To a Kinder World

"To a Kinder World" (Japanese: 優しい世界へ, Hepburn: Yasashii Sekai e) is the seventh overall episode of the anime television series Dandadan, an adaptation of the manga series of the same name by Yukinobu Tatsu [ja]. Episode six depicts a fight between the yōkai Acrobatic Silky and characters Momo Ayase, Ken "Okarun" Takakura, and Aira Shiratori, the latter Silky believes is her daughter. The fight is concluded in "To a Kinder World," which centers around the history of Silky before she became a spirit, as well as explaining her attachment to Aira.
The episode was produced by Science Saru, with Kōtarō Matsunaga serving as episode director and Shūto Enomoto as storyboard and animation director. Changes were made from the manga version of the story, including how Silky is portrayed when Aira first meets her as a child. Greater focus was put on Silky's memories than in the manga, with staff remarking about the difficulty of creating these scenes. The episode premiered on MBS and TBS on November 15, 2024, and was released shortly thereafter on streaming platforms such as Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix internationally.
The episode has been met with critical acclaim, with critics and fans considering it the best episode of Dandadan. It was praised for its animation and use of colors, and the scene depicting the memories of Acrobatic Silky, particularly the tragedy of her and her daughter, was considered the highlight of the episode.
The preceding episode, "A Dangerous Woman Arrives," has the character Aira Shiratori believe herself to be chosen due to finding a golden ball, which Ken "Okarun" Takakura, Momo Ayase, and a yōkai named Turbo Granny are searching for. This ball allows her to commune with spirits; while confronting Momo in a warehouse, another yōkai named Acrobatic Silky arrives, believing herself to be Aira's mother. She eventually devours Okarun, Momo, and Aira after being angered by them, only for her to regurgitate them after the hair she swallowed was set on fire from within. "To a Kinder World" opens from the POV of a woman running in the street, sounding distressed, cutting back to Silky's POV. She accuses Momo and Okarun of taking Aira from her, using her hair to chase them through the warehouse.
Silky attempts to eat Aira to become one with her, but finds her hair is now tangled in the environment. Momo attempts to restrain Silky, but she tears her hair out and attacks, leading to Okarun incapacitating her. They discover that Aira died from being eaten; while Momo and Okarun attempt resuscitation, Silky offers to sacrifice her aura to revive her. Momo uses her powers to connect Silky with Aira, allowing her and Aira to see Silky's memories. This reveals that Silky was originally an indebted single mother who did sex work and other jobs to keep herself and her daughter afloat. Unable to pay off her debt, she was attacked by loan sharks, who severely injured her and abducted her daughter. After failing to save her, she performed a ballet on a rooftop before jumping to her death. Now a wandering spirit, she forgot about her daughter. A young Aira sensed and mistook her for her mother, who recently died. Seeing this, the spirit believed that she is Aira's mother, causing her to transform into a yōkai to protect her.
Aira comes back to life once Silky's aura is transferred, and Momo learns from Turbo Granny that since Silky lost her aura and will leave behind regrets, she cannot rest in peace and will disappear, forgotten by the living and the dead. As a disintegrating Silky expresses regret for hurting Aira and not being a good enough mother, Aira embraces her. She expresses her love for Silky, asking that she and her daughter be sent to a kinder world and promising to never forget her.
"To a Kinder World," like all episodes of Dandadan, was produced by animation studio Science Saru and is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by Yukinobu Tatsu [ja]. The episode was directed by Kōtarō Matsunaga and written by Hiroshi Seko, while the music was composed by Kensuke Ushio. The storyboard and animation was directed by Shūto Enomoto, his debut as a storyboard director. His animation work was primarily centered on Acrobatic Silky and Aira, with Matsunaga working in tandem with Enomoto. When compared to the manga, the episode put more focus on Silky's memories, with Fūga Yamashiro [ja] making her the main focus of the episode. Enomoto stated that he created the storyboards with Yamashiro's ideas in mind, but had difficulty pulling it off. Matsunaga agreed, specifically citing the scene where Silky comes down the stairs as particularly difficult. Enomoto created a 3D layout of the storyboard of the scene of her chasing after her abducted daughter.
