got punched in the face a few times. You’ll get Evil Eye’s attention if you land a punch, but what are you going to do next time? Punch him for eternity? Nah. Greater strength is just one step towards the ultimate solution to the problem. And this time, it seems as though Okarun won’t need Momo’s help.

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Anyway, that’s too many words to write about an anime. A part of me feels like I’m too old to still be doing this. But as programmer, I feel increasing pressure everyday from my job to “take advantage” of AI tools like Gemini and Claude. To be frank, it’s kind of sickening. I spend most of my time debugging the shit these LLMs spew out, so how much time or money am I really saving the company? So in return, I want to barf out words that are completely mine. The more AI I have to use for my job, the more I strangely want to blog. This is pure grass-fed word vomit, folks. It might not be any good, but it’s honest work.