Unless you actually live under a rock, you’ve probably heard about Dandadan. Known to be an extremely loved and entertaining manga, the series' reputation preceded the anime’s premiere in October.. My friends and I were so excited to see what the hype was all about and I wasn’t disappointed. The show is whacky, hilarious, has cool powers and a banger for an opening song. It has almost everything I love in an easy watch. I figured everyone would love it, why wouldn’t they? And then I saw the think pieces.
So what exactly happened?
(I’m gonna go ahead and drop a trigger warning because I’ll be discussing SA and the hypersexualization of minors.)
Dandadan, while uniquely fun and entertaining, got a lot of backlash online for an almost r*pe scene in the first episode. To summarize, the main characters, Momo and Okarun, are separately exploring abandoned places to prove if aliens and ghosts exist. Momo gets caught by the aliens, they snatch her clothes and she wakes up on a spaceship in her underwear strapped to a chair. Considering how lighthearted and harmless the episode started, this was a jarring change of tone. Safe to say it made more than a few viewers uncomfortable. Now, I understand that it was just to show how creepy it would be to be probed by aliens, but they just as easily could illustrate that with her clothes on.
Additionally, towards the end of the season there was a scene where Momo and Okarun had to fight the aliens again with another monster. They once again sacrificed their clothing during this underwater fight sequence and it took place in the middle of the hallway during a school day. Whatever veil the monsters had up during the battle was lifted once our heroes proved victorious and returned to normality. Which was soaking wet in their underwear - literally naked in Okarun’s case - for the entirety of their classmates to gawk at.
This isn’t anything new folks.
Personally, I thought the scene was hilarious because a common nightmare in school centered media is public nudity. You know, like giving a speech naked, accepting an award in your underwear, picturing the audience in theirs, etc. I also grew up in the era of more degenerative hyper sexual shonen of the late 2000s and 2010s. Some titles that come to mind: High School of the Dead, Seven Deadly Sins, Gurren Lagann, Food Wars,… Honestly, I could’ve made this argument with just a glance at One Piece and Bleach. Both are phenomenal anime, but my god I’d love to go a full five frames without seeing somebody’s triple D’s. Point being I am used to this, but that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.
Long term fans like me have become desensitized to the sexualization of characters.
I understand all of the essays about how Dandadan triggered many SA victims and that sexualizing minors is wrong. In no way am I accepting of the trope, it’s always made me uncomfortable. Everyone criticizing the show for these lewd depictions of minors has every right to feel outraged and uncomfortable. However, we need to keep in mind the medium that we’re talking about.
Mangakas have always done this and anime studios have a habit of taking it farther. I’ll admit, it’s hard to be a girl in nerd spaces. We are constantly in a battle of sacrificing our self respect for the sake of getting to enjoy badass female characters. Middle school me had absolutely no business watching Kill La Kill and High School of the Dead. I remember feeling so embarrassed when a scene would focus too much on a girl’s body or emphasize how they moan in pain. I didn’t get what it was back then, but where else could I see powerful women that weren’t in the Justice League?
Unfortunately, we can’t truly get rid of it - sex has always sold and probably always will. The dominating male gaze that powers mainstream shonen is a beast we have yet to tame. And I know that some will argue that there are anime where the men are shirtless, buff, oiled up, etc. for the sake of female audiences, but that’s not true! That’s still the male gaze giving guys examples of what we should perceive as the ideal man. Why do you think everybody went so crazy over Gojo, Nanami, Toji — honestly, all of the JJK men if we’re being real. Look at the material! (Shoutout to @yunonoaii on twt for feeding the community in these trying times.)
So is it okay to still watch Dandadan?
Well, yes.
I still love Dandadan. I love how fun the cast is, the wacky adventures and the animation style. Momo was a badass character before ever getting her powers and I wish there more shonen girls like her. And it’s so endearing that Okarun is crushing so hard that he’s became a monster to keep her safe. I can’t wait to see where their budding romance and adventures take them next season.
Simultaneously, I do feel disappointed that despite how awesome Dandadan is, the creators still fell into the objectification trap. Even so, I’ll still be watching when it returns. A lot of manga readers have explained that the series doesn’t have any more of those moments after season one. I think it’s important that we remember to enjoy a show, but hold it accountable when something messed up happens. Many creators thrive off of their fans’ feedback, so it’s not always falling on deaf ears.
If you’d like a more detailed take on fanservice and the nerdy femme perspective, I recommend these video essays. Both inakyu and Not Even Emily discuss these topics on their YouTube channels and are worth the watch.
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