How DanDaDan Broke Fans' Hearts With Episode 7

Important takeaways

Acrobatic Silky was a single mother sex worker who died tragically trying to get her daughter back.
Silky gave her aura to save a girl's life and revealed her love for her own lost daughter.
The episode mixes tragedy and supernatural elements to evoke powerful emotions in viewers.

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To a kinder world, the light within suffering

DanDaDan has taken the anime world by storm with its fresh ideas, hilarious comedy and spectacular animations. But while the series has so far been full of wacky supernatural adventures following its two leads, episode seven delivers a hard-hitting, gut-wrenching tragedy that explains the background of a new enemy. Acrobatic Silky's past life shows a terrible fate that unfortunately befalls some people in real life. Episode seven of DanDaDan tells the story of a single mother's sex worker whose life comes to a heartbreaking end and her suffering continues after death.

To a kinder world is an episode that is both heartbreaking and absolutely masterful in adaptation. It is a piece of anime that will be enjoyed for many years.

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Dandadan's new episode is a masterpiece

Okarun and Ayase's fight against Acrobatic Silky reaches a climax, but the end of the fight is only the beginning of the pain.

To a kinder world, the light within suffering

A very real tragedy

Acrobatic Silky begins her performance by attacking Aira Shiratori, whom she has been stalking ever since she was a little girl. While constantly claiming to be her mother, Acrobatic Silky continued to injure and eventually kill the young girl. Despite Momo and Okarun's efforts, Aira lies dead in front of them after the attack from the vengeful spirit. It is then that Acrobatic Silky has an apparent change of heart and offers to give up his aura to save the girl. Immediately, her demeanor is very different from before, which catches Momo off guard. She was initially suspicious of the ghost until she finally agrees to transfer her aura to Aira. In doing this, she establishes a psychic connection with Silky, allowing her to see her past life.

As a human, Silky was a sex worker with a young daughter of about four years. She balanced this painful work with her endless love and care for her precious daughter. Spend as much time as she can with her child while showering her with gifts. Teach her to dance ballet and watch the fireworks together. The episode shows all of this in a long montage with a beautiful piano piece. Goes back to back from her beautiful time with her daughter to her harrowing time as a sex worker.

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Dandadan's opening theme is full of occult references

Dandadan's opening theme “Otonoke” isn't just a bop, it's also filled with references to supernatural Japanese creatures and horror icons.

As this series has done before, this backstory helps humanize the otherwise antagonistic spirits, showing how Acrobatic Silky was a brave and tragic single mother in a cruel world. Often the media fails to bring a human element to its antagonists, but anime often makes sure to help the audience relate and form a connection with the villains as much as the heroes. And while Acrobatic Silky was basically a one-off villain, in this episode she's sure to make a lasting impact on audiences.

DanDaDan has already done a great job of humanizing its supernatural villains and Acrobatic Silky is easily the best example yet. The montage ends by showing her tragic fate. Two men assumed to be her employer brutally attack her and steal her daughter away. During the fight, Silky is seriously injured by falling on broken glass. And right after she regains consciousness, she instinctively runs to try and catch up with the two men and get her daughter back, but she fails and passes away in the process. The episode then shows a beautiful, ethereal and ghostly view of Silky passing into the afterlife as she dances between the two worlds.

Acrobatic Silky was a single mother sex worker who cherished her young daughter.
She died when two men attacked her and stole her daughter.
She danced ballet with her daughter and gave her a violet dress and explained her ghost form
She gave her aura to save Aira's life and remembered her lost daughter.

As a ghost, Silky is seen by the child Aira, who has just lost her mother, and the little girl accidentally calls her mother. Silky, who has since forgotten her past life, becomes attached to Aira mistaking her for her long-lost daughter. Back in the present, just as Silky is fading away, Aida recognizes her and shows her one last bit of love before she disappears. Silky's story hits home so hard for fans because it's simply a fate that befalls real women in the real world. This is one of the ways anime often intertwines real life with fiction. This is most likely something DanDaDan author Yukinobu Tatsu learned from his mentor Tatsuki Fujimoto, author of Chainsaw man.

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Dandadan: The love triangle between Momo, Okarun and Aira, explained

The emotional complexity of this triangle drives much of the character development as the series mixes humor and fantasy into the mix.

The beautiful and somber piano piece that accompanies the whole episode feels like a sign of a tragic event to come and at the same time it shows the beauty, love and light of Silky's time with her daughter, the only moments of happiness and joy she had. Among all the suffering, pain and agony she went through, her daughter was the only thing that kept her going and what made her smile. Many fans have talked about how this episode made them embrace their loved ones, especially their children, and that's exactly the effect a good piece of art should have. Art is made to evoke emotions in people and something anime fans often forget is how anime isn't just for epic fights or comedy. Anime, like any other art form, is meant to evoke a very wide range of emotions and within a fun and wild anime that DanDaDanepisode seven serves as the break for extremely powerful emotional storytelling that makes the medium so great.