How DanDaDan broke fans' hearts with episode 7

Key insights

  • Acrobatic Silky was a single sex worker who tragically died while trying to get her daughter back.
  • Silky gave her aura to save a girl's life, revealing her love for her own lost daughter.
  • The episode combines tragedy and supernatural elements to evoke strong emotions in the viewer.



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

Into a children's world is an episode that is both heartbreaking and absolutely masterful in its adaptation. It's a piece of anime that will be enjoyed for years to come.

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

To a children's world, the light in suffering

A very real tragedy


Acrobatic Silky begins her performance with a brutal attack on Aira Shiratori, who has haunted her since childhood. While Acrobatic Silky constantly claimed to be her mother, she repeatedly injured the young girl and eventually killed her. Despite Momo and Okarun's efforts, Aira lies dead before them after the vengeful spirit's attack. Then Acrobatic Silky apparently changes her mind and offers to give up her aura to save the girl. Her behavior is immediately completely different than before, which surprises Momo. She is initially suspicious of the ghost until she finally agrees to transfer her aura to Aira. In doing so, she creates a psychic connection with Silky, which allows her to see her past life.

As a person, Silky was a sex worker with a young daughter of about four years old. She balanced this painful work with her endless love and care for her precious daughter. Spend as much time as possible with your child and shower them with gifts. Teach her how to dance ballet and watch the fireworks together. The episode shows all of this in a long montage with a beautiful piano piece. From her beautiful time with her daughter to her painful time as a sex worker.


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Just like this series before it, this backstory helps humanize the otherwise contrasting spirits by showing how Acrobatic Silky was a brave and tragic single mother in a cruel world. Media often fails to incorporate a human element into its antagonists, but in most cases, anime ensures that the audience can identify and connect with the villains just as well as the heroes. And while Acrobatic Silky was essentially a one-off villain, she's sure to leave a lasting impression on audiences in this episode.


DanDaDan has already done a great job of humanizing its supernatural villains, and Acrobatic Silky is by far the best example so far. The montage ends with the depiction of their tragic fate. Two men, who are presumably her employers, brutally attack her and steal her daughter. During the fight, Silky is seriously injured by falling on broken glass. And right after she regains consciousness, she instinctively runs to catch up with the two men and retrieve her daughter, but she fails and dies in the process. The episode then shows a beautiful, ethereal and haunting face of Silky dying in the afterlife while dancing between the two realms.

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


As a ghost, Silky is seen by little Aira, who has just lost her mother, and the little girl mistakenly calls her mother. Silky, who has now forgotten her former life, feels comfortable with Aira confusing her with her long-lost daughter. Back in the present, just as Silky disappears, Aida recognizes her and shows her one last bit of love before she disappears. Silky's story hits fans so hard because it's simply a fate that happens to real women in the real world. This is one of the ways anime often blends 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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The emotional complexity of this triangle drives much of the character development, as the series incorporates humor and fantasy into the mix.

The beautiful and somber piano piece that accompanies the entire episode acts as a sign of an impending tragic event, while at the same time showing the beauty, love and light of Silky's time with her daughter, the only moments of happiness and joy she had. Amidst all the suffering, pain and torment she went through, her daughter was the only thing that kept her going and the only thing that put a smile on her face. Many fans have spoken about how this episode made them want to hug their loved ones, especially their children, and that is exactly the impact a good piece of art must have. Art is meant to evoke feelings in people, and anime fans often forget that anime isn't just for epic battles or comedy. Anime, like any other art form, is intended to evoke a very wide range of emotions in the style of a fun and wild anime DanDaDanEpisode seven serves as a break for some of the extremely powerful emotional storytelling that makes the medium so great.


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Release date
September 13, 2024

studio
Science Saru

Creator
Yukinobu Tatsu

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