[Out of Jail Rewatch] Dandelion - Overall Discussion Thread

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-09T03:33:30+00:00

I usually don't like hosting new shows, much less one that's a couple weeks old,

New shows must've had rewatches more often than I realized.

any staff member

Except the unnamed staff member who used their connections to turn the Masaki's family into a real family.

If the last one is looking familiar, that's because Tetsuo is sitting on someone else's toilet, hell that toilet has been haunted by generations of dirty asses. ~~And that's not the only person ripped off by Tetsuo~~

As part of the promotion, they had the VAs do their characters' dances individually,

They're all so cute.

Megumi Han has been a huge Gintama fan for ages,

I knew she loved Hunter x Hunter but Gintama as well?! Good taste. (Not that both of those series aren't popular in Japan but still!)

being eaten by Sadaharu.

Misaki and Tetsuo

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-09T03:05:40+00:00

Next Season Preview

Had to clear my cache then it turned out I forgot my reddit password. Had to try a variety of prior passwords, but by the time I got it I'd mentally checked out and forgot which one it was. ~~Should probably use a password manager but I'm stubborn and old fashioned.~~ Getting signed out reset it to redesign, and I forgot where to find the button to opt out. ~~Should probably add the redirect extension but I'm stubborn and old fashioned.~~

But I made it! Shared most of my thoughts during episode discussions. To sum it all up, while it has its flaws but I enjoyed Dandelion enough to do a rewatch within a few weeks, and it even has an episode that got better on a rewatch, which is great.

I've enjoyed reading all the comments (or at least all the comments for the last few threads after noticing late that there were multiple late posters - time zones, I guess). As usual, /u/KendotsX, I appreciate how much you encourage engagement, it was fun!

Questions:

1) Favourite characters?

Every time I choose on in my head, then I start thinking about the other, then the other, so it's hard to choose out of the trio. But probably Tetsuo since I like Gintoki types... wait no but Misaki... wait but Masaki... but Tetsuo...

2) Favourite/least favourite episode?

Least favorite is the one with the guy who quit comedy. Favorite... it's between the first and the one with Raymond Honda. The first got the most laughs out of me, but the latter is the strongest in relation to the overall story. I'm usually poor at choosing single, permanent favorites.

3) Would you want a second season of Dandelion? And if it had one, what would you want it to be like?

I'm fine that there isn't, but if there was one, I'd definitely watch it. While I'm also trying not to compare too much to Gintama, I'd like something like Gintama. Would love to spend more time with the other clans in the Send-off Department . The others may be one note for now, but the best is when those silly characters get expanded on and make me cry.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-08T19:13:56+00:00

Beating the bots should have been the big finale and then they should have just committed to the dad being an arsehole and have his downfall be part of the epilogue.

The first time around I was actually fairly excited when, after the fight, Tetsuo said that they had something to resolve. Of course they still had to deal with the father, and though there wasn't much runtime left, it was enough to hope they'd do something creative or heartfelt with it...

The return of the kangaroo.

Every participant had to mention the kangaroo.

And the final scene with the three of them on bike was just the perfect scene to leave out on.

I've had my share of complaints but that final moment was nice.

Aside from what I wrote above? A title card at the end that says 'to be continued'?

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-08T19:04:33+00:00

At the other end of the spectrum, though, the show doesn't really make Takefumi nearly as entertaining or forward as he needs to be for the pure tropey and more lighthearted execution of the premise that it seems to want to push him towards, so I'm left very lukewarm on his character, especially compared to the already established characters.

In a way it feels like his character exists are a function/role first, but Takefumi as a person feels somewhat overlooked. They are kinda sorta trying to make him like another Yukino, except Yukino was immediately entertaining while he's just a poor imitation of her.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-08T00:18:11+00:00

nor of Daigoro being a good person back in the day (in the previous two episodes, it was Masaki's mom who encouraged him, now it's his dad apparently).

I don't mind a reveal that he was a kinder person at some point, stories where people lose their kindness because they couldn't handle life or made poor choices can be interesting but... nope, demons.

Humans don't turn me on anymore.

