Dandadan: Science Saru elevated the Evil Eye's backstory with a simple yet powerful change

Dandadan Season 2 has kicked off the Cursed House Arc, in which Jiji, Okarun, and Momo confront the dangerous Kito Family and the Tsuchinoko. Notably, the storyline introduces the Evil Eye, a yokai with complex origins.

Most fans of Yukinobu Tatsu’s manga were eagerly anticipating the anime to adapt the Evil Eye’s backstory, given how tragic and memorable it is. However, Studio Science Saru went one step further by adding anime-original scenes to the Evil Eye’s past, elevating its impact and making it one of the most unforgettable elements of the show.

In Dandadan, the Evil Eye is a deadly yokai who goes on to possess Jiji and aims to kill all humans. His goal is directly linked to his tragic past, where he was once a young child imprisoned by the Kito Family for the sake of being sacrificed to the Tsuchinoko. When trapped in the basement, the boy saw children happily playing outside and hoped to join them.

However, his dream was never fulfilled, as he was burned alive due to superstition. Immediately after, the young boy transformed into a spirit that was bound to the altar where he had been imprisoned earlier. With the Kito Family having turned this into an apartment, he saw the tragedy that befell another family and their child.

While the mother and father were forced to commit suicide by the Tsuchinoko’s manipulation, their son was buried along with the house as an offering to the great snake. While the young boy’s spirit tried to save him, he was unable to. This warped him into a hateful being, eventually turning him into the fearsome yet sympathetic Evil Eye.

How Studio Science Saru changed the Evil Eye’s backstory in the Dandadan anime

Studio Science Saru has a history of not just faithfully adapting Dandadan’s manga but also elevating it with their own additions. This was seen earlier with Acrobatic Silky and has been repeated with the Evil Eye.

Not much can be criticized about the Evil Eye’s backstory, as it makes fans hate the Kito Family and grow to care about the yokai. However, there is one glaring issue with it - the pacing. In the manga, right after the young boy is killed and turned into a spirit, he is taken to the modern era, where he sees the tragic fate of a family and turns into the Evil Eye.

Though his transformation into a corrupted spirit is understandable, its rapid progression somewhat diluted the potential impact of the moment. Studio Science Saru felt the same way and fixed this through the Dandadan anime.

In the adaptation, after the Evil Eye’s human form was burned alive, his spirit was taken to an ancient era, where a couple had drowned themselves while their son was crying near them. Immediately after, the boy saw another time period, where a husband and wife stabbed themselves, condemning their son to a grim fate. Only after these events did the spirit reach the modern era, where another family was torn apart by the Kito Family, causing him to become the Evil Eye.

Though this may seem to be a simple change, it makes the spirit’s transition from an innocent young boy to a hateful spirit much more consistent. By showing the evil acts committed by the Kito Family over the years, it also strongly implies that the Evil Eye was forced to witness their atrocities for centuries.

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Hence, by including these scenes in the anime, fans get a deeper look into the Evil Eye's mindset and what brought about his change. This amplifies the distress felt from his past, establishing him as a fan-favorite character.

Additionally, since the Evil Eye’s attacks are fueled by the grudges of those who fell victim to the Kito Family, his battles gain an additional layer of emotion, where he carries forward the wills of all those who had perished due to the Tsuchinoko.

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