When there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?
In Jiji’s case, the answer is Okarun and Momo.
Momo is his childhood best friend, and as of late, she’s his best chance of determining if his home is haunted or not. Jiji also knows that Momo has had a whole lot of experience dealing with the supernatural, especially since she’s just spent the last while helping her friend, Okarun, with all of his possession problems. The poor boy’s currently partially inhabited by a demon—one who stole his testicles (that’s a long story). Their search to reclaim them is still ongoing.
Still, they have enough time to check out Jiji’s home, located in a small town with little more than a main street and a hot spring. And soon after Momo goes off into town to investigate, Jiji and Okarun encounter a handful of cult members.
Turns out, the building Jiji’s been staying in has been an altar of sorts for the last couple of centuries. They’re terrified of the “Great Serpent Lord,” who threatens to activate the nearby volcano if they don’t satiate its hunger with an offering or two every year.
And the three of them look like prime serpent food.
Okarun, Jiji and Momo all risk their lives to protect each other from certain death.
Jiji’s home is haunted: a malevolent spirit causes his parents to commit suicide through its powers, an ability it seems to naturally secrete through its aura. The spirit longs to connect with Jiji so that Jiji can fulfill its secretive goals.
But the home is also haunted by the ghosts of tortured children, sacrificed in the home as an offering to a giant worm that some call the Great Serpent Lord. The people sacrificed the children because they believed it was the only thing keeping the nearby volcano from erupting.
We eventually meet this Great Serpent, whom Okarun identifies as a “Mongolian death worm,” similar to the sand worms from Dune or Tremors. Still, that doesn’t stop a family from worshiping the creature as a god. There’s also a shrine in town dedicated to the creature, though an attendant there admits that it’s more of a tourist trap than anything.
Another spirit, called “Turbo Grandma,” possesses a cat statue (the character plays an important role in previous entries in the Dan da Dan series but takes a backseat in this movie). Meanwhile, Okarun carries Turbo Grandma’s power within his body, and he’s able to transform briefly into a demon-like creature to take advantage of the power.
A yokai spirit says that he will “show humans what they consider hell.” We find a secret room covered in Japanese charms. Momo can use psychic powers via her chi.
Momo enters a nude hot spring, and a group of men likewise enter. Though they’re naked, any critical bits are covered by towels. We see Okarun and Momo in their underwear, and we also see a yokai-possessed man in underwear. A group of men wander around wearing nothing but a loincloth that reveals their rears.
A summary of a previous plotline includes the search for Okarun’s stolen testicles. Another summary references aliens hoping to steal his “banana.” (We’re also told a concerning number of people, entities and aliens have taken an interest in stealing his genitals). A man, upon seeing Momo, shouts out “Boobies!”
We briefly see Momo and Okarun kiss.
While bathing in a hot spring, Momo is surrounded by a group of naked men who prevent her from leaving. They state that they come to the hot spring to prey on young naked women, and they attempt to rape her. However, Momo narrowly escapes when the venue’s wooden fence falls down on top of the men. Later, one of the men returns and forcefully grabs her inner thigh. A summary of a previous plotline recalls another scene in which aliens attempt to rape her, too.
We’re told that the child sacrifices to the Great Serpent haven’t stopped—they’ve just become more discreet. We see a couple instances of this practice, including one in which one emaciated boy gets tied to a wooden post and burns to a crisp in lava. Later, we see a similar fate await another boy.
One sacrificed boy eventually becomes a vengeful spirit with the power to cause others to commit suicide (though it initially appears unintentional—a byproduct of his very presence rather than an active choice). As such, we see three different scenes of a child sobbing over dead parents, each pair of whom have killed themselves in different ways. A boy comes across the hanged bodies of his parents, for example.
The Great Serpent devours a handful of people, and it also emits psychic waves that compel people to commit suicide; we see Momo and Okarun briefly attempt to stab themselves and jump to their deaths as a result.
Shards of glass badly wound someone’s hand and arm. Others get punched, kicked and tossed around. A man receives a kick in the crotch. People get thrown through walls. Someone is beaten bloody. A building burns down. The Great Serpent suffers multiple puncture wounds through its body. A girl vomits blood.
In the English subtitled version, we hear “d–n,” “h—” and “crap” used nearly 15 times each. We also hear words such “a–,” “b–tard,” “p-ss” and “scumbag.” God’s name is paired with “d–n” three times.
Someone smokes a cigarette.
None.
If you don’t know about Dan Da Dan, I wouldn’t recommend losing that innocence.
The popular Netflix anime franchise took the world by storm with an engaging and absurd story about aliens, demons and … well, unmentionables. And, to be frank, if you use Plugged In, this probably isn’t the show (or movie) for you.
Okarun and Momo grapple with the supernatural—demons, yokai, ghosts and more. Sexual situations often pop up (these characters just can’t seem to stay clothed). And, in the violence category, there’s suicide, the death of children and attempted rape—as well as plenty of combat violence, too.
I don’t know what else we could say about it. So I won’t.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