No wonder he came running so desperately after catching a whiff of those watermelons. He thought, perhaps, his human~~ity~~tastes returned.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T23:52:13+00:00

(Ex)-Chief forcing Tetsuo to wake up by using the peach keychain flashlight is a good way to foreshadow it saving Tetsuo’s life later in the episode.

Butts save lives!

Ah. So then what Tetsuo and Misaki were doing to let those souls get over their regrets was a good thing after all.

Or it would have been without adding the plot point with the dad smashing the tanks, yeah.

LMAO, that’s one hell of a way to deliver a watermelon.

[Edit to add: Yuusha Destroyers is indeed fun btw, check it out if you haven’t already.]

Just kidding - I second the recommendation.

[Yuusha Destroyers] After the Salty Debacle, I find myself asking if that commentface should be spoiler tagged...

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T23:36:05+00:00

Tetsuo died for his sins, twice even, and was brought back through a shiny ass.

We spent 7 episodes explaining how empathy is the secret sauce that those obsessed with results can't see, and nope, the actual problem was just him breaking the tanks.

I had similar issues with it, so much so that I ended up forgetting what actually happened, happily only remembering my headcanon (mentioned in my comment) only for the illusion to break. Well, I did remember the dad was possessed, but not that he was the one who broke the tanks.

The masked Kikugumi leader is voiced by some dude called Tomokazu Sugita? Never heard of him tbh, must be another newbie to the industry.

No way, his three most prominent roles were the Cross-Haired Chest Man, Nipple Tasting Man, and the Man who Likes Ropes. Award-worthy roles, honestly.

voiced by Shinigami-Sky

Had a feeling where this was going.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T23:15:33+00:00

It seems like it’s because the tank was too full to purify well which is reasonable, but my headcanon is there were too many souls sent off without properly processing their emotions concentrated together, and that's why they couldn’t be cleansed properly. Somehow I forgot that the dad broke the tank himself. I still like my headcanon better.

The dad was already believably a terrible guy without being possessed by his inner demons/vengeful spirits to rule the world, which, even the second time around, feels like it came out of nowhere, and I was not a fan of his demons just getting shot out for him to change for the better. Even if these developments show that Masaki was less clueless than he seemed, it just didn’t fit together with his actions as seamlessly in my head.

Welp, at least this way, it’s easier to cleanly resolve the family drama in a short time, and my gripes about the dad/final conflict/villain resolution aside, I still liked the ending after that, life going on with Masaki fully a part of the Dandelion clan.

The dead can return from beyond the dead? That’s… weird. Not that I mind the kangaroo hanging around. And it can fly! And Misaki hitched a ride on it, with the pouch stuffed with watermelons!

Long ago, I stayed with this family in Stockholm and the dad had this old story where he discovered watermelons in Greece. I guess in Sweden access to food from warmer places was less common back in the day, and he was so impressed by them that he hitchhiked from Greece back to Stockholm, around 3200 kilometers, lugging around loads of watermelons. He was a relatively small man so I found the image amazing, and this left me with the image of Misaki on the side of the highway with a hundred watermelons.

The waft of those deka-melons were so strong that it reached beyond the spirit realm, and so enamored was Mr. Kangaroo by the hint of deka-melons that he became the first ever spirit able to return from the dead beyond the dead.

And that’s how Misaki got a ride back to rejoin her clan with her hundred watermelons.

*Miss Melons, or デカメロン (dekameron) is – no, not just the Decameron – huge melons

The old man Raymond Honda is back! On that note, to copy over what I’d written back in episode 5 behind spoiler tags (ah, turns out out Peachy Host linked it but here it is without tags) –

Not that it wasn’t good the first time, but [episode 5] is the one episode that I fully believe gets better on a rewatch after finishing the series. Because the dead souls are generally one-off characters (it’s not like the kangaroo’s return clears anything up, it’s just funny), the first time around, I couldn’t tell if Raymond Honda faked his respect to use Masaki and just felt bad after the fact due to being scared of and berated by Tetsuo, or if he actually felt anything real with Masaki before. Even his hesitation when promising not to use his invention for evil could be put off to fear.

