This just popped up in my YouTube feed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc_J8uBRSwk

It’s about the song that the Serpo sings when he’s transforming the boxer alien into the mantis shrimp/Baltan-like form.

The song named “Yuuki No Shirushi” or “Sign of Courage” was from a 80s commercial for Regain an energy drink, that became an anthem for the work-yourself-to-death zeitgeist in Japan at the time.

The comments under the video say that…

spoiler

…the manga later reveals that the Serpo injected the boxer alien with one of their energy drinks, so that song is appropriate.

The cinematography and art direction continues to impress me. Changes in field of view, angles, colors… just everything comes together so well. It makes even the silly dialog scenes stand out.

I also REALLY love this callback to the original Acrobatic Silky:

As for the joke at the end, we all saw it coming and yet they still made it funny with the fisheye field of view, wacky animation, and cartoony art style

Dandadan makes even the predictable impressive.

I swear only Dandadan can keep me with a big-ass smile from the beginning till the end! Also that last scene ahhh I knew it was coming I just knew it!

Another great episode!

The palpable uncomfortable “atmosphere” in the alien-created subspace was well created and maintained with lurid colors and fisheye camera perspectives.

The boxer alien’s original form with the weird saucer-shaped head and eyestalks appears to be a take on an Ultraman monster, Kanegon.

Kanegon is relatively well known for a Ultraman monster

Kanegon is associated with money (Okane == money in Japanese), which sometimes transforms humans into Kanegon form, which makes the Dan Da Dan-version’s “salaryman” motif appropriate.

The upgraded boxer alien’s form has a similar profile to the Baltan aliens from Ultraman,

And the Serpo aliens’ white with black geometric stripes resembles the Dada aliens from Ultraman.

The Ultraman Dada aliens also kidnap human specimens for unknown research purposes, and are associated with the number 3, having 3 faces.

The Serpo aliens’ profile resembles alien Pegassa once again from Ultraman

In nutshell

And Last scene after defeating that monster was funny af.