Summary
- Acrobatic Silky’s tragic past humanizes yokai in an emotional light, shifting the show’s tone.
- Momo connects with Acrobatic Silky’s aura, revealing her past as a human and mother.
- Aira’s character development is profound as she shows real emotions and gains supernatural abilities.
Dandadan easily comes across as a simple, funny, and bizarre supernatural anime. The show is chaotic and hilarious from the get-go. Momo and Okarun are either seen arguing over everything they can get their hands on, or engaged in an otherworldly action scene. While this stays true throughout the show, their encounter with Acrobatic Silky redirects Dandadan in a different direction.
Acrobatic Silky was a yokai that appeared in Episodes 6 & 7 of Dandadan. Her story is linked to Aira. Initially mistaking Aira for her daughter, she approaches her affectionately. But Aira’s rejection of her emotions makes her violent and she ends up devouring Okarun, Aira, and Momo. This leads to Aira’s death. But Acrobatic Silky, who still holds maternal emotions for Aira, willingly gives up her aura to save Aira. After learning about her tragic past, Aira bids her a heartfelt goodbye.
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Acrobatic Silky’s Past
Upon Acrobatic Silky’s request, Momo uses her psychic powers to connect Acrobatic Silky’s aura to Aira’s dying aura. In an attempt to save Aira, Acrobatic Silky’s tragic past is revealed. She, too, was once a human. As a young mother in debt, she was forced to work multiple jobs. She worked as a prostitute, a cleaner, and a clerk. Though she barely made ends meet, she decided to spend a portion of the money earned on her cherished daughter. She celebrated her daughter’s birthday and bought her a beautiful purple dress.
But this was followed by the debt collectors’ intrusion, who beat her up and also kidnapped her daughter. Losing her daughter also led her to lose all hope, and she ended up taking her own life. After an unknown period of time passed, she came across Aira as a spirit. Having lost all her memories, she mistook Aira as her daughter. Wanting to protect Aira, her love and care for her daughter turned her into a yokai. She continued to follow Aira and protected her till the day Aira could finally see her.
Humanization of the Abnormal
Acrobatic Silky is one of many supernatural beings introduced in Dandadan. In terms of power, she wasn’t the strongest. Turbo Granny even addressed her as a “rookie nobody”. But she is important because she was the first yokai who was portrayed on a humanized level. Prior to her appearance, Momo and Okarun encounter many creatures, including yokai and aliens. While they differed in appearances and strengths, the anime showed them in a common light: merely abnormal creatures that pose a threat to humanity.
But, Acrobatic Silky takes the anime’s representation of these creatures to an emotional level. Acrobatic Silky’s past and her sacrifice help Momo and Aira see her in a new light. She not only gives up her aura but also desperately rips apart her jaw to prove she no longer means any harm. These events suddenly made Yokai more than just abnormal creatures, they started to represent emotions like sadness, tragedy, and love. As the anime went on, other abnormal creatures like The Dover Demon, Taro, and Hana also showed such human emotions.
Aira’s Character Development
Acrobatic Silky’s appearance undoubtedly had the biggest effect on Aira. Previously, Aira was shown as a self-centered, proud, and naive girl. On the surface, she seemed kind and caring, but it was a facade. She easily looked down on others and even falsely defamed Momo. But the events of the Acrobatic Silky Arc made her show real emotions for the first time.
As Acrobatic Silky started to fade into the void, Aira hugged her and bid her a heartfelt goodbye. She even wished for the yokai and her daughter to have a peaceful rest and promised not to forget them. She also gains supernatural powers that allow her to assist Okarun and Momo later. Fighting together with them makes her respect them and care about them. So, when her classmates badmouth Momo, she defends Momo and also confesses to falsely accusing Momo.
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The Acrobatic Silky Arc was short but created a foundation for the direction Dandadan would take moving forward. The show continued to stay funny and chaotic, but its appreciation for human emotions and relationships allows it to be more memorable.
Dandadan is currently available to watch on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu.