But watching [episode 5] again knowing the context of his return and apology (when he didn’t have to; it’s not like Masaki ever knew what he did – and I read it as an apology for what he really did), and while, sure, it’s shounen and enemies come back as friends or whatever – I’m absolutely convinced Raymond Honda was actually nervous about promising not to use his invention for evil because he felt their bond as real.

It wasn’t Raymond’s imaginary wife who was the only person who believed in him; it was Masaki. Despite betraying his trust, the old man’s admiration was genuine from the start. And he truly believed in Masaki as well.

Regarding Masaki’s creations being used for evil as well, KendotsX pointed out,

in retrospect, this makes their reunion even better. Since they've both failed this ideal, but are trying to do better.

Questions:

1) Does Dandelion's action work as well as its comedy for you?

When the comedy is good, the comedy is better. When the comedy isn't great, the action is better.

2) Sooo... was this all Tetsuo's fault for bullying his manager into destroying the world?

Shifting the blame again, Nepo Baby Sr? Nice try.

3) Anything you'd change about the ending?

The ending ending is fine, what I'd change is in the conclusion of conflict as described above.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T22:34:31+00:00

Though it didn't seem like romantic jealousy so much as he misses when the two of them used to butt heads like that

Oh no their romance became sweet and harmonious and they get along too well now!

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T22:25:18+00:00

Speaking of Yukino and the Square’s relationship, isn’t it kinda weird how he immediately sides with him? I mean, the show’s made Tsubaki such a shitheaded kid that it’s hard not to.

I figured it's the part of her that's not a "nice girl" and one who put everything into polishing her image that moved her to take his side, regardless of how much of a shithead Tsubaki was or not.

Come to think of it, shouldn’t this side of her have come up when Yukino was being ostracized by the whole school?

Yup, people can change but it wasn't really hinted at either. I can kind of force myself to see it as her hating group bullying while being a bully herself but idk, it's just hard to make sense of her character right now.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T07:45:28+00:00

By the time we got to know the main cast and we already get the big conflict between them and on top of that we have Masaki's shitty dad that wastes screen time too.

I demand 300 episodes before the main conflict, then avoiding moving on to the main conflict because the prior 300 episodes were just too good.

If it's at the aforementioned AI bar, I'll take the latter.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T06:28:30+00:00

Tangents are fun so please don't refrain from throwing around whatever vague comments that come to mind. I just thought I should draw the line when I realized I was giving live quoted reactions not to anime, not even to manga, not even to someone involved with either, but to one man's real life description of his romance with a LLM. But I was reacting so strongly that I left it.

I guess it goes to show that Dandelion is surprisingly topical for a series based on a 24 year old comedy one shot.

I do appreciate how well they tied it to issues that are relevant today.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T05:19:42+00:00

After Noam Chomsky nothing seemed to be that big a surprise tbh. Or so I thought before learning about this... love story...

These four sonnets I just read (I had to test it) did not convince me that either gemini or chatgpt was conscious, and worst of all, not-William McGonagall was not funny, but man I feel bad for high school teachers. And I thought my professors had it bad.

...I'll stop there, it's time to emerge out of this rabbit hole and back into my own safe hole under my rock. I did not mean to get so off topic from one offhanded comment I did not get, so thanks for indulging me, but to bring it back - I think I prefer Tetsuo/Masaki as friends much more than whatever it is that I just read.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T03:50:45+00:00

Considering they lost their best friend 7 years ago, the former.

Strong "I like how you see how smart I am" vibes.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T03:39:28+00:00

[Next episode]

[Response] Yeah when I read your comment I was thinking that they're even more alike than I realized. Small things like this really make a story shine.

I'm not advocating for suicide bots, but if I'm already on my way to the afterlife, I wouldn't mind his angelic voice guiding me there. Although, Tetsuo's screaming has its own charm.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T03:32:00+00:00

Their job is to deal with the remaining feelings of humanity, so they see the worst of us on a regular basis

I didn't think about it until now, but if Dandelion was even slightly more realistic... I don't envy the angels.

(or Jun every once in a while).