When designing the fight between Silky, Okarun, and Momo, Enomoto wanted to illustrate Silky as "imprisoned by her own hair," spending the entirety of the production storyboarding and figuring out which animators should work on which task. Artist Kana Itō was responsible for illustrating the final scene between Silky and Aira. Enomoto, having picked her to animate it while creating the storyboard, stated that the first illustration was perfect. Other scenes, including her hair attacks at the beginning of the episode, her hair-pulling scene, and cardiac scene, were illustrated by Jura, Genta Ishimori and Kana Okutani, respectively. The first five minutes of the episode are an adaptation of chapter 15 of the manga, where Silky's backstory is depicted in 11 pages, compared to 10 minutes of the anime, which has additional and elongated scenes. While the manga depicts Silky in her yōkai form when Aira first met her, the anime makes her look similar to her human form before transforming.
The Japanese voice actress for Acrobatic Silky, Kikuko Inoue, stated in an interview that she channeled an incident that occurred 20 years prior when she left her six-year-old daughter unattended in a pool briefly, running at full speed back after realizing how unsafe she was. She described her breathing on the way back as half-crying, and noted how terrified she was that her daughter may drown. Inoue stated that she related to the confusion and fear that Silky experienced chasing after her daughter's kidnappers, putting her own experiences into Silky's breathing during this scene.
"To a Kinder World" was first broadcast on MBS, TBS and other JNN stations as part of the Super Animeism Turbo broadcast block on November 15, 2024. It was also available on the ABEMA Anime Channel. It was also released on streaming services Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. It is available in Japanese, English, German, French, Spanish (Latin America and Spain), Portuguese, Italian, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Thai and Indonesian.
The anime's adaptation of the original chapter was highly anticipated by fans according to Anime News Network. Upon release, "To a Kinder World" received critical acclaim. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima praised the episode for Kikuko Inoue's performance as Acrobatic Silky, adding that her work surpassed her performance as The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Dengeki writer Kawachi also praised Inoue's performance, stating that she portrays Silky as both a scary monster and a loving mother.
Anime News Network writer James Beckett re-read the manga chapter to get ready for the adaptation, but was taken off guard by how emotional the scene was. He praised Matsunaga and Enomoto for making the scene one of the "finest pieces of animated artistry" he has seen in a long time. He also found the first half of the episode for "funny, thrilling, and spectacularly animated," giving praise to its neon pink lighting and praising the depiction of Silky's memories. He felt that the only thing that could surpass the episode released recently was the film Look Back, arguing that both speak to the "depths of humanity that springs from the pain of it all." He also praised the scene of Aira hugging Silky, stating that it made her a hero on par with the protagonists by showing the power of compassion. Anime Corner writer Jay Gibbs felt it was the best episode of the anime season, as well as one of the most impressive episodes of an anime they had seen. Gibbs felt that the choreography and animation were high quality, with the emotion of the episode being the highlight.
CBR writer Maham Arsalan believed it was one of the best episodes of the year, praising it for its action, storytelling, visuals, and sound effects, suggesting that these would leave viewers crying. He felt that the series did a good job of hiding exactly why Silky wanted Aira so much, also praising the execution of Silky's memories, particularly the direction, visuals, and composition. Game Rant writer Matthew Magnus Lundeen considered the episode a masterpiece, noting how it switches styles between "distinctly dazzling opening with bold visuals and character art" into "livelier character expressions and subtle, realistic gestures." He remarked about how it feels like the episode should not have worked well in a series he considered strange, feeling that it was nevertheless earnest and "impeccably raw." Screen Rant writer Zach Zamora felt that the episode introduced one of Dandadan's strongest elements, namely its emotional backstories. He felt that her sacrifice for Aira made for what he considered the "most poignant and visually stunning sequences that anime has had to offer in recent years." He also stated the "quiet, intimate direction" of the memory made the manga's story more tragic, giving praise to composer Kensuke Ushio for how well he implemented music into the scene.
Dengeki Online writer Kawachi praised the art and acting, stating that despite how moving the original manga version was, the episode exceeded his expectations. He stated that he was moved to tears, questioning how impactful it would be for parents. He also praised the animators for coming up with new scenes for Silky that did not change the development or direction of the manga scene. Real Sound [ja] writer Hotaka Sugimoto called the episode "divine," praising its pacing and ability to display both gags and tragedy. They felt that it was particularly outstanding for the series, commenting on how detailed Silky's memory was, believing the creators wanted it to feel like something that could happen in real life. They compared it to the film The Colors Within, also by Science Saru, stating that Enomoto emphasized how beautiful Silky was before becoming an evil spirit and how she did not lose her beauty even after. Sugimoto believed that the manga could not depict what the anime does, and believed that the episode would be remembered as an example of how skilled Science Saru is.