MANGA REVIEW | "Dandadan" - Volume Sixteen
Whelp…Dandadan has finally gone the Jumanji path. Considering Yukinobu Tatsu’s love for film (akin to his comrade Tatsuki Fujimoto), maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Momo and Okarun’s adventures would enter a world similar to Chris Van Allsburg’s classic book-turn-film series. But even if the premise is similar to Jumanji, Dandadan naturally walks its own path with how it presents it. And in its sixteenth volume, it dishes out a whole lot more homages and the like.
So why is there a Jumanji-like storyline here in Dandadan? Well, it all has to do with finding Okarun’s golden ball. Someone else claimed it at the local police box, and Momo and Okarun try to figure it out. After Turbo Granny failed at knowing how a computer works, it takes a certain alien to get it done properly. With his help, Momo and Okarun have a name to work with: Unji Zuma.
But where is Unji? Alas, he’s not at a school that’s so full of delinquents that it’d put both Gokusen and Cromartie High School to shame. Heck, nobody quite knows what happened to him until a weird old man in a helmet appears, running away from other delinquents. That’s when we find out where Unji Zuma is: trapped inside of a diorama. And someone has gotta go in there and help get him out!
Of course, this is Dandadan, where volunteering happens solely by accident. That accident is pulled by Momo, who falls literally into the diorama. When she comes to, she’s surrounded by a Willy Wonka-like world of candies and sweets. Oh, and monsters too, some of whom would fit in well within the world of Little Nightmares. Thankfully, there’s one other person: Unji Zuma, and he’s got something of Okarun’s!
What follows is the beginning of the latest quest: escape the diorama, which is more like a board game than anything else. Giant knights, bakers, and freaky frogs take up the space of the board game, as Unji and Zuma work together to come out on top. And it’s all showcased within a candy-coated Takeshi’s Castle obstacle course, one that would make for a hell of a Fall Guys level!
A new player enters the realm of Dandadan, but one hopes that Tatsu isn’t packing in too many main players into the series. This is Momo and Okarun’s tale after all, so it’d be a shame if they get overshadowed by everyone else that’s become part of the story. With that being said, Volume Sixteen of Dandadan is filled with imagination, hilarity, and candy. Yes, it may steal from other famous stories, but we all know that Tatsu’s got his own way to spin this wacky tale of his!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
