Let’s Get Black & White.
So, this episode is, largely, a combat encounter, pitting our kids and their insanely unreliable powers against a giant sumo monster, where we spend most of the episode in a colorless realm where they’re mostly running away from the thing.
To its credit, the show does still use a fair bit of running time to keep working on Momo and Okarun in the character sense. They’re both, I’ll be honest, kind of twits. Momo in particular is great at mixed messages while Okarun’s low self-esteem is clearly messing him up.
In terms of plot, the two make it back to Momo’s home, which is a shrine. Okarun bursts into flames when crossing the Torii gate, which Momo determines to be the doing of a paper seal establishing a barrier. She removes it, they get better clothes, and snipe at each other a little around the fact that any lapse in Momo’s concentration can cause Turbo Granny to start to take control of Okarun’s body again. This is largely played for laughs until a strange doorbell, said to be one for evil spirits, rings and the world goes dark.
This pits them against the Flatwoods Monster, an alien seemingly associated with the ones from before, who attacks via sumo. The fight is pretty dynamic, even if most of it is running away from earth-shattering stomps, and sees Okarun get half-released in control of the Turbo Granny power to do a number on the monster. When it cheats and keeps on coming despite its hand touching the ground (a loss for its sumo vibe) Momo gets mad and uses herself as bait to get it to smash the wall it set up behind the Torii, giving her and Okarun just enough space to be outside the barrier when she reapplies the seal, burning the monster and ending the cage match.
After the fight, though, Momo passes out, and the episode ends as Turbo Granny begins to take menacing control.
I will say, I still think the visual strangeness of DanDaDan is a winning choice here. You can still see the action, which is important, and there are some smart uses of bizarre camera tricks. It might not be the best I’ve seen, but it is good.
Sadly, since this episode was mostly devoted to combat, I can’t say much else. It is what it is, and that’s entertaining. After the cliffhanger, though, we’re sure to get at least a little more plot.