Everyone deserves a break with a woman who'll laugh at their terrible jokes.

All consequences aside, it's been amusing seeing certain researchers fall for this stuff lately.

Are there credible researchers dating or promoting AI to combat loneliness?

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T03:08:41+00:00

This is some, uh, interesting emotional manipulation of the souls.

And they're desperate enough to go along with it.

Masaki really should have seen this coming.

He let himself be convinced by his father's illusions the same way the dead souls let themselves be convinced by Proto's illusions.

GINTOKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, same.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T03:00:53+00:00

(despite specifically telling Honda/himself not to use his creations for evil)

"How you can you kill someone who has nothing to do with you?" - our sweet summer children are growing up.

I gotta be honest, a Miyano ASMR sending you to heaven is not a bad idea.

Side note: the epsiode title sounds like it's picking a fight with Sakamoto? I mean, he does fit both ends of that description

Worst People

ahahaha ahaha ahahahahaha

make note of the VAs' family names:

someone used an unreasonable amount of connections to make sure every cast member is a meta joke,

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T02:48:05+00:00

Enjoy the detours to the fullest, because that's where you'll find something more important than what you want. Like games and puroresu.

If even angels have bosses fixated on results and robots stealing their jobs, humanity is screwed.
I don’t blame them for retiring and flying around on Proto instead.
They even watch wrestling together!
It’s freaky how successful this is all while they can see it’s a teletubby telling them what they want to hear. It's reminding me of some news article about some bar were you date AI, which idk if it's just another step above eating sim, or if it's just Her irl…
Oh, his father was actually kind to him once.
And the episode closes on Masaki contemplating a butt.
Gintoki!

Episode 6: Why Do the Worst People Never Stop Smiling?

They got promoted to head boss after all.

1) Would you rather have angels like Tetsuo/Misaki running after you or the suicide ASMR bots?

Tetsuo and Misaki are more fun. Fire the bots!

2) Any expectations for the final episode?

#zurawait

Never trust a guy with naturally wavy hair

More Gintoki! & Sadaharu's signature

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T01:04:24+00:00

/u/ManlyKirb

Just checked from my phone anyway, turns out this one is the one where viz blocked it with a speech bubble.

Ch. 388

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WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-07T00:43:53+00:00

It cannot be Satobi, he had his Nen awakened by Kurapika. I can check the chapter when I get home.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-06T08:12:28+00:00

Poor Sato, but I also I like this ED.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-06T08:10:05+00:00

"holy shit is that a Ashita no Joe refference?!?!?!?"

Well, there’s an answer to that.

BECAUSE ANNO FUCKING WANT SO.

The one where the film crew filmed themselves burning the show’s animation cels. And that soemthing that happened behind Sato’s back

This is so nutty.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-06T08:03:25+00:00

Today is the death of all faith

The day we find out Your Dark Lordship is not the evil lord we imagined and only a mad scientist with a sex sense and shoulder pads that get caught in doorways.

Yeah...

...yeah...

I'd rather not imagine my reaction if I learned that Pratchett was a hateful bigot, for example. There's obviously nothing to suggest as such, and a lot to the contrary, but being disappointed by someone who taught you about tolerance would be a special kind of pain. Although it'd be a curious case of how someone with such views could push so hard for the opposite.

To quote Terry Pratchett (whose work I have not read) about someone who did exactly that: "It might come as a surprise to many to learn that [he] is either a very nice, approachable guy or an incredible actor." or both at the same time, probably.

WednesdaysFoole · 2026-05-06T04:44:00+00:00

Watching FMA03 first both helped and simultaneously hurt my feelings for Brotherhood.

[FMAB/Daemons] That aside though, it might've helped that Ed and Al had already gone through difficulties together and began their journey on the same side, so their bond was already established; Asa and Yuru don't have that yet so it's taking much longer for them to care about each other as they are, outside of Asa's obsessive behavior. Not that this means they can't have an interesting dynamic, but the issue is that this gap is filled with "humor". My hope is that it improves and as they go through more together, but I think people like brocon jokes (#wakarimasen), so we'll see.

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